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

PDF papers
References

Hits 1 to 20 of 417

Reformat results as: short short into frame detailed detailed into frame

_id	aa7c
authors	Amirante, M. Isabella and Burattini, Ernesto
year	1996
title	Automatic Procedures for Bio-Climatic Control
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1996.029
source	Education for Practice [14th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-2-2] Lund (Sweden) 12-14 September 1996, pp. 29-40
summary	The experiences illustrated here are related to the new regulation of teaching architecture in Italy and these ones in particular have been concentrated on the technological aspects of teaching architecture. We can consider the evolution of the architect from the individual operator to the manager multi- disciplinary aspects of the building process ( building process manager) as a reality today. Information technology, specifically applied to bio-climatic architecture and environmental control, can be of great importance for this professional role, and for this reason it is very useful to include these topics at the beginning the teaching design process. This paper describes a particular approach to bio-climatic problems of the architectural project. An experimental course has been performed by the second year students of the "Laboratorio di Construzione dell' Architettura", at the School of Architecture of the Second University of Naples, in Aversa. Analysing old and new buildings, they used some flow charts for the evaluation and representation of energetic behaviour of buildings regarding their climatic and geographical environment. In the flow charts the decisions are represented by boxes that allow to determine "rightness index" related to: morphological characters of the site and environment, typology and particular organisation of the inside spaces, shape of building, technological solution of the building "skin". The navigation through the decision boxes is made with simple options like; "winds: protected or exposed site", "shape of building; free, close or cross plane", "presence of trees on the south,; yes or not",; it shows the students the bio-climatic quality of the building and, through numeric value assigned to each option, determines the "weight" of its climatic comfort.
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	acfa
authors	Brown, A., Knight, M. and Nahab, May
year	1996
title	Computer Generated Architectural Images in Practice: what kind and when?
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1996.079
source	Education for Practice [14th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-2-2] Lund (Sweden) 12-14 September 1996, pp. 79-86
summary	The production of near-photorealistic images of buildings is becoming increasingly common. The software to produce reasonably sophisticated images being available at affordable prices and the increasing power of generally affordable computers have contributed to this trend. It is also probably the case that the run-of-the-mill architectural practice sees the competition producing this kind of image with a superficially beguiling quality and follow suit. What we ask in this paper is whether we should be more thoughtful about the kind of image used? Should the kind of image chosen to suit the stage of the design that it applies to and the nature of the human agents viewing the image? Of course, in posing the question we imply our answer, that it should. What we do in this paper is to illustrate why we feel it should and what the consequences are for the education of architects who are about to join the world of practice.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	2ca3
authors	Curless, Brian and Levoy, Marc
year	1996
title	A Volumetric Method for Building Complex Models from Range Images
source	Stanford University
summary	A number of techniques have been developed for reconstructing surfaces by integrating groups of aligned range images. A desirable set of properties for such algorithms includes: incremental updating, representation of directional uncertainty, the ability to fill gaps in the reconstruction, and robustness in the presence of outliers. Prior algorithms possess subsets of these properties. In this paper, we present a volumetric method for integrating range images that possesses all of these properties. Our volumetric representation consists of a cumulative weighted signed distance function. Working with one range image at a time, we first scan-convert it to a distance function, then combine this with the data already acquired using a simple additive scheme. To achieve space efficiency, we employ a run-length encoding of the volume. To achieve time efficiency, we resample the range image to align with the voxel grid and traverse the range and voxel scanlines synchronously. We generate the final manifold by extracting an isosurface from the volumetric grid. We show that under certain assumptions, this isosurface is optimal in the least squares sense. To fill gaps in the model, we tessellate over the boundaries between regions seen to be empty and regions never observed. Using this method, we are able to integrate a large number of range images (as many as 70) yielding seamless, high-detail models of up to 2.6 million triangles.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	9a0d
authors	Debevec, P.E., Taylor, C.J. and Malik, J.
year	1996
title	Modeling and rendering architecture from photographs: a hybrid geometry- and image-based approach
source	SIGGRAPH'96, New Orleans, Louisiana
summary	We present a new approach for modeling and rendering existing architectural scenes from a sparse set of still photographs. Our modeling approach, which combines both geometry-based and imagebased techniques, has two components. The first component is a photogrammetricmodelingmethodwhich facilitates the recovery of the basic geometry of the photographed scene. Our photogrammetric modeling approach is effective, convenient, and robust because it exploits the constraints that are characteristic of architectural scenes. The second component is a model-based stereo algorithm, which recovers how the real scene deviates from the basic model. By making use of the model, our stereo technique robustly recovers accurate depth from widely-spaced image pairs. Consequently, our approach canmodel large architectural environmentswith far fewer photographs than current image-based modeling approaches. For producing renderings, we present view-dependent texture mapping, a method of compositing multiple views of a scene that better simulates geometric detail on basic models. Our approach can be used to recover models for use in either geometry-based or image-based rendering systems. We present results that demonstrate our approach's ability to create realistic renderings of architectural scenes from viewpoints far from the original photographs.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	aff6
authors	Ferrar, Steve
year	1996
title	Back to the Drawing Board?
