Multi-Texture Synthesis through Signal Responsive Neural Cellular Automata

Abstract: Neural Cellular Automata (NCA) have proven to be effective in a variety of fields, with numerous biologically inspired applications. One of the fields, in which NCAs perform well is the generation of textures, modelling global patterns from local interactions governed by uniform and coherent rules. This paper aims to enhance the usability of NCAs in texture synthesis by addressing a shortcoming of current NCA architectures for texture generation, which requires separately trained NCA for each individual texture. In this work, we train a single NCA for the evolution of multiple textures, based on individual examples. Our solution provides texture information in the state of each cell, in the form of an internally coded genomic signal, which enables the NCA to generate the expected texture. Such a neural cellular automaton not only maintains its regenerative capability but also allows for interpolation between learned textures and supports grafting techniques. This demonstrates the ability to edit generated textures and the potential for them to merge and coexist within the same automaton. We also address questions related to the influence of the genomic information and the cost function on the evolution of the NCA.