The Future of Digital Editing

With the drastic advancements in technology within the past decade, we continue to see improvements in its development and evolution towards futuristic views that we could once only strive to imagine. The tendency of technology now and likely in the future is dematerialization. We are seeing products like televisions and computer monitors shrinking down in size, and finding ways to maximize uses of devices such as the iPhone or Blackberry’s. I envision for the future with all this dematerialization is that we will soon see many things become obsolete in the world around us.

What I propose for my future technology in digital editing is what I would call the Holographic Synthesizer/Synchronizer – or ‘Holosyn’ for short. The Holosyn is a universal handheld device that people will carry with them everywhere, allowing the owner to approach any holographic technology and digitally edits it to their saved customized preferences. This may be in public locations, a friend’s house, or even at school. All that is required is for the holographic technology to be available and supported. What I mean by ‘holographic technology’ is a room that is composed of holographic projectors which are interconnected throughout the walls, and allows residents or owners to fully customize how they would like to decorate and express themselves.

Remember the times when you were a child and loved to draw pictures on just about anything? Well, children will be able to express their creativity by virtually drawing on their walls without it being permanent. Parents can edit the color of their walls just by opening a color palette on the wall and selecting the desired hue, or even adding a patterned texture. Physical picture frames will no longer be needed, seeing as owners will be able to customize their walls and place whichever pictures they want on the walls. Entrepreneurs would be able to load up all their presentation files just by using the Holosyn device and have a magnificent widescreen interactive view. Students will be able to become more involved with learning and education through the limitless capabilities of what a teacher would have at hand to teach the material. In addition, the students will have the luxury of being able to go on more field trips, experiencing the world first hand because of how portable a classroom will be. The Holosyn is what will keep all this data together, and unifies all holographic devices and technologies. It’s also equipped with all the capabilities of a cell phone, making it the ideal future handheld device.

The first major milestone that will contribute to the development of Holosyn would be for scientists to make the holographic technology affordable, and easy to install. Both of these need to be true in order for this idea to be implemented worldwide and to catch on. Once it’s available to the general public it will soon become recognized for its capabilities, paving the way for a unified system of communication – thus following along the trend of dematerialization. The main issue would then be installation, seeing as there needs to be a way for pre-existing houses to be able to utilize this new development. Once it has been installed though, all the walls would be fully customizable, and would act as a large personal computer allowing multiple users to be working on it at the same time. This would make purchasing multiple computers for each family member obsolete, and would not limit to where you would like to set up your workstation – providing more flexibility and space for other household essentials.

In addition, the use of holograms will redefine how digital editing will take place, introducing an entirely new suite of editing programs by adding an interactive 3D dimension to design. This would be the next step of designing, and a big step forward in terms of marketing and media. Models, cartoons, and movies will all be revamped. The new developments that will branch out from holograms will be the beginning of a new era in how arts and design will be created and perceived.

Next would be the growth of data storage, and its transfer. Let’s face it; people are not going to use something that takes ages to transfer. What we are beginning to see are increased file sizes in both pictures and video due to the demand for higher quality. This means that there needs to be a steady increase in storage for these sorts of media for them to equate the demanding increase. We are now seeing terabytes sold commercially, and in the future I suspect that hard-drives will consist of multiple terabytes in order to satisfy the consumer’s needs. With that said, the transfer speeds of data will likely increase in parallel to the larger capacity of data available.

A present day technology that is indicative of what may come in the future is the recent issuing of new identification cards such as passports or drivers licenses. In the United States and certain parts of the world, they are now embedding a new microchip called the ‘radio frequency identification’ chips, or RFID chips for short. These RFID chips allow for quicker purchases or identification through emitting radio waves. “Now cellphone makers like Finland’s Nokia Corp. are building the chips into their phones. That could transform the cellphone into a universal payment device that could supplant the credit card altogether.” (Bray, 2006, ¶ 3). This relates to the Holosyn through the aspiring need to unify and dematerialize for convenience. It renders the carrying of multiple cards or devices useless, combining them all into an all-in-one device.

USB mass storage devices have become an everyday essential to business people and students alike. They are a dependable way of universally transporting files and data without the need of internet access. Any computer with a USB port will be able to read, use, and extract data from them. The latest version is USB 3.0 (released in August 2008), which will operate at a ‘SuperSpeed’ rate of 5.0 Gbit/s (625 MB/s). The continual increase in data rates are an integral detail for the increases in capacities of data. As mentioned before, these two go hand-in-hand and complement each other.

Some past information I have drawn upon in the development of my imagined technology have come from other media shared to me by friends. ‘World Builder’, a short-film by filmmaker Bruce Branit is about a man who uses holographic tools to build a world for a loved one. From this short-film, I came up with the idea of using holographic technology for editing and model building. I then thought about how I would like to broaden the target user group of my futuristic technology. After recently finishing a project for an interactive arts course (IAT 102), I recalled how we were to design interactive posters where users can place a RFID handheld device on a location on the poster and download more information instantaneously. This was a neat idea, and I could see it having potential to become more wide-spread in the near future which is why I’ve decided to build off the idea and take it a step further. Then, what tied it all together was a video of future technological innovations to be expected by the year 2010 from Microsoft which I came across while researching. Many of these innovations to come are all very exciting to see, and I cannot wait to see how society will adapt to all these upcoming changes.

