Transmission #12: Simulated interiors and the uncanny valley, anti-fragile AI, doodlebugging and woobies.
Design, ideas and other flotsam
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This is Transmissions by me, Martin Brown. Father. Husband. Design Lead at Craig Walker and lecturer at RMIT. Marty to most.
This is an ongoing fortnightly newsletter that collates some of the more interesting stories, links, quotes and other curios that float my way.
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Design
The Strange, Soothing World of Instagram’s Computer-Generated Interiors
Anna Wiener, New Yorker
It seems that with the exponential advances in 3D modelling and rendering engines, we’ve finally crossed the uncanny valley …and landed squarely in the world of aspirational interior design. Though IKEA has been doing this for years (up to 75% of their catalogue images were 3D rendered), now, thanks to the democratisation of software and the processing power, simulated realities have now invaded Instagram.
Alongside the peaceful, perfectly-lit interiors, this high-quality rendering has birthed a new genre: extremely satisfying animations, that scratch a strange subterranean layer of consciousness, somewhere deep, down next to ASMR and cleaning videos.
For an explanation of how procedural-3D software like Houdini conquered the uncanny valley, see this fantastic video essay by Alan Warburton from a few years back: Goodbye Uncanny Valley
On a related tangent, also 3D-rendered are these: a series of Italian concept cars from the 70s. The design emerging from Italy in that period was really something else.
Ideas
A.I. Is Solving the Wrong Problem
Marianne Bellotti, OneZero
A reminder of something we should already know. Most of the world’s great problems are not solvable in the way that an equation is solvable. Therefore AI won’t help us solve problems when the problems are intrinsically political.
The interface that needs fixing is us. How might we fix us? How can we come to better decisions? Well, maybe AI can help.
"The process of making a decision is less about an objective analysis of data and more about an active negotiation between stakeholders with different tolerances for risk and priorities. Data is used not for the insight it might offer but as a shield to protect stakeholders from fallout. Perfect information — if it is even achievable — either has no benefit or actually lowers the quality of decisions by increasing the level of noise."
Quotes
“Its names are as numerous as its aims: divining, doodlebugging, water witching, water smelling, peach-twig toting, well prophesying, rhabdomancy, and, from the lips of the most pragmatic among them, finding water with a stick.”
— Dan Schwartz, Into the Mystical and Inexplicable World of Dowsing
At the level at which we can watch bacteria, trying to make conclusions about them would be like trying to evaluate the well-being of France by counting the number of national monuments that were built over time in Paris.
— Anon., An Interview with an Anonymous Biologist
Chart of the Week
The entropy levels of 100 world cities by the orientation of streets. Source (via @emollick)
Other
Soldiers really love their woobies. So… what’s a woobie?
Worlds within worlds: role-playing games inside Grand Theft Auto. Link
Ever wondered how long it took to get around the Roman Empire? Wonder no longer. Like Google Maps, 100AD edition.
A legendary Reddit thread: UFOs incoming on July 8th. Mark it in your calendar.
What actually was it about 1971?
