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Presented at the Computational Design: Practices, Histories, Infrastructures Symposium, October 2017 at Carnegie Mellon University. Culling Vision: Depth, Distance, and the Limits of Perception in Graphical Simulation Distance has always posed a unique challenge for computer graphics, as it requires a negotiation with the limits of what is seen and may therefore be simulated. For over forty years this problem was solved through the use of a hardware object known as a z-buffer, responsible for the storage and manipulation of depth information for any given simulation. A deceptively simple technology, the z-buffer forms the basis for a wide range of technical practices in visual rendering today, yet the images it produces are never meant to be seen – one of many backend “visual passes” hidden from the user. An examination of these “depth map” images reveals a great deal about the material function of digital images today and their relationship
