Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
supported by the sibling associations ACADIA, CAADRIA, eCAADe, SIGraDi, ASCAAD and CAAD futures

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_id	7670
authors	Sawicki, Bogumil
year	1995
title	Ray Tracing – New Chances, Possibilities and Limitations in AutoCAD
source	CAD Space [Proceedings of the III International Conference Computer in Architectural Design] Bialystock 27-29 April 1995, pp. 121-136
summary	Realistic image synthesis is nowadays widely used in engineering applications. Some of these applications, such as architectural, interior, lighting and industrial design demand accurate visualization of non-existent scenes as they would look to us, when built in reality. This can only be archived by using physically based models of light interaction with surfaces, and simulating propagation of light through an environment. Ray tracing is one of the most powerful techniques used in computer graphics, which can produce such very realistic images. Ray tracing algorithm follows the paths of light rays backwards from observer into the scene. It is very time consuming process and as such one could not be developed until proper computers appeared, In recent years the technological improvements in computer industry brought more powerful machines with bigger storage capacities and better graphic devices. Owing to increasing these hardware capabilities successful implementation of ray tracing in different CAD software became possible also on PC machines. Ray tracing in AutoCAD r.12 - the most popular CAD package in the world - is the best of that example. AccuRender and AutoVision are an AutoCAD Development System (ADS) applications that use ray tracing to create photorealistic images from 3D AutoCAD models. These ,internal"' applications let users generate synthetic images of threedimensional models and scenes entirely within AutoCAD space and show effects directly on main AutoCAD screen. Ray tracing algorithm accurately calculates and displays shadows, transparency, diffusion, reflection, and refraction from surface qualities of user-defined materials. The accurate modelling of light lets produce sophisticated effects and high-quality images, which these ray tracers always generates at 24-bit pixel depth,"providing 16,7 million colours. That results can be quite impressive for some architects and are almost acceptable for others but that coloured virtual world, which is presented by ray tracing in AutoCAD space in such convincing way, is still not exactly the same as the real world. Main limitations of realism are due to the nature of ray tracing method Classical ray tracing technique takes into account the effects of light reflection from neighbouring surfaces but, leaves out of account the ambient and global illumination arising out of complex interreflections in an environment. So models generated by ray tracing belong to an "ideal" world where real materials and environment can't find their right place. We complain about that fact and say that ray tracing shows us "too specular world", but (...) (...) there is anything better on the horizon? It should be concluded, that typical abilities of today's graphics software and hardware are far from exploited. As was observed in literature there have been various works carried along with the explicit intention of overcoming all these ray tracing limitations, These researches seem to be very promising and let us hope that their results will be seen in CAD applications soon. As it happens with modelling, perhaps the answer will come from a variety of techniques that can be combined together with ray tracing depending on the case we are dealing with. Therefore from the point of view of an architects that try to keep alive some interest on the nature of materials and their interaction with form, "ray tracing" seems to be right path of research and development that we can still a long way follow, From the point of view of the school, a critical assimilation of "ray tracing" processes is required and one that might help to determinate exactly their distortions and to indicate the correct way of its development and right place in CAAD education. I trust that ray tracing will become standard not only in AutoCAD but in all architectural space modelling CAD applications and will be established as a powerful and real tool for experimental researches in architectural design process. Will be the technological progress so significant in the nearest future as it is anticipated?
series	plCAD
last changed	2000/01/24 10:08

_id	ae9f
authors	Damer, B.
year	1996
title	Inhabited Virtual Worlds: A New Frontier for Interaction Design
source	Interactions, Vol.3, No.5 ACM
summary	In April of 1995 the Internet took a step into the third dimension with the introduction of the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) as a commercial standard. Another event that month caused fewer headlines but in retrospect was just as significant. A small company from San Francisco, Worlds Incorporated, launched WorldsChat, a three dimensional environment allowing any Internet user to don a digital costume, or avatar, and travel about and converse with other people inhabiting the space. WorldsChat was appropriately modeled on a space station complete with a central hub, hallways, sliding doors, windows, and escalators to outlying pods.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	a91e
authors	Deering, M.
year	1995
title	Holosketch: A virtual reality sketching/animation tool
source	ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2(3), pp. 220-238
summary	This article describes HoloSketch, a virtual reality-based 3D geometry creation and manipulation tool. HoloSketch is aimed at providing nonprogrammers with an easy-to-use 3D “What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get” environment. Using head-tracked stereo shutter glasses and a desktop CRT display configuration, virtual objects can be created with a 3D wand manipulator directly in front of the user, at very high accuracy and much more rapidly than with traditional 3D drawing systems. HoloSketch also supports simple animation and audio control for virtual objects. This article describes the functions of the HoloSketch system, as well as our experience so far with more-general issues of head-tracked stereo 3D user interface design.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	5e49
authors	Deering, Michael F.
year	1996
title	HoloSketch: A Virtual Reality Sketching/Animation Tool Special Issue on Virtual Reality Software and Technology
source	Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 1995 v.2 n.3 pp. 220-238
summary	This article describes HoloSketch, a virtual reality-based 3D geometry creation and manipulation tool. HoloSketch is aimed at providing nonprogrammers with an easy-to-use 3D "What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get" environment. Using head-tracked stereo shutter glasses and a desktop CRT display configuration, virtual objects can be created with a 3D wand manipulator directly in front of the user, at very high accuracy and much more rapidly than with traditional 3D drawing systems. HoloSketch also supports simple animation and audio control for virtual objects. This article describes the functions of the HoloSketch system, as well as our experience so far with more-general issues of head-tracked stereo 3D user interface design.