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1996.155
source	Education for Practice [14th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-2-2] Lund (Sweden) 12-14 September 1996, pp. 155-162
summary	I am starting my presentation with some slides of architecture as a reminder that above all else we are involved in the education of future architects. Such is the enthusiasm of many of us for our specialist subject that computers dominate any discussion of architecture. We must not lose sight of the fact that we are using computers to assist in the manipulation of space, form, light, texture and colour, and in communicating our ideas. They should also be helping us and our students to understand and deal with the relationship of built form to its environment, its users and other buildings. The use of computers should not get in the way of this. In the final analysis the image on a computer screen is only that - an image, a representation of a building. It is not the building itself. It is a means to an end and not an end in itself. The image must not be a substitute for the physical building. We must remember that we use most of our other senses when experiencing a building and it is just as important to be able to touch, hear and smell a piece of architecture as well as being able to see it. Who knows, perhaps even taste is important. How much does the use of computers affect the design process and the final appearance of the building? Would these buildings have been substantially different if a system of working in three dimensions, similar to computer aided design, had been available to these architects. To what degree has the design process and method of working shaped the architecture of designers like Frank Lloyd Wright, Carlo Scarpa, Louis Sullivan, Charles Rennie Mackintosh or Alvar Aalto.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	3451
authors	Harrison, Beverly L.
year	1996
title	The Design and Evaluation of Transparent User Interfaces. From Theory to Practice
source	University of Toronto, Toronto
summary	The central research issue addressed by this dissertation is how we can design systems where information on user interface tools is overlaid on the work product being developed with these tools. The interface tools typically appear in the display foreground while the data or work space being manipulated typically appear in the perceptual background. This represents a trade-off in focused foreground attention versus focused background attention. By better supporting human attention we hope to improve the fluency of work, where fluency is reflected in a more seamless integration between task goals, user interface tool manipulations to achieve these goals, and feedback from the data or work space being manipulated. This research specifically focuses on the design and evaluation of transparent user interface 'layers' applied to graphical user interfaces. By allowing users to see through windows, menus, and tool palettes appearing in the perceptual foreground, an improved awareness of the underlying workspace and preservation of context are possible. However, transparent overlapping objects introduce visual interference which may degrade task performance, through reduced legibility. This dissertation explores a new interface technique (i.e., transparent layering) and, more importantly, undertakes a deeper investigation into the underlying issues that have implications for the design and use of this new technique. We have conducted a series of experiments, progressively more representative of the complex stimuli from real task domains. This enables us to systematically evaluate a variety of transparent user interfaces, while remaining confident of the applicability of the results to actual task contexts. We also describe prototypes and a case study evaluation of a working system using transparency based on our design parameters and experimental findings. Our findings indicate that similarity in both image color and in image content affect the levels of visual interference. Solid imagery in either the user interface tools (e.g., icons) or in the work space content (e.g., video, rendered models) are highly interference resistant and work well up to 75% transparent (i.e., 25% of foreground image and 75% of background content). Text and wire frame images (or line drawings) perform equally poorly but are highly usable up to 50% transparent, with no apparent performance penalty. Introducing contrasting outlining techniques improves the usability of transparent text menu interfaces up to 90% transparency. These results suggest that transparency is a usable and promising interface alternative. We suggest several methods of overcoming today's technical challenges in order to integrate transparency into existing applications.
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	2e5a
authors	Matsumoto, N. and Seta, S.
year	1997
title	A history and application of visual simulation in which perceptual behaviour movement is measured.
source	Architectural and Urban Simulation Techniques in Research and Education [3rd EAEA-Conference Proceedings]
summary	For our research on perception and judgment, we have developed a new visual simulation system based on the previous system. Here, we report on the development history of our system and on the current research employing it. In 1975, the first visual simulation system was introduced, witch comprised a fiberscope and small-scale models. By manipulating the fiberscope's handles, the subject was able to view the models at eye level. When the pen-size CCD TV camera came out, we immediately embraced it, incorporating it into a computer controlled visual simulation system in 1988. It comprises four elements: operation input, drive control, model shooting, and presentation. This system was easy to operate, and the subject gained an omnidirectional, eye-level image as though walking through the model. In 1995, we began developing a new visual system. We wanted to relate the scale model image directly to perceptual behavior, to make natural background images, and to record human feelings in a non-verbal method. Restructuring the above four elements to meet our equirements and adding two more (background shooting and emotion spectrum analysis), we inally completed the new simulation system in 1996. We are employing this system in streetscape research. Using the emotion spectrum system, we are able to record brain waves. Quantifying the visual effects through these waves, we are analyzing the relation between visual effects and physical elements. Thus, we are presented with a new aspect to study: the relationship between brain waves and changes in the physical environment. We will be studying the relation of brain waves in our sequential analysis of the streetscape.
