ANN Brad Blucher's artificial neural network

[john79341]

Im BACK lol

[00100irule]

OMG MR B

[john79341]

mr bluthcer its mee johnm

[theheadlessrabbit]

Oh, he is not going to be happy about this...

[TheMrSnuggly]

Ya mr blucher

[TheRealKombatMS]

ROFL, This guy is my teacher.

[hushpuppy01]

Really wish I could hear what he is saying.

[theheadlessrabbit]

@hushpuppy01

Sorry about that.

The room had a huge fan overhead, and the only mic I had on me was the tiny condenser built-into my camera.

[DanFrederiksen]

no comment

[TheUnknownSkeptic]

Wow, my thesis presentation went on a lot longer than 3:28. Is this for an accredited university?

[theheadlessrabbit]

This talk wasn't the thesis presentation.

The thesis presentation happened a while before the end- of-year show, where this was shot.

I just wandered into Brad's presentation room, pulled out the camera, and asked him to describe the project in an accessible way.

[shweddedglowy]

It looks pretty, but appears to be just art of little scientific value.

[theheadlessrabbit]

thanks for watching.

Brad's piece certainly does not push any scientific boundaries, or bring us any closer to human-like (or even insect-like) A.I.

Brad was more concerned with taking what we do know, simplifying those patterns to be understandable to an audience, and making them visually appealing.

As far as I know, he never intended to discover any breakthroughs in neural networks. Instead, he wanted to create interest in A.N.N.'s in a new audience.

[shweddedglowy]

Well, as far as sci-fi visualisation goes, it's great. Interactive installations are much more fun than static ones.

But it disappoints me that it appears to be just hooked up to a motion sensor and displays random stuff. No algorithmic complexity? And what's up with the blue light pseudo-science?

[theheadlessrabbit]

Agreed. Interactive art is a lot more interesting than static art.  (and this is coming from a painter)

Well, this piece is a little more than random flashes of lights triggered my motion sensors. I never saw his finished source code, so I don't exactly know how it works. But it uses averages from several sensors pointed in different directions to determine how busy its surroundings are. Based on patterns, it reacts with different flash patterns.

[theheadlessrabbit]

if the room is empty for hours, then a group of people enter together, it gets scared, and flashes 'aggressively', but in time, it gets used to the stimulation and calms down. when they leave, it gets bored, and eventually takes a while to start entertaining itself by starting up a different pattern of flashes.

[theheadlessrabbit]

I am having a lot of trouble posting my 3rd part of this reply, and youtube is not being helpful. sorry if I have sent the same reply to your inbox multiple times.

[LezleyDavidson]

OMG - that was entertaining. I checked pit SvenTwelve's profile and there's nothing there... he's just a lurker and a parasite.

It's much more difficult to actually be a creator and offer up content and put yourself out there to be admired, ridiculed, or ignored.

It's easier and safer to remain small and unseen.... Go be Seen - Go Create - Go Participate!!!

[theheadlessrabbit]

thanks.

i knew brad's device does what he said it does because i wrote the first draft of the software for it. (which he didn't even use....grrr!)

the best part of the whole thing was that because he left so many comments criticizing this video, I got some you tube awards for being 'most commended video' in it's category/country! so i tried to keep him going so i could work my way up the list.

[luzian]

4get the NN

Your hair, side-burns, glasses, shirt and vest = awesome, lol

[reg7805]

I agree with Headless, although this fellow seems to be incredibly ignorant, he has the right voice his opinion just like everyone else.

I would be happy to explore the option of working with a programmer instead of fumbling with the code myself. If you could send me a more personal message outlining exactly what your terms are I will take your offer into consideration.

[nightowl8936]

headlessrabbit ... please delete SvenTwelve commentary and block that bitch.

Obviously an illiterate scum. The kind of loud-mouthed American bitch that everyone else in the world wants to shit on.

[theheadlessrabbit]

I have thought about it, but I am opposed to censorship, and as much as I disagree with what he is saying, I cant bring myself to deny him the right to say it.

also, I think some of his comments are kinda funny...

[nightowl8936]

Say is there any danger this thing could induce epileptic siezures?

I would not want anything unfortunate to happen where this model of a neural network stimulates the nervous system of a sensitive individual in the wrong way.

Given the ambulance chaser society we have the poor artist could be even poorer due to the damn lawyers out there.

[theheadlessrabbit]

to be honest, i never though about it. the lights flicker around 18 hz in their normal state. thats the close to the normal frequency of some human brain waves.

I don't think he has tested this project on epileptics yet. I do know one person who is a mild epileptic. i will try to stick her in a room with ANN for a few hours and see how she handles it.

seriously though, that is something I don't think Brad ever thought about.