keywords	Computer Graphics; Picture/Image Generation; Display Algorithms; Computer Graphics; Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism; Human Factors; 3D Animation; 3D Graphics; Graphics Drawing Systems; Graphics Painting Systems; Man-Machine Interface; Virtual Reality
series	other
last changed	2002/07/07 16:01

_id	8955
authors	Donath, Dirk and Regenbrecht, Holger
year	1995
title	VRAD (Virtual Reality Aided Design) in the Early Phases of the Architectural Design Process
source	Sixth International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 9971-62-423-0] Singapore, 24-26 September 1995, pp. 313-322
summary	With this paper we are introducing a system which supports the early phases of the architectural design process. The system consists of two main components: the software solution ìvoxDesign" and the physical environment "platform". Our aims are: to formulate, develop, and evaluate an architectural design system through the use of VR (virtual reality)-space. The exploration and development of design intentions is supplemented by a new method of three dimensional sketching.
keywords	Virtual Reality, Architectural Design, Human Computer Interfaces, Design Techniques
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	0128
authors	Engeli, M., Kurmann, D. and Schmitt, G.
year	1995
title	A New Design Studio: Intelligent Objects and Personal Agents
source	Computing in Design - Enabling, Capturing and Sharing Ideas [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-04-7] University of Washington (Seattle, Washington / USA) October 19-22, 1995, pp. 155-170
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.155
summary	As design processes and products are constantly increasing in complexity, new tools are being developed for the designer to cope with the growing demands. In this paper we describe our research towards a design environment, within which different aspects of design can be combined, elaborated and controlled. New hardware equipment will be combined with recent developments in graphics and artificial intelligence programming to develop appropriate computer based tools and find possible new design techniques. The core of the new design studio comprises intelligent objects in a virtual reality environment that exhibit different behaviours drawn from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Life (AL) principles, a part already realised in a tool called 'Sculptor'. The tasks of the architect will focus on preferencing and initiating good tendencies in the development of the design. A first set of software agents, assistants that support the architect in viewing, experiencing and judging the design has also been conceptualised for this virtual design environment. The goal is to create an optimised environment for the designer, where the complexity of the design task can be reduced thanks to the support made available from the machine.
keywords	Architectural Design, Design Process, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Personal Agents
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	600e
authors	Gavin, Lesley
year	1999
title	Architecture of the Virtual Place
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 418-423
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.418
summary	The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London (UCL), set up the first MSc in Virtual Environments in the UK in 1995. The course aims to synthesise and build on research work undertaken in the arts, architecture, computing and biological sciences in exploring the realms of the creation of digital and virtual immersive spaces. The MSc is concerned primarily with equipping students from design backgrounds with the skills, techniques and theories necessary in the production of virtual environments. The course examines both virtual worlds as prototypes for real urban or built form and, over the last few years, has also developed an increasing interest in the the practice of architecture in purely virtual contexts. The MSc course is embedded in the UK government sponsored Virtual Reality Centre for the Built Environment which is hosted by the Bartlett School of Architecture. This centre involves the UCL departments of architecture, computer science and geography and includes industrial partners from a number of areas concerned with the built environment including architectural practice, surveying and estate management as well as some software companies and the telecoms industry. The first cohort of students graduated in 1997 and predominantly found work in companies working in the new market area of digital media. This paper aims to outline the nature of the course as it stands, examines the new and ever increasing market for designers within digital media and proposes possible future directions for the course.
keywords	Virtual Reality, Immersive Spaces, Digital Media, Education
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/ve/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	2115
authors	Ingram, R. and Benford, S.
year	1995
title	Improving the legibility of virtual environments
source	Second Euro graphics Workshop on Virtual Environments
summary	Years of research into hyper-media systems have shown that finding one's way through large electronic information systems can be a difficult task. Our experiences with virtual reality suggest that users will also suffer from the commonly experienced "lost in hyperspace" problem when trying to navigate virtual environments. The goal of this paper is to propose and demonstrate a technique which is currently under development with the aim of overcoming this problem. Our approach is based upon the concept of legibility, adapted from the discipline of city planning. The legibility of an urban environment refers to the ease with which its inhabitants can develop a cognitive map over a period of time and so orientate themselves within it and navigate through it [Lynch60]. Research into this topic since the 1960s has argued that, by carefully designing key features of urban environments planners can significantly influence their legibility. We propose that these legibility features might be adapted and applied to the design of a wide variety of virtual environments and that, when combined with other navigational aids such as the trails, tours and signposts of the hyper-media world, might greatly enhance people's ability to navigate them. In particular, the primary role of legibility would be to help users to navigate more easily as a result of experiencing a world for some time (hence the idea of building a cognitive map). Thus, we would see our technique being of most benefit when applied to long term, persistent and slowly evolving virtual environments. Furthermore, we are particularly interested in the automatic application of legibility techniques to information visualisations as opposed to their relatively straight forward application to simulations of the real-word. Thus, a typical future application of our work might be in enhancing visualisations of large information systems such the World Wide Web. Section 2 of this paper summarises the concept of legibility as used in the domain of city planning and introduces some of the key features that have been adapted and applied in our work. Section 3 then describes in detail the set of algorithms and techniques which are being developed for the automatic creation or enhancement of these features within virtual data spaces. Next, section 4 presents two example applications based on two different kinds of virtual data space. Finally, section 5 presents some initial reflections on this work and discusses the next steps in its evolution.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	79fd
authors	Jabi, Wassim and Hall, Theodore
year	1995
title	The Role of Computers in Synchronous Collaborative Design
source	Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Cybernetics. Namur, Belgium: International Association for Cybernetics, 1995, pp. 71-76
summary	In this paper we discuss the role of computers in supporting real-time synchronous design among geographically dispersed team members using the global network of computers known as the Internet. To enable efficient and functional synchronous design activity, we advocate a new generation of design-oriented software that combines collaboration technologies with a meaningful and parsimonious representation scheme. We are particularly interested in supporting the early design phases, wherein many of the most important decisions are made and collaboration is most important. These activities are crucial to the evolution and quality of the final design, and they are receptive to and can benefit from computer support. Furthermore, these are precisely the areas where current CAD systems are weakest. As a general theoretical direction, our emphasis is not on integrated databases, but rather on shared protocols of interaction that are independent of implementation and storage schemes. Our first experimental phase involved the simultaneous development and testing of prototypes for a Synchronous Collaborative Design Environment (SYCODE) on heterogeneous computer systems at two geographically dispersed sites. The applications were developed independently, based on a verbal description of protocols, with minimal sharing of actual source code. Though their user interfaces and implementation details are different, these prototypes allow multiple users to share a virtual design space - both within and between the remote sites - in which to create and manipulate architectural elements.