keywords	Architectural Endoscopy, Endoscopy, Simulation, Visualisation, Visualization, Real Environments
series	EAEA
email
more	http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/media/eaea/eaea97.html
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	ddssup9616
id	ddssup9616
authors	Schmidt-Belz, B., Voß, A., Emkes, L. and Coulon, C.H.
year	1996
title	How to support city planning using map interpretation techniques
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Third Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part two: Urban Planning Proceedings (Spa, Belgium), August 18-21, 1996
summary	We suggest and motivate a system to support city traffic planning. Our approach is derived from Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), where former experiences (cases) are stored and made available for reuse. To start with, a collection of examples from books or other sources is stored as hypermedia documents. Retrieval of useful examples is enabled by describing (indexing) the examples in several aspects. While some descriptors have to be attached by users or system administrators, others could be automatically inferred. The vision is, that in the long run cases are derived from GIS plans and the CBR support is an integrated tool in a GIS working environment.
series	DDSS
email
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	c4be
authors	Bock, T., Stricker, D., Fliedner, J. and Huynh, T.
year	1996
title	Automatic generation of the controlling-system for a wall construction robot
source	Automation in Construction 5 (1) (1996) pp. 15-21
summary	In this article we present several important aspects of a software system control. This is designed and developed for a wall assembly robot in an European Esprit III project called ROCCO, RObot assembly system for Computer integrated COnstruction. The system consists of an off-line program for planning of complex assembly tasks and for generating robot actions. The execution is controlled through an adaptive user interface and gives the user the possibilities to switch in an on-line mode command. All the software is designed with the object-oriented concept and implemented in C + +. The wall assembly system is organized on the base of the successive generation of different types of actions, called "Mission", "Task", and "Action". They represent different levels of assembly complexities. Those different actions are organized in a tree structure. Furthermore, the software system can be connected to a CAD-robot simulation software for checking the robot assembly motions. Added to the control system, a recovery module has been implemented for all possible errors during the construction. First the OO-model of the world and of robot activities will be presented. Secondly, several aspects of the algorithm will be explained and at the end we will show the strategy used for the robot motion.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	maver_084
id	maver_084
authors	Maver, T.W., Frame, I. and Chen, Y.
year	1996
title	The Development of a Virtual Studio Environment to Support Collaborative Building Design
source	Design, Synergy, Collaboration - selected papers from DEcon Conference
summary	This paper describes the development of a virtual studio environment to support collaborative working in the domain of building design. By applying and extending the real-world design studio model within the Internet-based distributed computing environments, the virtual studio concept has been refined as computerised settings, which integrate both the dispersed human designers and the distributed CAD applications. The hope is to achieve the similar effect as physical co-presence while providing extra advantages such as the support for automatic communication archiving and being less obtrusive than sharing a physical office. Like its real-world counterpart (which usually consists of the office, desks, file cabinets, instruments etc), such a virtual studio consists of the several major components, including a multi-user graphical user interface displaying the shared virtual workspace on each designer's workstation, distributed multimedia databases and CAD tools for processing the domain tasks, and rich human-human interaction facilities supporting a variety of communication modes. Advance distributed object computing technologies (0MG CORBA in particular) have been adopted for modelling and implementing the distributed systems, W3 (world-wide-web) technologies have also been exploited for constructing the distributed multi-media databases and an image communication kit. In contrast to the traditional CAD integration which is usually focused solely on the well-structured technical part of the product and process, the described research advocates a human-centred systems development strategy in which design is first of all taken as a process of social construction.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/09/03 15:01

_id	d5c8
authors	Angelo, C.V., Bueno, A.P., Ludvig, C., Reis, A.F. and Trezub, D.
year	1999
title	Image and Shape: Two Distinct Approaches
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 410-415
summary	This paper is the result of two researches done at the district of Campeche, Florianópolis, by the Grupo PET/ARQ/UFSC/CAPES. Different aspects and conceptual approaches were used to study the spatial attributes of this district located in the Southern part of Santa Catarina Island. The readings and analysis of two researches were based on graphic pistures builded with the use of Corel 7.0 e AutoCadR14. The first research – "Urban Development in the Island of Santa Catarina: Public Space Study"- examined the urban structures of Campeche based on the Spatial Syntax Theory developed by Hillier and Hanson (1984) that relates form and social appropriation of public spaces. The second research – "Topoceptive Characterisation of Campeche: The Image of a Locality in Expansion in the Island of Santa Catarina" -, based on the methodology developed by Kohlsdorf (1996) and also on the visual analysis proposed by Lynch (1960), identified characteristics of this locality with the specific goal of selecting attributes that contributed to the ideas of the place its population held. The paper consists of an initial exercise of linking these two methods in order to test the complementarity of their analytical tools. Exemplifying the analytical procedures undertaken in the two approaches, the readings done - global (of the locality as a whole) and partial (from parts of the settlement) - are presented and compared.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:47

_id	328d
authors	Bassanino, May Nahab and Brown, Andre
year	1999
title	Computer Generated Architectural Images: A Comparative Study
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.552
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 552-556
summary	This work is part of a long term research programme (Brown and Horton, 1992; Brown and Nahab, 1996; Bassanino, 1999) in which tests and studies have been carried out on various groups of people to investigate their reaction to, and interpretation of different forms of architectural representation. In the work described here a range of architectural schemes were presented using particular representational techniques and media. An experiment was then undertaken on two different groups; architects and lay people. They were presented with a number of schemes displayed using the various techniques and media. The responses are summarised and some comments are made on the effect of computers on perceiving architecture and on communicating architectural ideas arising from an analysis of the responses.
