Digital Renaissance

A parallel from the 14th century to the 21st

Painters during the Renaissance embraced perspective and dimensionality in their work. They employed techniques such as di sotto in sù ("from below, upward") and quadratura to recreate the illusion of heavens in vaulted domes and to dress ceilings into rich tapestries depicting 14th century human life. These techniques demonstrated their mastery and understanding of three dimensionality.

Let's fast forward to the 21st century and our digital Renaissance today. I claim that there has been an equivalent leap forward in our understanding of dimensionality. We now comprehend hyperdimensionality, as all of the models embedded in our algorithms and our AI are hyperdimensional. (For example, in research, I typically work with hyperdimensional spaces that are 128 dimensions or 512 dimensions deep, and help users draw on the statistical understanding of data as an artistic medium.)

I see a parallel chase for realism—just as Renaissance sculptors and artists tried to capture the human form in stone and paints, so to have researchers and companies tried to capture the human mind in circuitry.