Concepts of Cybernetics

The term of cybernetics began its rise to popularity in 1947 when Norbert Wiener used it to name a discipline apart from touching, but to establish disciplines as electrical engineering, mathematics, biology, neurophysiology and psychology. Wiener needed a name for their new discipline, and he adapted a Greek word meaning “the art of steering” to evoke the rich interaction of goals, predication, actions, feedback and the response in systems of all kinds.

 

Early applications in the control of physical systems (aiming artillery, designing electrical circuits and simple robots, like drones) clarified the fundamental roles of these concepts in engineering, but the relevance to social systems and the softer sciences was also clear from the start. Many researchers from the 1940s through to the 1960 worked solidly within the tradition of cybernetics without the necessarily using this certain term.

 

When working to originate the functional models common to many systems, early cybernetic researchers quickly realized that their science of observed systems couldn’t be separated or disconnected from an observing system- as it is we who observe. The cybernetic approach is centrally concerned with this inescapable limitation of what we can know, our own subjectivity.

 

In 1948 Norbert Wiener published his book Cybernetics. In this book Wiener made references to an 1868 article by a British physicist on governors and pointed out that the term governor is derived, from the same Greek word that gives the rise to cybernetics. This book marked the birth of cybernetics as independent science.

 

Wiener was a mathematician and philosopher that took creativeness from the radar operator and the relationship between the user, the screen, the technology and the district of space in which these properties were operating in a network. His works on anti-aircraft technology led to the formulation of the principle of cybernetics, which later influenced the creation of robotics, computation and automation.

 

Although Weiner’s work help create the first designs for self guiding rockets, which are able to respond and to be programmed to negotiate the environmental conditions through a series of feedback. Weiner innovation was to arrange and construct a system that enables self-correcting actions. This self-correcting action would include the machine of the rocket automatically adjusts its velocity, direction and speed, allowing the rocket to match a certain target.

 

Ironically, AI and cybernetics have each gone in and out of style and influence in the search for machine intelligence. Cybernetics started in advance of AI, but AI dominated between 1960 until 1985, although there were repeated failures to achieve its claim of building “intelligent machines” finally caught up with it. These difficulties in AI have lead to renewed search solutions that could mirror prior approaches of cybernetics.

References:

Paul pangaro. 2018. Pangarocom. [Online]. [31 May 2018]. Available from: http://www.pangaro.com/definition-cybernetics.html

Britannicacom. 2018. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Online]. [31 May 2018]. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/science/cybernetics

 

History between technology and art

When it comes to the history between technology and art, some may think there is little or no connection. But throughout history, technology has provided artists with new and improved tools for expression. Although technology and art are two seemingly distinct disciplines, they are interlinked, more than ever. Technology is now a fundamental force in the development and evolution of art.

All throughout the world, people are engineering our future. The Internet, digital fabrication, biotech, self-modification and virtual reality, these are all altering our lives and our view of the world and us. Scientists, software developers, inventors along with musicians, visual artists, filmmakers and designers are al busy creating new and innovative human experiences. Thanks to these people, not only is original art being made everywhere, but entirely new art forms are evolving as well.

More and more artists are pushing the boundaries of art, looking outside of what’s perceived as “traditional” to incorporate other aspects into their work. Art is becoming less and less static, taking up many new different shapes, from printing digitally created sculptures in 3D to creating a room full of VR’s allowing the audience to experience a whole new world of art.

Since the beginning of the postmodern art era, roughly from the 1860s, the most influential players – renowned artists, museum curators, art critics, art fair promoters and, especially, powerful gallery owners – have been dictating the behaviour of the whole art world. But modern ways in which art is created, produced, distributed, marketed, preserved and supported have shifted as a direct reaction of the world’s transition to a socially connected, digital society – to the age of the internet.

Traditionally, artists have been going to a gallery with their portfolio, and the gallery decides whether the work is good enough to expose. Now, they turn to the web – to exhibit their work and to sell it, too. With new services such as crowd funding, for the first time artists are able to raise money online to pursue their ideas.

With the Internet and new technologies of fabrication, remixing, editing, manipulating and distributing, it is becoming easier to create things – and share them with the world. What is changing and probably – arguably – for the worse is that it is now easier to create “art”, and we see a lot of “bad” art being created and exposed. A huge concern is that, as a result of so many new tools and techniques, we may lose our sense and ability to evaluate what is great art.

Possibly, the traditional art market – collectors, gallery owners, critics, curators and even other artists – may question whether the artist who uses the web for promotion is a true professional. But whatever the reaction may be, the change is already happening, and it is too important. The art market will grow on it and get used to it – it always does.

References:

Drone Radio Show. 2018. Industrial Drones – Robert Dahlstrom, Apellix – Drone Radio Show. [ONLINE] Available at: http://droneradioshow.com/industrial-drones-robert-dahlstrom-apellix/. [Accessed 16 May 2018].

