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The Department of Amphibological Research is now open for submissions!

Here at the Department of Amphibological Research, we take image recognition on new expeditions in the natural world and tease out the limits of artificial intelligence. We invite you to collaborate with our team by providing new inspiration for our amphibological experiments.

How to get involved:

Submit a specimen for analysis by photographing something in your environment and running it through an AI image recognition software (like this or this e.g.) and sending us the results. We’ll use these to create new amphibological studies for the archive.

As a token of our appreciation, you’ll receive one of our snazzy official patches (below) and a credit on the site!

Additionally, we’d love to hear from participants that have expertise in machine learning and any artists interested in creating amphibological drawings.

Yours in ambiguity,

Pamela + Matteo

Dept of Amphibological Research

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AUV flyby

flyby.mpeg 

Minor change of plans: instead of running a mission (list of waypoints), the AUV was programmed to swim laps at minimal depth; this way it would always remain in visual contact from the kayak.  This change was needed because the acoustic tracker broke and lost a channel (became mono) so was useless for tracking.  Given the strong currents and murky waters I felt this was prudent.

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An Underwater Studio Practice

Hannah Perner-Wilson (+C, KOBAKANT)

During my 7 days at DiNaCon I want to build myself wearable studio gear that will allow me to go into the ocean to spend time there fishing for materials, diving for details, weaving with water and etching salty circuits in my datasheet-swimwear.

By trying to realize this unlikely combination of moving to stay afloat while moving to make, I want to see if I can dive deeper into the experience of what it means to be able to “make while moving through the world”.

Precisely because this endeavor may sound silly, it appeals to me. I have hopes that by distancing myself from reason – in this case “reasonable modes of making” – I can create an opening in the fabric of optimized experience to slip through and experience the other side. Looking back at our lives shaped by optimized experience I might catch a glimpse of something one can only see from underwater.

Underwater Studio Practice sketches
Underwater Studio Practice sketches
Underwater Studio Practice sketches
Underwater Studio Practice sketchesUnderwater Studio Practice sketches

A Wearable Studio Practice
This work is a continuation of my Wearable Studio Practice, a project I started after returning from an expedition with Andy in Madagascar in 2015. Since then I’m becoming ever more interested in applying my skills as an e-textile craftsperson to explore “making as a means of experiencing the world”.

Join me!
I have no idea where this initial idea for A Swimming Studio Practice will take me, but if it appeals to you, or if it does not, feel welcome to join.
Since I probably can’t spend all my time in the water, I will also be very interested to observe and study other people’s “dry studio practices”. Collecting ideas ideas and sharing these with you. If you would like me to follow you around for the day to study how you work in the wild, let me know, I would love to.

* * *

An Underwater Studio Practice lead me to write this tale of Crochetteering:
>>> https://2018.dinacon.org/2018/07/24/crochetteering-a-tale-of-fishy-innovation/

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DinaSound is live!

Pearl Ryder is a cell biologist who came to DinaCon with the goal to explore the natural world to revitalize her life as a biologist and to learn more about creating audio stories. She has created DinaSound to collect her stories and sounds of the jungle. So far you can listen to an audio diary and a fun conversation about weaver ants. Stay tuned for interviews with participants and lots of “stumbled upon” conversations at DinaCon!

Follow Pearl on Twitter @pearl_ryder for more stories from DinaCon and glimpses into the life of a scientist in training.

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Hiking Hacks: Designing Interactive Systems Paper – Andy Quitmeyer

During our Digital Naturalism Conference, I will actually have to go full-on meta-conference  and present my research about the workshop model for Hiking Hacks at DIS 2018

http://dis2018.org/111-sessions-tuesday.html

Here is a full “pre-print” downloadable copy of the paper i will present

DIS_Hikinghacks_Revised_Final_PREPRINT

 

Hiking Hacks: Workshop Model for Exploring Wilderness Interaction Design (Preprint) – Andrew Quitmeyer by Andrew Quitmeyer on Scribd