Saturday, February 2, 2008

Real or not?


In these days of Photoshop and computer rendering, it's often difficult to know whether anything is "real" or not. This will have profound implications when we get the point where we can't tell any more. At that point, pictures and video will not be able to be trusted.

Have we reached that point already? Check out the link.

There's probably a business to be made in ensuring that pictures are actually taken with a camera instead of rendered and not changed, the equivalent of a digital wax seal that indicates there have been no significant tampering with the photo and validates its authenticity. Do you know about the scandal with National Geographic (a well known and "trusted" publication) moving a pyramid? When does the use of technology to enhance a photo cross the line from an ethical standpoint?

1 comment:

Lena said...

Could they actually make a person or something?
You wouldn't have to hire actors anymore....
You could trick people too...
That is a bit scary.