What it is to see: a simulation of artificial vision
Cordelia Erickson-Davis, Stanford University
Boston 2017: Visual and Sensory Approaches
Brain machine interface devices like the artificial eye have been heralded as “the next step in human evolution,” but it is unclear what effects the devices will have. What will subjects see when the device is turned on? What does it mean for the device to “work”? In collaboration with researchers producing these devices, I have developed a computational model that simulates the perceptual experience of an individual with artificial vision. I will demo the simulation as an example of a novel way of gaining and conveying ethnographic knowledge through the mobilization of experimental methods and collaborative engagement. Brain machine interface devices like the artificial eye have been heralded as “the next step in human evolution,” but it is unclear what effects the devices will have. What will subjects see when the device is turned on? What does it mean for the device to “work”? In collaboration with researchers producing these devices, I have developed a computational model that simulates the perceptual experience of an individual with artificial vision. I will demo the simulation as an example of a novel way of gaining and conveying ethnographic knowledge through the mobilization of experimental methods and collaborative engagement.
