I think the "technology" for creating discrete fractals is about as far as it will go, at least in terms of the algorithms, shapes and colors are concerned. True, another type of formula than Mandelbrot, Julia and the flame algorithm will probably come along but I'm not sure the shapes it produces will be very drastically different from the myriad shapes available now in the way that, say, Draves' flame algorithm looks different from a Julia. I can't imagine what shape hasn't already potentially been made by the maths available now. I suppose they could be translated in 3 or more dimensions but XD has 3d pretty well covered I think. And there are some - not me - that don't think 3d shapes are "fractal" but that's a nit that doesn't need picked, IMHO, and I really don't care if they are or aren't. And then, artist's would for the most part make spirals, bi-lat's, kaleido's or tiles out of whatever new shapes any new formulas made - lol. Which isn't bad. Years ago I avoided spirals like the plague but I like them a lot now that there are so many different types that can be made with UF or Apo. And can the human eye really discern more than 16.8 million colors? Maybe holographic fractals - like Pricess Leiea(sic) projected in the first Star Wars - might happen some day in the future? That would be pretty nifty, I reckon! I don't think that it is technology, software per-se, or new formulas that will take fractal art to some new or higher "level". You're right that you can't take watercolors or oils to some kind of higher, more technical level. They wouldn't be watercolors anymore then. What I think WILL take fractals to a "higher level" is not some mechanized or computerized innovation but it will be what it has always been: The very HUMAN expression of creativity and incredible skill/expertise in the use of whatever tools they use to make their art. You could outfit a hack like me with solid state, graphite handled, laser guided paint brushes and canvas that costs $1000 per square inch and stick me next to Thomas Kinkaid and he'd still paint my doors off with a broken horse brush and a burlap sack! lol The difference would be completely a human difference in the utter sheer skill from years of HARD practice and, more importantly, the creative vision someone like that has. Somebody like Kinkaid uses pretty much the very same tools, media and pigments that have been around for centuries and used by millions of artists but he (assuming you like his stuff like I do) wields those tools better than 99% of the people who also used those tools. Why? Hard work, natural talent, incessant practice, total attention to detail, love and enthusiasm for his craft, and that "something" visualized in his mind's eye that we call "creativity". The sheer humanness of what he does strikes a chord deep within the human soul. And it will be the same with fractals, I reckon. Somebody will come along so skilled with the software and with such sheer human creativity that they will blow people's minds with the colors, shapes and image composition that they produce. That will be the "next level", IMO. And it could happen 2morrow and might even be someone who just started posting their images here or DVA, ya never know. But, like DaVinci, they probably wouldn't get many comments or make the H20 but they'd keep at it and - again like DaVinci - have their art placed in the Louvre......a few hundred years after they died! lol Rick