keywords	Computer Supported Collaborative Design, Synchronous Design, Collaboration, Computers, CAD, Internet
series	other
email
last changed	2002/03/05 19:53

_id	2a99
authors	Keul, A. and Martens, B.
year	1996
title	SIMULATION - HOW DOES IT SHAPE THE MESSAGE?
source	The Future of Endoscopy [Proceedings of the 2nd European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 3-85437-114-4], pp. 47-54
summary	Architectural simulation techniques - CAD, video montage, endoscopy, full-scale or smaller models, stereoscopy, holography etc. - are common visualizations in planning. A subjective theory of planners says "experts are able to distinguish between 'pure design' in their heads and visualized design details and contexts like color, texture, material, brightness, eye level or perspective." If this is right, simulation details should be compensated mentally by trained people, but act as distractors to the lay mind. Environmental psychologists specializing in architectural psychology offer "user needs' assessments" and "post occupancy evaluations" to facilitate communication between users and experts. To compare the efficiency of building descriptions, building walkthroughs, regular plans, simulation, and direct, long-time exposition, evaluation has to be evaluated. Computer visualizations and virtual realities grow more important, but studies on the effects of simulation techniques upon experts and users are rare. As a contribution to the field of architectural simulation, an expert - user comparison of CAD versus endoscopy/model simulations of a Vienna city project was realized in 1995. The Department for Spatial Simulation at the Vienna University of Technology provided diaslides of the planned city development at Aspern showing a) CAD and b) endoscopy photos of small-scale polystyrol models. In an experimental design, they were presented uncommented as images of "PROJECT A" versus "PROJECT B" to student groups of architects and non-architects at Vienna and Salzburg (n= 95) and assessed by semantic differentials. Two contradictory hypotheses were tested: 1. The "selective framing hypothesis" (SFH) as the subjective theory of planners, postulating different judgement effects (measured by item means of the semantic differential) through selective attention of the planners versus material- and context-bound perception of the untrained users. 2. The "general framing hypothesis" (GFH) postulates typical framing and distraction effects of all simulation techniques affecting experts as well as non-experts. The experiment showed that -counter-intuitive to expert opinions- framing and distraction were prominent both for experts and lay people (= GFH). A position effect (assessment interaction of CAD and endoscopy) was present with experts and non-experts, too. With empirical evidence for "the medium is the message", a more cautious attitude has to be adopted towards simulation products as powerful framing (i.e. perception- and opinion-shaping) devices.
keywords	Architectural Endoscopy, Real Environments
series	EAEA
type	normal paper
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea/
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	d5b3
authors	Knight, Michael and Brown, Andre
year	1999
title	Working in Virtual Environments through appropriate Physical Interfaces
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 431-436
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.431
summary	The work described here is aimed at contributing towards the debate and development relating to the construction of interfaces to explore buildings and their environs through virtual worlds. We describe a particular hardware and software configuration which is derived by the use of low cost games software to create the Virtual Environment. The Physical Interface responds to the work of other researchers, in this area, in particular Shaw (1994) and Vasquez de Velasco & Trigo (1997). Virtual Evironments might have the potential to be "a magical window into other worlds, from molecules to minds" (Rheingold, 1992), but what is the nature of that window? Currently it is often a translucent opening which gives a hazy and distorted (disembodied) view. And many versions of such openings are relatively expensive. We consider ways towards clearing the haze without too much expense, adapting techniques proposed by developers of low cost virtual reality systems (Hollands, 1995) for use in an architectural setting.
keywords	Virtual Environments, Games Software
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	2e3b
authors	Kvan, Thomas and Kvan, Erik
year	1997
title	Is Design Really Social
source	Creative Collaboration in Virtual Communities 1997, ed. A. Cicognani. VC'97. Sydney: Key Centre of Design Computing, Department of Architectural and Design Science, University of Sydney, 8 p.
