humanistic intelligence

7/23/2019 Humanistic Intelligence

1/10

A Guide to the

Humanistic Intelligence Lab


2/10

Humanistic Intelligence Lab 330 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M5T 1G5

An Introduction to Humanistic Intelligence

The Humanistic Intelligence Lab is a hub of engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs who are

dedicated to enhancing the relationship between human, machine, and nature. The lab was founded

by Dr. Steve Mann and is located in the heart of Toronto, the birthplace of Wearable Computing and

Augmented Reality. This document introduces you to the philosophy, technology, and people behind

the HI Lab and serves as a starting point for you to discover your fit with us.

Over the last two decades, the HI lab has been a breeding ground for successful student-ledcompanies and ground-breaking research in top journal publications, fuelling high demand for

keynote appearances at top industry events around the world and igniting scholarly discussions

around the world. Among many inventions by the founder and director of the lab, Dr. Steve Mann,

the Eyetap Digital Eye Glass, High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging, and the Sequential Wave Imprinting

Machine (SWIM) represent major paradigm shifts in scientific research and commercial applications.

These technologies are underpinned by field-defining research publications in Humanistic Intelligence,

Veillance, Integral Kinematics, and Phenomenal Augmented and Augmediated Reality.

Humanistic Intelligence (HI)

n.

intelligence that results from a feedback loop between a computational process and a human

being, where the human and computer are intertwined.

Our phenomenological state (or existential self) is enhanced by placing

the human and computer into a feedback loop.


3/10


The IEEE slogan fittingly captures the core value of the HI Lab: Advancing Technology for Humanity.

Every innovation that comes out of the lab thus aims to enhance our way of sensing the world,

interacting with it, and to go beyond our senses in order to achieve a fuller understanding of physical

phenomena. Humanistic Intelligence intertwines human and computer in a symbiotic system which

allows both human and computer to be more aware of the world, and hence, more capable.

HI Ventures

The following companies were founded by students of HI Lab, all of whom were enrolled in Steve

Manns course, ECE516 (previously ECE1766) at the University of Toronto.

Gesture-controlled Augmented Reality (Silicon Valley). They raised $23M and were

the top company at Y-Combinator 2013 batch. Founder: Raymond Lo

(www.getameta.com)

Brainwave sensing headband (Toronto). They raised $17M and their product is

now in Best Buy and Indigo stores everywhere. Founder: Chris Aimone

(www.choosemuse.com)

Humanistic intelligence augmediated reality using real-time High-Dynamic Range

(HDR) vision (Shenzhen). Founder: Arkin Ai (

www.visionertech.com)

Hydraulophones shipped all around the world, including Legoland California,

Chicago Childrens Museum, and the Ontario Science Centre (Toronto). Founder:

Chris Aimone (www.funtain.ca

)

Finds the best lighting to make you look your best. Alumnus of Creative Destruction

Lab 2014. Founder: Mir Adnan Ali (www.nlux.io

)

Research & Commercial Projects

Some of the research in HI Lab is ripe for commercialization - the technology is developed and major

clients are waiting for us to ship. Others are budding fields with plenty of opportunity for exploration.

We are always looking for talented people to join us in these endeavours.

High Dynamic Range (HDR): A better way to see the world

As a PhD student at MIT, Steve Mann invented HDR, a new way of seeing that is now found in nearly

every commercially available smartphone. HDR captures a visual dynamic range of 100,000,000:1 and

has a wide range of applications in fields such as consumer wearable computing, industrial AR, and

emergency response AR. The largest civil eng/construction company in US ($37 billion revenue in
http://www.nlux.io/http://www.funtain.ca/http://www.visionertech.com/http://www.choosemuse.com/http://www.getameta.com/


4/10


2014) and a number of other major companies have expressed interest in licensing this technology.

There is a huge opportunity to bring the technology to market and capture a global monopoly.

HDR, now found in nearly every commercially available smartphone including the Apple

iPhone, allows us to see beyond what our eyes are capable of.

