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Ougmented Chonging: Olgorithmic Ond Implicotions Imoge
Ougmented Chonging: Olgorithmic Ond Implicotions Imoge
Routledqe
[\ r"yu,rr-.iic-,p
ougmented reolity
ond the chonging implicotions of the imoge
WITLIAM URICCHIO
TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT
My argument in
ISSN1472-586XDrirted/lssNl472-5878online/ll/010025
llo20ltlnternationalvisualsociologyAssociation
26
W. Uricchio
ll9).
algorithms remained
The algorithmic turn: photosynth, augmented reality and the changing implications of the
image
27
places'.
MARKING VALUE
One of the semiotic strategies that Culler discusses is the
'marker'. Drawing on Dean MacCannell's The Tourist,
as any
kind of information or
representation
as a
sight: by giving
it
The assignment
28
W. Uricchio
in Sarah
turn.
The paradox of the image as a site of meaning and value
turns on its reciprocal relationship to the object or place
photographed. As discussed, sometimes the location can
give the image its significance, and sometimes, as Culler
notes, the image can give the location its meaning.
The algorithmic turn: photosynth, augmented reality and the changing implications of the image
29
from San
it may or may not be accepted, depending upon the
a synth,
of
turn.
Consider Canaletto's painting Piazza San Marco with the
Basilica (1730). An impressive display of three-point
perspective, the basilica is at the centre of the frame, and
the lines provided by the Procuratie Vecchio and
30
W. Uricchio
recomposition.
Instead, there is simply a three-dimensional space made
up of many textures and granularities, and the means to
move within it. Whereas in Canaletto's case, the
subject-object relationship is geometrically fixed, in
Photosynth's dlmamic assemblage the relationship is
unstable, subject to the whims of the user and the
capacities of the algorithmic. We can move within and
across particular points ofview confront radical shifts in
angle and inhabit a visual cacophony bound together by
a point cloud that enables our viewing position. While it
is certainly the case that the individual images that make
else is a
71rc
algorithmic turn: photosynth, augmented reality and the changing implications of the image
FIGURE
2. Photosynth imaqe of
31
http:// photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid:c8c6203d-c36
-4700-a343 2a5cd0c06013.
lens or on a
seen
through
32
W. Uricchio
is
even
(Virilio
is
The algorithmic turn: photosynth, augmented reality and the changing implications of the
image
33
PERSPECTIVE
are
action.
One is tempted to call upon the distinctions drawn
between travel and tourism that Culler charts - one an
open and unstructured experience, with signification
arising from new and unexpected ways of seeing; the
other, carefirlly charted and well-labelled, fixed in
34
W. Uricchio
of
NOTES
II
1990, 9)
Perhaps the algorithmic can benefi.t from a similar
insight. Although of
[2]
REFERENCES
CNN. 2009 The moment. http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/
2009 I
44.president/inauguration/themoment/.
The algorithmic turn: photosynth, augmented reality and the changing implications of the
Heidegger,
In
essays,
New York Harper
Torchbooks.
In
Philosophical papers and letters,2nd ed., edited and
translated by Leroy E. Loemker. Boston: D. Holland.
35
image
'
http://whitneyannetrettien.com/thesis/.
Virilio,
London: Verso.