Joanne Maly: So This Devices Literally Uses Shock Therapy to Improve Your Photography

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

So This Devices Literally Uses Shock Therapy to Improve Your Photography

Acquiring the right eye for photography is something most longtime pros would say takes a lifetime.

And certainly some professional instruction or books go a long way towards helping a creator perfect their craft.

Some of us are even lucky enough to have a skilled mentor who guides us along the path to becoming a proficient and skilled photographer.

But not everyone has this option and, it being 2018, technology has a solution for those of us too isolated to find a mentor and too scholastically challenged to read a book or take a class.

Image via Prosthetic Photographer.

This new method will involve one of the oldest incentives known to psychological science to improve your photography: shock therapy.

Well, little zaps of electricity to help you get your photos just right.

We’re not kidding – that’s the idea behind the Prosthetic Photographer. Designed by Peter Buczkowski for use with both DSLR and mirrorless cameras, the Prosthetic Photographer uses artificial intelligence-derived algorithms to continuously scan for scenes it deems “ideal.” It then zaps the photographer into capturing them.

“The Prosthetic Photographer enables anybody to unwillingly take beautiful pictures,” the project’s web page says.

It developed its sense of aesthetic through machine learning and scanning thousands upon thousands of images deemed aesthetically competent and pleasing.

Electrodes on the device’s handgrip zap the photographer and cause an involuntary reaction that captures the scene.

“This system is part of a new aesthetic, based on computer-generated decisions that were taught by previous human skill…The conscious skill of photography becomes obsolete this way.”

In a nod for those of us who need a stronger hint than a light zap, the electrode’s strength will be adjustable so you can really zap yourself into picture-perfect states time and time again at the shock level you desire.

For those of you interested in scoping out the project, you can check out the website here.