Author: Jason Chao

What next for Memespector-GUI?

Posted on | by Jason Chao

Memespector-GUI has helped over a thousand researchers use well-known cloud-based computer vision APIs to enhance their image datasets since 2021. The last major version of Memespector-GUI was released about four years ago.

The developer of Memespector-GUI is considering continuing the development of the tool. He would like to invite former, current, and potential future users to share your feedback on the current version, as well as your ideas for the next generation of the tool.

Questionnaire https://forms.gle/BZJmMVEFFcN1zksMA

This short questionnaire has 12 questions and should take you less than 5 minutes to complete.

This survey will close on 31 March 2025.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, feel free to contact Jason Chao at chao@jasontc.net.

Introducing Memespector-GUI: A Graphical User Interface Client for Computer Vision APIs

Posted on | by Jason Chao

In this post Jason Chao, PhD candidate at the University of Siegen, introduces Memespector-GUI, a tool for doing research with and about data from computer vision APIs.

In recent years, tech companies started to offer computer vision capabilities through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Big names in the cloud industry have integrated computer vision services in their artificial intelligence (AI) products. These computer vision APIs are designed for software developers to integrate into their products and services. Indeed, your images may have been processed by these APIs unbeknownst to you. The operations and outputs of computer vision APIs are not usually presented directly to end-users.

The open-source Memespector-GUI tool aims to support investigations both with and about computer vision APIs by enabling users to repurpose, incorporate, audit and/or critically examine their outputs in the context of social and cultural research.

What kinds of outputs do these computer vision APIs produce? The specifications and the affordances of these APIs vary from platform to platform. As an example here is a quick walkthrough of some of the features of Google Vision API…

Continue reading →