Panoramic View

I have downloaded a new app for my iPhone, Pano, on the advice of Tom.  It is extremely simple to use in fact I would go so far as to say it was idiot proof.  If any idiots find that they cannot use it, you are welcome to try to put a comment on this blog - if you can, but I suspect you will not as using the Pano is easier.  In fact it's so easy I'm probably a bit guilty of over using it.  However, this "panoramic" view does throw things into a different perspective, figuratively and literally.  

Take the photo of my garden above, my intention had been to take a photo of the chickens for a friend, Mij - long story, I'll save that one I think.  The photo does contain the chickens but also as you pan across you get to see the subject in the context of numerous other influences.  Your mind fades out elements that are not of interest currently and focuses on those that are, whilst keeping some sense of perspective on those other elements.  It is much more natural to us to view in this way, in our usual sight, we have a central area of vision and the peripheral vision is often only subconsciously aware of the bigger picture.  My only concern with the way we view these projections is that they are just that, a three dimensional projection onto a two dimensional flat page and the resultant distortion can render the picture awkward and difficult to look at.  I shall get much more practice and hopefully master the art.

Watching Will on his Xbox last night it struck me that console games would benefit considerably from the wrapped around image created from panoramic viewing, probably more so than 3D although 3D is pretty amazing on a console.  I suspect then, that some kind of projector that would display an image giving you a sense of what lay just outside of your field of view would be a useful add on to console gaming.  

(c) McDermott 2011 - patent pending (actually pending review that it actually doesn't already exist).  

Its about time

So I have had a self instigated moratorium on blogging for a while. Largely due to good weather (don't fancy being stuck at the computer for too long), good wine (couple of 'scoops' at the end of the day and I'm poleaxed), too much work (although I am conscious of the Steerpike maxim from my last attempt at this excuse - "you choose how much you want to work" - a little simplistic for my ethos but a grain of truth nonetheless) and too many end-of-term events. Anyway, with holiday season almost upon us I thought I'd better get this one off my, errr..., chest.

I've recently downloaded an app for my iPad (device review is long overdue - suffice to say 10:10) and it has pushed many buttons for me, the app I mean. I find a great satisfaction in knowing that mechanical watches with ever miniaturised and complex, accurate movements are manufactured - yes I love watches - I am also fascinated with Astronomy, thats the study of celestial objects not the study of terrestrial newspaper fillers. If you were confused by that reference you're probably a sagitarian - they always struggle with concealed irony. This app then, observatory, is designed for people like me - in fact its so perfect I sat there wondering for a brief egocentric-moment if I had actually commissioned it.

I'm not sure the purpose of the app is immediately clear, nor should it be, I have used it to marvel at the differences in various measures of time, to explore the heliocentric movement of the planets, to examine the "accuracy" of time at different points in history, to discover the position of celestial bodies at specific historic events and finally and most importantly to explore the physical, conceptual and philosophical nature of time. I have flicked back and forth between graffiti-pedia and the app grappling with the meaning of Solar Time, the Solar Day, Sidereal Time, The Equation of Time and now I am astounded by the complexity of evaluating what we simply call "a day".

Eventually, as is its wont, my mind drifted off to the subject of time perception. I remember reading that in reality our brain processes a sequence of images and uses "trickery" to make us believe we are seeing a continuous stream rather than this continual stream of separate stills. If one were able to process more images, one would in effect see the world in slow-motion (relatively speaking). This is one reason why we can't catch the fly with chopsticks, it processes many more images per second than we do. So where did this lead me? beyond the capacity to reason is the honest answer, so I was able to experiment - the app can "animate" the solar system with a number of different frequencies. Year, Month, Phase, Day, Hour and Minute. Enough for eons of experimentation. I'll publish the results when I'm done.

Sent from my iPad