I will forward your concern to him.

thank you.

[koseiphone]

Mother fucker, Asshole, Son of bitch, Dorks!

[GegoXaren]

you should add a mic and an speeker

[theheadlessrabbit]

I actually went out and bought a really nice studio condenser mic about a week after I shot this.

I can hook it into my camera and get great sound.

In the future, the sound in my interviews will be much better.

[nightowl8936]

What kind of learning paradigm is this artsy neural network using?

Is it trained with backpropagation or something?

What is the nature of the training data used?

Please clarify.

But I admire this fusion of technology and art.

I have studied and simulated backpropagation neural networks in the past, but this is the first fusion of neural networks and art I have seen.

The artist should put this in a night club.

Thanks for sharing!! Five stars.

[theheadlessrabbit]

I never saw Brad's finished source code, but I believe it uses averages to determine behavior.

The motion sensors record data to an SD card, the data is calculated and an 'average stimulus level' is determined. if the stimulus gets too high above this average level, it 'gets scared', if it goes below this level, it 'gets bored'. and its behavior should change according to its mood.

Last time I talked to Brad about it, he plans on adding to this piece and expanding on the project.

[nightowl8936]

If he wants to implement a backpropagation neural network, have him contact me.

I'm planning to start a company building embedded systems that can run neural networks, and I would love to say to people that one of my neural networks is part of an artistic piece.

I'll do it for free, generate the source code and train the neural network.

Should add other "emotions" to the neural network, maybe if it could sense women dancing to VNV Nation near it, it would get "hot" or something.

[theheadlessrabbit]

I don't know if he will ever be able to make it that advanced.

pic micro controllers and limited programming knowledge can only do so much.

but that sounds like a great offer, I will be sure to pass it along to Brad.

note: saying 'free stuff' to an artist is like putting a candle in front of a moth. we just can't say no!

[chromosome24]

@nightowl8936 so hows that start up going?

[nightowl8936]

@chromosome24

I ended up moving to US, and have full time work in software, but can still do software neural nets if anyone would like one. They just have to give me their training data and I'll give them back a C program and a weight file for a finished neural net.

[reg7805]

There it is (HA!).

Well, my pointed question was answered with a cop-out response, what a surprise...

I 'd like to personally Thank you for continually not qualifying any of your arguments and, as a result, discrediting yourself for us. You have made this exchange an enjoyable and entertaining one on my side of the field. I invite you to continue to take the stage and entertain us. The experience has been like watching a retarded fish swim in a vat of petroleum jelly; pure comedic gold!

[reg7805]

Did dipshit delete his own post? I can't find the comment containing "callous baboon vagina." I feel like I was robbed of a good laugh today.

I am going to take your decision to repeatedly ignore my pointed comments as an indication that you do not in fact have anything useful or intelligent to say about art or this artwork. For this reason I must side with djsproductions and suggest that you get a life of your own outside of the internet and your mother's basement.

[theheadlessrabbit]

his comment is still there, hidden on page 2.

youtube has a few bugs in the comment system where some comments are posted out of order.  its rather annoying to see some of my replies posted on top of the parent comment.

I find it odd that not only is this guy unable to answer your very easy questions, but he also seems to be making up stuff about ANN as well. I don't recall you saying that ANN is pushing neural networks into new territory, or that ANN is meant to emulate a human brain.

[SvenTwelve]

ANN Blows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xgirlinthesnowx]

No, it GLOWS. It contains no fans. I have stood directly in front of it and felt no gentle breeze of any kind.

[xgirlinthesnowx]

Wow, SvenTwelve, I find it awe-striking that you have spent the last two months complaining about something that has no affect on you whatsoever. Maybe you should spend this kind of time and energy on something with a purpose. Or, if you so passionately believe that this artwork and video representation of it are so flawed, why not prove so by perfecting it yourself? Though,I imagine you lack the technical skills to do so.

[SvenTwelve]

It is the way of the world that ignorant fools will be crushed and ruined by the destroying fires of logic and reality. Thus, it is my duty to rub these little jerks' faces into the mud, that they may see the errors of their ways, and thereby learn and grow - or persist in the agony of their foolishness, as they may choose. Mine is a mission of compassion and kindness, ultimately.

[xgirlinthesnowx]

I'm sorry, but I fail to see where you say this piece is illogical or unreal. While it may not be anything ground-breaking, I believe that Brad has created something interesting as a means of applying the knowledge that he gained in researching light and colour, and how they are interpreted by the human brain. I also fail to see how you are "rubbing their faces in the mud" when you do not give any constructive criticism or, at the very least, an explicit description of the project's faults.

