New Media Perspective is perspective generated, processed, connected, displayed or explored through computational and electronic media.

It includes methods and systems involving:

digital imaging;
computer graphics;
computer vision;
artificial intelligence;
Internet and networked media;
smartphones and connected devices;
remote sensing and satellite imaging;
geographic information systems;
computer games;
digital filmmaking and visual effects;
virtual production;
virtual reality;
augmented reality;
mixed and extended reality;
interactive three-dimensional environments.

New Media Perspective is not defined by one projection method or one image form. It is a broad perspective category concerned with the new imaging capabilities, spatial transformations and interactive experiences made possible by digital, computational, electronic and networked systems.

A New Media system may capture a real scene, construct an artificial one, combine several image sources, analyse spatial information, generate new views or allow a user to explore a changing environment.

The term can refer both to the method or process and to the resulting image, view or spatial appearance.

INSERT MAIN DIAGRAM — NEW MEDIA PERSPECTIVE

Suggested caption: New Media Perspective connects computational imaging, networks, artificial intelligence, computer vision, interactive environments and immersive display systems.

What is New Media Perspective?

New Media Perspective arises where spatial images, views, models or environments are created or transformed through electronic and computational media.

A typical process may involve:

Physical, represented or digital spatial reality
↓
Instrumental or digital capture
↓
Computational processing and modelling
↓
Connection with other images, views or data
↓
Interactive display or exploration
↓
Human visual and spatial experience

New Media Perspective extends perspective beyond the fixed image.

A traditional drawing, painting or photograph normally presents one completed representation. A developed New Media system may instead provide:

many viewpoints;
changing viewpoints;
several scales;
several moments in time;
live information;
interactive navigation;
computationally generated views;
continuously updated spatial models;
connections between remote instruments and users.

The resulting perspective may change according to:

the position of a camera;
the location of a user;
the direction of view;
movement through an environment;
incoming sensor information;
networked data;
computational analysis;
instructions given to an artificial-intelligence system.

New Media Perspective as method and outcome

The term New Media Perspective can describe two related things.

Method or process

The computational or electronic operations through which a spatial view is:

captured;
connected;
processed;
transformed;
modelled;
analysed;
generated;
transmitted;
displayed;
explored.

Outcome

The resulting:

digital image;
view;
animation;
spatial model;
virtual environment;
augmented scene;
interactive display;
multi-view perspective;
simulated spatial experience.

This method–outcome distinction is important throughout Perspective Category Theory.

A computer-generated perspective may refer to the mathematical and computational process used to make the image or to the completed visible image itself. The relevant sense should be made clear wherever possible.

Principal characteristics of New Media Perspective

New Media Perspective frequently possesses several characteristics not normally available within one traditional static image.

Computational

Spatial information is processed, analysed, transformed or generated through computer operations.

Electronic

Images and data are captured, transmitted, stored or displayed through electronic systems.

Networked

Views from different people, instruments, locations or databases can be linked and exchanged.

Multi-view

Several viewpoints can be recorded, compared, combined or explored.

Multi-scale

A system can move between very large and very small spatial scales.

Multi-time

Images recorded at different moments can be compared, layered, reconstructed or animated.

Interactive

The user may influence viewpoint, movement, scale, direction or displayed information.

Dynamic

The image or environment can change continuously rather than remaining fixed.

Generative

A computational system can produce new views, images or spatial environments rather than merely displaying captured material.

Not every New Media system includes all of these characteristics. They identify the principal capabilities of the category as a whole.

Eight operations of New Media Perspective

The Dictionary describes New Media systems as capable of performing several connected operations upon images and views.

1. Capturing

A digital camera, scanner, satellite, drone, smartphone or sensor records information from a physical scene.

2. Connecting

Views from different instruments, locations, users or databases are linked through a digital system or network.

3. Ordering

Images and spatial information are organised according to:

location;
direction;
time;
scale;
subject;
sequence;
viewpoint.

4. Constructing

Spatial models or images are built from captured, measured, graphical or generated information.

5. Matching

Corresponding points, objects, views or spatial structures are compared and aligned.

6. Mixing

Physical, photographed, graphical, simulated and computer-generated imagery is combined.

7. Exploring

Users or computational systems navigate through images, models or environments.

8. Cross-matching

Information from different viewpoints, scales, times or instruments is compared to discover correspondences or changes.

These operations can produce a new form of multi-view, multi-scale and multi-time perspective.