summary	There are many who will readily agree with Mitchell’s assertion that “the most interesting new directions (for computer-aided design) are suggested by the growing convergence of computation and telecommunication. This allows us to treat designing not just as a technical process... but also as a social process.” [Mitchell 1995]. The assumption is that design was a social process until users of computer-aided design systems were distracted into treating it as a merely technical process. Most readers will assume that this convergence must and will lead to increased communication between design participants; that better social interaction leads to be better design. The unspoken assumption appears to be that putting the participants into an environment with maximal communication channels will result in design collaboration. The tools provided; therefore; must permit the best communication and the best social interaction. We think it essential to examine the foundations and assumptions on which software and environments are designed to support collaborative design communication. Of particular interest to us in this paper is the assumption about the “social” nature of design. Early research in computer-assisted design collaborations has jumped immediately into conclusions about communicative models which lead to high-bandwidth video connections as the preferred channel of collaboration. The unstated assumption is that computer-supported design environments are not adequate until they replicate in full the sensation of being physically present in the same space as the other participants (you are not there until you are really there). It is assumed that the real social process of design must include all the signals used to establish and facilitate face-to-face communication; including gestures; body language and all outputs of drawing (e.g. Tang [1991]). In our specification of systems for virtual design communities; are we about to fall into the same traps as drafting systems did?
keywords	CSCW; Virtual Community; Architectural Design; Computer-Aided Design
series	other
email
last changed	2002/11/15 18:29

_id	ab9c
authors	Kvan, Thomas and Kvan, Erik
year	1999
title	Is Design Really Social
source	International Journal of Virtual Reality, 4:1
summary	There are many who will readily agree with Mitchell's assertion that "the most interesting new directions (for computer-aided design) are suggested by the growing convergence of computation and telecommunication. This allows us to treat designing not just as a technical process... but also as a social process." [Mitchell 1995]. The assumption is that design was a social process until users of computer-aided design systems were distracted into treating it as a merely technical process. Most readers will assume that this convergence must and will lead to increased communication between design participants, that better social interaction leads to be better design. The unspoken assumption appears to be that putting the participants into an environment with maximal communication channels will result in design collaboration. The tools provided, therefore, must permit the best communication and the best social interaction. We see a danger here, a pattern being repeated which may lead us into less than useful activities. As with several (popular) architectural design or modelling systems already available, however, computer system implementations all too often are poor imitations manual systems. For example, few in the field will argue with the statement that the storage of data in layers in a computer-aided drafting system is an dispensable approach. Layers derive from manual overlay drafting technology [Stitt 1984] which was regarded as an advanced (manual) production concept at the time many software engineers were specifying CAD software designs. Early implementations of CAD systems (such as RUCAPS, GDS, Computervision) avoided such data organisation, the software engineers recognising that object-based structures are more flexible, permitting greater control of data editing and display. Layer-based systems, however, are easier to implement in software, more familiar to the user and hence easier to explain, initially easier to use but more limiting for an experienced and thoughtful user, leading in the end to a lesser quality in resultant drawings and significant problems in output control (see Richens [1990], pp. 31-40 for a detailed analysis of such features and constraints). Here then we see the design for architectural software faithfully but inappropriately following manual methods. So too is there a danger of assuming that the best social interaction is that done face-to-face, therefore all collaborative design communications environments must mimic face-to-face.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/05/15 10:29

_id	avocaad_2001_16
id	avocaad_2001_16
authors	Yu-Ying Chang, Yu-Tung Liu, Chien-Hui Wong
year	2001
title	Some Phenomena of Spatial Characteristics of Cyberspace
source	AVOCAAD - ADDED VALUE OF COMPUTER AIDED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Nys Koenraad, Provoost Tom, Verbeke Johan, Verleye Johan (Eds.), (2001) Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst - Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas, Campus Brussel, ISBN 80-76101-05-1
summary	"Space," which has long been an important concept in architecture (Bloomer & Moore, 1977; Mitchell, 1995, 1999), has attracted interest of researchers from various academic disciplines in recent years (Agnew, 1993; Benko & Strohmayer, 1996; Chang, 1999; Foucault, 1982; Gould, 1998). Researchers from disciplines such as anthropology, geography, sociology, philosophy, and linguistics regard it as the basis of the discussion of various theories in social sciences and humanities (Chen, 1999). On the other hand, since the invention of Internet, Internet users have been experiencing a new and magic "world." According to the definitions in traditional architecture theories, "space" is generated whenever people define a finite void by some physical elements (Zevi, 1985). However, although Internet is a virtual, immense, invisible and intangible world, navigating in it, we can still sense the very presence of ourselves and others in a wonderland. This sense could be testified by our naming of Internet as Cyberspace -- an exotic kind of space. Therefore, as people nowadays rely more and more on the Internet in their daily life, and as more and more architectural scholars and designers begin to invest their efforts in the design of virtual places online (e.g., Maher, 1999; Li & Maher, 2000), we cannot help but ask whether there are indeed sensible spaces in Internet. And if yes, these spaces exist in terms of what forms and created by what ways?To join the current interdisciplinary discussion on the issue of space, and to obtain new definition as well as insightful understanding of "space", this study explores the spatial phenomena in Internet. We hope that our findings would ultimately be also useful for contemporary architectural designers and scholars in their designs in the real world.As a preliminary exploration, the main objective of this study is to discover the elements involved in the creation/construction of Internet spaces and to examine the relationship between human participants and Internet spaces. In addition, this study also attempts to investigate whether participants from different academic disciplines define or experience Internet spaces in different ways, and to find what spatial elements of Internet they emphasize the most.In order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the spatial phenomena in Internet and to overcome the subjectivity of the members of the research team, the research design of this study was divided into two stages. At the first stage, we conducted literature