Living Images: A Recursive Approach to Computing the Structural Beauty of Images or the Livingness of Space

According to Gestalt theory, any image is perceived subconsciously as a coherent structure (or whole) with two contrast substructures: figure and ground. The consists of numerous autogenerated substructures an inherent hierarchy far more smalls than larges. Through these substructures, the structural beauty (L), or equivalently livingness space, can be computed by multiplication number (S) their (H). This definition implies that something has, living structurally beautiful it is, higher beautiful. nonrecursive approach images space. In this article we develop recursive approach, which derives all (instead its figure) continues deriving process for those decomposable until none them are decomposable. All derived at different iterations levels) together constitute structure; hence notion images. We have applied set been previously studied in literature found (1) lower (3 percent on average) pixels centroids effectively capture skeleton saliency image; (2) level four, indicating they indeed images; (3) no 3 decomposable, implying vast amount not decomposable; (4) well measured recursively defined subsets. Despite slightly computational cost, proven robust approach. both provide powerful means study vitality space cities communities.