Protection from racial profiling.

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Facial Weaponization Suite: Fag Face Mask courtesy of Zach Blas
Facial Weaponization Suite: Fag Face Mask courtesy of Zach Blas

In an attempt to see what some of the art world is saying about privacy and technology these days I ran across artist Zach Blas who is creating masks that I found to be very intriguing. Zach is taking pictures of people who share some sort of demographic such as race or sexuality. He then aggregates their physical features using 3-Dimensional software to create a mask that is then unrecognizable to facial recognition software. He began doing this because he was concerned that facial recognition technologies have programed certain physical characteristics as a base or norm for identifying very diverse groups of people.

The following video explains further how facial recognition technology heavily relies on norms of race, age, class, and sex. This inherently will cause the technology to discriminate against minorities which is what inspired Zach to create his “Facial Weaponization Suite” series.

What I find interesting about Zachs work is the way that it comments on how masks are viewed in our current society. Many countries around the world have laws making it illegal to wear masks during a protest. In New York it’s illegal for 2 or more people to be wearing a mask in a public place together. In Canada new laws can give people a sentence of up to ten years for wearing mask where a riot is taking place. Some of the fear around masks is legitimate and understandable but the government might be contributing to it for there own agenda of creating facial recognition databases. What is interesting about Zach’s masks is that they are simply worn by people who would rather not be racially profiled. Unlike the scary undertones that some local government laws might project, this time the good guys wear masks .


Facial Weaponization Communiqué: Fag Face from Zach Blas.

I for one think this is a nice change of pace for the modern mask. After all masks have been found in different cultures and societies for centuries. Ancient greece used masks to depict theatrical tragedies. Countries in Asia and South America placed gold masks on royalty for burial. In other parts of Africa and asia masks have been used in rituals related to hunting, fertility or religion. Masks are continually utilized today for purposes of festivities as well as protection from wind of cold . All of these examples are positive examples of masks being used throughout history, I find it refreshing to see an artist creating masks that draw attention to the fear that surrounds masks all the while questioning the validity of technologies that governments use to “keep us safe”.

Surveillance cameras aren’t for security anymore.

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cc Andrea Roberts
cc Andrea Roberts

This past week in class our instructor Daina Watts shared a story with us about an experience she had buying some shoes.  She was originally searching for shoes on-line and shortly thereafter ads started popping up on her computer screen for those same shoes.  This is not anything that is unfamiliar to any of us.  Many of us are aware of he fact that our on-line habits are tracked and that different companies use that tracking data to personalize the ads that appear on our screens. The extra creepy part occurred a bit later when Dana bought the shoes in a store and suddenly the ads stopped appearing on her screen.  In class several people chalked it up to a coincidence but maybe it isn’t a coincidence at all.

It turns out that if you own a smart phone then you might just be tracked during your real world shopping experiences.  More and more retailers are investing in technology and surveillance cameras that will follow the wifi signal on your phone.  This technology allows for stores to study your habits while you are shopping around in the same way that amazon does when you are shopping online. According to an article in the New York Times in some situations if you have provided any personal information to the store by giving them your email or downloading their app then they can even get access to what you were looking at on the web the night before. Stores use this data to study shopping habits that will help them to make decisions about products people are interested in and areas of the store that seem to be under or over utilized. Retailers can also use it to personalize your shopping experience and send you coupons for things you have been looking at.

A Washington post article from October of last year states that the Future of Privacy Forum is is developing an opt out list for people who wish to register their device on a sort of “do not track” list.  Although the article stated that this registry would be launched in a few weeks it unfortunately has not yet been made available.

The question is would you sign up?  Is the idea of your shopping habits being tracked in the real world more troublesome to you than your shopping habits being tracked online?  I for one wouldn’t mind getting a coupon for the very item I’m thinking about buying.  After all, the ads on Daina’s screen did go away after she bought the shoes.  Now she can discover new deals not just based on her online shopping habits but her real world habits too.

 

Augmented Artist Statement

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As an art teacher I’m always trying to get kids to talk about art and the visual world around us.  There are so many strategies that I have learned over the years to help kids to do this but I am always looking for new ideas.  In my classes students are often talking about their processes and doing reflective writing as their project comes to a close.  Still, I often feel that communicating their ideas and processes verbally is extremely important and not practiced enough in school.