keywords	Subject, Image Type, Presentation Technique, Medium, SD Scales, Factors
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	8e02
authors	Brown, A.G.P. and Coenen, F.P.
year	2000
title	Spatial reasoning: improving computational efficiency
source	Automation in Construction 9 (4) (2000) pp. 361-367
summary	When spatial data is analysed the result is often very computer intensive: even by the standards of contemporary technologies, the machine power needed is great and the processing times significant. This is particularly so in 3-D and 4-D scenarios. What we describe here is a technique, which tackles this and associated problems. The technique is founded in the idea of quad-tesseral addressing; a technique, which was originally applied to the analysis of atomic structures. It is based on ideas concerning Hierarchical clustering developed in the 1960s and 1970s to improve data access time [G.M. Morton, A computer oriented geodetic database and a new technique on file sequencing, IBM Canada, 1996.], and on atomic isohedral (same shape) tiling strategies developed in the 1970s and 1980s concerned with group theory [B. Grunbaum, G.C. Shephard, Tilings and Patterns, Freeman, New York, 1987.]. The technique was first suggested as a suitable representation for GIS in the early 1980s when the two strands were brought together and a tesseral arithmetic applied [F.C. Holdroyd, The Geometry of Tiling Hierarchies, Ars Combanitoria 16B (1983) 211–244.; S.B.M. Bell, B.M. Diaz, F.C. Holroyd, M.J.J. Jackson, Spatially referenced methods of processing raster and vector data, Image and Vision Computing 1 (4) (1983) 211–220.; Diaz, S.B.M. Bell, Spatial Data Processing Using Tesseral Methods, Natural Environment Research Council, Swindon, 1986.]. Here, we describe how that technique can equally be applied to the analysis of environmental interaction with built forms. The way in which the technique deals with the problems described is first to linearise the three-dimensional (3-D) space being investigated. Then, the reasoning applied to that space is applied within the same environment as the definition of the problem data. We show, with an illustrative example, how the technique can be applied. The problem then remains of how to visualise the results of the analysis so undertaken. We show how this has been accomplished so that the 3-D space and the results are represented in a way which facilitates rapid interpretation of the analysis, which has been carried out.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	c05e
authors	Brown, Andy and Nahab, May
year	1996
title	Human Interpretation of Computer Generated Architectural Images
source	Approaches to Computer Aided Architectural Composition [ISBN 83-905377-1-0] 1996, pp. 61-70
summary	The hardware and software used by architects to produce drawings and rendered images (static and dynamic) has advanced over the past decade to the point where it is now routine for architects to add rendered (and otherwise manipulated) images to the more routine 2D drawing as a product to convey the building to others. Although the 2D drawing (as plan section, elevation or detail) remains the fundamental and most prevalent kind of image being produced by architects, we regard it as timely to take stock of the effect of how we interpret the computer generated images that are being produced. We want to address the question of how humans, with a wide range of backgrounds and predispositions interpret such images. This paper takes previous studies which consider image interpretation and image generation by computer and begins to apply the techniques and jcndings to contemporary CAD image making.
keywords
series	other
email
last changed	1999/04/08 17:16

_id	6baf
authors	Martini, Kirk
year	1996
title	Digital Imaging and the Web in Teaching Structures: A Rigorous Visual Approach
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1996.215
source	Design Computation: Collaboration, Reasoning, Pedagogy [ACADIA Conference Proceedings / ISBN 1-880250-05-5] Tucson (Arizona / USA) October 31 - November 2, 1996, pp. 215-225
summary	The paper outlines a project to incorporate digital images and the world wide web in teaching introductory structural design in architecture. The objective of the project is to move beyond technology substitution, toward innovation by using digital imaging and the web to do things that are otherwise not possible. The discussion of digital imaging gives examples of image enhancement, annotation, and manipulation in illustrating structural concepts. The discussion of the web addresses web-based image archives for structural engineering, image-based modelling assignments, collective inductive learning, and collective review.
