Introducing Computational Practice: Cybernetics

Project One: CYBERNETICS AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY (GlassesDET)

Introduction / Why this project?

I wanted to explore cybernetics because I was interested in the link between physical computer machines and people. Could interactivity between humans, and opticional technology be explored further? I thought about reproducing and recreating the solution for this answer in cybernetics. I developed the GlassesDet (short for Glasses Detection) for short-sighted people to identify objects and people from a distance through normal-looking glasses and to solve techno-social issues. It will only be a prototype made with the computational methods; Blender and P5.js

Research and Background

BACKGROUND ON CYBERNETICS AND WHY IT’S USED

Cyborgs have evolved since the first time Norbert Weiner (1948) presented the idea of the word cybernetics, and from then Nathan S. Kline formally coined the term cyborg in 1960 short for the cybernetic organisms. Cyborgnetics are mostly used in the medical field.

“In medicine, there are two important and different types of cyborgs: the restorative and the enhanced. Restorative technologies restore lost function, organs, and limbs.”
Wikipedia

This leads me to the next point of evolving technology and it’s a codependent relationship that humankind has with it. We leave our thinking to software and algorithms because it is more convenient for us. ie Alexa and Siri – combine AI algorithms designed to perform specific tasks and services through user interactions. I wanted to further prove this point is valid in all areas of life where technology is seen, including the medical optical field.

HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO YOUR WORK?

In an exploration of physical computer machines and humans in the medical field through the GlassesDET, I aimed to assist in creating the lost image in the eye behind the retina (that makes their vision blurry as the brain is trying to recreate the image) for short-sighted people to see (or at least make out) objects in the distance by labelling and outlining what it is through a visual motion detection sensor.

Similar operations are seen on the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses that allow the users to record or take pictures of their surroundings. Envision glasses also take an AI route for visually impaired individuals, with the glasses being able to detect text and read it out loud.

HOW WILL THIS HAPPEN?

For my prototype of the GlassesDET, I am using Coco SSD Object Detector with help from a channel called The Codingtrain and Blender. However, in the future, It will require a motion detector, which could be potentially done with Arduino. and Coco SSD Object detector on P5.JS, with any normal pair of glasses. This is so that the user can blend in with the everyday person. I’m also not sure how I would impart this into the lens though.

I will be using the Moscow method to analyse my project and what I will need.

MOSCOW METHOD

Must Have

Needs a way of identifying objects
Components that could blend well on the glasses
A sensor
A feedback loop

Should Have

COCO SSD
Different Styles Glasses

Could Have

Different textured glasses

Won’t Have

Too many ornaments on it for the final project.

Evaluation

WHAT DID I LIKE?

I liked

Being able to experiment with what I could do with cybernetics as it is limitless.
Understanding how to place my ideas in alignment with the brief

WHAT DIDN’T I LIKE?

Research, I don’t enjoy this phase as much as other people.

PLANS FOR NEXT TIME:

How can I make this a real product?
Experiment with different methods of making this product.

References

IDEATION

WHAT I DID THIS WEEK

My Initial idea was to try and recreate some aesthetically funky glasses, however, it didn’t work out in the end since my target market was the everyday consumer with short-distance eyesight. However, it did look like the YZY glasses that came out in 2022

I also didn’t like how envision glasseswere so outlandish that the person wearing them didn’t look normal. I thought it would be glasses that someone would definitely enquire about in their head and not in a good way. So I decided to look at the Specsavers collection for a normal sense of glasses and tried replicating from that – just for space with a sensor.

I went with the circle looking ones, just for prototyping puposes.

I quite liked how it looked on paper because I had sketched it out for 3d modelling, it would be easy and low poly to make.

I also thought about inserting the live feedback into the lens. This article has a segment on smart glasses, and how it is done. I am thinking about a similar approach for my product.

The sensor and chip however, I am unsure.