New Media and Multi-View Perspective

New Media and Multi-View Perspective connects several views of one object, scene or spatial reality.

The views may have been captured:

from different positions;
at different distances;
with different instruments;
at different resolutions;
at different times;
through different kinds of radiation;
through physical and simulated cameras.

The system may then:

present the views separately;
align them;
blend them;
construct a panorama;
reconstruct three-dimensional form;
detect movement or change;
generate new viewpoints;
allow interactive navigation.

A multi-view system can therefore provide more spatial information than one fixed image.

Examples include:

photogrammetric reconstruction;
panoramic photography;
satellite image comparison;
medical scans;
networked security cameras;
interactive product models;
spherical video;
computer vision;
virtual environments.

The outcome may be a sequence of images, a composite representation, a spatial database or a navigable three-dimensional world.

Multi-scale Perspective

New Media Perspective can connect views across different spatial scales.

A digital geographical system may move between:

a global view;
a continent;
a country;
a city;
a street;
a building.

A scientific imaging system may move between:

the complete organism;
an organ;
tissue;
cells;
microscopic structures.

The different scales need not be produced by the same instrument.

A New Media system may link:

satellite imagery;
aerial photography;
street-level cameras;
architectural scans;
microscopic or material imaging.

Multi-scale Perspective allows spatial relationships to be studied across scales that unaided human vision cannot experience simultaneously.

Multi-time Perspective

Digital systems can also connect views recorded at different moments.

This may reveal:

movement;
growth;
construction;
erosion;
seasonal change;
environmental transformation;
urban development;
changes in an object or person;
differences between past and present spatial states.

Multi-time Perspective can be presented through:

time-lapse imagery;
animation;
image comparison;
overlays;
interactive sliders;
reconstructed historical environments;
predictive simulations.

New Media Perspective therefore adds time to the traditional relationship between object, viewpoint and image.

New Media Perspective within Perspective Category Theory

Within Perspective Category Theory, New Media Perspective is a principal category defined by the use of computational and electronic media.

It can participate in both directional classes.

Viewing or Imaging Class

Spatial information is captured or received and transformed into an image, model or measurement.

Spatial source → digital or networked system → image or model

Examples include:

digital photography;
remote sensing;
computer vision;
three-dimensional scanning;
networked telescopes;
medical imaging.

Projecting Class

Digital imagery or spatial information is generated and projected or displayed towards a viewer or environment.

Digital image or model → display system → visible appearance

Examples include:

computer displays;
virtual reality;
augmented reality;
projection mapping;
LED environments;
virtual production.

New Media Perspective frequently operates in both directions within one continuous system.

New Media Perspective and category chaining

A modern digital image rarely results from one isolated perspective process.

A virtual-reality reconstruction of a physical building might involve:

Natural Perspective in the original building and environment;
Optical Perspective through cameras and scanners;
Instrument Perspective through the imaging devices;
Mathematical Perspective through measurement and reconstruction;
New Media Perspective through processing and interactive presentation;
Simulated Perspective in the virtual environment;
Optical projection from the display;
Visual Perspective Type 2 in the user’s retinal and perceptual experience.

These stages form a perspective chain.

The final visible view may conceal the complexity of the processes through which it was created.

Category overloading

One process or image can belong to several categories simultaneously.

A computer-generated architectural rendering may be:

Mathematical Perspective because it uses coordinates and projection calculations;
Graphical Perspective because it creates a visible representation;
Simulated Perspective because the environment has been deliberately constructed;
New Media Perspective because it is computationally generated and displayed;
Visual Perspective Type 1 as a visible image.

This is category overloading.

The categories do not compete to provide one exclusive label. Each identifies a different source, process or property of the complete perspective system.

INSERT IMAGE 03 — COMPOSITE PERSPECTIVE

Suggested caption: A New Media image may contain several perspective categories operating simultaneously or in sequence.

New Media and Instrument Perspective

New Media Perspective and Instrument Perspective overlap extensively, but they are not identical.

Instrument Perspective

Is defined by the participation of an apparatus used to:

view;
capture;
measure;
modify;
model;
project;
display.

New Media Perspective

Is defined by computational and electronic processes that:

connect;
process;
analyse;
generate;
transmit;
interactively explore;
or display spatial imagery and information.

A traditional optical telescope is Instrument Perspective.

A networked telescope using electronic sensors, remote control, computational processing and online access belongs to both Instrument and New Media Perspective.

A digital camera is an instrument, but the wider system that stores, edits, transmits, combines and displays its images is a New Media process.

