Photo filter apps: understanding analogue nostalgia in the new media ecology

As digital media have become more pervasive and entrenched in our daily routines, a nostalgic countertrend has increasingly valued the physical and tactile nature of the analogue image. In the past few years, technologically obsolete devices, such as lo-fi cameras and vinyl records, have not faded out of sight completely but are instead experiencing a comeback. At the same time, digital media capitalise on the nostalgia for the analogue and fetishise the retro aesthetics of old technologies. This article explores the emergence of photo filter and effect applications which allow users to modify digital photos, adding signifiers of age such as washed-out colours, scratches and torn borders. It is argued that these new technologies, with programs such as Instagram, Hipstamatic and Camera 360, bring back the illusory physicality of picture-taking through digital skeuomorphism. Drawing on media archaeology practice, this article interrogates the limits of the retro sensibility and the fetishisation of the past in the context of digital media, in particular by focusing on the case study of the start-up Instagram. This photo filter application neither merely stresses the twilight nature of photography nor represents the straightforward digital evolution of previous analogue features. Rather, it responds to the necessity to feel connected to the past by clear and valued signs of age, mimicking a perceived sense of loss. Faced with the persistent hipster culture and the newness of digital media, photo filter apps create comfortable memories, ageing pictures and adding personal value. As such, it will be argued that this phenomenon of nostalgia for analogue photography can be linked to the concepts of ritual and totem. By providing a critical history of Instagram as a photo-sharing social network, this article aims to explain new directions in the rapidly changing system of connective media

Discourses Across Periods of Time

This literature review explores the revolutionary effect of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) on digital art history, specifically concentrating on their capacity to enable dialogical exchanges with historical figures and deepen the understanding of artworks. This study considers the current state of research, detecting key methodologies, areas of improvement, and possible challenges and ethical concerns. The example historical figure used in this analysis is the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo’s refusal to correspond to a specific artistic style makes her an ideal subject for generative AI and VR-based investigation, offering fresh insights into her work. The incorporation of generative artificial intelligence and virtual reality technologies in humanities education, particularly in digital art history, has grown meaningful interest such as virtual museum exhibits and interactive art history course assignments offered in some universities. These tools allow immersive learning encounters, permitting students to become involved with art in advanced methods by using devices like Oculus VR. Text-based and image-based generative AI adds significantly to digital art history by producing new perceptions, depictions, and realizations from immense datasets. Additionally, the combination of generative AI and VR opens doors to vivid interactions with historical figures aided by natural language processing algorithms. While this tactic enhances historical and art history education, the following paper acknowledges the obstacles of artificial intelligence reproductions in presenting truthful responses. The paper addresses the ethical concerns linked to generative AI, stressing the importance of responsible usage in art history research. Ultimately, generative AI and VR integration promises to unlock new aspects of knowledge and understanding, further improving language learning, literature study, and cultural examination within the digital humanities

Reaching Quiet

This thesis serves as the documentation into an investigation of an intersection of elements – the digital and mechanical and the organic and natural – that create our surroundings and inform our perspectives. Informed by the complex fluidity of the organic, juxtaposed with the precision and detail of the digital and mechanical, I have worked to create systems that expose the intangible through multiple forms. Through these new analogues, I explore the convergence of time, space, perception, and reality. I approach these concepts by focusing on the projection and exploration of hope, possibility, and potential

The accessible museum: towards an understanding of international museum audio description practices

Introduction: Audio description (AD) in museums is crucial for making them accessible for people with visual impairments. Nevertheless, there are limited museum-specific AD guidelines currently available. This research examines current varied international practitioner perspectives on museum AD, focusing on imagery, meaning, emotion and degrees of objectivity, and the regional differences (Europe, US) in AD traditions, in order to better understand how museum AD can be used to enhance access. Methods: Forty-two museum describers from 12 countries responded to a questionnaire requiring fixed-choice and free-text responses about the purpose and construction of museum AD. Results: Inference tests showed that European describers agreed more strongly than US describers that AD should ‘explore meaning’ (U = 91.00, N1 = 24, N2 = 14, p = 0.03), and ‘create an emotional experience’ (U = 89.50, N1 = 24, N2 = 14, p = 0.03), rating the use of cognitive prompts as more important (U = 85.50, N1 = 21, N2 = 14, p = 0.04). Qualitative data enriched this understanding by exploring participant responses on the themes of mental imagery, objectivity and interpretation and cognitive prompts. This highlighted broader agreement between regions on mental imagery, but more acceptance of interpretation in AD from the European respondents. Discussion: US and European describers’ opinions differ regarding the purpose of AD: whether it is about conveying visual information or whether broader interpretations should be incorporated into descriptions for audiences with visual impairments. Implications for Practitioners: These findings indicate that further discussion is needed regarding the purpose of museum AD, and in particular the way in which objectivity is contextualised. They raise questions about AD providing visual information, and/or seeking to address a wider museum experience, including the stimulation of curiosity or emotion

Steganographic data heritage preservation using sharing images app

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018. With the advent of smartphones, we have the ability to take a photo and upload it to the internet whenever we desire. Hence, it may be of key importance to include metadata of the image for heritage preservation. This project focuses on heritage concepts and their importance in every evolving and changing digital domain where system solutions have to be sustainable, sharable, efficient and suitable to the basic user needs. Steganography provides a feasible and viable solution to ensure secure heritage preservation of the multimedia content. By embedding information directly into the image, the information about the image will never be lost, as it is not separated from its original source. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate this aspect via an image sharing app that allows users to exchange messages and personalized information that is embedded in the image such that it is inaccessible without knowing their keys