series	ACADIA
email
more	http://urban.arch.Virginia.EDU/~km6e/tti/tti-summary/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_id	2790
authors	Mon Chu
year	1996
title	A Symbolic/Neural Hybrid Approach to Emergent Subshape Recognition
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1996.191
source	CAADRIA ‘96 [Proceedings of The First Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 9627-75-703-9] Hong Kong (Hong Kong) 25-27 April 1996, pp. 191-198
summary	Recognizing emergent subshape is one kind of human visual behaviour. People usually recognize several distinct emergent subshapes from primary shapes and give them different interpretations. This paper presents a symbolic/connectionist hybrid system to provide computers the ability of this kind. Through this approach, the recognition system is divided into three modules. Source images are sent to the first module, that is a connectionist network, of the hybrid system. The network is responsible for transforming the source image into abstract visual data, named Pre-attention Distribution and Local Feature Information. Then, the abstract visual data are processed in the second module that is a symbolic subsystem. The subsystem is responsible for making decision in the Visual Search Attention processes and for managing the features of the whole shape. Finally, another connectionist network takes the previous results from the symbolic subsystem and performs the final recognition.
series	CAADRIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:58

_id	ga0026
id	ga0026
authors	Ransen, Owen F.
year	2000
title	Possible Futures in Computer Art Generation
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	Years of trying to create an "Image Idea Generator" program have convinced me that the perfect solution would be to have an artificial artistic person, a design slave. This paper describes how I came to that conclusion, realistic alternatives, and briefly, how it could possibly happen. 1. The history of Repligator and Gliftic 1.1 Repligator In 1996 I had the idea of creating an “image idea generator”. I wanted something which would create images out of nothing, but guided by the user. The biggest conceptual problem I had was “out of nothing”. What does that mean? So I put aside that problem and forced the user to give the program a starting image. This program eventually turned into Repligator, commercially described as an “easy to use graphical effects program”, but actually, to my mind, an Image Idea Generator. The first release came out in October 1997. In December 1998 I described Repligator V4 [1] and how I thought it could be developed away from simply being an effects program. In July 1999 Repligator V4 won the Shareware Industry Awards Foundation prize for "Best Graphics Program of 1999". Prize winners are never told why they won, but I am sure that it was because of two things: 1) Easy of use 2) Ease of experimentation "Ease of experimentation" means that Repligator does in fact come up with new graphics ideas. Once you have input your original image you can generate new versions of that image simply by pushing a single key. Repligator is currently at version 6, but, apart from adding many new effects and a few new features, is basically the same program as version 4. Following on from the ideas in [1] I started to develop Gliftic, which is closer to my original thoughts of an image idea generator which "starts from nothing". The Gliftic model of images was that they are composed of three components: 1. Layout or form, for example the outline of a mandala is a form. 2. Color scheme, for example colors selected from autumn leaves from an oak tree. 3. Interpretation, for example Van Gogh would paint a mandala with oak tree colors in a different way to Andy Warhol. There is a Van Gogh interpretation and an Andy Warhol interpretation. Further I wanted to be able to genetically breed images, for example crossing two layouts to produce a child layout. And the same with interpretations and color schemes. If I could achieve this then the program would be very powerful. 1.2 Getting to Gliftic Programming has an amazing way of crystalising ideas. If you want to put an idea into practice via a computer program you really have to understand the idea not only globally, but just as importantly, in detail. You have to make hard design decisions, there can be no vagueness, and so implementing what I had decribed above turned out to be a considerable challenge. I soon found out that the hardest thing to do would be the breeding of forms. What are the "genes" of a form? What are the genes of a circle, say, and how do they compare to the genes of the outline of the UK? I wanted the genotype representation (inside the computer program's data) to be directly linked to the phenotype representation (on the computer screen). This seemed to be the best way of making sure that bred-forms would bare some visual relationship to their parents. I also wanted symmetry to be preserved. For example if two symmetrical objects were bred then their children should be symmetrical. I decided to represent shapes as simply closed polygonal shapes, and the "genes" of these shapes were simply the list of points defining the polygon. Thus a circle would have to be represented by a regular polygon of, say, 100 sides. The outline of the UK could easily be represented as a list of points every 10 Kilometers along the coast line. Now for the important question: what do you get when you cross a circle with the outline of the UK? I tried various ways of combining the "genes" (i.e. coordinates) of the shapes, but none of them really ended up producing interesting shapes. And of the methods I used, many of them, applied over several "generations" simply resulted in amorphous blobs, with no distinct family characteristics. Or rather maybe I should say that no single method of breeding shapes gave decent results for all types of images. Figure 1 shows an example of breeding a mandala with 6 regular polygons: Figure 1 Mandala bred with array of regular polygons I did not try out all my ideas, and maybe in the future I will return to the problem, but it was clear to me that it is a non-trivial problem. And if the breeding of shapes is a non-trivial problem, then what about the breeding of interpretations? I abandoned the genetic (breeding) model of generating designs but retained the idea of the three components (form, color scheme, interpretation). 