review to study existing theories of space (which are based on observations and investigations of the physical world). At the second stage of this study, we recruited 8 Internet regular users to approach this topic from different point of views, and to see whether people with different academic training would define and experience Internet spaces differently.The results of this study reveal that the relationship between human participants and Internet spaces is different from that between human participants and physical spaces. In the physical world, physical elements of space must be established first; it then begins to be regarded as a place after interaction between/among human participants or interaction between human participants and the physical environment. In contrast, in Internet, a sense of place is first created through human interactions (or activities), Internet participants then begin to sense the existence of a space. Therefore, it seems that, among the many spatial elements of Internet we found, "interaction/reciprocity" Ñ either between/among human participants or between human participants and the computer interface Ð seems to be the most crucial element.In addition, another interesting result of this study is that verbal (linguistic) elements could provoke a sense of space in a degree higher than 2D visual representation and no less than 3D visual simulations. Nevertheless, verbal and 3D visual elements seem to work in different ways in terms of cognitive behaviors: Verbal elements provoke visual imagery and other sensory perceptions by "imagining" and then excite personal experiences of space; visual elements, on the other hand, provoke and excite visual experiences of space directly by "mapping".Finally, it was found that participants with different academic training did experience and define space differently. For example, when experiencing and analyzing Internet spaces, architecture designers, the creators of the physical world, emphasize the design of circulation and orientation, while participants with linguistics training focus more on subtle language usage. Visual designers tend to analyze the graphical elements of virtual spaces based on traditional painting theories; industrial designers, on the other hand, tend to treat these spaces as industrial products, emphasizing concept of user-center and the control of the computer interface.The findings of this study seem to add new information to our understanding of virtual space. It would be interesting for future studies to investigate how this information influences architectural designers in their real-world practices in this digital age. In addition, to obtain a fuller picture of Internet space, further research is needed to study the same issue by examining more Internet participants who have no formal linguistics and graphical training.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	2068
authors	Frazer, John
year	1995
title	AN EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE
source	London: Architectural Association
summary	In "An Evolutionary Architecture", John Frazer presents an overview of his work for the past 30 years. Attempting to develop a theoretical basis for architecture using analogies with nature's processes of evolution and morphogenesis. Frazer's vision of the future of architecture is to construct organic buildings. Thermodynamically open systems which are more environmentally aware and sustainable physically, sociologically and economically. The range of topics which Frazer discusses is a good illustration of the breadth and depth of the evolutionary design problem. Environmental Modelling One of the first topics dealt with is the importance of environmental modelling within the design process. Frazer shows how environmental modelling is often misused or misinterpreted by architects with particular reference to solar modelling. From the discussion given it would seem that simplifications of the environmental models is the prime culprit resulting in misinterpretation and misuse. The simplifications are understandable given the amount of information needed for accurate modelling. By simplifying the model of the environmental conditions the architect is able to make informed judgments within reasonable amounts of time and effort. Unfortunately the simplications result in errors which compound and cause the resulting structures to fall short of their anticipated performance. Frazer obviously believes that the computer can be a great aid in the harnessing of environmental modelling data, providing that the same simplifying assumptions are not made and that better models and interfaces are possible. Physical Modelling Physical modelling has played an important role in Frazer's research. Leading to the construction of several novel machine readable interactive models, ranging from lego-like building blocks to beermat cellular automata and wall partitioning systems. Ultimately this line of research has led to the Universal Constructor and the Universal Interactor. The Universal Constructor The Universal Constructor features on the cover of the book. It consists of a base plug-board, called the "landscape", on top of which "smart" blocks, or cells, can be stacked vertically. The cells are individually identified and can communicate with neighbours above and below. Cells communicate with users through a bank of LEDs displaying the current state of the cell. The whole structure is machine readable and so can be interpreted by a computer. The computer can interpret the states of the cells as either colour or geometrical transformations allowing a wide range of possible interpretations. The user interacts with the computer display through direct manipulation of the cells. The computer can communicate and even direct the actions of the user through feedback with the cells to display various states. The direct manipulation of the cells encourages experimentation by the user and demonstrates basic concepts of the system. The Universal Interactor The Universal Interactor is a whole series of experimental projects investigating novel input and output devices. All of the devices speak a common binary language and so can communicate through a mediating central hub. The result is that input, from say a body-suit, can be used to drive the out of a sound system or vice versa. The Universal Interactor opens up many possibilities for expression when using a CAD system that may at first seem very strange.However, some of these feedback systems may prove superior in the hands of skilled technicians than more standard devices. Imagine how a musician might be able to devise structures by playing melodies which express the character. Of course the interpretation of input in this form poses a difficult problem which will take a great deal of research to achieve. The Universal Interactor has been used to provide environmental feedback to affect the development of evolving genetic codes. The feedback given by the Universal Interactor has been used to guide selection of individuals from a population. Adaptive Computing Frazer completes his introduction to the range of tools used in his research by giving a brief tour of adaptive computing techniques. Covering topics including cellular automata, genetic algorithms, classifier systems and artificial evolution. Cellular Automata As previously mentioned Frazer has done some work using cellular automata in both physical and simulated environments. Frazer discusses how surprisingly complex behaviour can result from the simple local rules executed by cellular automata. Cellular automata are also capable of computation, in fact able to perform any computation possible by a finite state machine. Note that this does not mean that cellular automata are capable of any general computation as this would require the construction