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“The Entire History of You”

Black Mirror (Season 1, Episode 3)

A world where every moment our eyes see is recorded. Furthermore, there is a technology that makes it possible to go back in time to the moments we want and share it with others via the TV screen. Thanks to a simple implant placed in our head that transfers all memories to a digital library, our social life gets changed. The already known, disturbingly realistic technology critique of the Black Mirror series can also be seen in this episode. The scenario is based entirely on computer vision, video analytics, human psychology and relationships.

“Arkangel”

Black Mirror (Season 4, Episode 2)

Remedy for overprotective parents comes from Arkangel. Placed on the head, the device does not only filter inappropriate images, but also monitors the child's health, pulse and location. When we say filtering images, we are not talking about the computer screen, but the real life itself. In the series, thanks to the technology, the anxious mother feels a little bit relieved (for now), but what about the child’s adolescence? Has it turned into some kind of hell?.

“Crocodile”

Black Mirror (Season 4, Episode 3)

A new technology makes it possible to reach the collective memory of all witnesses during an incident. So, it is highly likely for a persistent detective to find you from a tiniest clue and the rest will come easily. Although the title of the episode is primarily associated with crocodile tears, according to the director, John Hillcoat, this is a metaphor related to a person never finding a moment of stress relief through all his lifetime due to a childhood trauma. Video analytics is the star once again.

Minority Report

Directed by Steven Spielberg

In 2054, criminal cases have decreased significantly in Washington D.C. thanks to Precrime, the squad responsible for preventing crimes before they are committed. Future events are predicted by three people with special foresight abilities, and the crime is interrupted by intervening at the right time. One day, John Anderton (Tom Cruise), head of Precrime, predicts that a crime will be committed in 36 hours and the story begins. Based on the short story of Philip K.Dick, this science fiction movie shot by Spielberg gives a beautiful blend of computer vision and technology adaptation with impressive scenes. We are recommending it again even if you have already watched it.

Person of Interest

TV Series

The topic is again about preventing crime but this time we have a software genius, who has developed a program for the state to monitor all mobile calls, e-mails and images in security cameras and makes predictions. Now he wants to use it for the public’s benefit. Since the state does not want to pursue ordinary crimes, the creator creates a back door to get the social security numbers of people who might be involved in crime and collaborates with a former secret agent to sustain security.

Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications

Richard Szeliski

One of the most popular reference and educational books ever written on this topic. It researches different widely used techniques to analyze and interpret images. The book also describes real-world applications ranging from specialized applications such as medical imaging to image editing that can be applied to personal photos and videos.

Snow Crash

Neil Stephenson

The novel, published in 1992, has become an inspiring cult piece for many television series, plays and cyberpunk movies. In the 21st century, when the whole world was socially and economically in turmoil, the Snow Crash is about a specially coded picture mastering hackers' brains. Passing through communication lines, computer data cables, and then through augmented reality devices connected directly to the visual nerves, the virus has the power to enter the mind of the target. When systems crash, the only thing that appears is the snow on screens.

Zero History

William Gibson

Impressively portraying the dark effect of a near-future technology and computer webs on humans, the novelist has also led to the birth of cyberpunk genre. He was acclaimed as the ‘Dark Prophet of the Cyberpunk’ after Neuromancer and Burning Chrome written before the internet era , before the 80s. One of the characters in Zero History escapes from being caught by wearing a t-shirt with the most disgusting design ever. The “disgusting” graphic design contains such geometric elements that the computer vision of the cameras cannot interpret and perceive. Thus, the wearer becomes officially invisible.

Ways of Seeing

John Berger

This cult book adapted from a TV series done for BBC by John Berger and team, tries to explain how we perceive what we see. Since its publication in 1972, it has been a manifesto for a critical way of seeing and understanding visuals and images from oil paintings to advertising. For later publications on seeing, it constituted an inspiring effect like a blood vein.

"Seeing comes before speaking. Before starting to talk, the child first learns to recognize by looking. However, in another sense, seeing precedes words. In a place that surrounds us, we find our place by seeing. We describe this world with words, but words never change our being surrounded by the world."

WaitButWhy - Neuralink

Thanks to developing technology, fields such as informatics, bio-engineering are more cross-communicating with each other and shedding light on different expansions and innovations. Computer vision will seem to open up different paths as we try to solve the working principles of the human brain. Except for Elon Musk's enthusiasts, the little-known company, Neuralink is also looking for topics that can change the next century. Are you ready to devote half a day to a very very long article that tells humorously how the human brain works in its depths and what Neuralink and similar initiatives will ultimately provide humanity?

1984

George Orwell

“It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within the range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: face crime, it was called.” (p. 29)

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline

In the 2040s, the world enters an energy crisis with the end of oil and experiences a never -ending economic crisis because of global warming and overpopulation. Inhabitants of favela-style neighborhoods find the escape in a game simulation called OASIS. With all kinds of body sensors and augmented reality accessories, millions of people are searching for the ‘Easter Egg’ that the OASIS creator puts in the game before his death. Directed by Steven Spielberg in 2018, the novel hailed computer game fans from all the generations with its retrospective iconic elements.