[SvenTwelve]

So fuck you all who would oppose me in my quest!!!!! ANN is pure horse-shit, with no redeeming cultural, artistic, or technological characteristics WHATSOEVER.

[xgirlinthesnowx]

I think the fact that an art student created something that functions technically is redeeming. I can only assume that from your lack of a proven education, your GED wouldn't give you those skills.

[reg7805]

I am still waiting for you definition of art and what an artist is. I would also like an explanation for why a visual interpretation a network is such a bad thing. You seem to be getting all worked up over something that is ultimately intended to be interesting to look at.

[SvenTwelve]

I know it when I see it, and brother, that ain't it.

[danuthaiduc]

how much does it cost? or can i make one myself?

sounds nice

[theheadlessrabbit]

I don't know exactly how much this cost to make, but I think the wire connecting the pods ended up being the most expensive part. Brad was able to save on costs because all the circuit boards were hand made.

the microcontrollers running the whole thing are all picaxe chips, I believe there was one 40X chip ($28), and a bunch of 18X chips ($10 each)

I haven't seen Brad's source code, so I can't comment on that part of it.

[danuthaiduc]

nice

[reg7805]

The cost of the final work didn't amount to much. The bulk of the cost was incurred through the development stages. There was also the huge amount of time required to solder all of the parts together (we're talking at least 100 hours ).

[SvenTwelve]

I believe that the source code is written in retard++, is that not correct?

[theheadlessrabbit]

actually, Retard++ is very close.

the micro controller uses a modified form of BASIC.

so retard++ is actually a good guess.

but does it matter what the code was written in? BASIC, VB, C++, python or assembler, it all makes no difference. The code works.

[SvenTwelve]

If you just stand outside the exhibition hall on trash day, you can pick it up for free.

[dibbuck]

pretty good, though not a good as ataching fly paper to my scrotum and ripping it off! owtch!

[SvenTwelve]

Hahaha!!! Now that is art!

[SvenTwelve]

With all due respect, you are a brainless twat. Firstly, your childish model has nothing whatsoever to do with the human brain. Secondly, maybe if you dress up a bit more like Mitch Mitchell circa 1968, you'll convince a few more people that you're actually an artist. Thirdly, you're a pathetic, lazy, pretentious dope, spending Daddy's hard earned cash to hide from the real world in art school. Guess what? You don't have an ounce of talent, so get ready to work at a minimum-wage job.

[theheadlessrabbit]

You are correct in your assumption that Brad is pretentious. But many of your other comments are simply untrue.

1) Brads is wearing an authentic Victorian Era suit that is over 100 years old, no part of his costume was from the 1960's.

2) Brad is not pathetic. he was adopting a persona to add to the performance.

3) Brad is one of the hardest workers I have ever met.

4) Brad paid his own way through school.

[dibbuck]

brad pitt?

[SvenTwelve]

Re 1) Wearing an authentic Victorian Era suit that is over 100 years old is his pitiable attempt to convince people that he's actually an artist.

Re 2) Adopting a persona necessarily implies pathetic

Re 3) "Hard working" does not equate to "artist".

Re 4) When the student loans come due, Brad will realize who the "dipshit" is.

[theheadlessrabbit]

re: re: 1) the suit wasn't intended to convince people he was an artist.

re: re: 2) adopting a persona is a recent trend in the art world, many artists have started doing this in the past several years.

re: re: 3) while being hard-working does not equate to artist, having an art degree, and four years experience showing (and selling) work in art galleries does.

This piece was presented in an art gallery, and it was sold to an art collector. I would say that makes it art, wouldn't you?

[reg7805]

I love that I don't have to come to my own defense on this one.

That being said I would like the netflamer to explain to me what an artist is, what a neural network is, what the brain is and what art is so we can in turn ridicule him/her. It takes a brave person to trash so carelessly without actually adding anything to the discussion.

(Of course I am pretentious! I'm awesome!)

[theheadlessrabbit]

and that's exactly why I did not argue his point about you being pretentious. :P

I love his assumption that these phantom 'college loans' will come due, despite being told that you payed your own damn way through school, and the only 'loans' were wisely invested and earned interest for you while we were in school.

although you are awesome, i think ANN would have been cooler is we used MY source code. then I could claim royalties!

[reg7805]

My favourite part was my being doomed to a life of minimum wage. I have never worked for minimum wage. I have always been comfortably above that mark. Although, to be fair, I don't think either of us will admit to our adversary being terribly adept.

[reg7805]

I do feel that I should clarify your explanation of my costume further. The costume is the physical embodiment of the character that I adopted when writing the host of papers required by the university. Taking on a character helped keep the writing of the papers interesting for me and made the dry information contained in each paper more interesting for the reader.

