WebRTC BackRooms Podcast

The Backroom of Hidden Labor Behind Machine Vision w/Nicolas Gourault

Welcome to the Backroom of Hidden Labor Behind Machine Vision w/Nicolas GouraultThis is the WebRTC BackRooms, a podcast series deep-scrolling into XR, AI, and the future of hanging out in the spatial internet. In this episode, together with Nicolas Gourault, we discuss the hidden infrastructures and labor behind contemporary machine vision systems. Drawing from Nicolas’ films and research on autonomous driving technologies, the conversation traces the vast networks of annotation workers, click labor, and operational image production that allow AI systems to function while remaining largely invisible within public narratives of automation.The episode reflects on how machine “vision” is never autonomous, but constructed through distributed forms of human labor embedded within global technological pipelines. We discuss how datasets are produced, and how workers across different geographical contexts participate in the training of systems they rarely control or fully access themselves. Through this, the discussion opens broader questions around authorship, invisibility, and the myth of artificial autonomy.From simulation environments and labeled datasets to the politics of visibility within autonomous driving systems, the conversation examines how operational images increasingly organize contemporary space, mobility, and perception. We also reflect on the neo-colonial structures embedded within these infrastructures, where outsourced digital labor sustains AI economies while remaining hidden behind narratives of seamless technological progress.Throughout the episode, we ask what it means to produce images that are no longer made primarily for human spectatorship, but for machines, infrastructures, and automated decision-making systems. The discussion ultimately situates machine vision within larger questions of labor, logistics, and spatial governance, asking how these invisible image economies reshape the environments we inhabit.A Podcast by Me AndOther MeDirection & Production: Me AndOther Me / Anna Pompermaier & Cenk GüzelisVirtual Camera: Cenk Güzelis, Luca Lazzari, Viktoria Märkl, Lilly Krüger, Ruben Ungerathen, Adrian Weiss, Linus MemmelTechnical Setup: Me AndOther Me, Luca LazzariSound Design: Mehmet CakirAudio Mix: Kristaps Andris AustersVolumetric Streaming: Me AndOther Me, Marek Simonik (Record3D)Text: Me AndOther Me / Anna Pompermaier & Cenk Güzelis This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit meandotherme.substack.com [https://meandotherme.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Backroom of Internet Aesthetics and Liminal Spaces w/Valentina Tanni

Welcome to the Backroom of Internet Aesthetics and Liminal Spaces w/Valentina TanniThis is the WebRTC BackRooms, a podcast series deep-scrolling into XR, AI, and the future of hanging out in the spatial internet.In this episode, together with Valentina Tanni, we discuss the memetic strategies of internet aesthetics, how visual trends emerge and disappear almost overnight, and how certain visual languages—glitches, lo-fi graphics, uncanny renderings—become signals of belonging within online communities. Drawing on Valentina’s research and books on internet culture, the conversation explores the strange ecology of online images and how collective participation shapes their meaning. From the eerie familiarity of the Backrooms to the strange humor of “Italian brainrot,” the episode reflects on how internet culture produces its own mythology, references, and visual codes. The discussion also turns to newer forms of AI-driven aesthetics. We reflect on phenomena such as AI ASMR imagery, endlessly looping generative visuals, and the flood of synthetic images now shaping online taste. Throughout the episode, we ask what these evolving visual cultures reveal about contemporary image circulation: how memetic images become cultural memory, and how online communities continuously invent new aesthetic languages through fragments, repetition, and remix.A Podcast by Me AndOther MeDirection & Production: Me AndOther Me / Anna Pompermaier & Cenk GüzelisVirtual Camera: Cenk Güzelis, Luca Lazzari, Viktoria Märkl, Lilly Krüger, Ruben Ungerathen, Adrian Weiss, Linus MemmelTechnical Setup: Me AndOther Me, Luca LazzariSound Design: Mehmet CakirAudio Mix: Kristaps Andris AustersVolumetric Streaming: Me AndOther Me, Marek Simonik (Record3D)Text: Me AndOther Me / Anna Pompermaier & Cenk GüzelisThanks to the ORF III Cultural Advisory BoardProduced with the support of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport as part of the funding program Pixel, Bytes + FilmThe visual artworks embedded within the virtual environment are by Rosa Menkman and are presented with the artist’s permission. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit meandotherme.substack.com [https://meandotherme.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Backroom of im/possible image resolutions w/ Rosa Menkman

Welcome to the Backroom of im/possible image resolutions w/ Rosa Menkman [https://beyondresolution.info/]. This is the WebRTC BackRooms, a podcast series deep-scrolling into XR, AI, and the future of hanging out in the spatial internet. In this first episode together with Rosa we interrogate resolutions, image standards, and politics of seeing. We ask what defines an image, what defines seeing, and what gets erased when technology resolves the world into sight. The discussion follows Rosa Menkman’s long-term research into compression errors, resolution limits, and the technical choices that shape visibility. Resolution is approached as a compromise rather than a neutral condition, shaped by efficiency, standards, and exclusions. A Podcast by Me AndOther Me <3 [https://meandother.me/] Direction & Production: Me AndOther Me / Anna Pompermaier & Cenk Güzelis Virtual Camera: Cenk Güzelis, Luca Lazzari, Viktoria Märkl, Lilly Krüger, Ruben Ungerathen, Adrian Weiss, Linus Memmel Technical Setup: Me AndOther Me, Luca Lazzari Sound Design: Paul Böhm aka Brootworth Audio Mix: Kristaps Andris Austers Volumetric Streaming: Me AndOther Me, Marek Simonik (Record3D) Text: Me AndOther Me / Anna Pompermaier & Cenk Güzelis Thanks to the ORF III Cultural Advisory Board Produced with the support of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport as part of the funding program Pixel, Bytes + Film The visual artworks embedded within the virtual environment are by Rosa Menkman and are presented with the artist’s permission. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit meandotherme.substack.com [https://meandotherme.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]