Unconventional Computing Arts Philosophy

The unique compendium re-assesses the value of future and emergent computing technologies via artistic and philosophical means. The book encourages scientists to adopt inspiring thinking of artists and philosophers to reuse scientific concepts in their works.The useful reference text consists of non-typical topics, where artistic and philosophical concepts encourage readers to adopt unconventional approaches towards computing and immerse themselves into discoveries of future emerging landscape.Related Link(s)

There is no strict definition of unconventional computing. Being an unconventional computist is not a matter of training but thinking and living. Phenomenologically most works on unconventional computing are about implementation of computing in novel substrates (chemical, physical, biological), development of computing schemes and algorithms not fitting into the mainstream framework, or designing of computing architectures inspired by chemical or biological systems. This short book gives a snapshot of the unconventional computing field. The world-leading experts in the unconventional computing author all articles of the issue. The topics include analog computation, sensing and computing with fungi, chemical computing, swarms of minimalist agents, computational universality, mega-computing in the universe, information and music, universal sensing, art of deduction, reversible computing, philosophy of machine learning, epistemic incompleteness, post-quantum unconventional computing, complexity of natural computing, arts and cellular automata. Articles presented are punchy and well illustrated. All articles are short and self-contained. The book will serve well as a light-touch introduction to unconventional computing for people not familiar with computing and might inspire artists and humanitarians to enter the field.

This book introduces art projects that resulted from unconventional explorations, curious experiments and their creative translations into sensorial experiences. Using electronic and digital art, bioart, sculpture and installations, sound and performance, the authors are removing boundaries between natural and artificial, real and imaginary, science and culture.The invited artists and researchers come from cutting-edge fields of art production that focuses on creating aesthetic experiences and performative situations. Their artworks create a spatial aesthetic experience for visitors by manifesting themselves in physical space. Experiencing the Unconventional is a unique selection of works by artists not based on formal similarities, but on investigative practices. It offers in-depth insights and first-hand working experiences into current production of art works at the edge of art, science and technology.

Computers are essential for the functioning of our society. Despite the incredible power of existing computers, computing technology is progressing beyond today’s conventional models. Quantum Computing (QC) is surfacing as a promising disruptive technology. QC is built on the principles of quantum mechanics. QC can run algorithms that are not trivial to run on digital computers. QC systems are being developed for the discovery of new materials and drugs and improved methods for encoding information for secure communication over the Internet. Unprecedented new uses for this technology are bound to emerge from ongoing research. The development of conventional digital computing technology for the arts and humanities has been progressing in tandem with the evolution of computers since the 1950s. Today, computers are absolutely essential for the arts and humanities. Therefore, future developments in QC are most likely to impact on the way in which artists will create and perform, and how research in the humanities will be conducted. This book presents a comprehensive collection of chapters by pioneers of emerging interdisciplinary research at the crossroads of quantum computing, and the arts and humanities, from philosophy and social sciences to visual arts and music. Prof. Eduardo Reck Miranda is a composer and a professor in Computer Music at Plymouth University, UK, where he is a director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR). His previous publications include the Springer titles Handbook of Artificial Intelligence for Music, Guide to Unconventional Computing for Music, Guide to Brain-Computer Music Interfacing and Guide to Computing for Expressive Music Performance.

What is computer art? Do the concepts we usually employ to talk about art, such as ‘meaning’, ‘form’ or ‘expression’ apply to computer art? A Philosophy of Computer Art is the first book to explore these questions. Dominic Lopes argues that computer art challenges some of the basic tenets of traditional ways of thinking about and making art and that to understand computer art we need to place particular emphasis on terms such as ‘interactivity’ and ‘user’. Drawing on a wealth of examples he also explains how the roles of the computer artist and computer art user distinguishes them from makers and spectators of traditional art forms and argues that computer art allows us to understand better the role of technology as an art medium.

Actin, a fundamental building block of intracellular cytoskeletal filaments, holds immense potential as a platform for information processing. In this groundbreaking book, the authors establish a solid theoretical and modelling foundation for the future experimental prototyping of actin-based cytoskeleton computers in laboratory settings.By delving into the mechanisms of signal propagation and perturbations on actin filaments, the authors uncover the underlying principles of information processing at the sub-cellular level. Through their innovative insights, novel principles for information processing emerge, potentially revolutionising the field of future and emergent information technologies and computational biology.The book's theoretical and modelling framework serves as a crucial stepping stone towards the experimental realisation of actin-based cytoskeleton computers. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, researchers and scientists can leverage this knowledge to conduct experiments, validate hypotheses, and explore the practical implications of actin-based computing systems.

This book is about nature considered as the totality of physical existence, the universe, and our present day attempts to understand it. If we see the universe as a network of networks of computational processes at many different levels of organization, what can we learn about physics, biology, cognition, social systems, and ecology expressed through interacting networks of elementary particles, atoms, molecules, cells, (and especially neurons when it comes to understanding of cognition and intelligence), organs, organisms and their ecologies? Regarding our computational models of natural phenomena Feynman famously wondered: “Why should it take an infinite amount of logic to figure out what one tiny piece of space/time is going to do?” Phenomena themselves occur so quickly and automatically in nature. Can we learn how to harness nature’s computational power as we harness its energy and materials? This volume includes a selection of contributions from the Symposium on Natural Computing/Unconventional Computing and Its Philosophical Significance, organized during the AISB/IACAP World Congress 2012, held in Birmingham, UK, on July 2-6, on the occasion of the centenary of Alan Turing’s birth. In this book, leading researchers investigated questions of computing nature by exploring various facets of computation as we find it in nature: relationships between different levels of computation, cognition with learning and intelligence, mathematical background, relationships to classical Turing computation and Turing’s ideas about computing nature - unorganized machines and morphogenesis. It addresses questions of information, representation and computation, interaction as communication, concurrency and agent models; in short this book presents natural computing and unconventional computing as extension of the idea of computation as symbol manipulation.

This Guide provides an ambitious state-of-the-art survey of the fundamental themes, problems, arguments and theories constituting the philosophy of computing. A complete guide to the philosophy of computing and information. Comprises 26 newly-written chapters by leading international experts. Provides a complete, critical introduction to the field. Each chapter combines careful scholarship with an engaging writing style. Includes an exhaustive glossary of technical terms. Ideal as a course text, but also of interest to researchers and general readers.

By applying research in artificial intelligence to problems in the philosophy of science, Paul Thagard develops an exciting new approach to the study of scientific reasoning. This approach uses computational ideas to shed light on how scientific theories are discovered, evaluated, and used in explanations. Thagard describes a detailed computational model of problem solving and discovery that provides a conceptually rich yet rigorous alternative to accounts of scientific knowledge based on formal logic, and he uses it to illuminate such topics as the nature of concepts, hypothesis formation, analogy, and theory justification.