of a Turing machine which is beyond the capabilities of a finite state machine. Genetic Algorithms Genetic algorithms were first presented by Holland and since have become a important tool for many researchers in various areas.Originally developed for problem-solving and optimization problems with clearly stated criteria and goals. Frazer fails to mention one of the most important differences between genetic algorithms and other adaptive problem-solving techniques, ie. neural networks. Genetic algorithms have the advantage that criteria can be clearly stated and controlled within the fitness function. The learning by example which neural networks rely upon does not afford this level of control over what is to be learned. Classifier Systems Holland went on to develop genetic algorithms into classifier systems. Classifier systems are more focussed upon the problem of learning appropriate responses to stimuli, than searching for solutions to problems. Classifier systems receive information from the environment and respond according to rules, or classifiers. Successful classifiers are rewarded, creating a reinforcement learning environment. Obviously, the mapping between classifier systems and the cybernetic view of organisms sensing, processing and responding to environmental stimuli is strong. It would seem that a central process similar to a classifier system would be appropriate at the core of an organic building. Learning appropriate responses to environmental conditions over time. Artificial Evolution Artificial evolution traces it's roots back to the Biomorph program which was described by Dawkins in his book "The Blind Watchmaker". Essentially, artificial evolution requires that a user supplements the standard fitness function in genetic algorithms to guide evolution. The user may provide selection pressures which are unquantifiable in a stated problem and thus provide a means for dealing ill-defined criteria. Frazer notes that solving problems with ill-defined criteria using artificial evolution seriously limits the scope of problems that can be tackled. The reliance upon user interaction in artificial evolution reduces the practical size of populations and the duration of evolutionary runs. Coding Schemes Frazer goes on to discuss the encoding of architectural designs and their subsequent evolution. Introducing two major systems, the Reptile system and the Universal State Space Modeller. Blueprint vs. Recipe Frazer points out the inadequacies of using standard "blueprint" design techniques in developing organic structures. Using a "recipe" to describe the process of constructing a building is presented as an alternative. Recipes for construction are discussed with reference to the analogous process description given by DNA to construct an organism. The Reptile System The Reptile System is an ingenious construction set capable of producing a wide range of structures using just two simple components. Frazer saw the advantages of this system for rule-based and evolutionary systems in the compactness of structure descriptions. Compactness was essential for the early computational work when computer memory and storage space was scarce. However, compact representations such as those described form very rugged fitness landscapes which are not well suited to evolutionary search techniques. Structures are created from an initial "seed" or minimal construction, for example a compact spherical structure. The seed is then manipulated using a series of processes or transformations, for example stretching, shearing or bending. The structure would grow according to the transformations applied to it. Obviously, the transformations could be a predetermined sequence of actions which would always yield the same final structure given the same initial seed. Alternatively, the series of transformations applied could be environmentally sensitive resulting in forms which were also sensitive to their location. The idea of taking a geometrical form as a seed and transforming it using a series of processes to create complex structures is similar in many ways to the early work of Latham creating large morphological charts. Latham went on to develop his ideas into the "Mutator" system which he used to create organic artworks. Generalising the Reptile System Frazer has proposed a generalised version of the Reptile System to tackle more realistic building problems. Generating the seed or minimal configuration from design requirements automatically. From this starting point (or set of starting points) solutions could be evolved using artificial evolution. Quantifiable and specific aspects of the design brief define the formal criteria which are used as a standard fitness function. Non-quantifiable criteria, including aesthetic judgments, are evaluated by the user. The proposed system would be able to learn successful strategies for satisfying both formal and user criteria. In doing so the system would become a personalised tool of the designer. A personal assistant which would be able to anticipate aesthetic judgements and other criteria by employing previously successful strategies. Ultimately, this is a similar concept to Negroponte's "Architecture Machine" which he proposed would be computer system so personalised so as to be almost unusable by other people. The Universal State Space Modeller The Universal State Space Modeller is the basis of Frazer's current work. It is a system which can be used to model any structure, hence the universal claim in it's title. The datastructure underlying the modeller is a state space of scaleless logical points, called motes. Motes are arranged in a close-packing sphere arrangement, which makes each one equidistant from it's twelve neighbours. Any point can be broken down into a self-similar tetrahedral structure of logical points. Giving the state space a fractal nature which allows modelling at many different levels at once. Each mote can be thought of as analogous to a cell in a biological organism. Every mote carries a copy of the architectural genetic code in the same way that each cell within a organism carries a copy of it's DNA. The genetic code of a mote is stored as a sequence of binary "morons" which are grouped together into spatial configurations which are interpreted as the state of the mote. The developmental process begins with a seed. The seed develops through cellular duplication according to the rules of the genetic code. In the beginning the seed develops mainly in response to the internal genetic code, but as the development progresses the environment plays a greater role. Cells communicate by passing messages to their immediate twelve neighbours. However, it can send messages directed at remote cells, without knowledge of it's spatial relationship. During the development cells take on specialised functions, including environmental sensors or producers of raw materials. The resulting system is process driven, without presupposing the existence of a construction set to use. The datastructure can be interpreted in many ways to derive various phenotypes. The resulting structure is a by-product of the cellular activity during development and in response to the environment. As such the resulting structures have much in common with living organisms which are also the emergent result or by-product of local cellular activity. Primordial Architectural Soups To conclude, Frazer presents some of the most recent work done, evolving fundamental structures using limited raw materials, an initial seed and massive feedback. Frazer proposes to go further and do away with the need for initial seed and start with a primordial soup of basic architectural concepts. The research is attempting to evolve the starting conditions and evolutionary processes without any preconditions. Is there enough time to evolve a complex system from