Computer-generated iron filing art

This paper proposes a digital tool which enables users to create the iron filing effects. It is a 2D interactive system, where the user provides a silhouette of a 2D target shape and interactively specifies various parameters of magnets. Then, the patterns of the iron filings are automatically generated through the principle of magnetism. The system also provides a real-time feedback while the user updates the magnet parameters, i.e.; the magnet lines are interactively displayed such that the user can speculate the final patterns of iron filings. The experimental results show that a variety of artwork can be created by the proposed tool.