Real-time HDR Video (132,000+ views): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygcm0AQXX9k

HDR Welding:

http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannglas.htm

HDR Imaging: http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/hdr.htm

Hydraulophone: The worlds first water instrument

The hydraulophone was invented by Steve Mann and is the first instrument to ever make music from

water. They have been installed in many places around the world including the Chicago ChildrensMuseum, Legoland California, Copenhagen Experimentarium, and the Ontario Science Centre. The

worlds largest manufacturer and designer of water theme parks ($100M annual revenue) has

purchased a few and wants to continue installing them around the world. The hydraulophone is a

major innovation in musical instruments that can be enjoyed regardless of musical training.

Left: the worlds largest hydraulophone sits outside the Ontario Science Centre as the main art

installation. Right: The Nessie Hydraulophone draws large crowds in amazement.
http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/hdr.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/hdr.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannglas.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannglas.htmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygcm0AQXX9khttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygcm0AQXX9khttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/hdr.htm


5/10


Hydraulophone Duet (1.2M views): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVTcv7t_iCU&t=7s

Business Deck: http://wearcam.org/hydraulinfo

Civic Sculptures & Musical Instruments: http://wearcam.org/H2Architecture

Sequential Wave Imprinting Machine (SWIM): The birth of Augmented Reality

In 1974, Steve Mann invented SWIM, a device which allows you to see sound waves, radio waves, and

the ability to meta-sense (to sense sensing, i.e. to visualize vision from a camera). 15 years later,

SWIM and its associated Wearable Computer formed the basis of his portfolio for acceptance into the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he founded the MIT Media Lab Wearable Computing

Group.

SWIM could be used for educational purposes, art installations, time-lapse photographic art, music

visualizations, industrial and insurance applications, and many more.

41 years of Augmented Reality. Left: 1974 SWIM created by Steve Mann, age 12. Right: 2015

SWIM designed and built by Stephanie Mann, age 9.

More info on the history of SWIM and AR is available at: http://wearcam.org/swim/

Metasensing and Sousveillance in a Surveillance-Dominated World

A meta conversation is a conversation about a conversation. A meta joke is a joke about jokes. The

birth of Wearable Computing and the SWIM introduced to the world metasensing, the sensing of

sensors and their capacity to sense.
http://wearcam.org/swim/http://wearcam.org/swim/C-band_radar/stephanie_car_track/http://wearcam.org/H2Architecturehttp://wearcam.org/H2Architecturehttp://wearcam.org/H2Architecturehttp://wearcam.org/H2Architecturehttp://wearcam.org/hydraulinfohttp://wearcam.org/hydraulinfohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVTcv7t_iCU&t=7shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVTcv7t_iCU&t=7s


6/10


For the first time, we can see a camera or human eyes field of view in 3D space.

The invention of metasensing has given rise to a number of budding fields, including veilluminescence,

bioveillametrics, and sousveillance.

Veillance wand, unveils the hidden sightfields of surveillance cameras and vision sensors:

http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/veillancewand.htm

Veillometer, a device which measures exposure to veillance (i.e. sur- and sousveillance):

http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/veillometer.htm

Bioveillametrics allows us to see sight and visualize vision:

http://wearcam.org/mannventionz/ayinometer.htm

Veillance Surveillance is a French word that means to watch from above (e.g. guards watching

prisoners, police watching citizens, etc.). Another form of veillance (watching) is sousveillance, which

means to watch from below. Whereas surveillance often means cameras on large entities (e.g.

buildings and land), sousveillance often means cameras on small entities (e.g. individual people). The

importance of sousveillance has come to the forefront recently with advancements in wearablecomputing and AR (augmented or augmediated reality).

Left: A depiction of sur- and sousveillance by Stephanie Mann, age 6. Right: Widespread prohibition

of sousveillance in a world dominated by surveillance evidences an epidemic of hypocrisy and lack of

integrity at the societal level.
http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/veillometer.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventionz/ayinometer.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/veillometer.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/veillancewand.htm


7/10


A core problem humanity faces todayunderlying failing economies and governments, widespread

corruption, and systems interoperability disasterscomes from a lack of integrity. We live in a world

where organizations seek to know everything about us, yet reveal substantially nothing about

themselves. This is a world of hypocrisy, which is the opposite of integrity. Hypocrisy is evident in

entities which use surveillance cameras, while simultaneously forbidding others from taking pictures,

or wearing a camera, such as a computer-based seeing aid. This combination of watching and

concealment establishes a condescending or abusive dynamic. In terms of Games People Play from

the theory of Transactional Analysis, this is what psychologists call a Were OK, youre not OK

relationship. In response to these one-sided (sur)veillance games our governments and industry

leaders impose on us, we propose key principles for information gathering, reporting, and sensing (i.e.

veillance) under control of all individuals The Declaration of Veillance.