New Media and Optical Perspective

Optical Perspective concerns image formation and transmission through light or other electromagnetic radiation.

New Media Perspective concerns what computational and electronic systems do with spatial imagery or information.

A digital photograph may involve:

Light from a physical scene
↓
Optical image formation through a lens
↓
Electronic sensor capture
↓
Digital image processing
↓
Network transmission or storage
↓
Electronic display
↓
Optical transmission from screen to eye

The optical and New Media stages form one connected image process.

A computational image may also be generated without first being captured from one physical scene. It can nevertheless become Optical Perspective when displayed through emitted or projected light.

New Media and Mathematical Perspective

New Media systems depend heavily upon mathematics.

Mathematical operations may determine:

coordinates;
scale;
projection;
depth;
camera position;
viewpoint;
object movement;
correspondence;
geometric transformation;
image warping;
reconstruction;
display position.

Computer graphics generally projects from a digital model towards an image.

Computer vision commonly works in the reverse direction, analysing images to infer information about possible spatial sources.

New Media Perspective provides the computational system within which these mathematical operations are performed, combined, stored and explored.

New Media and Graphical Perspective

Computer-generated and digitally drawn images can belong to both New Media and Graphical Perspective.

A digital painting is graphical because it is constructed as an image.

It is New Media because it is produced and stored through a computational electronic system.

A three-dimensional computer rendering may also include:

mathematical modelling;
graphical representation;
simulation;
optical display.

The fact that an image is digital does not remove it from the history of drawing, painting, diagramming and graphical representation. New Media extends these practices through new processes and capabilities.

New Media and Simulated Perspective

New Media Perspective and Simulated Perspective should not be treated as synonyms.

New Media Perspective

Is defined by computational and electronic production, processing, networking, display or exploration.

Simulated Perspective

Is defined by the deliberate construction or modification of spatial reality or appearance to produce a chosen effect.

A satellite image of a real landscape is New Media Perspective but is not necessarily Simulated Perspective.

A physically constructed theatre set may be Simulated Perspective without being New Media Perspective.

A virtual environment is normally both:

New Media Perspective because it is computational and interactive;
Simulated Perspective because its spatial environment has been constructed.

Digital imaging

Digital imaging transforms spatial or optical information into numerical data.

A digital image consists of sampled values describing properties such as:

brightness;
colour;
position;
time;
depth;
spectral information.

Digital imaging may include:

photography;
video;
microscopy;
astronomy;
medical imaging;
scanning;
remote sensing;
depth imaging;
spherical photography.

The recorded image can then be:

copied;
transmitted;
enlarged;
corrected;
measured;
combined;
transformed;
analysed;
displayed.

Digital imaging is a foundation of New Media Perspective because it allows images to become components within larger computational and networked systems.

Image processing

Digital image processing can modify the recorded or generated image.

Operations may include:

exposure correction;
colour correction;
contrast adjustment;
sharpening;
noise reduction;
geometric correction;
image stitching;
focus stacking;
high-dynamic-range combination;
perspective correction;
depth estimation;
object identification;
image restoration.

Processing may improve visibility or measurement, but it may also create a result that differs substantially from the original sensor data.

The processed image should therefore be understood as another stage in the perspective chain rather than a neutral repetition of the source.

Computer Graphics Perspective

Computer Graphics Perspective uses computational models to construct visible spatial images.

A digital scene may contain:

objects;
coordinates;
surfaces;
materials;
lights;
cameras;
atmospheres;
movement;
shadows;
reflections.

The computer transforms the scene from:

Model coordinates
↓
World coordinates
↓
Camera coordinates
↓
Projection coordinates
↓
Screen image

The resulting image may imitate:

Linear Perspective;
orthographic projection;
Curvilinear Perspective;
Spherical Perspective;
lens effects;
natural illumination;
atmospheric appearance.

It may also create forms of spatial reality that cannot physically exist.

Three-dimensional modelling

A three-dimensional computer model represents objects through digital geometry.

It may use:

points;
vertices;
edges;
polygons;
curves;
surfaces;
solids;
volumetric structures;
point clouds.

The model can be:

rotated;
enlarged;
measured;
animated;
viewed from many positions;
projected through different systems;
combined with captured imagery.

Unlike one fixed picture, a 3-D model can generate an unlimited number of views.

It therefore creates a multi-view perspective system rather than one final perspective image.

Rendering

Rendering converts a digital scene or model into an image.

