ZooMorph Introduction
ZooMorph is a software art project that consists of image and video filters that create simulations of how a large selection of non-human animals see; generating pictures that help us experience the world through the eyes of another species. The filters are used in PhotoShop and video software such as Final Cut Pro, in an online Flickr based interface, and as an augmented reality application in smart phones such as the iPhone. When a ZooMorph filter is applied to an image it changes its hue, sharpness, brightness, contrast and other aspects, to provide an estimation of what the selected species see. Several aspects of vision are simulated including color vision, light sensitivity and acuity. The project wants to make its users/audience acutely aware and respectful of the ever-presence of a multitude of parallel experiences of the world (or Umwelten as described by Jakob von Uexküll). It intends to make us aware of, and if possible facilitate, an intellectual, emotional and spiritual partnership with the species around us in the quest for a sustainable environment for all of us to thrive within.
The project hopes to inspire humans to work on aesthetic projects together with other species - interspecies collaborations, and for any project that would benefit from an awareness of other species visual capabilities. For example the filters could be used on photographs taken by a camera worn by ones dog, or to manipulate pictures of ones garden in order to see how it look to the scrub jay and then change the garden to make it seem more visually interesting to them.
Throughout history people have been asking whether it is possible for us to understand how other species experience the world. The question has been answered in many different ways, depending on current religious and scientific beliefs. We are at a point now when many people start to question the religious and scientific paradigms that believe it's impossible. While a simulation of another species visual perception never could do justice to the experience they have of the world, I hope this project can make a contribution to that discussion.