Assignment 2 - Feb 4th 2013

This is the second reading assignment

Computer vision for artists and designers: pedagogic tools and techniques for

novice programmers

During the development of computer vision, there have been noticeable algorithms that can determine the changes in pixels. Softwares such as MaxMSP and Jitter have a much higher level of interactivity since a few years ago. These algorithms determine the level of quality of the video input. Background subtraction, frame differencing, and brightness thresholding are the three basic types of algorithms that determine change in pixels. The article also lists some basic coding technique for applying these algorithms.

Quote: “As computers and video hardware become more available, and software-authoring tools continue to improve, we can expect to see the use of computer vision techniques increasingly incorporated into media-art education, and into the creation of games, artworks and many other applications.” (475)

Phrase: Intrigued me into using Computer vision techniques in the creation of video games.

Assignment 1 - January 21 2013

Here is our first assignment for this course

Reading Assignment 1

Reading 1:

Sensing Things: Merleau-Ponty  & Synaesthesia & Human-Centredness

This article starts off by talking about our senses and how they influence the design of everyday items. Nigel talks about how our society is moving towards a culture that is highly dependent on its senses and how it feels the need for much deeper meaning in our communication. He then talks about how the sight of certain objects causes our minds to already perceive the sensation of touching or feeling these objects. Another example of this would be someone perceiving an object’s taste just by looking at it. These are examples of a concept called Synaesthesia which suggests that or senses interact by implying and interacting with each other. Merleau-Ponty, who is a specialist in synaesthesia, suggests that synaesthesia is important for designers because each object speaks to our bodies in different ways and to the way we live.

Quote: “Mainstream approaches to perception embody and make familiar a number of powerful assumptions about sensory experience.” –Nigel Power

#Design Advice

Reading 2:

Computers and the Embodied Nature of Communication: Merleau-Ponty’s New Ontology of Embodiment

The three sections in this paper attempt to demonstrate that computer systems should consider the emotions and thoughts of users to be able to bring humans closer together in a more intimate form of interaction. The first section talks about natural language technologies. Arun Kumar explains that it’s limited because it is unable to express most aspects of communication. These include tone, gaze, and body language. Meleau-Ponty and his perspectives on experience and embodiment are revealed in the second section. He explains that the body cannot respond to the external world like a machine; but instead is an instrument for interaction, understanding, and experience. The third section argues that the body is essential to our very existence, which is why we are embodied when engaging in a virtual world.

Quote: “Most of our understanding in the world of what it is like to be embodied is so ubiquitous and action-oriented that there is every reason to doubt that it could be made explicit and entered into a database in a disembodied computer” – Arun Kumar

#Scary Thought