Aurasma is an app that allows students to create a visual overlay onto an existing image by scanning it much like you would a QR code.   With Aurasma students are able to videotape themselves talking about their art work rather than writing.  I prefer this as an art teacher because as I stated before I want kids to be able to express their ideas and what they are seeing verbally.

Here is a Ted talk to help better illustrate Aurasma.
https://embed.ted.com/talks/matt_mills_image_recognition_that_triggers_augmented_reality.html

Presentation is another important component in the art room.  By augmented arts statements students are adding a new interactive element to their presentation that allows the viewer to see and hear the artists perspective or thought process. As time goes on I hope to explore many of the other possibilities that Aurasma has to offer.

For this project students will be video recording their artist statements to help enhance their verbal presentation skills.  They will then use their art work as a trigger image for their video statement to appear on the mobile device in use.  When these works of art are on displayed in a gallery or in the halls of our school any student or parent who has subscribed to our classroom channel can learn more about the artist intent and process.

 

How do you do that!?

Image ~ ~ cpupovac ~ 1 Comment

Today in class I had a student ask me if we could print something in 3D.  My heart broke a little when he asked me this for several reasons.  One major reason is that I have been playing with 3D sculpting apps for a while now trying to figure out the ins and outs of certain programs in order to get it to function the way I’m wanting it to.  Late last week I finally had to temporarily shelve the idea because there simply isn’t enough time for me to figure it out before the semester is over. It seemed as though the closer I was getting to my project goal the more complicated it became.  Turns out the project I wanted to design would require totally different devices. The other thing that made me sad about saying no is that the high school has the technology to do what he is asking.  So it is right within our reach but I sadly know nothing about it, how much it costs and the program it uses.

There are few different ways I can look at this little heartache of mine.  On one hand I need to realize that I have expectations of certain programs that aren’t realistic,   The other is that I’m just not ready or I would be talking to the high school and getting us over there for at least a little tour if nothing else.  After a little reflection I realize that at some point here soon I am just going to have to dive into. At this point I should stop focussing so much on what I wish the program would do and more on what the programs will allow me to do .  This has been a tough lesson but important I am sure.  I also need to get over to the high school for a little lesson of my own.  Maybe I can bring my ideas that are just out of reach right now into a course 2 or 3 project and keep it on the horizon.  It obviously is not going anywhere and will possibly seem a bit closer if I just take a leap.

I was excited to read some of the examples and of how 3D printing is being used in schools from the 2013 Horizon Report K12.  New uses for 3D printing in education are popping up all of the time and it has encouraged me to continue researching on my own. Stratasys, a 3D printing company, is launching education case studies all over the world to help make 3D printing a reality for students in all sorts of subjects.  Some of these are really interesting and could make for great connections in building ideas of my own.

I want to leave you with one more amazing 3D printing possibility in this mini metal maker. I know that some amazing things are being made with these printers all the time but this printer in particular is one that I would love to personally have the opportunity to play with some day.  Now I just need to design a jewelry course for AES. No big deal.

The word on the street is “Change”

Video ~ ~ cpupovac ~ 2 Comments

old_classroomAre other educators getting as tired of this buzz word as I am?  Don’t get me wrong I think that our education system needs some serious revamping and I’m happy to dive in.  I’m sure most COETAIL students are willing to embrace change otherwise we wouldn’t be here blogging in the first place. I was 100% on board when David Price, author of “OPEN” came to our in service day last week. He talked about how digital culture is transforming how we think and learn. I easily identified with everything he had to say and found it encouraging to hear.  Although I find Marc Prensky’s artical in edutopia “Shaping Tech for the Classroom” to be a bit oversimplified on a few points I still very much agree with the overall message he is trying to convey.  Yes! Change is here and we need to adopt and adapt in order to move forward, let’s broaden our lens though of who is going to help get that done.

I‘m becoming exhausted by how much I hear about teachers that are resistant to change.  Really? Sure, I know there is complaining and worry that takes place, I’m probably guilty myself but how much choice do the teachers really have in these all mighty changes that should be coming down the pipe?  Shouldn’t we be looking a little past the teacher?  Is it really the teacher that is resisting the change or is it the way the educational system is set up? Does our current system really support the teacher in the changes they are willing and being told to make?  Dana Watts gave a perfect example of this in our class this past week when she asked the question “Is there a disconnect between our assessment practices and our methods of instruction using technology?” The answer to me seemed to be a resounding yes, but it isn’t necessarily the teachers that are making the assessment practices.