the basic building blocks which Frazer proposes? The computational complexity of the task being embarked upon is not discussed. There is an implicit assumption that the "superb tactics" of natural selection are enough to cut through the complexity of the task. However, Kauffman has shown how self-organisation plays a major role in the early development of replicating systems which we may call alive. Natural selection requires a solid basis upon which it can act. Is the primordial soup which Frazer proposes of the correct constitution to support self-organisation? Kauffman suggests that one of the most important attributes of a primordial soup to be capable of self-organisation is the need for a complex network of catalysts and the controlling mechanisms to stop the reactions from going supracritical. Can such a network be provided of primitive architectural concepts? What does it mean to have a catalyst in this domain? Conclusion Frazer shows some interesting work both in the areas of evolutionary design and self-organising systems. It is obvious from his work that he sympathizes with the opinions put forward by Kauffman that the order found in living organisms comes from both external evolutionary pressure and internal self-organisation. His final remarks underly this by paraphrasing the words of Kauffman, that life is always to found on the edge of chaos. By the "edge of chaos" Kauffman is referring to the area within the ordered regime of a system close to the "phase transition" to chaotic behaviour. Unfortunately, Frazer does not demonstrate that the systems he has presented have the necessary qualities to derive useful order at the edge of chaos. He does not demonstrate, as Kauffman does repeatedly, that there exists a "phase transition" between ordered and chaotic regimes of his systems. He also does not make any studies of the relationship of useful forms generated by his work to phase transition regions of his systems should they exist. If we are to find an organic architecture, in more than name alone, it is surely to reside close to the phase transition of the construction system of which is it built. Only there, if we are to believe Kauffman, are we to find useful order together with environmentally sensitive and thermodynamically open systems which can approach the utility of living organisms.
series	other
type	normal paper
last changed	2004/05/22 14:12

_id	e100
authors	Bermudez, Julio and King, Kevin
year	1995
title	Architecture in Digital Space: Actual and Potential Markets
source	Computing in Design - Enabling, Capturing and Sharing Ideas [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-04-7] University of Washington (Seattle, Washington / USA) October 19-22, 1995, pp. 405-423
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1995.405
summary	As both the skepticism and 'hype' surrounding electronic environments vanish under the weight of ever increasing power, knowledge, and use of information technologies, the architectural profession must prepare for significant expansion of its professional services. To address the issue, this paper offers a survey of the professional services architects and designers do and may provide in digital space, and who the potential clients are. The survey was conducted by interviews with software developers, gaming companies, programmers, investigators, practicing architects, faculty, etc. It also included reviews of actual software products and literary research of conference proceedings, journals, books and newspapers (i.e. articles, classified ads, etc.). The actual and potential markets include gaming and entertainment developments, art installations, educational applications, and research. These markets provide architects the opportunity to participate in the design of 3D gaming environments, educational software, architecture for public experience and entertainment, data representation, cyberspace and virtual reality studies, and other digital services which will be required for this new world. We will demonstrate that although the rapidly growing digital market may be seen by some to be non-architectural and thus irrelevant to our profession, it actually represents great opportunities for growth and development. Digital environments will not replace the built environment as a major architectural market, but they will significantly complement it, thus strengthening the entire architectural profession.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	276c
authors	Breen, Jack
year	1995
title	Dynamic Perspective: The Media Research Programme
source	The Future of Endoscopy [Proceedings of the 2nd European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 3-85437-114-4]
summary	This paper focuses on the Research Programme of the Media Sector at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology. The media research objectives for the coming years have been brought together with an overall project: “Dynamic Perspective”. The “dynamic” quality may be interpreted both as movement (visual displacement and registration) and as change (the effects of different options). The four projects which together make up this research programme deal with perception (understanding) and conception (designing and imaging) of urban space: “the architecture of the city”. Specific aspects are the effects of primary and secondary spatial boundaries and the systematic structuring of simulation of visual information. The programme will further concentrate on the development and implementation of relevant techniques (besides “traditional” ones such as the drawing and the architectural model, on multimedia techniques such as endoscopy, computer visualization and development of virtual reality systems), both in education and in design practice. By means of analysis, the creation of visual models of choice and the setting up of experiments, the programme aims at the furthering of theoretical knowledge and at acquiring better insights into the effects of design decisions at an urban level, both for designers and for other participants in the design process. Further development of existing laboratory facilities towards a comprehensive Design Simulation Laboratory is an important aspect of the programme. Within the media research process the Aspern location master plan has been considered as a case study, the findings of which will be presented separately in the workshop sessions.
keywords	Architectural Endoscopy, Real Environments
series	EAEA
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea/
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	913a
authors	Brutzman, D.P., Macedonia, M.R. and Zyda, M.J.
year	1995
title	Internetwork Infrastructure Requirements for Virtual Environments
source	NIl 2000 Forum of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., May 1995
summary	Virtual environments (VEs) are a broad multidisciplinary research area that includes all aspects of computer science, virtual reality, virtual worlds, teleoperation and telepresence. A variety of network elements are required to scale up virtual environments to arbitrarily large sizes, simultaneously connecting thousands of interacting players and all kinds of information objects. Four key communications components for virtual environments are found within the Internet Protocol (IP) suite: light-weight messages, network pointers, heavy-weight objects and real-time streams. Software and hardware shortfalls and successes for internetworked virtual environments provide specific research conclusions and recommendations. Since large-scale networked are intended to include all possible types of content and interaction, they are expected to enable new classes of interdisciplinary research and sophisticated applications that are particularly suitable for implementation using the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML).