The process calculates relationships involving:

viewpoint;
projection;
visibility;
lighting;
shadow;
surface appearance;
transparency;
reflection;
atmosphere.

Rendering methods range from rapid simplified displays to computationally intensive simulations of light.

The final rendered image may appear photographic, graphical, diagrammatic, abstract or stylised.

Rendering is not simply an automatic copy of the digital model. It selects how the model will become visible.

Computer Vision Perspective

Computer Vision Perspective analyses images and video to infer information about spatial objects and scenes.

It may attempt to identify:

objects;
surfaces;
edges;
depth;
scale;
movement;
orientation;
viewpoint;
spatial correspondence;
three-dimensional structure.

The process works broadly from image towards possible spatial source:

Two-dimensional image or image sequence
↓
Computational analysis
↓
Estimated spatial structure or interpretation

This direction is the reverse of conventional computer graphics, which begins with a model and generates an image.

Computer vision is fundamental to:

robotics;
autonomous systems;
navigation;
mapping;
industrial inspection;
medical imaging;
image search;
augmented reality.

The Viewpoint–Correspondence Problem

Computer vision confronts a fundamental problem: one two-dimensional image may correspond to several possible three-dimensional realities.

The image may not fully determine:

physical size;
distance;
hidden form;
precise viewpoint;
depth relationships;
whether the scene is physically possible.

Computer vision systems therefore use additional information such as:

several images;
motion;
known object forms;
camera calibration;
depth sensors;
lighting;
statistical models;
prior knowledge.

New Media Perspective does not eliminate this ambiguity. It creates new methods for analysing, comparing and reducing it.

INSERT IMAGE 11 — VIEWPOINT–CORRESPONDENCE PROBLEM

Suggested caption: New Media systems can compare multiple images and data sources to reduce the spatial ambiguity contained in one view.

Artificial Intelligence Perspective

Artificial intelligence can analyse, classify, transform and generate spatial images.

AI systems may be used for:

object recognition;
depth estimation;
image segmentation;
tracking;
reconstruction;
image enhancement;
viewpoint synthesis;
generation of new images and environments;
navigation and control.

AI-generated imagery can simulate:

photographs;
paintings;
architecture;
landscapes;
people;
camera viewpoints;
lighting;
depth;
material appearance.

The generated result may be visually convincing without corresponding to one actual photographed scene.

This raises important questions of:

viewpoint consistency;
object continuity;
scale;
geometry;
reflection;
shadow;
spatial plausibility;
correspondence with physical reality.

AI-generated imagery belongs to New Media Perspective and may also belong to Graphical, Simulated, Composite and Visual Perspective Type 1.

Neural Radiance Fields and novel views

A Neural Radiance Field, commonly abbreviated to NeRF, uses machine learning to reconstruct aspects of a three-dimensional scene from a collection of two-dimensional images.

The system can:

estimate scene geometry;
model visible appearance;
reproduce reflections and surface effects;
generate views from positions not directly captured.

It is a clear example of New Media and Multi-View Perspective.

Several existing instrument images are computationally connected and analysed to construct a view-generating spatial model.

Networked Perspective

Networked systems connect views across distance.

Images may be captured in one place, processed in another and viewed from many other locations.

Examples include:

remote cameras;
networked telescopes;
scientific instruments;
satellites;
security systems;
video communication;
remote-presence systems;
collaborative three-dimensional environments.

Networked Perspective can separate:

physical viewpoint;
instrument position;
processing location;
display location;
human observer.

A viewer may therefore explore a perspective generated by an instrument thousands of miles away or by several instruments distributed across different locations.

Internet and web-based perspective

Internet and web systems make vast numbers of spatial images, videos, maps and models available through one connected environment.

They enable users to:

publish views;
compare places;
navigate maps;
watch live video;
access remote instruments;
explore interactive models;
communicate through moving images;
share augmented or virtual environments.

Each image or video may contain its own perspective process.

The network then connects these separate perspectives into a larger media system.

The rapid exchange of still and moving views has become one of the principal ways in which spatial information and human experience are communicated.

Smartphones and mobile Perspective

A smartphone can combine:

several cameras;
depth sensors;
motion sensors;
satellite positioning;
maps;
computer vision;
Internet connectivity;
image processing;
augmented reality;
electronic display.

Its viewpoint changes with the user.

It can capture, analyse, position, label, transmit and display spatial information within one portable New Media system.

