Light

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Student: Leung King Tim Timothy

From the beginning of the universe, to formation of human civilization, as to today; light is essential to our lives. Current fancy technology like smart phones, artificial intelligence often render us forget that many of our technology, from the past to modern world, based on application of light: tracers, fiber-optic communication.

The photo exhibits demonstration of agricultural LED, taken at the HKCEC Spring Lighting Fair. It is special that from the early days of life formation, photosynthesis provide important support for plant growth and basis of evolution. Now we humans use our knowledge and technology to develop agricultural LED to enhance photosynthesis and plant growth. Various plants have different sensitivity to diverse wavelengths of light. Photosynthesis Active Radiation (PAR) is essential for plant growth. The plant is dominantly illuminated by optimal red light to support photosynthesis, balanced by small amount of green and blue lights. Optimal red light is for photosynthesis, while the other two are necessary elongation control and flower enhancement. The technology is useful to increase crops yield for high altitudes region in winter.

Not only technologies of light helps us, but also contribute to mother nature, as well as not forgetting the nurture she has been providing.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Camera

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Student: Lee Pak Ho

This is me. I am a photographer. It is my camera. Or you could say, it is a part of me.

I know, your first reaction is like, “What an old technology…” But actually, it is still having rapid development. You know, the CMOS sensor, the auto focus system, or the sharpness of the lens are continuously evolving. Camera in fact is a product of latest technology. So let’s get down to business, it is a story about the intimate interaction between me and my camera.

As mentioned, it is a part of me. It sees the world I see. It captures all the things I would love to memorialize. I can tell others my feelings via various settings on my camera. Faster shutter gives a freezing feeling. Slower shutter makes everything vivid and lifelike. Lower exposure makes everything dim and dull. Higher exposure makes everything energetic. Warmer color shows happiness and cooler color shows sadness. Camera can pretty much express all my emotions. If a single photo is not enough to do so, take another one.

In this photo, the camera covers all my face. People use mouth to speak words, but I use camera to tell stories.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Traffic Light

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Student: Foo Zhi Qian

Some features of our society are so ubiquitous that people usually take them for granted. For instance, look at this picture. Will the three traffic lights captivate any of your attention? Have you ever wondered how the world would be without traffic lights?

This photo was taken at the intersection of Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road in Central. Being the frenetic business and retail heart of Hong Kong, Central is always busy and crowded with people. Despite the dense population, the traffics on the roads are well-organized. Traffic lights assign the right way to avoid conflicting traffic movements, thereby allowing trams, vehicles and pedestrians to move safely in their desired directions.

However, these traffic lights are inefficient as they unintelligently inhibit the organic flow of movement, causing undue stress on commuters who are forced to wait. With the era of driverless vehicles and Internet of Things fast approaching, perhaps in the near future, we can witness computer-controlled intersections, where self-driving cars can weave past each other without stopping, and traffic lights will become urban relics that remind us of simpler times.

Before that, let us appreciate the contribution of traffic lights, for the orderly traffics that we have today.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Underground Water Storage Tank

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Student: Chiang Sung Hei Enoch

This photo was taken during our amazing course field trip to Happy Valley Stormwater Storage Tank. I have always known that our city has a state-of-the-art underground infrastructure to prevent floods during typhoon seasons, but I didn’t know the tank is built underneath the Happy Valley Recreation Ground with enchanting landscapes of sport pitches and greenery.

At one point during our exclusive guided tour to the tank, we were inside the pump house when our guide illustrated how the tank works using a model. At first, it appeared to be a normal 3D model of the tank. Then buttons were pressed, and the model began to move in different ways! Lights of different colours demonstrates how different parts of the tank works and they could even move to indicate the water flow. It was amazing and aided the illustration very much. Technology interacts with society, help deliver information and educate. Other examples include E-learning tools like Moodle, iPads, computers, interactive whiteboards, E-versions of textbooks, etc.

The trip was a unique opportunity for me to learn more about our world-famous infrastructures of flood prevention, and to witness once again how technology interacts with society while serving educational purposes.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Plane and Bridge

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Student: Oliver Chau

This photo was taken on a plane which is about to land on Hong Kong airport, while the view outside is the manmade island of the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge. This photo is chosen because it shows the interaction between two important transportation technologies and us, which is road transport and airway transport. No matter which form it is, transportation technologies not only shorten the distance between every one of us, but also contribute to the exchange of goods. Both of them are very important in the globalized society and also economic development. Imagine if planes and were not invented, what we can go in the whole life might be just inside our city, let alone saying connecting with other countries to achieve globalization. Therefore, in order to develop a place, transportation definitely plays an important role (e.g. in China the first step of rural development is to build a proper road connect it and the nearest city). Also, another reason I choose this photo is because the bridge shown here is one of the longest cross-sea bridge in the world. The improvement of architectural technologies creates more and more mega-infrastructures which serves millions of people.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Ghost Town Restaurant

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Fig 1. Lifelike e-host located at the entrance/waiting area of the fast food sushi restaurant. It functions to assign customers seats according to group size, expected service type (self-serve or waited on), and guest type (depending on recent amount of expenditure). Customers interact with the e-host through a touch-screen panel while corresponding voice recordings are emitted throughout the transaction.
Fig 2. A section of the restaurant where customers prefer self-service. For these guests, interaction with waitresses are kept at a minimum, and only necessary for checkout –otherwise, orders are made on digital menu boards, food is delivered on the conveyor belt, and used dishes collected only after the seats are vacated. The restaurant is located in a comfortably populated city in Kagoshima, Japan.
 

