Getting the most basic reproduction of a painting is quite easy but getting a truly accurate copy is much harder than one might think.
Usually, modern 2D printers only have four inks to work with which will not do if you are trying to mimic a classic.
RePaint recreates artwork with the help of AI
Engadget reports that MIT’s CSAIL researchers might have just found a better solution. They have developed RePaint which is a system that recreates artwork using an AI-guided 3D printer.
The technology promises a color-accurate reproduction even in not so perfect conditions.
RePain works like this: it stacks ten different transparent inks in this layers, and the Artificial Intelligence predicts the ideal stack that’s required to generate the intended colors.
The team also fed the AI various paintings in order to help it determine which colors were needed in particular areas of the painting and adjusting for changes in lighting conditions in order to have great consistency in the end.
Engadget reports that the technology also relies on halftoning (which is the procedure that involves creating images using ink dots) in order to better match the colors.
Current limitations of the system
As advanced as it may seem, the tech cannot yet create surface texture and reflection and this means that you will not be able to get the glossy or matte look that’s found on some of the paintings.
Another thing worth mentioning is that it’s not possible yet to get a Louvre-sized painting shortly because the only available size of the output at the moment has the size of a postcard.
If it scales and when it does, RePaint could definitely have a wide-ranging appeal because it would provide more authentic replicas of the world’s most famous paintings in your home.
This also means that museums could protect the highly valuable original paintings by only showing reproductions whenever this would be possible.
After finishing Theatrical Journalism at the Faculty of Theatre and Television in Cluj-Napoca, Rada reviewed movies, books, theatre pieces and she also wrote articles from the IT niche as a content editor for software producers. At the moment, she is working with various online advertising firms.