1.3 Gliftic today Gliftic Version 1.0 was released in May 2000. It allows the user to change a form, a color scheme and an interpretation. The user can experiment with combining different components together and can thus home in on an personally pleasing image. Just as in Repligator, pushing the F7 key make the program choose all the options. Unlike Repligator however the user can also easily experiment with the form (only) by pushing F4, the color scheme (only) by pushing F5 and the interpretation (only) by pushing F6. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show some example images created by Gliftic. Figure 2 Mandala interpreted with arabesques Figure 3 Trellis interpreted with "graphic ivy" Figure 4 Regular dots interpreted as "sparks" 1.4 Forms in Gliftic V1 Forms are simply collections of graphics primitives (points, lines, ellipses and polygons). The program generates these collections according to the user's instructions. Currently the forms are: Mandala, Regular Polygon, Random Dots, Random Sticks, Random Shapes, Grid Of Polygons, Trellis, Flying Leap, Sticks And Waves, Spoked Wheel, Biological Growth, Chequer Squares, Regular Dots, Single Line, Paisley, Random Circles, Chevrons. 1.5 Color Schemes in Gliftic V1 When combining a form with an interpretation (described later) the program needs to know what colors it can use. The range of colors is called a color scheme. Gliftic has three color scheme types: 1. Random colors: Colors for the various parts of the image are chosen purely at random. 2. Hue Saturation Value (HSV) colors: The user can choose the main hue (e.g. red or yellow), the saturation (purity) of the color scheme and the value (brightness/darkness) . The user also has to choose how much variation is allowed in the color scheme. A wide variation allows the various colors of the final image to depart a long way from the HSV settings. A smaller variation results in the final image using almost a single color. 3. Colors chosen from an image: The user can choose an image (for example a JPG file of a famous painting, or a digital photograph he took while on holiday in Greece) and Gliftic will select colors from that image. Only colors from the selected image will appear in the output image. 1.6 Interpretations in Gliftic V1 Interpretation in Gliftic is best decribed with a few examples. A pure geometric line could be interpreted as: 1) the branch of a tree 2) a long thin arabesque 3) a sequence of disks 4) a chain, 5) a row of diamonds. An pure geometric ellipse could be interpreted as 1) a lake, 2) a planet, 3) an eye. Gliftic V1 has the following interpretations: Standard, Circles, Flying Leap, Graphic Ivy, Diamond Bar, Sparkz, Ess Disk, Ribbons, George Haite, Arabesque, ZigZag. 1.7 Applications of Gliftic Currently Gliftic is mostly used for creating WEB graphics, often backgrounds as it has an option to enable "tiling" of the generated images. There is also a possibility that it will be used in the custom textile business sometime within the next year or two. The real application of Gliftic is that of generating new graphics ideas, and I suspect that, like Repligator, many users will only understand this later. 2. The future of Gliftic, 3 possibilties Completing Gliftic V1 gave me the experience to understand what problems and opportunities there will be in future development of the program. Here I divide my many ideas into three oversimplified possibilities, and the real result may be a mix of two or all three of them. 2.1 Continue the current development "linearly" Gliftic could grow simply by the addition of more forms and interpretations. In fact I am sure that initially it will grow like this. However this limits the possibilities to what is inside the program itself. These limits can be mitigated by allowing the user to add forms (as vector files). The user can already add color schemes (as images). The biggest problem with leaving the program in its current state is that there is no easy way to add interpretations. 2.2 Allow the artist to program Gliftic It would be interesting to add a language to Gliftic which allows the user to program his own form generators and interpreters. In this way Gliftic becomes a "platform" for the development of dynamic graphics styles by the artist. The advantage of not having to deal with the complexities of Windows programming could attract the more adventurous artists and designers. The choice of programming language of course needs to take into account the fact that the "programmer" is probably not be an expert computer scientist. I have seen how LISP (an not exactly easy artificial intelligence language) has become very popular among non programming users of AutoCAD. If, to complete a job which you do manually and repeatedly, you can write a LISP macro of only 5 lines, then you may be tempted to learn enough LISP to write those 5 lines. Imagine also the ability to publish (and/or sell) "style generators". An artist could develop a particular interpretation function, it creates images of a given character which others find appealing. The interpretation (which runs inside Gliftic as a routine) could be offered to interior designers (for example) to unify carpets, wallpaper, furniture coverings for single projects. As Adrian Ward [3] says on his WEB site: "Programming is no less an artform than painting is a technical process." Learning a computer language to create a single image is overkill and impractical. Learning a computer language to create your own artistic style which generates an infinite series of images in that style may well be attractive. 2.3 Add an artificial conciousness to Gliftic This is a wild science fiction idea which comes into my head regularly. Gliftic manages to surprise the users with the images it makes, but, currently, is limited by what gets programmed into it or by pure chance. How about adding a real artifical conciousness to the program? Creating an intelligent artificial designer? According to Igor Aleksander [1] conciousness is required for programs (computers) to really become usefully intelligent. Aleksander thinks that "the line has been drawn under the philosophical discussion of conciousness, and the way is open to sound scientific investigation". Without going into the details, and with great over-simplification, there are roughly two sorts of artificial intelligence: 1) Programmed intelligence, where, to all intents and purposes, the programmer is the "intelligence". The program may perform well (but often, in practice, doesn't) and any learning which is done is simply statistical and pre-programmed. There is no way that this type of program could become concious. 