Australian Popular Science. 2018. Apellix Is An Exciting Drone For A Boring Job | Drones | Robots | Australian Popular Science . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.popsci.com.au/robots/drones/appelix-is-an-exciting-drone-for-a-boring-job,417394. [Accessed 16 May 2018].

Live Tweeting

When it comes to live tweeting, it opened up a whole new world to me. I have never done anything like live tweeting before. If I ever go to the movies I’m more interest about the movie not what keeping people posted about every little aspect of the film. I will say, it was a lot harder then I thought.

 

When it came to live tweeting, I tried to change my style of writing to see how the audience interacted best. I got several results, some were better then others but I still learnt a whole lot from live tweeting.

 

In week one we watched an amine film called ‘Ghost in the Shell’. I felt very much out of my element and was confused about what to tweet about.

I had never watched anime in my life, so it was very eye opening for me. One of my first tweets I wrote something along the lines of trying to understand anime and I put a photo up from a scene of the ghost in the shell and straight away I got a few comments from people in the class. Some were in the same boat as me whereas others were lost and confused as to how I’ve never watched anime. This comment sparked a conversation in the room. As it was my first week I also added some funny/joking tweets for those who don’t understand anime (people like me) and it also got a good result among the audience.

 

In the second week my tweets seemed to be a little more serious compared to my first week.

 

I felt like West world had a more serious subject matter hence why my tweets were more thoughtful. I tried to add more light to my tweets by adding gifs, yet I was also lost for words and felt inspired by some other people’s tweets in the room. This was the first week I retweeted someone else’s post.

 

Week 3 was an absolute confusion for me. I wasn’t a big fan of the film so I really didn’t have anything good to say about this film. Most of my comments were mocking the film and saying how horrid it was, but oddly enough the class felt the same. I believe this was one of the weeks that I got the most likes; this is where I found my style of writing. I decided that most of tweets from now on were going to have information behind it yet feature an element of humour.

 

Week 4 gave me delight, as it was one of my favourite films, the matrix. I felt like I had finally had an insight to a film we viewed in class. In the past few weeks we watched films that I had never heard of before. Yet my insight wasn’t as good as I thought. The reaction to my tweets were just average, I had minimal funny tweets and more tweeting referencing to certain articles or reddit pages. Although this was interesting to me, It wasn’t interesting enough to the class.

The first episode of Black Mirror that we watched in class was quite confronting and really pushed me to explore the limits and boundaries of technology. Most of the tweets I made were rather serious yet they seemed to capture the audience in different ways. Like in week 2 of live tweeting, I would occasionally add gifs in to lighten up the tweet. A few people retweeted my tweets, but average I got very minimal engagement with the class compared to the past few weeks.

In week 6 we watched a very sentimental film, Robot & Frank. I got so lost in the beauty of this film and researching into certain articles that I almost lost sight of live tweeting. I felt very inspired by other peoples tweets, thus most of my tweets were retweets that really make me think about the purpose of this film. This film was so advanced yet engaging that there was no need for mocking or even funny remarks. I believe this is why I didn’t have the certain engagement that I was after.

After the downfall of the past 2 weeks, I decided to go back to my ways of live tweeting. I lost the inter-action of several people in the class and I wanted to get that back. I made some very sarcastic yet serious comments about this episode in week 7. I even retweeted a post or two and the engagement was back. Several people retweeted my posts, I came to the realization that many people had the same thoughts as me during this screening.

Blog Post 2

For my research report I was planning on exploring the advantages of drone painting. In the year 2013 the first drone was created and able for the public to use and buy, but to further understand the use of drones we have to go back a few more years. Drones were created by the U.S military to gain advantages over their rival without risking the life of a single solider. Although drones were created for military reasons, drones are now used by nearly anyone for any reasons. Some people use drones to provide a wonderful vantage point for capturing breathtaking aerial video footage or even used to film a game of any sport. The possibilities are endless when it comes to drones, but I want to know how far a drone can be pushed for artistic reasons.

 

There is currently a company over in America called Apellix that are designing/engineering the very first painting drone. Now this drone is meant to be used on large-scale items such as; skyscrapers, bridges, tanks and any other large-scale jobs that can endanger a worker. But what if we can program this drone to do more?

 

The Worker Bee drone can be connected to a mobile base station via an umbilical cord on the ground. The drone has a spray wand to paint walls, while the base station houses the paint reservoir, air compressor and power source whilst reaching up to three stories high. Flying while administering paint presents unusual technical challenges as it could affect the layer of paint sprayed. Yet Apellix tinkered with the size of the drone’s spray wand and propeller blades along with the distance it should keep from the walls. This allows the drone to have an even layer of paint on the wall.

 

Although that is the plan, there are several software issues faced by this company. The software and data are meant to pick up sensors such as such as accelerometers, barometers and GPS to help the drone compensate for wind when spraying as it can move the drone around quite a bit. Yet the software has failed to do this.

