Abstract

In this talk, I will try to discuss the trajectory of technology adoption over the past 30 years, as seen through the lens of milestones in my field, Human-Computer Interaction. We have witnessed amazing technological advancement, especially over the past few years. At the same time, I think it is fair to say that humans are in danger of diminishing themselves in their continued increase of reliance on automation. I will draw on research from students in the Four Eyes Lab (for research in Imaging, Interaction, and Innovative Interfaces) and report from the overall research landscape in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, to outline a few things the current generation of the technologically privileged and future gatekeepers of technology (i.e. you) could do to keep human creators and practitioners in charge and on a self-improving pathway.

Bio

Tobias Höllerer is Professor of Computer Science and affiliated faculty in Media Arts and Technology at UCSB. He directs the “Four Eyes” Laboratory, conducting research in the four I's of Imaging, Interaction, and Innovative Interfaces. His research spans several areas of HCI, real-time computer vision, computer graphics, social and semantic computing, and visualization. He obtained my PhD in computer science from Columbia University in 2004. In 2008, he received the US National Science Foundation’s CAREER award for his work on “Anywhere Augmentation”. This work enabled seamless mobile augmented reality and demonstrated that even passive use of AR can improve the experience for subsequent users. He served as a principal investigator on the UCSB Allosphere project, designing and utilizing display and interaction technologies for a three-story surround-view immersive situation room. He co-authored a textbook on Augmented Reality and has (co-)authored over 300 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications in areas such as augmented and virtual reality, computer vision and machine learning, intelligent user interfaces, information visualization, 3D displays, mobile and wearable computing, and social and user-centered computing. Several of these publications received Best Paper or Honorable Mention awards at esteemed venues including IEEE ISMAR, IEEE VR, ACM VRST, ACM UIST, ACM MobileHCI, IEEE SocialCom, and IEEE CogSIMA. He is a senior member of the IEEE and IEEE Computer Society and member of the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy. He was named an ACM Distinguished Scientist in 2013. He served as an associate editor for the journal IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics and has taken on numerous organizational roles for scientific conferences, such as program chair for ACM VRST 2016, IEEE VR 2015 and 2016, ICAT 2013, IEEE ISMAR 2010 and 2009, general chair of IEEE ISMAR 2006, and as a past member and current vice chair of the steering committee of IEEE ISMAR.

For more information about the MAT Seminar Series, go to:
seminar.mat.ucsb.edu.

Professor Kuchera-Morin will discuss the connections between a selection of artworks with another presenter Frederick Janka, Executive Director of the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation. The selected artworks will be discussed along with the connections between them and current and upcoming artworks and projects at the Allosphere and the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara.

You can register for this event here: COLOR, LIGHT, MOTION episode 28.

Orchestrating AI Models for Visual Expression: Artistic and Technical Approaches for Designing and Intervening in AI-Based Image Systems

Abstract

The advent of generative AI has introduced unprecedented creative capacities in image-making, accompanied by a parallel expansion in automation. Yet, because these systems are trained on vast datasets calibrated for statistical normativity, they risk engendering a homogenization of visual culture—flattening aesthetic diversity, marginalizing visual histories, and diminishing creative complexity. Furthermore, the considerable computational resources and specialized technical competencies required for meaningful engagement with these models pose significant barriers to access and customization, further constraining their creative potential.

This dissertation explores how computational creatives can address these challenges by reclaiming agency within generative AI systems through artistic and technical interventions that involve repurposing and combining different models and designing novel computational systems. It proposes that creative authorship resides not only in the final output but also in the systems configured to produce them. Rather than treating generative AI as a fixed tool, this research approaches AI models as elements within flexible systems—comprising modular components, datasets, and workflows—that can be reconfigured based on aesthetic objectives, artistic intentions, and cultural contexts.

Grounded in a practice-led systems-oriented methodology, the research investigates three main aspects: (1) applying AI models in art projects to meet creative computational needs; (2) extending the creative affordances of AI models by designing hybrid code–AI workflows and real-time interactive experiences; and (3) mitigating the visual culture gap between AI-generated imagery and advanced photographic aesthetics through systematic model fine-tuning, feature engineering, dataset curation, and the composition of cross-model AI systems.

Through these practices, the research demonstrates how computational artists can act as orchestrators of generative AI systems—building custom datasets with AI models, combining multiple models to solve complex tasks, and designing novel interfaces to reshape the user experience—thereby shaping and diversifying aesthetic outcomes beyond the constraints of current AI image systems.

Sketches of Sensorium

Sketches for Sensorium showcases core elements of the late environmental artist Newton Harrison’s (1932 - 2022) long-term project, Sensorium for the World Ocean. It will premiere at the AlloSphere as a satellite to the UC Irvine Beall Center for Art and Technology’s forthcoming exhibition, Future Tense: Art, Complexity, and Uncertainty, produced in partnership with the 2024 Getty PST Art: Art and Science Collide initiative. The installation will incorporate immersive audio and visual scientific climate and ocean health data provided by the Ocean Health Index of the Halpern Lab at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.

Sketches for Sensorium is a project of the Center for the Study of the Force Majeure in collaboration with Virtual Planet Technologies, Almost Human Media, and the AlloSphere Research Group. It will premiere with an original spatialized composition and an interactive data world, following Newton’s wish to impart a sense of hope to audiences.

For more information, please visit:

news.ucsb.edu/2024/021608/immersive-ocean-health-project-premieres-ucsbs-allosphere-part-getty-pst-art

www.independent.com/2024/09/11/sketches-of-sensorium-part-of-getty-pst-art-at-uc-santa-barbara

allosphere.ucsb.edu/research/sketches_of_sensorium/2024.html