2) Neural network intelligence, where the programs are based roughly on a simple model of the brain, and the network learns how to do specific tasks. It is this sort of program which, according to Aleksander, could, in the future, become concious, and thus usefully intelligent. What could the advantages of an artificial artist be? 1) There would be no need for programming. Presumbably the human artist would dialog with the artificial artist, directing its development. 2) The artificial artist could be used as an apprentice, doing the "drudge" work of art, which needs intelligence, but is, anyway, monotonous for the human artist. 3) The human artist imagines "concepts", the artificial artist makes them concrete. 4) An concious artificial artist may come up with ideas of its own. Is this science fiction? Arthur C. Clarke's 1st Law: "If a famous scientist says that something can be done, then he is in all probability correct. If a famous scientist says that something cannot be done, then he is in all probability wrong". Arthur C Clarke's 2nd Law: "Only by trying to go beyond the current limits can you find out what the real limits are." One of Bertrand Russell's 10 commandments: "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric" 3. References 1. "From Ramon Llull to Image Idea Generation". Ransen, Owen. Proceedings of the 1998 Milan First International Conference on Generative Art. 2. "How To Build A Mind" Aleksander, Igor. Wiedenfeld and Nicolson, 1999 3. "How I Drew One of My Pictures: or, The Authorship of Generative Art" by Adrian Ward and Geof Cox. Proceedings of the 1999 Milan 2nd International Conference on Generative Art.
series	other
email
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	avocaad_2001_19
id	avocaad_2001_19
authors	Shen-Kai Tang, Yu-Tung Liu, Yu-Sheng Chung, Chi-Seng Chung
year	2001
title	The visual harmony between new and old materials in the restoration of historical architecture: A study of computer simulation
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	In the research of historical architecture restoration, scholars respectively focus on the field of architectural context and architectural archeology (Shi, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995; Fu, 1995, 1997; Chiu, 2000) or on architecture construction and the procedure of restoration (Shi, 1988, 1989; Chiu, 1990). How to choose materials and cope with their durability becomes an important issue in the restoration of historical architecture (Dasser, 1990; Wang, 1998).In the related research of the usage and durability of materials, some scholars deem that, instead of continuing the traditional ways that last for hundreds of years (that is to replace new materials with old ones), it might be better to keep the original materials (Dasser, 1990). However, unavoidably, some of the originals are much worn. Thus we have to first establish the standard of eliminating components, and secondly to replace identical or similar materials with the old components (Lee, 1990). After accomplishing the restoration, we often unexpectedly find out that the renewed historical building is too new that the sense of history is eliminated (Dasser, 1990; Fu, 1997). Actually this is the important factor that determines the accomplishment of restoration. In the past, some scholars find out that the contrast and conflict between new and old materials are contributed to the different time of manufacture and different coating, such as antiseptic, pattern, etc., which result in the discrepancy of the sense of visual perception (Lee, 1990; Fu, 1997; Dasser, 1990).In recent years, a number of researches and practice of computer technology have been done in the field of architectural design. We are able to proceed design communication more exactly by the application of some systematic softwares, such as image processing, computer graphic, computer modeling/rendering, animation, multimedia, virtual reality and so on (Lawson, 1995; Liu, 1996). The application of computer technology to the research of the preservation of historical architecture is comparatively late. Continually some researchers explore the procedure of restoration by computer simulation technology (Potier, 2000), or establish digital database of the investigation of historical architecture (Sasada, 2000; Wang, 1998). How to choose materials by the technology of computer simulation influences the sense of visual perception. Liu (2000) has a more complete result on visual impact analysis and assessment (VIAA) about the research of urban design projection. The main subjects of this research paper focuses on whether the technology of computer simulation can extenuate the conflict between new and old materials that imposed on visual perception.The objective of this paper is to propose a standard method of visual harmony effects for materials in historical architecture (taking the Gigi Train Station destroyed by the earthquake in last September as the operating example).There are five steps in this research: 1.Categorize the materials of historical architecture and establish the information in digital database. 2.Get new materials of historical architecture and establish the information in digital database. 3.According to the mixing amount of new and old materials, determinate their proportion of the building; mixing new and old materials in a certain way. 4.Assign the mixed materials to the computer model and proceed the simulation of lighting. 5.Make experts and the citizens to evaluate the accomplished computer model in order to propose the expected standard method.According to the experiment mentioned above, we first address a procedure of material simulation of the historical architecture restoration and then offer some suggestions of how to mix new and old materials.By this procedure of simulation, we offer a better view to control the restoration of historical architecture. And, the discrepancy and discordance by new and old materials can be released. Moreover, we thus avoid to reconstructing ¡§too new¡¨ historical architecture.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	avocaad_2001_20
