Computer Vision for Artists and Designers
We always see the stage but the backstage remains secret for most of us until we get interested and look at it by ourselves. Today’s material opened the curtains and showed the backstage of the computer vision. We all have been imposed on face and movement recognition to some extent, starting from the face masks in the Instagram filters and the face ID of the iPhone to the movement recognition in various artworks. Although I always wondered how it works, I didn’t have a chance to look at it by myself until today.
Although I could predict beforehand that the motion is detected by the comparison of the pixels in each subsequent frame, the information about the detection through brightness threshold was new for me, yet so simple. It was interesting to read all these operations made by the computer, which is hidden from our eyes. After reading the article, I have a question whether the advanced technologies still operate the same way, or whether their way of detection might be changed over time.
I am surprised by the amount of constraints and limitations of the detection of presence and motion, object tracking, etc. Although the technologies have developed rapidly since the day of the first interactive media artworks such as Videoplace, there are still many things, that need to be developed. For instance, simply the face ID in my iPhone recognizes me and my 11-year-old sister as one person.
Last but not least, I would like to mention examples of artwork using computer vision. While some create an entertaining and aesthetically pleasing experience with voice recognition as Messa di Voce or movement recognition as Videoplace, others use computer vision to raise social issues such as Standards and Double Standards and Suicide Box. I liked the idea of Suicide Box in a way that this project could be developed further as a safety tracker. Every time the vertical motion is recognized, the net can be released under the bridge to catch the falling person and the signal can be sent to the police about possible suicide. Considering the statistics of 17 suicides in 100 days of deployment, the issue of suicide remains significant and needs a solution.