A single mobile image may contain:

camera perspective;
computational corrections;
depth estimation;
location information;
artificial-intelligence processing;
augmented graphical content;
networked data.

Internet of Things Perspective

The Internet of Things connects sensors, cameras, machines and objects through digital networks.

These systems can gather spatial information from:

buildings;
vehicles;
industrial equipment;
public environments;
homes;
scientific instruments;
remote landscapes.

The data may be combined into:

maps;
dashboards;
three-dimensional models;
digital twins;
automated control systems;
visual alerts.

An Internet of Things system may therefore create a distributed Instrument and New Media Perspective that no single observer or camera could obtain.

Remote sensing

Remote-sensing systems observe the Earth or other objects from aircraft, drones, satellites and spacecraft.

They may capture:

visible light;
infrared radiation;
thermal information;
radar;
multispectral information;
hyperspectral information.

The resulting images can reveal:

terrain;
vegetation;
water;
weather;
urban development;
environmental change;
surface materials.

The image may then be geometrically corrected, mapped, compared with earlier images and combined with other spatial data.

Remote sensing is therefore a strong example of multi-instrument, multi-scale and multi-time New Media Perspective.

Geographic information systems and GPS

Geographic information systems connect maps, coordinates, images, measurements and databases.

They may combine:

satellite imagery;
aerial photography;
terrain models;
road networks;
buildings;
population information;
environmental data;
real-time locations.

GPS and related positioning systems locate instruments, vehicles, objects or users within this spatial framework.

The resulting perspective is not one ordinary view. It is a computational model connecting:

location;
scale;
direction;
map projection;
time;
layered information.

Users can move between local and global viewpoints and select which spatial information is displayed.

Digital filmmaking

Digital filmmaking uses New Media systems throughout the moving-image process.

These may include:

digital cameras;
computer-controlled lenses;
motion tracking;
green-screen compositing;
digital editing;
computer-generated imagery;
colour grading;
visual effects;
virtual cameras;
virtual production;
electronic projection and display.

A completed cinematic scene may combine footage captured:

at different locations;
at different scales;
at different times;
through physical and virtual cameras.

New Media Perspective allows these separate image spaces to become one apparent moving environment.

Visual effects

Visual effects can construct or transform spatial images through:

compositing;
tracking;
digital set extension;
computer-generated objects;
simulation;
image warping;
motion capture;
rotoscoping;
digital doubles;
virtual cameras.

The completed image may appear optically continuous even though its components have different origins.

It may therefore be:

New Media Perspective;
Simulated Perspective;
Composite Perspective;
Synthetic Perspective;
Blended Scene Perspective.

INSERT IMAGE 23 — BLENDED SCENE PERSPECTIVE

Suggested caption: New Media systems can align and combine separately captured or generated spaces into one apparently continuous scene.

Virtual production

Virtual production combines physical filmmaking with real-time computer-generated environments.

A typical system includes:

physical performers and props;
a tracked camera;
lens calibration;
a virtual camera;
real-time rendering;
large LED walls;
synchronised digital scenery.

As the physical camera moves, the perspective of the digital background changes correspondingly.

The display can also illuminate the actors and set with light derived from the virtual environment.

Virtual production connects:

physical space;
computer graphics;
camera perspective;
tracking;
real-time rendering;
large-scale display;
visual perception.

It is one of the clearest examples of category chaining and category overloading within New Media Perspective.

INSERT IMAGE 24 — VIRTUAL PRODUCTION

Suggested caption: Virtual production uses camera tracking and real-time rendering to unite physical performers with changing digital environments.

Computer games

Computer games generate interactive views of digital spatial environments.

The user may control:

viewpoint;
movement;
direction;
speed;
scale;
interaction with objects;
transition between spaces.

A game environment may use:

Linear Perspective;
orthographic projection;
isometric projection;
first-person perspective;
third-person perspective;
spherical or panoramic views;
impossible or non-Euclidean space.

The view is generated continuously rather than prepared as one completed image.

Computer games therefore transform perspective from fixed representation into an active relationship between user, viewpoint, space and time.

Virtual Reality Perspective

Virtual reality presents a computer-generated, reconstructed or captured environment so that a user can explore or act within it from a changing viewpoint.

Contemporary systems commonly use:

a head-mounted display;
separate left- and right-eye images;
head and body tracking;
real-time view generation;
spatial sound;
hand controllers;
haptic feedback.

As the user moves or turns, the displayed views are recalculated.

This produces changing:

perspective;
motion parallax;
binocular disparity;
overlap;
apparent scale;
visible surfaces.