 

If I were to create a digital artefact I would want to create a series of works on canvas made by drone painting. Although Apellix have created a drone that can paint houses, I would use a drone to create a series of works that could possibly reach out to the public. Some works can be simple yet creative, other works could even be inspired by certain landscape or people. Yet it’s a work that could be creative with an audience.

 

Although I loved this idea, it’s not as easy to do as I thought. It wouldn’t be possible for me to get my hands on a drone that can do a series paintings. I wanted to create works in public areas and film people’s reactions to the painting drone. The aim of filming this in a public area is to get the audience involved with the work. Some people may just walk along, some people may stop and ask question about the work or the drone. If I capture this on camera I could upload sections onto an instagram page. Some uploads on the instagram page could be the work being made by the drone yet just fast-forwarded, as short clips engage the viewer better then longer clips. I could even film people interacting with the drone; the limit is endless with this work.

 

This digital artefact could have really developed into something beautiful and really engaging yet the limit of not having a drone that can paint restricts my work. This is something I would talk about in my presentation. I need to find a new way around this, I’m just not sure how.

 

I was thinking of doing a research report on this painting drone, whether it is the way of the future for certain businesses. If this is the case, how far can be push a drone? Can drones deliver food across the nation, or can it deliver a series of goods for people in need? This is something I’m willing to look into for my research report.

Drone Painting

Drone painting; is it the new art form of the future?

In the year 2013 the first drone was created and able for the public to use and buy, but to further understand the use of drones we have to go back a few more years. Drones were created by the U.S military to gain advantages over their rival without risking the life of a single solider. Although drones were created for military reasons, drones are now used by nearly anyone for any reasons. Some people use drones to provide a wonderful vantage point for capturing breathtaking aerial video footage or even used to film a game of any sport. The possibilities are endless when it comes to drones, but how far can we push it?

Currently drones are hyped for delivery, entertainment and racing but now there is a company that plans to release a drone that can paint the inside of your house. This emerging field is gaining traction and showing how drones can potentially reduce death in any dangerous occupations. The team Apellix that engineered this painting drone has come up with a group of drones designed to work on painting skyscrapers, bridges, tanks and any other large-scale jobs that endanger a worker. This painting drone will be known as the Worker Bee.

The Worker Bee drone can be connected to a mobile base station via an umbilical cord on the ground. The drone has a spray wand to paint walls, while the base station houses the paint reservoir, air compressor and power source whilst reaching up to three stories high. Flying while administering paint presents unusual technical challenges as it could affect the layer of paint sprayed. Yet Apellix tinkered with the size of the drone’s spray wand and propeller blades along with the distance it should keep from the walls. This allows the drone to have an even layer of paint on the wall.

Another issues faces by Apellix are the software behind the drone. The software and data pick up sensors such as accelerometers, barometers and GPS to help the drone compensate for wind when spraying as it can move the drone around quite a bit.

If I were to create a digital artefact I would want to create a series of works on canvas made by drone painting. Although Apellix have created a drone that can paint houses, I would use a drone to create a series of works that could possibly reach out to the public. Some works can be simple yet creative, other works could even be inspired by certain landscape or people. Yet it’s a work that could be creative with an audience.

I could create an instagram account and ask the public what they would want to see. This could include the colours used or a viewer could suggest a location or actor that has inspired them.

Another element that would compliment the work is filming the work being created. I could go to a public area within Wollongong or Sydney. All I have to do is create the software for the drone. This will allow the drone to move in certain ways with the paint creating a completely random work. The aim of filming this in a public area is to get the audience involved with the work. Some people may just walk along, some people may stop and ask question about the work or the drone. If I capture this on camera I could upload sections onto an instagram page.

Some uploads on the instagram page could be the work being made by the drone yet just fast-forwarded, as short clips engage the viewer better then longer clips. I could even film people interacting with the drone; the limit is endless with this work.

Although drone painting is the way of the future for certain business, why should it stop right there? We have this amazing technology in our hands, why waste it all on certain business that can paint buildings or bridges when we can use drone painting to create something beautiful or even something interactive. I know if I was walking to work or uni and saw a drone creating an artwork it would make my day. I want to branch out the Worker Bee for something new and creative. Even though the logic behind the Worker Bee by Apellix is incredible, how far can we push this little drone?

References:

Stone, Z. (2018). Bye, Bye Brushstrokes — Drones Are the Future of Painting. [online] OZY. Available at: https://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/put-down-your-brush-drones-are-the-future-of-painting/79198 [Accessed 21 Mar. 2018].

Inside Unmanned Systems. (2018). Air Brushed: New Drones Make Painting Easier – Inside Unmanned Systems. [online] Available at: http://insideunmannedsystems.com/air-brushed-new-drones-make-painting-easier/ [Accessed 21 Mar. 2018].