The Digital Humanities Unveiled: Perceptions Held by Art Historians and Computer Scientists about Computer Vision Technology

TL;DR

This paper explores the perceptions and misunderstandings between art historians and computer scientists regarding computer vision technology in art history, based on surveys conducted in 2014, highlighting social, philosophical, and practical concerns.

Contribution

It provides insights into the differing perceptions of computer vision technology between humanities scholars and computer scientists through empirical survey data.

Findings

Computer scientists are generally aware of achievements but misunderstand their implications.

Art historians have concerns about the social and philosophical impacts of digitization.

Surveys reveal gaps in knowledge and perception between the two groups.

Abstract

Although computer scientists are generally familiar with the achievements of computer vision technology in art history, these accomplishments are little known and often misunderstood by scholars in the humanities. To clarify the parameters of this seeming disjuncture, we have addressed the concerns that one example of the digitization of the humanities poses on social, philosophical, and practical levels. In support of our assessment of the perceptions held by computer scientists and art historians about the use of computer vision technology to examine art, we based our interpretations on two surveys that were distributed in August 2014. In this paper, the development of these surveys and their results are discussed in the context of the major philosophical conclusions of our research in this area to date.