MID

Marcello Balzaretti - éca l - propédeutique

[exoticgardenernacho]

TOBII

Tobii was founded in 2001 when John Elvesjö, an engineering student, built a computerized camera that could count bubbles in liquids. After realizing it could also track his pupils, he began developing an eye-tracking system that could control a computer.

This technology has allowed Mr. Quinn, who is almost completely paralyzed to speak, write, change the television channel or turn on the lights in his home. The device has an infrared camera below the display which allows him to control his computer only by looking at them.

There is still work to be done before this can replace the mouse or touchscreen, but in my opinion, this could be the near future for the interface between human and machine. This technology would allow us to use our everyday devices a lot faster than we currently do. I think it’s the closest we can get to controlling a computer with our mind before implanting a chip in your brain. If you think about it, we always look at what we want before clicking on it.

[exoticgardenernacho]

QUIPU

Quipu was not invented by the incas to copy spoken language but rather to do things that spoken language failed to do. The quipu was first used around the 25th century B.C. it consisted of a combination of different cords, colors and knots that allowed them to record enormous amounts of mathematical data such as cosmic events, economics or census. Most importantly it allowed them to do basic operations that they would never have been able to do without this ancient accounting too, such as multiplications, additions, divisions and subtractions.

The key feature in my opinion is data materialisation. We have always been able to communicate and transfer information from one to another for millennia, but suddenly using the quipu, humans were able to take information from their heads, process it and record it through reliable objects that can be preserved for longer than any idea in a brain.

[exoticgardenernacho]

DEEP DREAM GENERATOR

This software was initially invented to help scientists see what a deep neural network is seeing when it is looking at a given image. Later the algorithm became a new form of psychedelic and abstract art.

It has a set of tools which make it possible to explore different AI algorithms, creative tools for visual content generation like those for merging image styles and content.

Developed by Google engineer Alexander Mordvintsev, this software provides the opportunity to be creative like never before. There are questions about who should get credit for the artwork. Should it be the artist, the computer software?

When photography was invented artists said that photography was not art since the camera was doing all of the job. A camera can’t do art by itself, it needs someone to decide when, where, who, how and for how long. The right harmony between those elements will determine its value. I think the artist, like the photographer should be credited for the artwork created with this software although expectations will be high.