Behind the Algorithms - Notes
Glitch
exploring unpredictability of time leaps and system crashes, delays
topology of error
information is fragile ↔ noise as a source of new patterns
space between interfaces where digital art can function as a subversion of the polished make-believe future of the information era (well, shall we say we capitulate on this one - respectfully lay it to rest…)
code wriggles to the surface of the screen
code stripped of functionality
we serve no content (jodi)
translation path does not exist
glitch = political, anarchic; draws attention to the constructed nature of information
from useless UI shuffling (topographical amnesia) to deep drifting (derive)
is it broken or is it meant to sound like that?
glitch = discrepancy between intention and expectation
exploring spaces of non-lethal glitches - mutations, changes, corruptions
glitch as a catalyst of change and mutation - away from sedentary systems
different sites where glitches occur have dif. levels of fragility (data, protocol, system, intersystem…)
engineering errors: physical, bit level, input data, system, application, interaction…
to avoid collapse: loosen structure, make new connections, focus on emergence
for a sendentary system a glitch produces meaningless noise, in an emergent system the noise can become a new pattern. decay of one system can incite growth of another.
incompatible protocols, data & platforms, flakey networks
digital decay, graceful degradation
rotting of protocols and routines
rheumatic interfaces with noise oozing out of them, demented search engines
virus in the corporate genome (an element of play and awareness of the market whose tools are colonising us)
Related: live coding, fluxus
Weaving & coding
weaving 0s & 1s - patterns
Sadie Plant - touching, distributed sampled fragments of lives and media tear the focus of singular vision apart
worn out space punctured w/holes and openings
efficient algorithms for real time performance
Related: weavecoding, mathematickal arts
Connections at a distance
HCH/HRH
remote sensuality, dispersion & integration of identities
systems based on association & interconnection
computers and mnemonic machines supporting distributed collaboration between humans
nn+mlf
organic membranes shivering in data winds
biogenes & morphomemes
content → context
author → context provider
media → actuators of interconnected events
creation → facilitation
emergence of tools that enable generative interconnection
distributed people connected through digital tools
UI morphing to different users
facilitating collaboration between networked participants
focus on what computers do well (crunching data) and enable people who are using the computer to do what they do well (whatever that might be)
ecstasy of communication at a distance
tubing between uncooperative sw, hw & people
design tools must be flexible to minimise constraints on the creative process
sculpting, kneading, weaving metaphors for interfaces
Related: tangible programming, promiscuous pipelines, lyta
Blur, confusion, memory
'what happens to life in our embodied actual when the object of our investigation becomes a virtual replicator?'
Vanishing point becomes an unstable topology
perception of realities increasingly blurry
a forest of live wires
media synaesthesia
media transformed by the environment in which they are experienced
interfaces as multidimensional mnemonic spaces
a glue layer between indeterminate components
digital materials with properties of elasticity, stiffness and fluidity
Related: responsive spaces, mixed reality, GRIG
Emergent systems
process = growth & decay
epidemic interaction, fragmentation, functional paralysis, catastrophe - a need for a designing machines with an immune system to enable adaptation
edge habitats - constant glitches - locally unstable, globally stable oscillations (e.g. tides), continous translations - space filling & clearing processes
robustness comes from withstanding interactions and resisting constraints - non-equilibrium dynamics incorporates glitches and mutates accordingly
distributed control. probabilistic co-evolution of divergent processes
able to heal & repair damage
unblocking information flows
breaking down hierarchical file-systems
away from systems that contain instead of communicate with media
an elastic system, extendable and scalable frameworks, learning, negotiating, remembering and forgetting
machine learning, tools that evolve with time and usage (thalience)
away from optimising, towards diversifying, evolving, becoming
result = negotiation between internal rules of each element and external conditions of the environment
using unreadable data meaningfully
systems of self-organising elements from which shape and structure emerge
Related; groWorld, Luminous Green
Autonomous machines
physical, autonomous machines
embodiment of intelligent systems
technological artefacts with their own agency
perceiving + acting → reasoning
migration of intelligence through different embodiments (virtual and physical platforms), with continuation of interaction between different bodies and sensors distributed through the environment; differences between robots joining humans in the physical world, and humans playing games in the computational worlds
What should an “agent mind” look like?
more ecologically valid context
absolute & centralised control = impossibility
a framework for developing frameworks
Related: Machine Wilderness, Silent Dialogues
Living with machines
social robots living in the same environments with people
Biological causes of behaviour
Robot should be anything but a human
How can a robotic creature live with humans? Social interest and contact, remembering and forgetting, supporting relationships and understanding social messaging, recognising and enacting expressions and emotions; privacy issues
Test: in games, where robot is a character playing a social game with you; learning from animation to design characters
ethical dimension - how will people spend time with robots? tested in interaction design prototypes; challenging people’s assumptions about the world
animist perspective in robotics - ethics essential in robot development
robots share contextuality with humans and other intelligencies - when involved with humans, they are imbued with character and personality
Related: Lirec, germination x, al jazari