User:Jasper van Loenen/grad/draft proposal: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:56, 17 October 2012

Tentative Title

< Insert Very Tentative Title Here >

General Introduction

Looking back at last year, a lot of things done revolved around the net and social networks like our beloved Facebook. But at this point I'm a bit bored by this topic. There is of course still a lot to be said, but there are also a lot of cliches by now.

Looking for inspiration for the graduation project I focused more on the practical projects I've done - the work related to my love for physical installations and electronics. As some sort of starting point, I looked up different types of teleconferencing devices after fellow student Mano Szollosi showed me a video of a device that's basically an iPad on a Segway. You can control it over the internet and in the commercial a couple actually uses it to 'visit' a gallery space while sitting on their couch at home. Some of these devices are more interesting than others and offer features like arms you can move around. But there are also some that try too look as much as a real human as possible.
The part of all this that I find most interesting is how people try to come up with devices to represent their bodies when they can't be at a certain location themselves - some are basically trying to create a copy of your own body. But you could also approach these devices from the other side: what is needed for a computer or robot to be perceived as a living being, or perhaps even a human. The latter seems to be very hard, with lifelike robots often being right in the middle of the uncanny valley, the area where a robot looks a lot like a human but not quite, making them plain creepy. The first is something that seems to happen more often - we automatically personificate objects or programs that seem to have some sort of intelligence.

Relation to previous practice

Though unrelated to robots or artificial intelligence, my previous work was also about the manifestation of a digital system; Test Screen was an interface to connect to an abstract piece of code. The installation consists out of groups of dials and switches (96 in total) around a flatscreen monitor, set in a large (110x60cm) wooden panel. I wrote a small computer program that would display an image similar to the old television test screens and each of the dials and switches was connected to a part of the script of this program. By manipulating the controls, the audience was able to change my code and change what would be displayed. I choose to not use a generic computer with keyboard and mouse but to built a custom interface as a way to get the audience more involved, since for many using such an unknown interface is far more appealing - and telling by the time some visitors spent at the installation it worked. The form of the object (it's size and layout of switches and dials) was based on the code you were able to change with it and wouldn't really fit any other program - it reflected the character of the system.

The same can be said for The Poking Machine (TPM), which I made together with Bartholomäus Traubeck. Facebook Users can poke each other by clicking a button on their profile pages and the recipient will receive a message saying he or she was poked. TPM is a small (9 x 7 x 5 cm) box made out of green transparent Perspex which you can strap to your upper arm using the attached piece of velcro. It will then use your phoneʼs internet connection to keep track of incoming pokes and when it detects one, a small plastic lever will come out of the box to physically poke you in the arm. This translates this meaningless written message into an actual poking gesture. Again, this was an object, or interface, made to servo a single program.

Relation to a larger context

For decades - if not longer - man has thought of creating life - from the Golem to Asimo. Creating artificial life similar to ours still seems far away, but there is no denying that we are more and more surrounded by 'smart' systems and the way we connect to them has moved from consoles and buttons to more natural ways that entangle them with our lives. < expand, particularly about the art context >

Practical steps

Creating world's best AI or robot would of course be great, but is not very realistic. Instead I'll be focussing on how we see artificial entities, from computer scripts to physical devices. Why and when can you see a man made object as a thinking character? The first small experiments I did involved both a scripted system and a random moving mechanical object that both seem to be thinking or trying to reach some set goal, even though this was not the case at all. <needs clarification>

References

Hoffmann, E.T.A., (1816) The Sandman
N. Katherine Hayles, (2005) My mother was a computer
N. Katherine Hayles, (1999) How we became post human, virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics
R Barbrook (2005) Imaginary Futures,
The Hunt for AI (2012), Marcus Du Sautoy
Where is my robot? (2008), Danny Wallace
Hugo (2011), Martin Scorsese (based on the children's book by Brian Selznick)
Isaac Asimov