The user consequently experiences being located within represented space rather than merely looking at one fixed image.

Virtual environments

A virtual environment may be:

entirely computer-generated;
reconstructed from photographs or scans;
captured as spherical photography or video;
assembled from several sources;
connected to live sensor information.

It can represent:

an existing place;
a lost or historical site;
an architectural proposal;
a scientific model;
an imagined world;
an impossible spatial environment.

The virtual world can be viewed from positions not available in the original source material.

This makes Virtual Perspective both multi-view and interactive.

Augmented Reality Perspective

Augmented reality adds digital information or objects to a view of physical reality.

The user may see:

the physical environment;
virtual objects;
text labels;
directions;
measurements;
diagrams;
location information.

The digital components must be transformed according to:

viewpoint;
display position;
surface orientation;
distance;
camera or head movement.

The result is a combined or mixed perspective in which physical and represented spatial information occupy one view.

AR may be presented through:

smartphones;
tablets;
headsets;
vehicle displays;
specialised glasses;
projected systems.

Mixed Reality Perspective

Mixed reality allows physical and digital elements to appear to occupy and interact within one spatial environment.

A virtual object may appear to:

stand on a real floor;
pass behind a physical object;
respond to a wall or table;
cast a simulated shadow;
be manipulated by the user.

The system requires:

environmental mapping;
viewpoint tracking;
depth information;
object recognition;
real-time rendering;
display.

Mixed Reality Perspective combines captured physical space with computationally generated spatial content.

Extended Reality Perspective

Extended reality, or XR, is a broad expression encompassing:

virtual reality;
augmented reality;
mixed reality;
related immersive and interactive systems.

XR does not identify one single perspective projection.

It identifies a family of New Media systems in which physical and represented realities are:

replaced;
extended;
combined;
mixed;
interactively explored.

The exact perspective category chain depends upon the system and experience being created.

Panoramic and Spherical New Media Perspective

Digital media can record, process and display very wide or all-direction spatial fields.

A spherical or 360-degree system may use:

multiple cameras;
fisheye lenses;
image stitching;
equirectangular mapping;
cube maps;
interactive viewers;
virtual-reality displays.

A complete spherical environment may be stored computationally while only one local view is displayed at any moment.

As the viewer turns, the system generates another view from the same all-direction environment.

This combines:

Panoramic Perspective;
Spherical Perspective;
Instrument Perspective;
New Media Perspective;
Visual Perspective Type 2.

INSERT IMAGE 21 — SPHERICAL PERSPECTIVE

Suggested caption: Digital spherical environments store a complete all-direction field from which changing local views can be generated.

Robotics and autonomous systems

Robots and autonomous vehicles use cameras and other sensors to construct operational models of surrounding space.

These systems may combine:

computer vision;
depth cameras;
radar;
lidar;
satellite positioning;
maps;
motion sensors;
artificial intelligence.

The system may:

detect objects;
estimate distance;
identify routes;
track movement;
predict changes;
control physical action.

The resulting perspective is not only presented for a human observer. It can guide the behaviour of a machine.

New Media Perspective therefore extends beyond human image viewing into automated spatial interpretation and action.

Digital twins

A digital twin is a computational representation connected to a physical object, building, system or environment.

It may receive continually updated information from:

sensors;
cameras;
measurements;
operational records;
geographic data.

The digital model can be used to:

inspect current conditions;
compare past and present states;
test changes;
predict behaviour;
plan maintenance;
visualise hidden processes.

A digital twin is a multi-view, multi-scale and multi-time New Media Perspective system linking physical and represented space.

Medical and scientific New Media Perspective

Medical and scientific systems generate images and models from data that may not resemble ordinary visible appearance.

Examples include:

computed tomography;
magnetic-resonance imaging;
ultrasound;
microscopy;
astronomical imaging;
molecular visualisation;
climate modelling;
geological reconstruction.

These systems may:

combine many sectional images;
reconstruct volumes;
use false colour;
reveal hidden structures;
animate processes;
allow interactive exploration.

New Media Perspective enables such spatial information to be viewed and analysed even where it was not formed as one ordinary optical image.

Artificial colour and visualisation

Digital systems can assign visible colours to information that has no natural visible colour.

Colour may represent:

temperature;
depth;
density;
velocity;
chemical composition;
radiation intensity;
another measured quantity.

The displayed colour is artificial but can communicate accurate relationships within the data.

