“Computer Vision for Artists and Designers” by Golan Levin introduces computer vision as a set of algorithms enabling computers to intelligently interpret digital images and videos, emphasizing its recent accessibility to novice programmers and interactive-media artists. It demystifies computer vision for beginners, focusing on its applications in interactive art, elementary computer vision techniques, physical optimization for computer vision, multimedia authoring tools for computer vision.
The author also explores the evolution of computer vision as a medium for artistic expression, outlining its recent democratization and tracing its historical origins. It highlights how computer vision methods are being applied to a wide range of artistic mediums, video games, and home automation systems. In addition, he deconstructs basic computer vision methods including frame differencing, background subtraction, brightness thresholding, and basic object tracking and provides an understanding of how to use and use them in interactive media. It highlights how crucial physical optimization is for computer vision and offers suggestions for setting up conditions that support reliable algorithmic performance.
Furthermore, he also examines multimedia authoring tools for computer vision, including major software development environments and their corresponding computer vision toolkits or plug-ins, such as Processing, Macromedia Director, and Max/MSP/Jitter. Additionally, it provides an example of a workshop project named LimboTime that shows how computer vision techniques can be used to create an interactive game. LimboTime highlights the wider application of computer vision in art and design by demonstrating the accessibility and possibilities for non-programmers to create vision-based interactive systems.
Overall, this reading offers us a comprehensive overview of computer vision, catering to novice programmers and artists, and highlights its growing significance in interactive art and design, offering practical insights and resources for implementing computer vision techniques in various artistic and design contexts.