Reference List

Bray, H. (2006, August 14). Credit cards with radio tags speed purchases but track customers, too. The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/08/14/credit_cards_with_radio_tags_speed_purchases_but_track_customers_too/

Digital Native. (2009, March 4). Microsoft has developed digital innovations for 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://www.sebastiencamusot.com/en/2009/03/04/microsoft-presente-les-innovations-digitales-developpees-pour-2020/

Radio-frequency identification. (2009, April 7). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID

Universal serial bus. (2009, April 6). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#USB_mass-storage

The Technological Development of Digital Editing History

Photo manipulation can be traced back to the 1840 Pre-Industrial Revolution, where a race for who would be the first to patent a photographic process for photos took place. This was eventually won by Louis Daguerre due to “[François] Arago’s [a member of the French Academy of Sciences] conflict of interest” (Bayard, 2008, para. 3). Frustration from being edged out, Hippolyte Bayard created the very first ‘fake’ photo where he pretended to be a suicide victim. Although this wasn’t a manipulation of the image, it created the idea that pictures can be faked or tampered with to give off a realistic image that would be contested as a truth.

The first notable manipulations of photographs were ones that dealt with an emphasis on character or reputation to the public. A notable doctored portrait of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln appeared soon after the American Civil War ended. The iconic photo was done by using a headshot of Lincoln, and cutting-and-pasting it onto the body of Southern leader John Calhoun. The reasoning being, “.. Because there were hardly any appropriate ‘heroic-style’ portraits of Lincoln made during his life.” (Boese, n.d., Lincoln). Most often people desired the ‘noble’ look, thus unwanted little facial characteristics, such as wrinkles were usually removed.

Moving onto the Industrial Revolution era, the manipulation of photographs has progressed further on top of what it already was. Its entailed use has grown to become more of a weapon – a propaganda weapon. During this period many people who fell out of favor or were perceived as enemies with dictatorships, were often removed from photos in an attempt to remove all proof of their existence. This was most noticeable in Russia, under the reign of Josef Stalin where numerous photographs were altered to purge certain figures from the Soviet’s history. This tampering with photos was not only prevalent in Russian history, but also in Chinese history as well.

Becoming what is known now as digital editing, it has made leaps and bounds from what was capable when it first began in the Pre-Industrial age. It has now evolved into a popular form of art, and opened the horizons to new viable ways of expression for people who may not be the most skilled artistically. Now in contrast to where artists are said to usually be poor, it is no longer necessarily the case. In the business world today, the increasing “.. Need for digital image manipulation have become essential for many businesses.” (Vicarious, 2008, para. 9). With the ability to enhance promotional packages and aid in the marketing of products or services, this is a step forward and has opened up many new job openings in the economy. What’s even better is that the multiple forms of art can be transitioned into one another with ease, causing artists nowadays to become more versatile.

With such advancements there are some negative exploits that are looked down upon. These activities are usually pinned upon the media, such as airbrushing photos in fashion magazines, or tarnishing the public image of stars, sports figures, and political people. A recent example would be a photo of Sarah Palin that was distributed over the internet once it was released that she would be the vice presidential nominee from the Republican side. The photo was a composite of Palin’s head on top of another female’s body in a bikini while carrying a firearm. Although it was shortly revealed to be a fake, it certainly raises the issue of validity. Can we honestly believe everything we see anymore? Does “Seeing is believing” still hold true?

Reference List

Boese, A. (n.d.). Lincoln’s portrait. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/lincolns_portrait/

Boese, A. (n.d.). Portrait of the photographer as a drowned man. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/portrait_of_the_photographer_as_a_drowned_man/

Boese, A. (n.d.). The commissar vanishes. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/photo_database/image/the_commissar_vanishes/

Censorship of images in the soviet union. (2009, March 14). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Retrieved March 17, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union

Digital imaging manipulation. (2008, November 5). Vicarious conversations, Retrieved March 12, 2009, from https://vicariousconversations.com/~vicario1/MWT/tiki-index.php?page=digital+imaging+manipulation

Farid, H. (2009, February). Photo tampering throughout history. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/farid/research/digitaltampering/

Hippolyte bayard. (2008, December 20). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Retrieved March 17, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippolyte_Bayard

REFERENCES -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1909/marconi-bio.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_of_radio

http://thinkexist.com/quotes/guglielmo_marconi/

Some uses in the real world:
- Fashion magazines
- Tabloids
- Posters/promotion
- Censorship (Soviet Union – http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union)
- Personal display pictures shown online

On a personal level, it’s rapidly growing popular amongst teenagers; made evident by the various amounts of online photo editing websites that have popped up in recent years (www.picnik.com, www.fotoflexer.com, www.photofunia.com, just to name a few). These online services enable those who may not have the will or time to learn how to use graphics editing software to create quality pictures. All of it is done online allowing users access anywhere in the world, and without the need to download a new program.

What you do first is select the picture you wish to edit from your computer and upload it. Then, you’ll be given multiple options for how you want to alter the picture. The essentials across all online photo editors are: rotate, crop, resize, and red-eye. But of course, just having the bare essentials isn’t enough to attract the masses – there needs to be more incentive to overcome the competition. To do so, there are assortments of other effects available to choose from that range from simple to fancy.

Below are some examples:

With the development of digital technology and the ability to alter images in misleading ways, a sub-discipline called digital forensics emerged. This specialization is used by intelligence agencies, news organizations, and scientific journals when there is a “.. need to authenticate the validity of images.” (Dreifus, 2007, ¶ 4). An area of major concern is in the world of Science where there has been a growing trend of fraud jumping from 26% in 2001, to 44.1% in 2006 (Dreifus, 2007 ¶ 11). With these staggering numbers, it brings concerns as to whether or not the publications are an acceptable truth.

From an academic standpoint, I feel that it’s caused a negative effect on how we record data. It’s causing us as a society to become socially aware of what information we absorb and where it’s coming from because there’s always a chance that it may not be true. But to begin with, we should question everything we see by instinct (such as media). This causes the brain to stay sharp, and be able to comprehend between different claims.

Due to the increasing numbers of fraud, I believe that there needs to be new qualifications and procedures to be met before sources (photographs) are to be merited as legitimate. As the upbringing of digital forensics advances, we’ll slowly see through the frauds. This extra step will ensure that all information being recorded has been thoroughly examined for falsity. The time interval in between processing the information will be tedious and slow things down, but for accuracy’s sake it’ll be worth it.

References -
Dreifus, C. (2007, October 2) . Proving That Seeing Shouldn’t Always Be Believing. Retrieved February 8, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/science/02conv.html?scp=1&sq=photo%20manipulation&st=cse

Censorship of images in the Soviet Union. (2009, January 31). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Retrieved February 8, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union)

my results from doing the ‘plagiarism tutorial’.

this blogging thing sure gets addicting doesn’t it? there just seems to be some sort of thrill to continuously update and make it the best possible. it’s a similar to the type of feeling i get when maintaining a new website i’ve just created. you just double check, triple check, again, and over again just to be certain there arn’t any flaws. either way, we’ll see how long this continues on for.

tomorrow will be a special day, but will it be special is the question. i’m here to predict it’ll be the same as any other old day.. maybe with a few steps of improvement with more people knowing about it.. but i don’t expect anything big.

this semester/year/new years resolution/whatever you want to call it – i promised to be a keener and to be ontop of studies. so guess where’s a likely place i’ll be spending the rest of my weekend? that’s right, at home. it’s really easy to tell everyone that i’m a determined person, but all that determination depends on how important you view the goal as. so in order to succeed, i’m going to have to really ‘prioritize’ (i keep telling people this) everything that’s happening in my life right now.

live and learn, right? the 1st semester was a learning curve, and now that it’s over i’m going to have to make improvements to how i tackle this next semester. in my head i’ve already assessed it over and over again, now it’s time to act upon the results. wish me luck, because i desperately need this semester to be successful.

oh by the way if anyone’s in IAT 100 with David Botta, please drop out & tell your friends too so i can get in! the reason i’m here is to take IAT courses, and i’m only enrolled into 1 (IAT 102). i really don’t want to be set back by 1 course.. sigh.

it’s surprising how blogging comes up as one of the course activities eh? i’m a first year currently in the faculty of applied sciences majoring in computer science – or so i thought. this is my first semester at SFU Surrey, and 2nd day of classes. i’ve only been to SFU Surrey one other time last semester, so i’ll probably be seen wondering around finding my classes and whatnot. not to worry though, i’m a quick learner and pick up on things pretty quickly.

now getting back to the reason i’m here is that i’m planning on transferring into an IAT and Business joint-major or just an IAT and Business minor. i’m still kind of trying to get a feel for things, so we’ll see how things turn out. i’ve had previous experience with graphics design and have been doing it as a hobby since i was 12. some of my work is displayed in the fan section of canucks.com (yes, go canucks go). hopefully by following this concentration allows me to discover what i want to do.

coming here after a full semester at SFU Burnaby, things will take time to adapt. during my stay at SFU Burnaby, i became a member of the social club, CAC (Canadianized Asian Club). after attending their ‘icebreaker’ i found that they were having applications for exec positions. cutting to the chase, after the interviews i was chosen along with 20 some odd others. through the club i’ve met many new people and have made new friends, so coming here i hope to do the same – but there arn’t any clubs! so if you’re interested in becoming more socially involved and interested in meeting new people, come up to me and i can tell you a bit more about the club.

now, i’m just rambling and getting caught up in this whole blogging aspect. getting back to the course content..

my favorite technology would have to be the computer. i remember way back then, my first computer was a windows 95.. with the whole clunky CRT monitor and what not. oh, and not to forget the many stacks of floppy disks! it’s been a decade now, and look at where we’re at. this rapid advancement of computers and technologies alike is an evident proof that society and the world is relying more and more heavily on computers as a way to store information, view information, produce products, for leasure, and etc. the capabilities of computers are still advancing, and the sky’s the limit.