[SvenTwelve]

hahaha - you are functionally equivalent to a bag of dog shit.

[SvenTwelve]

Reality check, please...

There are actually people who devote their lives to the scientific study of the human brain and to modeling the human brain using computer algorithms... and believe me, it does tend to involve a bit more than TACKING A BUNCH OF FLASHING LIGHTS TO A WALL.

P.S., you might want to substitute "pathetic" for "awesome" in your self evaluation.

[theheadlessrabbit]

This isn't just a bunch of flashy lights.

perhaps you didn't notice the motion sensors, or the microphones, the photo-resistors, or any of the other sensors that receive input from the surrounding environment.

and you seem to also be missing the micro controllers that receive this input and process it. the software adapts and changes the way it flashes based on the environment around it. this data is saved to a memory card, so it has a memory of its environment.

it reacts, and it learns.

[theheadlessrabbit]

correction:  Brad informs me that this piece does not, in fact, use photo-resistors to monitor light.

[SvenTwelve]

Thank you for that fascinating information (chuckle chuckle). However, if it were at all intelligent, it would certainly realize how incredibly shitty it is and promptly kill itself.

[djsproductions]

SvenTwelve, you're a complete moron. Get out of your moms basement and get a job and stop wasting database space with your useless comments and shenanigans. Idiot.

[SvenTwelve]

I wish I had said that; in that case it would have made sense. You scabby, callous baboon vagina.

[djsproductions]

Wow, took you 6 days to come up with that one eh buddy? Freak.

[theheadlessrabbit]

"callous baboon vagina"?

that sounds like an insult they would use on south park.

its a shame your obvious aptitude for writing is limited to youtube comments.

really, with quality material like that, you could probably eek out a miserable existence writing kenny vs. spenny fan fiction.

[SvenTwelve]

Hahaha - okay, I guess you're right. Hohoho!!! Oh fuck man, that shit is sooooo lame.

[123name123]

SvenTwelve,

As a curator -- who also happens to be the collector who bought this work -- I could go on and on about why this is art and why you're a dolt, but instead, I've decided you're not worth the effort, so I'll just leave it at this: You're a dolt. Bite me.

Ta!

[SvenTwelve]

Hahaha!!!!! Oh, lord, where to start? You bought that horrid piece of shit? Okay, punishment enough!!

As far as biting you - well - no thanks. I'll leave that up to your little cadre of self-aggrandizing nincompoops.

[damianpoirier]

very nice thank you. is there some place to dl to paper you mentioned?

[theheadlessrabbit]

I believe there is a copy of the essay available online, I will ask Brad if it is ok to publish a link to his essay, and PM you when you I get an answer.

a brief summary of the essay: blinky lights at certain frequencies, and certain colours do effect the way your brain operates.

Want to stay awake? turn on some bright sky-blue lights.

what to sleep? turn on an amber or yellow light.

[damianpoirier]

thankyou

[theheadlessrabbit]

Brad said that he has personally emailed you a link to the article.

(great timing on your part, I haven't heard from the guy in 3 months despite sending several email, then you pop up, ask a question and get a reply right away. i think he likes you more :P )

[damianpoirier]

yes he did. hehe the world is funny this way these days. what's up is anyones guess, eh?

[SvenTwelve]

oh god, what a bunch of shit. does he have any neurons?

[reg7805]

Oh the internet...where anybody can throw around unfounded insults and then run never to reappear again. Criticisms are always welcome otherwise how can I expect to grow as an artist. But please keep them intelligent. When I admit myself that I could have shaved off some time from an introduction, there is no need to refer to my rambly speech as a load of shit.

When being put on the spot in front of a camera, it is difficult for me to communicate as effectively as I would.

[reg7805]

In other words that you may have less difficulty understanding: NET FLAME ON SOMEONE ELSE'S TURF DIPSHIT!

[SvenTwelve]

With all due respect, you are a brainless twat. Firstly, your childish model has nothing whatsoever to do with the human brain. Secondly, maybe if you dress up a bit more like Mitch Mitchell circa 1968, you'll convince a few more people that you're actually an artist. Thirdly, you're a pathetic, lazy, pretentious dope, spending Daddy's hard earned cash to hide from the real world in art school. Guess what? You don't have an ounce of talent, so get ready to work at a minimum-wage job.

[123name123]

Loans? Daddy's money? Where do you get this from?

For someone who claims to know so much about the human brain, it's pitiful how little you demonstrate actually having one.

[theheadlessrabbit]

ahhh....it builds suspense for the audience.

[reg7805]

I wish that we had recorded another take. I could have shaved off a bit of time from that introduction.

[papouliot]

GREAT VIDEO