Student: Chang Jamie

No doubt, eateries utilising technology to aid operation is not a rare sight in Hong Kong, yet none are as innovative as a fast-food sushi restaurant I had visited in Japan. Upon entering, I was greeted by none other than a life-size robot (fig. 1).

The e-host had captured my attention as (apart from being my ticket to enjoying a fulfilling meal,) it bore an uncanny resemblance to human beings. Programmed to seem lifelike, the e-host lacked syntheticness – every second, engaged with customers or not, it “breathed”, “observed”, and gestured meaningfully to invite customers into the restaurant. As such, the store operates based on minimal human interaction and presence. While the e-host is inventive and fresh, a few questions come to mind: Is this the future of tertiary businesses? How will this adversely affect employment rates and people’s livelihood? Is it not ironic and unhealthy for communities to thrive increasingly on seclusion and disconnectedness? Is technology perhaps advancing too fast for humanity; or are we too susceptible to its grasp on us? In attempt to higher efficiency and net earnings, it was at the cost of connection and unity, where even friends face the wall as they dine “together”. This serves as a prime example of technology as a double-edged sword in creating a ghost town restaurant – ultimately, do we gain… or do we lose?

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Fishing

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Student: Chan Hsiuh Chong

Technology is the tools, machines, systems and processes developed from scientific knowledge for practical purposes, so this photo is chosen for the topic “human-technology interaction” since it shows how we, humans, make use of technological tools to reach our targets. Every technology developed by humans has their own purposes, and usually these purposes are very simple, spoons are invented because it helps us to drink soup, rockets are invented because we want to explore the universe. It’s the same for fishing rod, we invent it just because we want to catch the fish in the sea as our food.

This is an significant photo not because of showing any important technology for humans, but because it shows humans’ relationship with technology.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Smart Phone

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Student: Chuen Wah

Smart phone is one of the most significant items in the life of human. Since nowadays smart phone has different kind of functions, we can use our smart phone to many things. For example, we can use smart phone to take photo, to record a video, or even to play Sims 4, a kind of popular computer games, by using smart. Before the first smart phone was made in the world, people have to use different kind of equipment to take photo or to record a video. But the appear of smart phone changed the world. It make our life more to be colorful. We can use our smart phone to take photo in anytime and anywhere. Our life is being more wonderful because of smart phone.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Interaction with Technology — Rule or Being Ruled

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Student: Dick Au Yeung

The photo illustrates how family members are isolated from each other by their smartphones. Although they are sitting next together, each of them is overly focusing on their smartphones. Some of them maybe texting with friends while the others are playing phone games. They are living in their own world, with no acknowledgements to their external environment including their family members. This is why each person is shaped by different colors in the photo with a colorless background.

Human interaction with technology means human ourselves are using the technology in a right and balanced way. Nevertheless, here obviously is not the case. It seems that we humans have overlooked the fact that we are interacting with technology too much to the extent that as if being “ruled” by technology. The use of mobile phones is so pervasive and intriguing that even our kinship cannot escape from being ruined.

The isolation of family members illustrated by the photo is just a tip of the iceberg. If the problem remains unsettled, please don’t be surprised when you see the world is no longer controlled or dominated by human, but maybe by intelligence robots.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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Jaywalk

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Student: Oon Wei Yi

Whenever I set foot in Kennedy Town, the metronomic clicking of pedestrian lights is always accompanied by the sight of multiple jaywalkers strutting across the street, unfazed by its ominous red warning. I believe this interaction of indifference at the pedestrian stoplight interface is a manifestation of impatience cultivated by the hectic Asian urban lifestyle and culture of workaholism embraced by Hongkongers. However, regardless of how pressed for time one is, the selfish act of jaywalking cannot be justified. This practice compromises the beneficent intent behind traffic lights, which is to keep roads safe. The assumption of “green means go” may reduce the alertness of motorists at intersections, leaving them unprepared to respond towards jaywalkers. Not only is the offender at peril, any hasty swerving of the vehicle may endanger law-abiding pedestrians on the sidewalk. Evidently, the effectiveness of stoplights, and essentially all technologies, ultimately lies in the hands of its users. Abuse by a few black sheep can easily transform a technology from blessing to curse towards the larger society. Providing technological hardware for the betterment of society is easy, but changing the societal software – the people’s attitude towards using it responsibly – is paramount for enablement of its full efficacy.

Gonçalo Santos / Technology, Power, and Culture in the Global Age. / Year 2019
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