Learn more about some of the terms and technologies used in Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman.
3D printer: a machine that produces three-dimensional objects by building up thin layers of a shaped 2D-printed material to physically replicate a 3D computer model.
Artificial intelligence (AI): the ability of a computer to simulate human intelligence by mimicking thought processes such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and understanding language. AI systems can analyze data, recognize patterns, make predictions, and adapt their behavior based on experience.
Augmented reality (AR): technology that overlays computer-generated images, text, or sounds onto a view of the physical world seen through the camera of a device such as a smartphone, tablet, or smart glasses.
Biodiversity: the variety of all living things on Earth.
Digital media: content that is created, viewed, distributed, and stored on electronic devices.
Generative software animation: the real-time creation of animated images using computer code and machine learning by a computer that calculates and “draws” each frame as it is viewed.
Image inpainting: a technique used to modify, remove, or restore missing, damaged, or unwanted parts of a digital image.
Image interpolation: a technique that uses traditional math formulas or machine learningto fill in gaps of information in digital images. AI programs can generate new, intermediate images between existing images or video frames and smoothly blend transitions between those images.
Interspecies entanglement: a phrase that describes the interdependence of human and nonhuman animals, plants, and ecosystems, which rely on one another to exist.
Live simulation: while a life simulation is a video game in which the life of one or more characters is controlled by the player, Ian Cheng’s Thousand Lives is a live simulation in which an animated turtle’s “life” unfolds in real time as it makes choices and learns via AI.
Machine learning: a branch of AI in which computers learn to make predictions or decisions by finding patterns in data, rather than being explicitly programmed for each task. The system improves its performance automatically through experience or the input of new data, getting better at tasks like recognizing images, translating languages, or making recommendations.
Mesocosm: a small, experimental, seminatural ecosystem used by scientists to study ecological interactions in controlled conditions.
Motion-capture software: a program that translates real-world movements into digital data for 3D character animation, video game development, visual effects, and more.
Neural network: an AI system that mimics how the human brain processes data.
Pixel: short for “picture element.” A pixel is a single component, often a small square or dot, that, when combined with many others, forms a digital image.
Posthumanism: a philosophy that questions the belief that human adaptability, self-awareness, and intellectual capacity make us superior to and independent of other life-forms. Rather than believing humanity is separate from nature and technology, posthumanism emphasizes the interconnectedness of people, other life-forms, environments, and technologies.
Quantum physics: a branch of science that reveals that, at subatomic and molecular scales, matter behaves in unpredictable ways, challenging our understanding of reality. Quantumobjects can exist in multiple states at once, become linked across vast distances, or even tunnel through energy barriers that, according to classical physics, they should not be able to overcome.
The Singularity: a theoretical point in the future in which computer technology, especially AI, becomes so advanced that it surpasses human intelligence, possibly making it obsolete.
Synthetic biology: a discipline that combines biology, engineering, and computer science to create custom organisms or biological parts that can solve real-world problems.
Video game engine: a software framework developers use so that they do not have to build video games from scratch. These tools handle core tasks such as drawing 2D and 3D graphics, simulating real-world movements, and managing sounds effects.
Virtual reality (VR): a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment that users can experience and interact with as though it is a physical reality.
World-building: the process of constructing a fictional setting or universe, common in science fiction, fantasy, and role-playing and video games.