Closer to my point is that I am often hearing about the teacher as the problem and the one that is resistant to change.  Teachers are often the scapegoat when I believe if we really want to place blame  we should be casting a wider net. This commercial for the suface2 helps illustrates my point perfectly. This teacher admits he was resistant to “change” until all of his kids got a new surface.  A decision that, if this was reality, he most likely had nothing to do with.  He even says that he loved his chalk and blackboard.  Really? Do any classrooms in the states still use chalkboards?  I don’t think it is teachers who love their chalkboards that are holding us back. I was frustrated by this commercial because it continues to drive this idea into the ground that it’s the teachers that are holding us back from making changes to our education system.  I wish that we would stop painting pictures of teachers like this as the common public perception. As if he’s the one guy that was willing to make a change and the rest of us should get with the program.  The big problem is we’re not the ones always making the program, the teacher tends to have much less authority than the public is giving us credit for.

Short and Tweet

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The question of how to use twitter in the classroom came at me three different times in one day last week. It’s funny how things play out that way from time to time. I came across this simple example of NPR using twitter as a platform for people to share about a current event. I wanted to share it with you hoping it might spark some ideas for you. It seems to me that current events are the most obvious ways to use twitter in the classroom.  Every subject area is constantly evolving and expanding.  Twitter could be a wonderful way to quickly link up with new ideas and innovations within any subject area. This may not be an everyday occurrences but it could certainly have some impact from time to time. Up until last week Twitter in the classroom was honestly nothing I have given any thought to whatsoever.  Although I still don’t have a concrete example of how I will possibly use twitter in my classroom this does stir some possibilities in me.  Hope it does the same for you.  Check it out it’s short and sweet.

Alive Enough?

~ cpupovac ~ 4 Comments

PageImage-482766-1704072-4Following our discussion on the challenge of balance I was reminded of an interesting interview I stumbled across several months ago.  It doesn’t happen often but listening to this interview one afternoon triggered me to sit, listen and then continue to research the subject out of pure curiosity. Maybe some of you will enjoy listening as well.  I think that Sherri Turkle has some interesting things to say on the subject from an interesting perspective.  I’m sure I’ll be listening again soon. Alive Enough? Reflecting on Our Technology with Sherry Turkle

“Hanging out” and beyond

~ cpupovac ~ 2 Comments

I enjoyed the readings for this week and found them very easy to relate to. In the Living and Learning with New Media Report I was reminded of the importance of an online community.  I often have a bit of a negative attitude toward online communities since I’ve barely scratched the surface personally.  I see the attachment people around me have to these communities and will often become cynical.  Frustrated that screen time has also become part of actual physical hanging out time.

On the other hand I also see people engaging in there online communities in a truly enriching way that connects and informs.  I can honestly say I believe this is one of the reasons I have decided to sign up for Coetails.  I’m not satisfied with the small scratching of the surface I have been doing.  I find myself wasting time and not feeling enriched yet I know that the possibilities are there.  I see it around me in a more positive light all of the time.  The people that I see  “Hanging Out” and doing it in a way that I envy are often doing much more than hanging out.

I look at my own personal situation and how my husband and I each interact with social media in much different ways.  He is often posting updates on Facebook, updating linked in, catching up on his reddit feed and so much more that I’m sure I know nothing about.  I find myself often admiring how connected he is to family and friends back home.  In addition he is usually very informed with global news and gets interesting job offers left and right.  I know all of these things are directly related to how well he connects to different on-line communities.  In conclusion, I see the importance of social media and how “hanging out” can become a positive and intrical part of social wellness for younger generations. I can also see how, if taken a few steps further, it can become an important component to other successes and personal well-being. I’m sure that “Hanging out” as a younger member of society can begin to pave the way to other social and professional opportunities in the future.

Hit the ground running one too many times.

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With technological advances being thrown at me from the left and the right I’m often wondering what button to click next.  In the classroom, as an artist and in my personal life there is always a new tool to learn and a skill to master.  As a COETAILer I hope to find a more direction with many of the new tools that I am already using yet am completely unfamiliar with. I also hope to discover new tools along the way so that at some point these tools will become second nature for me as a teacher, an artist and in my personal life.