Making Aesthetic Choices

Abstract

A framework is presented for making choices that are primarily constrained by aesthetic, as opposed to, pragmatic considerations. An example of the application of this framework is a computer system called "Ani", capable of making simple computer animation in response to high-level incomplete story descriptions. Aesthetic choice is presented as a parallel computation in which each choice point gathers together and evaluates suggestions. When faced with difficulties these choices can be postponed. The order in which inter-dependent choices are made is strongly influenced by the focus of the problem.