Drones in Visual Culture: Developing a New Theory of Visual Mobile Communication

视觉文化中的无人机：发展视觉移动通信的新理论

• 批准号: AH/T012528/1
• 负责人: Elisa Serafinelli
• 金额: $ 25.62万
• 依托单位: University of Sheffield
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT012528%2F1
• 关键词: Drones; Visual; Culture; Developing; New

This Fellowship aims to understand whether and how the use of drone technology in society is changing the way people see the world and visual culture more broadly, and to extend and innovate current theoretical approaches to visual mobile communication. It is underpinned by exploring i) the aesthetic characteristics of drone visuals, ii) how drone visuals circulate and iii) public perception of drone visuals. Drones are widely understood as unstaffed aircrafts, generally fitted with cameras that can be remotely controlled and used for recreational and commercial purposes. As flying robots, drones can capture images that would be difficult to take with ordinary cameras, providing a wealth of new visual information that would be otherwise unavailable. Aerial photography/videography is not a new phenomenon. What is new and different is that increasingly drones are used not only by drone operators with valid CAA permission, but also by amateurs, noticeably expanding the potential to capture, share and store new visual content.Research into drones to date has focused on technical aspects and the implications of their use in warzones. There has also been a small amount of research into the issues they raise in terms of surveillance, privacy and ethics, but surprisingly the significance of drones for visual culture has not been addressed. Therefore, I plan to use this Fellowship to address the overarching research question: - In what ways are drones contributing to or changing contemporary visual cultures?I will also address the subsidiary research questions: 1.What are the aesthetic, textual, semiotic characteristics of drone visuals? 2.How do drone visuals live? Where are they seen and shared? How widely? By whom? With what implications? 3.What do the general public think about drone visuals? How do they perceive them? 4.What is the impact of drone visuals on culture more widely? What are the main issues they raise? Through these questions, I will add a digital arts and humanities perspective to the current understanding of drones, and will showcase how such a perspective can move academic research on drones beyond existing analyses of technicalities and safety considerations. For this purpose, this Fellowship will adopt a 'visual culture' approach that pays attention to the visual object and the active experience of the individual in the optical experience. This will be combined with a 'technological mediation' approach that acknowledges the importance of thinking of visuals in the digital age in direct conversation with media and new technologies. In this way, the Fellowship will bring visual communication and culture studies into conversation with other fields, especially internet, digital and mobile media studies. Methodologically, this Fellowship will employ a mixed methods approach that is novel in its integration of three strands. First, online participant observation will be conducted on drone users and how their visuals circulate online. Second, a survey will be conducted within a public exhibition to collect public perceptions of drone visuals. Third, qualitative content analysis on drone visuals will be conducted to explore their aesthetic characteristics and meanings. Throughout this Fellowship, I will initiate interdisciplinary dialogue about the importance of drone visuals as an object of investigation in visual culture through the publication of a solo-authored monograph, by holding an interdisciplinary international conference, and publishing one peer-reviewed journal article and a special issue. This research will achieve impact through a workshop with drone users, a drone visuals exhibition and online group discussions. This project builds on the insights and experience of a British Academy funded pilot project (Small Grant Ref SRG18R1\180618) where I explored users' and developers' perspectives on drone usage.

该奖学金旨在了解无人机技术在社会中的使用是否以及如何改变人们更广泛地看待世界和视觉文化的方式，并扩展和创新当前视觉移动通信的理论方法。它的基础是探索i)无人机视觉的审美特征，ii)无人机视觉是如何传播的，以及iii)公众对无人机视觉的感知。无人机被广泛理解为无人驾驶的飞机，通常装有摄像头，可以远程控制，用于娱乐和商业目的。作为飞行机器人，无人机可以捕捉到普通相机难以拍摄的图像，提供了丰富的新视觉信息，否则就无法获得。航空摄影/摄像并不是一个新现象。新的和不同的是，越来越多的无人机不仅被获得有效CAA许可的无人机运营商使用，而且还被业余爱好者使用，显著扩大了捕捉、分享和存储新视觉内容的潜力。到目前为止，对无人机的研究主要集中在技术方面以及在战区使用无人机的影响。对于无人机在监控、隐私和伦理方面提出的问题，也进行了少量研究，但令人惊讶的是，无人机对视觉文化的意义并未得到解决。因此，我计划利用这一奖学金来解决首要的研究问题：-无人机在哪些方面促进或改变了当代视觉文化？我还将解决次要的研究问题：1.无人机视觉效果的美学、文本和符号特征是什么？2.无人机视觉效果是如何生存的？他们在哪里被看到和分享？范围有多广？谁干的？这意味着什么？3.公众对无人机的视觉效果有何看法？他们是如何看待无人机的？4.无人机视频对更广泛的文化有什么影响？他们提出的主要问题是什么？通过这些问题，我将在目前对无人机的理解中增加一个数字艺术和人文视角，并将展示这种视角如何推动对无人机的学术研究超越现有的技术细节和安全考虑。为此，该奖学金将采用“视觉文化”的方法，关注视觉对象和个人在视觉体验中的积极体验。这将与“技术调解”方法相结合，该方法承认在与媒体和新技术的直接对话中，在数字时代思考视觉的重要性。通过这种方式，该奖学金将把视觉传播和文化研究带入与其他领域的对话，特别是互联网、数字和移动媒体研究。在方法上，该奖学金将采用一种混合方法的方法，这在其三个方面的整合方面是新颖的。首先，将对无人机用户以及他们的视觉图像在网上传播的情况进行在线参与者观察。其次，将在公开展览内进行一项调查，以收集公众对无人机视觉效果的看法。第三，对无人机视觉进行定性的内容分析，探讨无人机视觉的审美特征和意义。在整个研究金期间，我将通过出版一本独著的专著，举行跨学科国际会议，并发表一篇同行评议的期刊文章和一期特刊，就无人机视觉作为视觉文化研究对象的重要性展开跨学科对话。这项研究将通过与无人机用户的研讨会、无人机视觉图片展和在线小组讨论来实现影响。这个项目建立在英国科学院资助的一个试点项目(Small Grant RefSRG18R1/180618)的见解和经验的基础上，在该项目中，我探索了用户和开发人员对无人机使用的观点。

项目成果

Drones in Visual Culture / Anna Jackman Converses with Elisa Serafinelli and Lauren Alex O'Hagan about Their Work

视觉文化中的无人机/安娜·杰克曼与 Elisa Serafinelli 和 Lauren Alex OHagan 谈论他们的工作

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP)
• 作者: Jackman Anna

Drones in Society: New Visual Aesthetics

社会中的无人机：新视觉美学

• 作者: Serafinelli E.

Views from the Blue: Theorising Drones in Visual Culture

来自蓝色的观点：视觉文化中的无人机理论

• 作者: Serafinelli E.

Transhistoricizing the Drone: A Comparative Visual Social Semiotic Analysis of Pigeon and Domestic Drone Photography

无人机的跨历史化：鸽子和家用无人机摄影的比较视觉社会符号学分析

• DOI: 10.1080/17514517.2022.2116899
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Photography and Culture
• 影响因子: 0.3
• 作者: O'Hagan L

Rethinking Verticality through top-down views in drone hobbyist photography

通过无人机爱好者摄影的自上而下视图重新思考垂直度

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Visual Studies
• 影响因子: 0.7
• 作者: O'Hagan Lauren