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	a5c7
authors	Hovestadt, Ludger and Hovestadt, Volkmar
year	1997
title	ARMILLA5 - Supporting Design, Construction and Management of Complex Buildings
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 135-150
summary	ARMILLA5 is a generic computer aided design system, which supports the cooperative design of complex buildings (such as labs, offices or schools) over multiple levels of abstraction. It follows the metaphor of a virtual building site. The designers and engineers meet at a spatial location on the Internet and prepare the building construction by simulating the building site. This article describes the three essential components of the ARMILLA5-model: the geometric model which describes the spatial and physical aspects of the building site, the semantic model which implements passive building components as objects and active building components as applets or applications, and the planning model, which organizes the work steps of the individual engineers and their cooperation. The model is described using different software prototypes written in Objective C, CAD systems and HTML/JAVA.
keywords	Dynamic Buildings, CAAD, CSCW, VRML, Case-based Reasoning, Facility Management, Augmented Reality
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	51c2
authors	Melling, G., Bradley, D.A., McKee, H. and Widden, M.B.
year	1997
title	The development of a rapid-prototyping technique for mechatronic-augmented heavy plant
source	Automation in Construction 5 (5) (1997) pp. 365-378
summary	Telechiric, semi-autonomous and autonomous heavy plant is finding an increasing role in applications such as construction, sub-sea work and decommissioning. There is a need for improved operator interfaces for such plant, and hence for rapid-prototyping tools which link the development of the operator interface with control and operational strategies and with machine geometries.The paper sets out a strategy by which different operator interfaces can be readily evaluated while at the same time generating the requisite information structure for the control of real items of plant. The proposed system is based on the use of interconnected PCs, one to simulate the operator interface and another to provide a kinematic representation of the machine using an appropriate "desk-top reality" environment. This system offers a safe, practical, rapid and cost-effective means of assessing proposed operator interfaces, as well as facilitating the development of machine kinematic structures and the associated operational and control strategies.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	cf2011_p093
id	cf2011_p093
authors	Nguyen, Thi Lan Truc; Tan Beng Kiang
year	2011
title	Understanding Shared Space for Informal Interaction among Geographically Distributed Teams
source	Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2011 [Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures / ISBN 9782874561429] Liege (Belgium) 4-8 July 2011, pp. 41-54.
summary	In a design project, much creative work is done in teams, thus requires spaces for collaborative works such as conference rooms, project rooms and chill-out areas. These spaces are designed to provide an atmosphere conducive to discussion and communication ranging from formal meetings to informal communication. According to Kraut et al (E.Kraut et al., 1990), informal communication is an important factor for the success of collaboration and is defined as ‚Äúconversations take place at the time, with the participants, and about the topics at hand. It often occurs spontaneously by chance and in face-to-face manner. As shown in many research, much of good and creative ideas originate from impromptu meeting rather than in a formal meeting (Grajewski, 1993, A.Isaacs et al., 1997). Therefore, the places for informal communication are taken into account in workplace design and scattered throughout the building in order to stimulate face-to-face interaction, especially serendipitous communication among different groups across disciplines such as engineering, technology, design and so forth. Nowadays, team members of a project are not confined to people working in one location but are spread widely with geographically distributed collaborations. Being separated by long physical distance, informal interaction by chance is impossible since people are not co-located. In order to maintain the benefit of informal interaction in collaborative works, research endeavor has developed a variety ways to shorten the physical distance and bring people together in one shared space. Technologies to support informal interaction at a distance include video-based technologies, virtual reality technologies, location-based technologies and ubiquitous technologies. These technologies facilitate people to stay aware of other‚Äôs availability in distributed environment and to socialize and interact in a multi-users virtual environment. Each type of applications supports informal interaction through the employed technology characteristics. One of the conditions for promoting frequent and impromptu face-to-face communication is being co-located in one space in which the spatial settings play as catalyst to increase the likelihood for frequent encounter. Therefore, this paper analyses the degree to which sense of shared space is supported by these technical approaches. This analysis helps to identify the trade-off features of each shared space technology and its current problems. A taxonomy of shared space is introduced based on three types of shared space technologies for supporting informal interaction. These types are named as shared physical environments, collaborative virtual environments and mixed reality environments and are ordered increasingly towards the reality of sense of shared space. Based on the problem learnt from other technical approaches and the nature of informal interaction, this paper proposes physical-virtual shared space for supporting intended and opportunistic informal interaction. The shared space will be created by augmenting a 3D collaborative virtual environment (CVE) with real world scene at the virtual world side; and blending the CVE scene to the physical settings at the real world side. Given this, the two spaces are merged into one global structure. With augmented view of the real world, geographically distributed co-workers who populate the 3D CVE are facilitated to encounter and interact with their real world counterparts in a meaningful and natural manner.
keywords	shared space, collaborative virtual environment, informal interaction, intended interaction, opportunistic interaction
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2012/02/11 19:21

_id	8804
authors	QaQish, R. and Hanna, R.
