Abstract:The purpose of artistic practice has frequently been to translate human visual experience into pictures. By viewing these pictures we can retrospectively share something of the world the artist saw, and the way he or she saw it. Over the centuries artists have evolved highly refined methods for depicting what they see, and the works they produce can provoke strong emotional, aesthetic, and perceptual responses. Looking at a painting by Vincent van Gogh of a vase of sunflowers, for example, can be more thrillin… Show more
“…It may even be that, given the presence of visual cues such as the photographers’ legs and nose in the picture periphery, we will experience something of the subjective viewpoint of the photographer itself. In sum, we are looking as ‘from inside’ the picture rather than ‘at it’ (Pepperell, 2017). Figure 10.A 360° photograph of the artist’s studio (equi-rectangular map).…”
The ‘viewing sphere’, as defined by Euclid and explored by Gibson as the ‘optic array’, is generally thought of as wrapped around the eye. Can an observer step out of it? With currently popular photographic techniques, the spectator is forced to, because the viewing sphere is presented as a pictorial object. Then the question is whether human observers are able to use such pictorial representations in an intuitive manner. Can the spectator ‘mentally step into the interior’ of the pictorial viewing sphere? We explore this issue in a short experiment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, because the eye cannot see itself, the short answer is no.
“…It may even be that, given the presence of visual cues such as the photographers’ legs and nose in the picture periphery, we will experience something of the subjective viewpoint of the photographer itself. In sum, we are looking as ‘from inside’ the picture rather than ‘at it’ (Pepperell, 2017). Figure 10.A 360° photograph of the artist’s studio (equi-rectangular map).…”
The ‘viewing sphere’, as defined by Euclid and explored by Gibson as the ‘optic array’, is generally thought of as wrapped around the eye. Can an observer step out of it? With currently popular photographic techniques, the spectator is forced to, because the viewing sphere is presented as a pictorial object. Then the question is whether human observers are able to use such pictorial representations in an intuitive manner. Can the spectator ‘mentally step into the interior’ of the pictorial viewing sphere? We explore this issue in a short experiment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, because the eye cannot see itself, the short answer is no.
“…The Fovography technology derives from six years of multidisciplinary research, drawing on artistic practice such as painting and drawing, the history of art, the philosophy of perception, the psychology of visual perception, and computer graphics (Pepperell 2012, Pepperell 2017, Pepperell & Burleigh 2014. Until very recently it was not feasible to implement these systems in working image technology due to their geometric complexity.…”
We present a new and immersive form of imaging technology, Fovography, which has shown measurable benefits in the broadening of attention. Narrow fixation on screens, such as tablets and smartphones, and resultant neglect of peripheral visual field may be harmful to visual perception and cognitive functioning, with consequent effects on psychological health and wellbeing. Many immersive technologies and virtual reality systems, which narrow the focus of attention to the central visual area, are used in clinics, surgical theatres, treatments and training, and may be doing harm as well as good. We aim to improve existing imaging technologies, which are based on linear perspective, by developing more perceptually natural technologies that are modelled on human perception and awareness, and incorporate peripheral sensory information for improved naturalistic perspective. We have empirically tested the benefits of Fovography technology in the areas of attention modulation, user preference, immersion, empathy, visual comfort and spatial presence. Potential applications include tools for mindfulness training, spatial awareness, perceptual psychology, and other medical or therapeutic uses. The benefits of our approach include greater reported wellbeing due to decreased anxiety and fixation.
To understand consciousness within the framework of natural science we must acknowledge the role of energy in the brain. Many contemporary neuroscientists regard the brain as an information processor. However, evidence from brain imaging experiments demonstrates that the brain is actually a voracious consumer of energy, and that functionality is intimately tied to metabolism. Maintaining a critical level of energy in the brain is required to sustain consciousness, and the organisation of this energy distinguishes conscious from unconscious states. Meanwhile, contemporary physicists often regard energy as an abstract mathematical property. But this view neglects energy's causal efficacy and actuality, as identified by Aristotle and later appreciated by many important biologists, psychologists and physicists. By reconsidering the nature of energy and recasting its role in neural activity, we arrive at a theory of consciousness that is consistent with the laws of physics, chemistry and biology. The argument draws on the integrated information theory (IIT) developed by Tononi et al. but reinterprets their findings from the perspective of energy exchange. In IIT, the conscious state in a system, such as a brain, is defined by the quantity of integrated differences, or information, it contains. According to the approach outlined here, it is in the nature of energy to manifest differences of motion and tension. The level of complexity of the energy differences in a system determines its conscious state. Consciousness occurs because, in Nagel's terminology, there is 'something it is like' to be a sufficiently complex state of energy differences.Consciousness, metabolism, energy, brain, information theory
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