Synthetic Mars Terrain provides a unique type of cognitive cartography using a GAN neural network trained on 1.2 millions of photos that the MRO telescope captures of the surface of Mars. HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) is the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet, one of six instruments onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It arrived at Mars in 2006 and has been imaging ever since. The MRO camera’s high-resolution capability (imaging up to 30 centimeters per pixel) remains unprecedented for any existing orbiter in the study of the planet, as well as being an indispensable instrument for helping to select landing sites for robotic and future human exploration. The changing projection-mapped virtual texture of the data sculpture is a virtual map on which the planet's possible futures and hidden histories are revealed.
Machine Hallucinations: Space is an-going AI research of data aesthetics at the RAS Lab based on collective visual memories of space. Since 2016, Anadol and his team have been using custom algorithms to train machine intelligence in processing these vast datasets and unfolding unrecognized layers of our external realities. In this gallery, they invite the audience to reflect on the relationship between technology, AI, and space explorations by viewing how the machine intelligence hallucinates after “seeing” millions of space images taken by the Hubble, ISS, and MRO telescopes.
The artwork comes with an artist-signed 3D physical certificate with backup, Epson PowerLite L730U Laser Projector, a custom computer and software.
