scholarly journals Indistinguishable from Magic: Perception, Knowledge, Technology, Art

Leonardo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 510-514
Author(s):  
Garfield Benjamin

The term magic has long been associated with both technology and art. Whether an illusion performed on stage or the search for the supernatural, magic is concerned with changing either reality itself or our perception of it. Each new technology takes on a magical role by increasing humans' power to manipulate the world around them. Similarly, magical practices are often labeled arts, and the manipulation of our perceptions by artists often creates quasi-magical experiences. Four approaches to magic in relation to digital art practice—illusionist, alchemist, necromancer and sorcerer—offer a mode of understanding the manipulation of perceptual reality by artists using digital technologies. The framework will then be applied to five such practitioners—Pascal Dombis, Anne-Sarah Le Meur, Antoine Schmitt, Dmitry Morozov and Zaven Paré—who demonstrate the quest for the unknown and the manipulation of knowledge to create a new reality.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalal Elmoutawakkil ◽  
Nabil Hacib

Advanced digital technology is rapidly changing the world, as well as transforming the dental profession. The adoption of digital technologies in dental offices allied with efficient processes and accurate high-strength materials are replacing conventional aligners workflows to improve overall patients’ experiences and outcomes. Various digital devices such as 3D printers, intraoral and face scanners, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), software for computer 3D ortho setup, and 3D printing provide new potential alternatives to replace the traditional outsourced workflow for aligners. With this new technology, the entire process for bringing clear aligner production in-office can significantly reduce laboratory bills and increase patient case acceptance to provide high-quality and customized aligner therapy.


Leonardo ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 471-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane Paul

This essay identifies the current qualifier of choice, “new media,” by explaining how this term is used to describe digital art in various forms. Establishing a historical context, the author highlights the pioneer exhibitions and artists who began working with new technology and digital art as early as the late 1960s and early 1970s. The article proceeds to articulate the shapes and forms of digital art, recognizing its broad range of artistic practice: music, interactive installation, installation with network components, software art, and purely Internet-based art. The author examines the themes and narratives specific to her selection of artwork, specifically interactive digital installations and net art. By addressing these forms, the author illustrates the hybrid nature of this medium and the future of this art practice.


Author(s):  
Emilia Sosnowska

This paper reflects a fraction of research which sets out to examine the complex constructions and debates underpinning visual culture theory, and assesses its adequacy as the main theoretical framework with which to engage in contemporary interactive art. The treatment presents digital art in Japan with its roots in traditional East Asian philosophy giving the senses a prominent role in perceiving the world and enabling perfect symbiosis between humans and machines. This paper points out the expansion of this culturally and traditionally inspired spirituality from its natural and cultural context to contemporary digitally mediated environments. This is accomplished through an analysis of digital interactive work by specific artists located in Japan, such as Kumiko Kushiyama, Masaki Fujihata and Ryota Kuwakubo.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Veton Zejnullahi

The process of globalization, which many times is considered as new world order is affecting all spheres of modern society but also the media. In this paper specifically we will see the impact of globalization because we see changing the media access to global problems in general being listed on these processes. We will see that the greatest difficulties will have small media as such because the process is moving in the direction of creating mega media which thanks to new technology are reaching to deliver news and information at the time of their occurrence through choked the small media. So it is fair to conclude that the rapid economic development and especially the technology have made the world seem "too small" to the human eyes, because for real-time we will communicate with the world with the only one Internet connection, and also all the information are take for the development of events in the four corners of the world and direct from the places when the events happen. Even Albanian space has not left out of this process because the media in the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Kosovo are adapted to the new conditions under the influence of the globalization process. This fact is proven powerful through creating new television packages, written the websites and newspapers in their possession.


Author(s):  
Руслана Ринатовна Абдурахманова ◽  
Людмила Ивановна Кругляк

Новые цифровые технологии не только изменяют ландшафт финансовых услуг, но и несут новые угрозы кибербезопасности. Поэтому современные условия функционирования экономической системы предопределили значительные трансформации в подходах к организации консалтинговой деятельности. New digital technologies are not only changing the landscape of financial services, but also pose new threats to cybersecurity. Therefore, thecurrent conditions for the functioning of the economic system have predetermined significant transformations in approaches to the organization of consulting activities.