The image should therefore be understood as a visual model or transformation rather than as an ordinary colour photograph of the subject.

New Media Perspective and visual communication

Digital and networked systems have transformed the exchange of spatial views.

Individuals can capture and transmit:

photographs;
moving images;
panoramic views;
live streams;
maps;
three-dimensional models;
virtual spaces.

The sender and viewer need not occupy the same place or time.

A person can experience a remotely captured viewpoint, explore a reconstructed environment or communicate through a moving image from a mobile device.

New Media Perspective has consequently become a major means by which human beings share spatial information and experience.

New Media Perspective and Visual Perspective Type 1

The visible images, views, models and displays produced through New Media belong within Visual Perspective Type 1.

These may include:

a computer image;
virtual scene;
digital photograph;
augmented view;
visualisation;
screen display;
projected environment.

Visual Perspective Type 2 concerns the retinal and perceptual experience produced when a person views or interacts with them.

The chain may be expressed as:

Digital data, model or image
↓
Computational generation or processing
↓
Electronic display — Visual Perspective Type 1
↓
Optical transmission to the eyes
↓
Retinal and perceptual experience — Visual Perspective Type 2

The displayed view and the user’s experience of it are distinct but connected stages.

New Media Perspective and immersion

New Media Perspective can produce immersion through:

large displays;
curved screens;
dome projection;
spherical imagery;
stereoscopic presentation;
head tracking;
interactive movement;
spatial sound;
responsive imagery.

The viewer may experience:

being surrounded by an image;
being located inside a virtual world;
looking through an augmented window;
sharing a remote environment;
interacting with represented objects.

Immersion is a goal or outcome rather than a separate basic directional class of perspective.

It is produced through the coordination of several visual, optical, instrumental and computational processes.

Sphere, Las Vegas

The interior display of Sphere, Las Vegas, provides a large-scale example of Composite, Mixed, Blended, Simulated and New Media Perspective.

Its extensive LED surface wraps upwards and around the audience, allowing imagery to occupy much of the visible environment.

Physical architecture, digital imagery, display technology, optical transmission and human perception combine to create an immersive spatial experience.

Volume 1 uses Sphere to demonstrate how contemporary New Media systems bring together physical and computer-generated realities within one perspective environment.

INSERT IMAGE — SPHERE, LAS VEGAS

Suggested caption: A large wraparound digital display can transform physical architecture into an immersive New Media perspective environment.

New Media Perspective and generated reality

A New Media image may be:

directly captured;
reconstructed;
simulated;
generated;
composited;
interactively calculated.

These origins should be distinguished.

Captured image

Derived substantially from one physical scene through a camera or sensor.

Reconstructed image or model

Produced by analysing several images, measurements or scans.

Simulated image

Generated from an artificial model intended to reproduce or test spatial behaviour.

Generative image

Produced computationally from instructions, examples, learned patterns or other data.

Composite image

Combines elements from several captured or generated sources.

A visually convincing image does not automatically reveal which of these processes produced it.

Correspondence and authenticity

New Media Perspective raises important questions concerning the relationship between image and spatial source.

A digital image may appear photographic while being:

heavily processed;
composited;
reconstructed;
generated;
partly simulated;
derived from several viewpoints.

A three-dimensional model may appear precise while containing:

missing data;
estimated surfaces;
simplified geometry;
artificial textures;
generated detail.

The visual realism of an image should therefore not be confused automatically with physical or historical correspondence.

Understanding the production chain is essential.

Advantages of New Media Perspective

New Media Perspective can:

connect many viewpoints;
operate across several scales and times;
generate views from new positions;
reconstruct three-dimensional form;
reveal patterns in large image collections;
integrate physical and virtual realities;
provide interactive spatial exploration;
allow remote viewing and collaboration;
support scientific and medical visualisation;
create immersive environments;
automate spatial interpretation;
represent objects and scenes that do not physically exist.

It extends perspective from fixed image-making into connected systems for spatial knowledge, communication and experience.

Limitations of New Media Perspective

Its limitations may include:

finite sensor and display resolution;
restricted or inconsistent source data;
computational error;
false spatial reconstruction;
processing artefacts;
network delays;
tracking errors;
stereoscopic discomfort;
viewpoint inconsistencies;
generated but physically implausible imagery;
uncertainty about image origin;
dependence upon hardware, software and data formats.

New Media systems can also conceal their own operations.

A smoothly displayed image may appear immediate and natural even though it has passed through extensive capture, modelling, correction, generation and display processes.