id	avocaad_2001_20
authors	Shen-Kai Tang
year	2001
title	Toward a procedure of computer simulation in the restoration of historical architecture
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	In the field of architectural design, “visualization¨ generally refers to some media, communicating and representing the idea of designers, such as ordinary drafts, maps, perspectives, photos and physical models, etc. (Rahman, 1992; Susan, 2000). The main reason why we adopt visualization is that it enables us to understand clearly and to control complicated procedures (Gombrich, 1990). Secondly, the way we get design knowledge is more from the published visualized images and less from personal experiences (Evans, 1989). Thus the importance of the representation of visualization is manifested.Due to the developments of computer technology in recent years, various computer aided design system are invented and used in a great amount, such as image processing, computer graphic, computer modeling/rendering, animation, multimedia, virtual reality and collaboration, etc. (Lawson, 1995; Liu, 1996). The conventional media are greatly replaced by computer media, and the visualization is further brought into the computerized stage. The procedure of visual impact analysis and assessment (VIAA), addressed by Rahman (1992), is renewed and amended for the intervention of computer (Liu, 2000). Based on the procedures above, a great amount of applied researches are proceeded. Therefore it is evident that the computer visualization is helpful to the discussion and evaluation during the design process (Hall, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998; Liu, 1997; Sasada, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998). In addition to the process of architectural design, the computer visualization is also applied to the subject of construction, which is repeatedly amended and corrected by the images of computer simulation (Liu, 2000). Potier (2000) probes into the contextual research and restoration of historical architecture by the technology of computer simulation before the practical restoration is constructed. In this way he established a communicative mode among archeologists, architects via computer media.In the research of restoration and preservation of historical architecture in Taiwan, many scholars have been devoted into the studies of historical contextual criticism (Shi, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995; Fu, 1995, 1997; Chiu, 2000). Clues that accompany the historical contextual criticism (such as oral information, writings, photographs, pictures, etc.) help to explore the construction and the procedure of restoration (Hung, 1995), and serve as an aid to the studies of the usage and durability of the materials in the restoration of historical architecture (Dasser, 1990; Wang, 1998). Many clues are lost, because historical architecture is often age-old (Hung, 1995). Under the circumstance, restoration of historical architecture can only be proceeded by restricted pictures, written data and oral information (Shi, 1989). Therefore, computer simulation is employed by scholars to simulate the condition of historical architecture with restricted information after restoration (Potier, 2000). Yet this is only the early stage of computer-aid restoration. The focus of the paper aims at exploring that whether visual simulation of computer can help to investigate the practice of restoration and the estimation and evaluation after restoration.By exploring the restoration of historical architecture (taking the Gigi Train Station destroyed by the earthquake in last September as the operating example), this study aims to establish a complete work on computer visualization, including the concept of restoration, the practice of restoration, and the estimation and evaluation of restoration.This research is to simulate the process of restoration by computer simulation based on visualized media (restricted pictures, restricted written data and restricted oral information) and the specialized experience of historical architects (Potier, 2000). During the process of practicing, communicates with craftsmen repeatedly with some simulated alternatives, and makes the result as the foundation of evaluating and adjusting the simulating process and outcome. In this way we address a suitable and complete process of computer visualization for historical architecture.The significance of this paper is that we are able to control every detail more exactly, and then prevent possible problems during the process of restoration of historical architecture.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	ddssar9636
id	ddssar9636
authors	Will, B.F., Wong, W.C.H. and Chu, C.H.
year	1996
title	A Case Study of Hypermedia Applications in the Building Industry: Curtain Wall Design, Fabrication and Erection
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Third Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part one: Architecture Proceedings (Spa, Belgium), August 18-21, 1996
summary	This paper is based on the development of a Hypermedia Information Delivery System called ArchiSpace, by the Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong to produce a comprehensive knowledge of a Curtain Wall system. A set of construction drawings of the building were analysed and converted to the 3D hypermedia system format. The focus of this study is the use of the hyper-model environment in information organization and once the 3D hypermedia system is formed the information on the curtain wall system is accessed by the use of hyper-text environments hyper-image environments, and hyper-model environments. The paper analysed that the hyper-model access method seems to be more appropriate than the hyper-text and hyper-image access methods for users who do not have any knowledge pre-requisites. The results obtained by this research are being applied to improve the user friendliness for information access within a hyper-model environment.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

For more results click below: