This article is the first in a series on Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and creativity. Generative AI is a new type of artificial intelligence that’s able to create new, original content from user generated prompts. It can create original images, music, literature, computer code, product designs, drugs, and more. While I’ll briefly discuss how Generative AI tools work in upcoming posts, I won't go into a lot of detail. There are many informative articles and videos on this subject for non-technical readers that do a good job of explaining the foundational concepts and technologies. I'll include a few links to recommended resources at the end of each post.
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I'm beginning the series with thoughts on the Old Masters' use of mirrors and lenses, and the invention of photography, to place Generative AI into the larger context of the deep, ongoing relationship between art and technology. In the next issue, I'll focus on Generative AI image creation tools, including OpenAI’sDalle-2 and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion. Then, I’ll turn to text generation tools, including ChatGPT. I’ll close the series by exploring ways to integrate these tools into your creative workflow. Along the way, I’ll touch on how these tools affect our understanding of creativity, how they impact the creative process itself, and the new skills creatives need to develop in the emerging age of Generative AI.
How do you see the world? The literal answer is that you see through your two eyes. But it's not that simple. The pictures of the world you carry in your head are fabrications assembled from what you see with your unaided vision and what you see through the myriad lenses that alter what you see with your naked eyes. From the lenses in the glasses and contacts many of us wear to "correct" our vision, to the enhancement lenses in common tools such as magnifying glasses, binoculars, microscopes, telescopes, and the more advanced imaging systems in tools such as thermal imaging scopes, infrared scopes, night vision scopes, X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs, how we see and what we see is augmented by technology.
Generative AI, and especially generative image creation tools, are something new. But the connection between image making and technology is not new. In fact, it’s older than we’ve previously believed.
Have you ever looked at a painting by Da Vinci, Holbein, Caravaggio, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Ingres or one of the other Old Masters and wondered how they achieved the realistic effects that give their paintings such a strong sense of realism? If so, you’re not alone. There have always been hints that from the early fifteenth century on, Western artists used mirrors and lenses (“optics”) to create live projections that helped them produce more realistic drawings and paintings. But concrete evidence of their use has been elusive. If the Old Masters used optics, the tools and techniques remained secret knowledge.
The painter David Hockney also wondered whether the Old Masters used optics, and if so, how their use affected the development of painting. To answer these questions, Hockney organized hundreds of high-quality color reproductions of portraits into what he called his “Great Wall”—five centuries of Western portraiture, from “pre-optic” portraits in Byzantine mosaics to an 1889 Post-Impressionist portrait by Vincent Van Gogh. The portraits were arranged chronologically on the horizontal axis and geographically on the vertical axis. This allowed him to track the development of specific visual effects and styles as they evolved over time from country to country.
What Hockney discovered over the course of the two years he dedicated to studying the images on his wall is that the use of mirrors and lenses was far more widespread than previously known. Working with art historians, scientists, and friends, he was able to show that Renaissance artists used curved mirrors and lenses as they worked to develop perspective and the treatment of light and shadows that create a sense of depth (chiaroscuro). He also developed compelling evidence that the camera obscura (a device that projects images in a darkened room) and the camera lucida (a device that superimposes an image of the subject being viewed on the surface the artist is drawing on) were instrumental in the development of photographic realism in portraiture.
Hockney believes the first verifiable evidence of the use of optics appears in a 1430 portrait by Jan van Eyck, Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife:
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We’ve all seen convex mirrors mounted on the ceilings and in the corners of shops and other retail premises. So why do shops use them and what benefits do they provide?
Convex mirrors are sometimes called diverging mirrors, fisheye mirrors or dome mirrors. The reflective surface bulges outwards toward the light source which results in a distorted image but an expanded field of view. It is this wide-angle field of view which makes convex mirrors highly suitable for security applications in shops and retail premises.
Appropriately located convex security mirrors provide the ability to literally see around corners which is enormously valuable when your aim is to protect your shop from thieves.
It can be very difficult to deter and prevent shoplifting, but convex security mirrors provide a very low cost and highly effective security and anti-theft solution. Alternative options would be to ensure there are enough shop staff to monitor every shop visitor or to widely deploy security cameras. Both of these solutions are more costly and possibly less effective.
By carefully selecting and installing appropriate convex security mirrors a single member of staff will often be able to effectively monitor all shopping aisles directly from the till position. And when staff are away from the till position a well placed convex security mirror will allow them to keep an eye on the till while they deal with other responsibilities. What’s more, the visible presence of convex security mirrors acts as a highly effective deterrent to any opportunist, would-be shoplifters.
Retail security mirrors are available in various styles and sizes to suit all possible applications. Key differences include the fields of view, the maximum viewing distances along with the materials used to manufacture them and their mountings.
For example, rectangular convex retail security mirrors are available in sizes up to 1 metre in width providing a maximum viewing distance of 30 metres. Smaller, circular convex security mirrors with a diameter of just 300mm offer maximum viewing distances of just 2 to 3 metres.
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Wide angle ceiling dome mirrors are sometimes called hemispherical mirrors because they resemble half of a sphere. Mounted on or from a ceiling they offer a full 360 degree view making them ideal for installation in the middle of a shop or retail space. By looking in the security mirror shop staff are able to easily monitor people browsing and any would-be shoplifters will be deterred by the prominent presence of a ceiling dome mirror.
Half dome mirrors are half the size of hemispheric dome mirrors and provide a 180 degree field of view. They are typically mounted between walls and ceilings in retail premises. Mounted in these locations they enable shop staff to easily monitor customers to prevent shoplifting.
Quarter dome security mirrors are half the size of half dome mirrors. By strategically mounting these mirrors in the corners of retail premises, between they ceiling and two walls, shop staff can easily watch what shop visitors are doing and prevent theft.
Poor shop security can be an invitation to shoplifters who will repeatedly target retail premises where it is known that security is weak. Convex shop security mirrors provide a very cost effective solution but it’s important to carry out a little planning before investing in some security mirrors.
Convex security mirrors are available in a variety of sizes and styles. Rectangular convex retail security mirrors are a popular choice for many shops and a carefully considered combination of various convex mirror styles and sizes will provide maximum visibility and security.
It’s important to consider exactly what the installation of convex retail security mirrors is intended to achieve. Typical aims include:
As noted, convex security mirrors have optimum viewing distances so the size of the retail premises and the distances between the viewing position and the proposed mirror locations is important.
It is recommended that a plan view of the shop layout is used to determine exactly which styles and sizes of convex security mirrors are needed and where they would be optimally located to provide the required coverage.
An important consideration which mustn’t be overlooked is the choice of mirror materials. Convex security mirrors are typically manufactured from robust polycarbonate which is virtually unbreakable and 200 times stronger than glass.
If it is essential that shop security mirrors are entirely unbreakable then it’s important to select mirrors which are made from unbreakable Polymir or stainless steel.
Here at Insight Security we are always ready to help with your security issues. Call us on 01273 475500 for free help and advice.
This message was added on Thursday 26th September 2019
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