When New Media Perspective fails

Errors may appear as:

broken geometry;
incorrect perspective convergence;
unstable virtual objects;
delayed viewpoint updates;
mismatched lighting;
contradictory shadows;
incorrect reflections;
discontinuities between stitched views;
scale changes;
missing or invented detail;
inconsistent object forms across images.

These failures reveal the processes normally hidden within a successful digital perspective system.

They also demonstrate that computational imagery remains subject to the fundamental problems of:

viewpoint;
correspondence;
scale;
shape;
size;
resolution;
spatial continuity.

The twenty-first-century perspective era

The Dictionary identifies the twenty-first century as an era in which perspective has become increasingly:

computational;
interactive;
networked;
immersive.

Digital photography, CGI, computer vision, artificial intelligence, drones, photogrammetry, laser scanning, medical imaging, panoramic displays, VR, AR, MR, XR, virtual production and real-time 3-D modelling have extended perspective from fixed representation into dynamic systems for capturing, analysing, generating and exploring spatial reality.

This does not make earlier forms obsolete.

New Media Perspective incorporates and transforms principles inherited from:

natural vision;
optics;
geometry;
graphical perspective;
photography;
cinema;
scientific instruments.

Its novelty lies partly in the ability to connect these processes within one digital and interactive system.

Why New Media Perspective matters

New Media Perspective has changed what a perspective system can be.

Perspective can now:

exist as a live network rather than one image;
combine many viewpoints;
connect several scales and times;
analyse images automatically;
reconstruct spatial environments;
generate views that were never captured;
respond to a moving observer;
blend physical and digital realities;
support machine navigation;
create immersive and interactive worlds.

It establishes a major bridge between:

Optical Perspective;
Instrument Perspective;
Mathematical and Graphical Perspective;
Simulated Perspective;
computer graphics;
computer vision;
artificial intelligence;
networks and remote sensing;
virtual and augmented reality;
human visual experience.

New Media Perspective is therefore not merely perspective displayed on a computer.

It is a principal perspective category concerned with how computational and electronic systems capture, connect, process, generate, transform, display and explore spatial reality.

New Media Perspective in The Art and Science of Perspective

Volume 1, The Past, Present and Future of Visual and Optical Perspective, introduces New Media Perspective within the historical development of graphical representation, optics, instruments, photography, cinema, computing and emerging visual technologies.

Volume 2, Dictionary of Perspective, defines New Media Perspective and catalogues its relationships with digital imaging, computer graphics, computer vision, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, remote sensing, networked systems and other computational media.

Volume 6, Instrument and New Media Perspective, will provide the detailed examination of instruments, digital imaging, scientific systems, computer graphics, computer vision, AI, networks, virtual production, immersive displays and interactive spatial technologies.

Add ordinary text links or buttons to:

Instrument Perspective
Simulated Perspective
Optical Perspective
Visual Perspective
Mathematical Perspective
Graphical Perspective
Spherical Perspective
Camera Perspective
Perspective Category Theory
Perspective Phenomena
Applications of Perspective
The Art and Science of Perspective

Recommended images and placement

Use approximately seven principal images.

1. New Media Perspective diagram

Use the existing New Media Perspective diagram or category graphic from Volume 1.

Place immediately after the opening section.

It should show the principal relationships between:

New Media;
Internet;
robotics;
autonomous systems;
artificial intelligence;
networked systems;
Internet of Things;
remote sensing;
VR, AR, MR and XR;
digital filmmaking;
virtual production;
computer games;
GIS and GPS;
CGI, CAD, AI and computer vision.

2. Composite Perspective

03.png — Composite Perspective

Place after “Category overloading.”

3. Viewpoint–Correspondence Problem

11.png — Viewpoint–Correspondence Problem

Place after the computer-vision discussion.

4. Blended Scene Perspective

23.png — Blended Scene Perspective

Place after digital filmmaking and visual effects.

5. Virtual Production

24.png — Virtual Production

Place after that section.

6. Spherical Perspective

21.png — Spherical Perspective

Place after “Panoramic and Spherical New Media Perspective.”

7. Sphere, Las Vegas

Use the image already reproduced in Volume 1.

Place after the Sphere section.

A further optional image could show one carefully selected VR or AR system in use, but avoid filling the page with unrelated photographs of commercial devices. The New Media category diagram, Composite Perspective, Blended Scene Perspective and Virtual Production figures should provide its main conceptual visual identity.