Reclusland

March 30, 2010

- Fun and Games, Over and Over (may they be fully reborn) -

The broad strategy is to visually represent a computer program in such a way that, when one looks at the visual representation, one’s visual system naturally responds by carrying out the computation and generating a perception that encodes the appropriate output to the computation. That is, there would be a special kind of image that amounts to “visual software,” software our “visual hardware” (or brain) computes, and computes in such a way that the output can be “read off” the elicited perception.

Ideally, we would be able to glance at a complex visual stimulus—the program with inputs—and our visual system would automatically and effortlessly generate a perception that would inform us of the ouput of the computation. Visual stimuli like this would not only amount to a novel and useful visual notation, but would actually trick our visual systems into doing our work for us.

prayer —

  1. Basilisks

    A number of Langford’s stories are set in a future containing images, colloquially called “basilisks”, which crash the human mind by triggering thoughts that the mind is physically or logically incapable of thinking. The first of these stories was “BLIT” (Interzone, 1988); others include “What Happened at Cambridge IV” (Digital Dreams, 1990); “comp.basilisk FAQ” (Nature, 1999), and the Hugo-winning “Different Kinds of Darkness” (F&SF, 2000).

    The idea has appeared elsewhere; in one of his novels, Ken MacLeod has characters explicitly mention (and worry about encountering) the “Langford Visual Hack”. Similar references, also mentioning Langford by name, feature in works by Greg Egan and Charles Stross. The eponymous Snow Crash of Neal Stephenson’s novel is a combination mental/computer virus capable of infecting the minds of hackers via their visual cortex. The idea also appears in Blindsight by Peter Watts where a particular combination of right angles is a harmful image to vampires. The roleplaying game Eclipse Phase has so-called “Basilisk hacks”, sensory or linguistic attacks on cognitive processes.

    A related idea, the fracter, a fractal image with psycho-active effects, occurs as a key plot element in Ian McDonald’s 1994 novella Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone.

    A similar mandala concept also appears in the book Tetrarch by Alex Comfort, causing effects such as encouraging self-healing or preventing the ability to target an object in combat.

    Comment by Ian — April 1, 2010 @ 3:14 pm


  2. Yes, I was just thinking of ‘What Happened at Cambridge IV’ … !

    (I own the ‘Digital Dreams’ anthology, read it at Uni. That’s some WELL scary shit.)

    Comment by speedbird — April 1, 2010 @ 4:43 pm


  3. I found that randomly on tumblr, but it fit what I’m doing here so damn perfect…

    Will have to check out Digital Dreams. I love me some scary scifi.

    Comment by Ian — April 1, 2010 @ 8:11 pm


  4. ‘Computers were still scary’
    - Sandi Thom

    Wow, 1990. That’s about the last time I can remember it being acceptable to think of computers as ‘scary’. Now they’re sort of inevitable and we have to stop worrying and learn to love them. A kind of surrogate Bomb.

    ‘Wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair’ (also Thom)
    - of course, there’s no such thing, that’s why the song is genius.

    Comment by speedbird — April 2, 2010 @ 4:55 am


  5. I remember when 1990 was the future. Now its 20 years ago… Damn.

    Comment by Ian — April 2, 2010 @ 10:39 am


  6. >> I remember when 1990 was the future.

    Sometimes it still is :)

    Comment by speedbird — April 3, 2010 @ 4:36 am



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