Author(s):  
Robin Hanson

Robots may one day rule the world, but what is a robot-ruled Earth like? Many think the first truly smart robots will be brain emulations or ems. Scan a human brain, then run a model with the same connections on a fast computer, and you have a robot brain, but recognizably human. Train an em to do some job and copy it a million times: an army of workers is at your disposal. When they can be made cheaply, within perhaps a century, ems will displace humans in most jobs. In this new economic era, the world economy may double in size every few weeks. Some say we can't know the future, especially following such a disruptive new technology, but Professor Robin Hanson sets out to prove them wrong. Applying decades of expertise in physics, computer science, and economics, he uses standard theories to paint a detailed picture of a world dominated by ems. While human lives don't change greatly in the em era, em lives are as different from ours as our lives are from those of our farmer and forager ancestors. Ems make us question common assumptions of moral progress, because they reject many of the values we hold dear. Read about em mind speeds, body sizes, job training and career paths, energy use and cooling infrastructure, virtual reality, aging and retirement, death and immortality, security, wealth inequality, religion, teleportation, identity, cities, politics, law, war, status, friendship and love. This book shows you just how strange your descendants may be, though ems are no stranger than we would appear to our ancestors. To most ems, it seems good to be an em.


Author(s):  
Simeon J. Yates ◽  
Eleanor Lockley

This chapter reviews prior work on technology acceptance and then reports on a nationally representative survey of UK employees exploring both employee’s personal experiences of digital technologies at home and work and their evaluations of the effectiveness of the technologies and the “digital culture” in their organization. Presenting the results of 3040 UK workers, it seeks to explore the factors that influence digital roll-outs by focusing on the experiences and perceptions of the UK workforce as a whole, with the expectation that introducing new technology alone isn’t enough. This research explores how “digitally ready” organizations are in the UK in terms of people, processes, and company culture. It concludes that a large proportion of the UK workforce are not seeing the benefits of digital technologies. Importantly, there is a need for organizations to understand that making digital solutions a success is a process of cultural change in their organization.


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonny Norton ◽  
Kelleen Toohey

In this review article on identity, language learning, and social change, we argue that contemporary poststructuralist theories of language, identity, and power offer new perspectives on language learning and teaching, and have been of considerable interest in our field. We first review poststructuralist theories of language, subjectivity, and positioning and explain sociocultural theories of language learning. We then discuss constructs ofinvestmentandimagined communities/imagined identities(Norton Peirce 1995; Norton 1997, 2000, 2001), showing how these have been used by diverse identity researchers. Illustrative examples of studies that investigate how identity categories like race, gender, and sexuality interact with language learning are discussed. Common qualitative research methods used in studies of identity and language learning are presented, and we review the research on identity and language teaching in different regions of the world. We examine how digital technologies may be affecting language learners' identities, and how learner resistance impacts language learning. Recent critiques of research on identity and language learning are explored, and we consider directions for research in an era of increasing globalization. We anticipate that the identities and investments of language learners, as well as their teachers, will continue to generate exciting and innovative research in the future.


Author(s):  
Steven Feldstein

This book documents the rise of digital repression—how governments are deploying new technologies to counter dissent, maintain political control, and ensure regime survival. The emergence of varied digital technologies is bringing new dimensions to political repression. At its core, the expanding use of digital repression reflects a fairly simple motivation: states are seeking and finding new ways to control, manipulate, surveil, or disrupt real or perceived threats. This book investigates the goals, motivations, and drivers of digital repression. It presents case studies in Thailand, the Philippines, and Ethiopia, highlighting how governments pursue digital strategies based on a range of factors: ongoing levels of repression, leadership, state capacity, and technological development. But a basic political motive—how to preserve and sustain political incumbency—remains a principal explanation for their use. The international community is already seeing glimpses of what the frontiers of repression look like, such as in China, where authorities have brought together mass surveillance, online censorship, DNA collection, and artificial intelligence to enforce their rule in Xinjiang. Many of these trends are going global. This has major implications for democratic governments and civil society activists around the world. The book also presents innovative ideas and strategies for civil society and opposition movements to respond to the digital autocratic wave.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4-1) ◽  
pp. 180-203
Author(s):  
Elena Stukalenko ◽  

Digital technologies, ubiquitous in our daily life, have radically changed the way we work, communicate, and consume in a short period of time. They affect all components of quality of life: well-being, work, health, education, social connections, environmental quality, the ability to participate and govern civil society, and so on. Digital transformation creates both opportunities and serious risks to the well-being of people. Researchers and statistical agencies around the world are facing a major challenge to develop new tools to analyze the impact of digital transformation on the well-being of the population. The risks are very diverse in nature and it is very difficult to identify the key factor. All researchers conclude that secure digital technologies significantly improve the lives of those who have the skills to use them and pose a serious risk of inequality for society, as they introduce a digital divide between those who have the skills to use them and those who do not. In the article, the author examines the risks created by digital technologies for some components of the quality of life (digital component of the quality of life), which are six main components: the digital quality of the population, providing the population with digital benefits, the labor market in the digital economy, the impact of digitalization on the social sphere, state electronic services for the population and the security of information activities. The study was carried out on the basis of the available statistical base and the results of research by scientists from different countries of the world. The risks of the digital economy cannot be ignored when pursuing state social policy. Attention is paid to government regulation aimed at reducing the negative consequences of digitalization through the prism of national, federal projects and other events.


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