Digital Crazing: Applying Quadtree Structures to Simulate Time and Human Intervention

We present a novel tool for generating crazing patterns that explores the relationship between time and user intervention. Inspired by the formation of crazing during firing, this tool reinterprets this phenomenon, which has evolved into a culturally significant aesthetic. This tool employs a hierarchical depth slicing technique to simulate the evolution of crazing, showcasing the transition from prominent fissures to intricate patterns. It combines the natural progression of cracks over time with those shaped by human intervention, capturing the underlying logic of crazing formation. Our interactive work exploits the user intervention characteristics, where the crazing changes in response to the duration of the observer’s shadow. This simulation highlights how coarse cracks are more prone to absorb dye, while fine cracks resist coloration. The observer’s shadow is conceptualized as the “dye,” emphasizing the contrast between human and natural influences over time. This design amplifies the relationship between temporality and human intervention, offering viewers a novel aesthetic experience. This work integrates cultural context and artistic theory, digitizes the logic behind crazing formation, and explores the aesthetic significance of material transformation. The tool framework dynamically presents the interaction between time and human influence by simulating dye deposition, temporal progression, and crazing formation. In future work, we aim to enhance the tool performance by developing plugins for relevant design software. Via integrating the plugins, the relevant design software can expand its applications in interactive design and digital creation, opening new possibilities for digital material generation techniques.