Exploring Image-Based Approaches for Effective Synthetic Time-Series Data Generation
Seung-Heon Oh, Seungmin Oh, Junghoon Lee, Do-Yeon Kim, Minsoo Hahn, Jinsul Kim · 2025
The effective generation of synthetic time-series data is crucial for addressing data scarcity in various domains such as network monitoring, financial analysis, and healthcare. This study explores image-based approaches for transforming time-series data into visual representations, enabling the application of advanced image synthesis techniques. We systematically evaluate multiple transformation methods, including recurrence plots, Gramian Angular Fields (GAF), and Markov transition fields, to identify the most suitable techniques for preserving temporal and structural characteristics. The generated synthetic data are validated using statistical similarity metrics and tested on machine learning tasks, such as anomaly detection and forecasting, to assess their practical utility. Experimental results demonstrate that image-based synthetic data generation not only retains essential time-series features but also enhances model robustness under limited data conditions. This research contributes to the growing field of synthetic data generation by providing insights into the integration of time-series and image processing techniques. Future work will focus on refining these methods and exploring their scalability across diverse applications.