What are some of the ways that computer vision differs from human vision?
Previously, I kind of always linked computer vision with machine learning. I always assumed there was some use of machine learning to identify the different objects in a given video, and to really understand the movements and different interactions within the video. However, after reading this article, I feel like I’ve gained a much clearer understanding of how computer vision actually works as well as a better understanding of the limitations of the technology available. While both computers and humans can probably identify where a person is in a video and their movements, humans are also usually able to predict their next movements. Humans are familiar with how humans interact with objects, while computers really depend on data, which can sometimes miss anomalous cases or outliers. An example that may seem a bit far fetched is someone who only has 4 fingers, human vision is obviously able to comprehend that, while I assume computer vision may not be able to tell that there is something missing in the image, and it’s only programmed to work with the norm.
In terms of computer vision’s capacity for tracking and surveillance and it’s effect on its uses in interactive art, I think one of the examples from the article, Suicide Box, combines those two ideas nicely. The tracking and surveillance aspect of computer vision has been used to create an art piece (kind of) about suicide and to emphasize irregularities in data. An issue that immediately comes up for me with computer vision is privacy concerns. A tool that once so heavily used for tracking and surveillance, to now be used in interactive art may be suspicious to viewers. Viewers may be paranoid that these art pieces are collecting data about them, however, I’m not sure if this is a common concern, considering most art pieces we’ve looked at that use computer vision have been well-received.