The Declaration of Veillance can be found at http://wearcam.org/declaration.pdf

Integral Kinematics and Absement: a fundamental breakthrough in physics

Absement is the time-integral of displacement. The word derives from the words "

abse

nce" and

"displacement". The integral of absement is absity, and the integral of absity is abseleration. Integral

Kinematics (time-integrals of distance or displacement) represents a new way of measuring and

understanding physical phenomena, in contrast to the conventionally recognized metrics of

Differential Kinematics (derivatives of distance: speed, acceleration, etc.).

The HI Lab is the first to explore the time-integrals of displacement and its novel applications insports, gaming, music, and many other contexts.

The Mannfit system is a new physical fitness system which combines strength, dexterity, and fine

motor control (muscle bandwidth or Dextrength) to enhance overall core strength. An Olympic

rowing coach has been engaged to collaborate in developing this field further and to explore its
http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/http://wearcam.org/declaration.pdf


8/10


various applications. Games and fitness apps have also been developed for Android and iOS to track

absement in fun and competitive ways.

The Mannfit system comprises innovative exercise equipment designed to enhance musclebandwidth.

For more information in Integral Kinesiology and the Mannfit System, visit:

http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannfit.htm

http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannupboard.htm

Swarm Modulation: Hearing beyond the range of human hearing, in real-time

Enhancing the human senses, swarm modulation can also allow us to create expressive new

user-interfaces, where a person directly touches physical matter, and hears the subsonic sound.

For more information on Swarm Modulation, visit http://eyetap.org/swarm/
http://eyetap.org/swarm/http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannupboard.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannupboard.htmhttp://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/mannfit.htm


9/10


Glogger.mobi: The worlds first photo sharing website

In 1993, Steve Mann invented the world's first wireless webcam and became the first person to

wirelessly transmit pictures to the World Wide Web. Glogger.mobi was thus born and became the

world's first photo and video sharing website as well as the world's first "mobile logging"

("moblogging") and cyborg logging (glogging) site. Glogger reached a peak of 200,000 active users

and has been used under a "white label" of other communities with millions of users.

The present http://glogger.mobi site needs to be revived and could be taken to market, as there is no

other site yet optimized for use with wearable computing and shared Augmediated Reality.

Glogger lets people tell their story as it happens, quickly and easily. It lets anyone with a camera

phone or wearable computer take a series of images as they unfold in real-time, as a personal

narrative, and share the story with others.

For a complete list of inventions, visit

http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/

ECE516 - Wearable Computing & AR: A source of great engineers and scientists

Most of the great minds that have come through the HI Lab (e.g. Chris Aimone, Raymond Lo, Ryan

Janzen, and James Fung) started out as a student in Steve Manns course, where they learned the

fundamentals of Intelligent Image Processing and other innovations from the HI Lab. The course isopen to Engineering Science, ECE, MIE, and CS students at the University of Toronto.

Visit the course page at http://www.wearcam.org/ece516/.
http://www.wearcam.org/ece516/http://wearcam.org/mannventions-password-stefanosmannaz13/


10/10


Select Media and Links

A complete list of publications can be found at http://eyetap.org/publications/

41 Years of AR on the Cover of IEEE Consumer Electronics, Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2015 [PDF

]

Humanistic Computing: WearComp as a New Framework and Application for Intelligent Signal

Processing [PDF

]

The Society of Intelligent Veillance by Marvin Minsky (the Father of AI), Ray Kurzweil (Chief Scientist,

Google), and Steve Mann (the Father of Wearable Computing) [PDF]

Steve Manns TEDxToronto Talk [YouTube]

CBC 16x9 Highlight [YouTube

]

Declaration of Veillance [

PDF

]
http://wearcam.org/declaration.pdfhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24oawUGEQUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z82Zavh-NhIhttp://wearcam.org/sensularity.pdfhttp://www.eyetap.org/papers/docs/HumanisticComputing_Mann1998_ProcIEEE.pdfhttp://wearcam.org/PhenomenalAugmentedReality.pdfhttp://eyetap.org/publications/

humanistic intelligence

Documents