Vehlken Zootechnologies

A Media History of Swarm Research
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-90-485-3742-6
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 400 Seiten

Reihe: Recursions

Swarming has become a fundamental cultural technique related to dynamic processes and an effective metaphor for the collaborative efforts of society. This book examines the media history of swarm research and its significance to current socio-technological processes. It shows that the hype about collective intelligence is based on a reciprocal computerization of biology and biologization of computer science: After decades of painstaking biological observations in the ocean, experiments in aquariums, and mathematical model-making, it was swarms-inspired computer simulation which provided biological researchers with enduring knowledge about animal collectives. At the same time, a turn to biological principles of self-organization made it possible to adapt to unclearly delineated sets of problems and clarify the operation of opaque systems - from logistics to architecture, or from crowd control to robot collectives. As zootechnologies, swarms offer performative, synthetic, and approximate solutions in cases where analytical approaches are doomed to fail.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Vehlken, Sebastian

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften Medien & Gesellschaft, Medienwirkungsforschung
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Kommunikationswissenschaften Digitale Medien, Internet, Telekommunikation
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften Mediengeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction I. Deformations: A Media Theory of Swarming 1. Theory: Noise 2. Historiography: Recursion 3. Epistemology: Computer Simulation II. Formations 1. Odd Birds 2. On the Edge III. Formats 1. Fishy Business: Media Technologies of Observation and Experimentation 2. Plunging Into the Deep 3. Fishmen 4. Acoustic Visualization IV. Formulas 1. Models as Media 2. Synchronization Projects 3. The Third Dimension of Science 4. Ahead of Their Time: Schooling Simulations in Japan V. Transformations 1. Fish and Chips 2. Agent Games 3. Written in Their Own Medium VI. Zootechnologies 1. Drone Swarms, or Upside-Down Evolution 2. Swarming Out 3. Swarm Architecture 4. Calculating Survival: Crowd Control Conclusion Acknowledgements Works Cited

Über Autor(innen)

Vehlken, Sebastian
Sebastian Vehlken is a media theorist and cultural historian at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Senior Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation (MECS).

Vehlken Sebastian:
Sebastian Vehlken is a media theorist and cultural historian at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Senior Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation (MECS).