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-[[File:ProjectManagement_03.jpg|right]]
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 == Tentative Title ==
-Remember this can change as your research evolves - also keep in mind that the title of your research does not have to be the eventual title of your exhibited final project.
+< Insert Very Tentative Title Here >
 == General Introduction ==
-A brief general introduction or abstract laying out the field you wish to research, possible key questions driving what you want to explore and how you will test these questions through practice.
+Looking back at last year, a lot of things done revolved around the net and social networks like our beloved Facebook. But at this point I'm a bit bored by this topic. There is of course still a lot to be said, but there are also a lot of cliches by now.<br /><br />
+Looking for inspiration for the graduation project I focused more on the practical projects I've done - the work related to my love for physical installations and electronics. As some sort of starting point, I looked up different types of teleconferencing devices after fellow student Mano Szollosi showed me a video of a device that's basically an iPad on a Segway. You can control it over the internet and in the commercial a couple actually uses it to 'visit' a gallery space while sitting on their couch at home. Some of these devices are more interesting than others and offer features like arms you can move around. But there are also some that try too look as much as a real human as possible.<br />
+The part of all this that I find most interesting is how people try to come up with devices to represent their bodies when they can't be at a certain location themselves - some are basically trying to create a copy of your own body. But you could also approach these devices from the other side: what is needed for a computer or robot to be perceived as a living being, or perhaps even a human. The latter seems to be very hard, with lifelike robots often being right in the middle of the uncanny valley, the area where a robot looks a lot like a human but not quite, making them plain creepy. The first is something that seems to happen more often - we automatically personificate objects or programs that seem to have some sort of intelligence.
 == Relation to previous practice ==
-In my previous work I searched for ways to connect invisible digital systems to physical interfaces. My first big project in this area was called ''Test Screen'' and basically consisted out of groups of dials and switches (96 in total) around a flatscreen monitor, set in a large wooden panel. I wrote a small computerprogram that would display an image similar to the old television testscreens and each of the dials and switches was connected to a part of the script of this program. By manipulating these controls, the audience was able to change my code and in that way what would happen on the screen. I choose to not use a generic computer with keyboard and mouse but to built a custom interface as a way to get the audience more involved, since for many using such an unknown interface is far more appealing - and telling by the time some visitors spent at the installation it worked.<br />
+Though unrelated to robots or artificial intelligence, my previous work was also about the manifestation of a digital system; ''Test Screen'' was an interface to connect to an abstract piece of code. The installation consists out of groups of dials and switches (96 in total) around a flatscreen monitor, set in a large (110x60cm) wooden panel. I wrote a small computer program that would display an image similar to the old television test screens and each of the dials and switches was connected to a part of the script of this program. By manipulating the controls, the audience was able to change my code and change what would be displayed. I choose to not use a generic computer with keyboard and mouse but to built a custom interface as a way to get the audience more involved, since for many using such an unknown interface is far more appealing - and telling by the time some visitors spent at the installation it worked. The form of the object (it's size and layout of switches and dials) was based on the code you were able to change with it and wouldn't really fit any other program - it reflected the character of the system.
-Later I made ''The Poking Machine'' (TPM) with [[User:Grrrreat | Bartholomäus Traubeck]]. Users can ''poke'' each other on Facebook by clicking a button on their profile pages, and the recipient will get a message saying he or she was poked. TPM will keep track of these messages while it is strapped around your upper arm. When it detects a poke, a small plastic lever will come out of the box and will physically poke you, translating this meaningless written message into an actual gesture.
+[[Image:testscreen.jpg|300px]]
+The same can be said for ''The Poking Machine'' (''TPM''), which I made together with [http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/User:Grrrreat Bartholomäus Traubeck]. Facebook Users can poke each other by clicking a button on their profile pages and the recipient will receive a message saying he or she was poked. ''TPM'' is a small (9 x 7 x 5 cm) box made out of green transparent Perspex which you can strap to your upper arm using the attached piece of velcro. It will then use your phoneʼs internet connection to keep track of incoming pokes and when it detects one, a small plastic lever will come out of the box to physically poke you in the arm. This translates this meaningless written message into an actual poking gesture. Again, this was an object, or interface, made to servo a single program.
+[[Image:Poking-Machine.jpg|300px]]
+[[Image:Poking-Machine-Arm.jpg|285px]]
+[[Image:Poking-Machine-Inside.jpg|139px]]
 == Relation to a larger context ==
-Meaning practices or ideas that go beyond the scope of your personal work.  Write briefly about other projects or theoretical material which share an affinity with your project.  For example, if you are researching urban interventions, you might talk about Situationist approaches to psychogeography, urban tactical media and activist strategies of reclaiming the streets.  Or, if you want to explore the way data is tracked, you might touch upon the politics of data mining by referencing concerns laid out by the Electronic Frontier or highlight theoretical questions raised by Wendy Chun or others.  (Keep in mind that we are *not* expecting well formulated conclusions or persuasive arguments in the proposal phase.  At this juncture, it's simply about showing an awareness of a broader context, which you will later build upon as your research progresses.)
+For decades - if not longer - man has thought of creating life - from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem Golem] to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASIMO Asimo]. Creating artificial life similar to ours still seems far away, but there is no denying that we are more and more surrounded by 'smart' systems and the way we connect to them has moved from consoles and buttons to more natural ways that entangle them with our lives.
+< expand, particularly  about the art context >
 == Practical steps ==
-Describe how you will go about conducting your research through reading, writing and practice.  In other words, through a combination of these approaches, you will explore questions or interests you have laid out in your general introduction.  In this section you can help us understand how your project will come together on a practical level and talk about possible outcome(s).  Of course, the outcome(s) may change as your research evolves, but it's important to have some idea of how your project might come together as a whole.
+Creating world's best AI or robot would of course be great, but is not very realistic. Instead I'll be focussing on how we see artificial entities, from computer scripts to physical devices. Why and when can you see a man made object as a thinking character?
+The first small experiments I did involved both a scripted system and a random moving mechanical object that both seem to be thinking or trying to reach some set goal, even though this was not the case at all.
+<needs clarification>
 == References ==
+* Hoffmann, E.T.A., (1816) The Sandman<br />
-Hoffmann, E.T.A., (1816) The Sandman
+* N. Katherine Hayles, (2005) My mother was a computer<br />
-N. Katherine Hayles, (2005) My mother was a computer, The University of Chicago Press
+* N. Katherine Hayles, (1999) How we became post human, virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics<br />
-R Barbrook (2005) Imaginary Futures,
+* R Barbrook (2005) Imaginary Futures,
+* The Hunt for AI (2012), Marcus Du Sautoy
+* Where is my robot? (2008), Danny Wallace
+* Hugo (2011), Martin Scorsese (based on the children's book by Brian Selznick)
+* Isaac Asimov
+</div>