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	fde5
authors	Bukowski, Richard W.
year	1995
title	The WALKTHRU editor : towards realistic and effective interaction with virtual building environments
source	Computer Science Division, University of California, Berkeley
series	thesis:MSc
email
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	db00
authors	Espina, Jane J.B.
year	2002
title	Base de datos de la arquitectura moderna de la ciudad de Maracaibo 1920-1990 [Database of the Modern Architecture of the City of Maracaibo 1920-1990]
source	SIGraDi 2002 - [Proceedings of the 6th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Caracas (Venezuela) 27-29 november 2002, pp. 133-139
summary	Bases de datos, Sistemas y Redes 134The purpose of this report is to present the achievements obtained in the use of the technologies of information andcommunication in the architecture, by means of the construction of a database to register the information on the modernarchitecture of the city of Maracaibo from 1920 until 1990, in reference to the constructions located in 5 of Julio, Sectorand to the most outstanding planners for its work, by means of the representation of the same ones in digital format.The objective of this investigation it was to elaborate a database for the registration of the information on the modernarchitecture in the period 1920-1990 of Maracaibo, by means of the design of an automated tool to organize the it datesrelated with the buildings, parcels and planners of the city. The investigation was carried out considering three methodologicalmoments: a) Gathering and classification of the information of the buildings and planners of the modern architectureto elaborate the databases, b) Design of the databases for the organization of the information and c) Design ofthe consultations, information, reports and the beginning menu. For the prosecution of the data files were generated inprograms attended by such computer as: AutoCAD R14 and 2000, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and MicrosoftAccess 2000, CorelDRAW V9.0 and Corel PHOTOPAINT V9.0.The investigation is related with the work developed in the class of Graphic Calculation II, belonging to the Departmentof Communication of the School of Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture and Design of The University of the Zulia(FADLUZ), carried out from the year 1999, using part of the obtained information of the works of the students generatedby means of the CAD systems for the representation in three dimensions of constructions with historical relevance in themodern architecture of Maracaibo, which are classified in the work of The Other City, generating different types ofisometric views, perspectives, representations photorealistics, plants and facades, among others.In what concerns to the thematic of this investigation, previous antecedents are ignored in our environment, and beingthe first time that incorporates the digital graph applied to the work carried out by the architects of “The Other City, thegenesis of the oil city of Maracaibo” carried out in the year 1994; of there the value of this research the field of thearchitecture and computer science. To point out that databases exist in the architecture field fits and of the design, alsoweb sites with information has more than enough architects and architecture works (Montagu, 1999).In The University of the Zulia, specifically in the Faculty of Architecture and Design, they have been carried out twoworks related with the thematic one of database, specifically in the years 1995 and 1996, in the first one a system wasdesigned to visualize, to classify and to analyze from the architectural point of view some historical buildings of Maracaiboand in the second an automated system of documental information was generated on the goods properties built insidethe urban area of Maracaibo. In the world environment it stands out the first database developed in Argentina, it is the database of the Modern andContemporary Architecture “Datarq 2000” elaborated by the Prof. Arturo Montagú of the University of Buenos Aires. The general objective of this work it was the use of new technologies for the prosecution in Architecture and Design (MONTAGU, Ob.cit). In the database, he intends to incorporate a complementary methodology and alternative of use of the informationthat habitually is used in the teaching of the architecture. When concluding this investigation, it was achieved: 1) analysis of projects of modern architecture, of which some form part of the historical patrimony of Maracaibo; 2) organized registrations of type text: historical, formal, space and technical data, and graph: you plant, facades, perspectives, pictures, among other, of the Moments of the Architecture of the Modernity in the city, general data and more excellent characteristics of the constructions, and general data of the Planners with their more important works, besides information on the parcels where the constructions are located, 3)construction in digital format and development of representations photorealistics of architecture projects already built. It is excellent to highlight the importance in the use of the Technologies of Information and Communication in this investigation, since it will allow to incorporate to the means digital part of the information of the modern architecturalconstructions that characterized the city of Maracaibo at the end of the XX century, and that in the last decades they have suffered changes, some of them have disappeared, destroying leaves of the modern historical patrimony of the city; therefore, the necessity arises of to register and to systematize in digital format the graphic information of those constructions. Also, to demonstrate the importance of the use of the computer and of the computer science in the representation and compression of the buildings of the modern architecture, to inclination texts, images, mapping, models in 3D and information organized in databases, and the relevance of the work from the pedagogic point of view,since it will be able to be used in the dictation of computer science classes and history in the teaching of the University studies of third level, allowing the learning with the use in new ways of transmission of the knowledge starting from the visual information on the part of the students in the elaboration of models in three dimensions or electronic scalemodels, also of the modern architecture and in a future to serve as support material for virtual recoveries of some buildings that at the present time they don’t exist or they are almost destroyed. In synthesis, the investigation will allow to know and to register the architecture of Maracaibo in this last decade, which arises under the parameters of the modernity and that through its organization and visualization in digital format, it will allow to the students, professors and interested in knowing it in a quicker and more efficient way, constituting a contribution to theteaching in the history area and calculation. Also, it can be of a lot of utility for the development of future investigation projects related with the thematic one and restoration of buildings of the modernity in Maracaibo.
keywords	database, digital format, modern architecture, model, mapping
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:51

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