year	1997
title	A World-wide Questionnaire Survey on the Use of Computers in Architectural Education
source	Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.c8o
summary	The paper reports on a study which examines the impact on architectural education needs arising from the changes brought about by the implications of CAD teaching/learning (CAI/CAL). The findings reflect the views of fifty-one (51) architecture schools through a world-wide questionnaire survey conducted in mid 1996. The survey was structured to cover four continents represented by seven countries, namely the USA, UK, Israel, Australia, Canada, Sweden and the Netherlands. Structurally the main findings of this study are summarised under five areas, namely: 1) General Information, 2) Program of Study (curriculum) and CAD course, 3) CAD Laboratories: Hardware, Software, 4) Departmental Current and Future Policies, 5) Multi-media and Virtual Reality. Principally, there were three main objectives for using the computers survey. Firstly, to accommodate a prevalent comprehension of CAD integration into the curriculum of architecture schools world wide. Secondly, to identify the main key factors that control the extent of association between CAD and architectural curriculum. Thirdly, to identify common trends of CAD teaching in Architecture schools world-wide and across the seven countries to establish whether there are any association between them. Several variables and factors that were found to have an impact on AE were examined, namely: the response rate, the conventional methods users and the CAD methods users amongst students, CAD course employment in the curriculum, age of CAD employment, the role of CAD in the curriculum, CAD training time in the Curriculum, CAD laboratories/Hardware & Software, computing staff and technicians, department policies, Multi-Media (MM) and Virtual-Reality (VR). The statistical analysis of the study revealed significant findings, one of which indicates that 35% of the total population of students at the surveyed architecture schools are reported as being CAD users. Out of the 51 architecture schools who participated in this survey, 47 have introduced CAD courses into the curriculum. The impact of CAD on the curriculum was noted to be significant in several areas, namely: architectural design, architectural presentation, structural engineering, facilities management, thesis project and urban design. The top five CAD packages found to be most highly used across universities were, namely, AutoCAD (46), 3DStudio (34), Microstation (23), Form Z (17), ArchiCAD (17). The findings of this study suggest some effective and efficient future directions in adopting some form of effective CAD strategies in the curriculum of architecture. The study also serves as an evaluation tool for computing teaching in the design studio and the curriculum.
keywords	CAD Integration, Employment, Users and Effectiveness
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/qaqish/qaqish.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	c61f
authors	Stellingwerff, M.C.
year	1997
title	Changing approaches to the Real World
source	Published in the book : 'CAAD - Towards New Design Conventions', Technical University of Bialystok, Poland, Edited by Aleksander Asanowicz and Adam Jakimowicz. ISBN83-86272-63-5.
summary	Different kinds of design media change the designers approach to the 'real world' and have an important impact on the design process and its results. Six main directions are described and evaluated: design through contemplation, design by means of traditional media, design using desktop computers, design within a virtual reality environment, design with ubiquitous computers and design through augmented interaction. A number of these directions are still developing in unexpected ways, other directions are established and seem to become less interesting for research and in design. The goal of this paper is to value and characterise each above mentioned direction, relate each direction to 'reality', 'mind' and 'media' and place each of them in a historical / futurological sequence.
keywords	design, computers, interaction, reality, mind, media, future
series	other
email
more	http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/media/papers/approaches.html
last changed	1998/07/08 13:08

_id	e336
authors	Achten, H., Roelen, W., Boekholt, J.-Th., Turksma, A. and Jessurun, J.
year	1999
title	Virtual Reality in the Design Studio: The Eindhoven Perspective
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 169-177
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.169
summary	Since 1991 Virtual Reality has been used in student projects in the Building Information Technology group. It started as an experimental tool to assess the impact of VR technology in design, using the environment of the associated Calibre Institute. The technology was further developed in Calibre to become an important presentation tool for assessing design variants and final design solutions. However, it was only sporadically used in student projects. A major shift occurred in 1997 with a number of student projects in which various computer technologies including VR were used in the whole of the design process. In 1998, the new Design Systems group started a design studio with the explicit aim to integrate VR in the whole design process. The teaching effort was combined with the research program that investigates VR as a design support environment. This has lead to increasing number of innovative student projects. The paper describes the context and history of VR in Eindhoven and presents the current set-UP of the studio. It discusses the impact of the technology on the design process and outlines pedagogical issues in the studio work.
keywords	Virtual Reality, Design Studio, Student Projects
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	a35a
authors	Arponen, Matti
year	2002
title	From 2D Base Map To 3D City Model
source	UMDS '02 Proceedings, Prague (Czech Republic) 2-4 October 2002, I.17-I.28
summary	Since 1997 Helsinki City Survey Division has proceeded in experimenting and in developing the methods for converting and supplementing current digital 2D base maps in the scale 1:500 to a 3D city model. Actually since 1986 project areas have been produced in 3D for city planning and construction projects, but working with the whole map database started in 1997 because of customer demands and competitive 3D projects. 3D map database needs new data modelling and structures, map update processes need new working orders and the draftsmen need to learn a new profession; the 3D modeller. Laser-scanning and digital photogrammetry have been used in collecting 3D information on the map objects. During the years 1999-2000 laser-scanning experiments covering 45 km2 have been carried out utilizing the Swedish TopEye system. Simultaneous digital photography produces material for orto photo mosaics. These have been applied in mapping out dated map features and in vectorizing 3D buildings manually, semi automatically and automatically. In modelling we use TerraScan, TerraPhoto and TerraModeler sw, which are developed in Finland. The 3D city model project is at the same time partially a software development project. An accuracy and feasibility study was also completed and will be shortly presented. The three scales of 3D models are also presented in this paper. Some new 3D products and some usage of 3D city models in practice will be demonstrated in the actual presentation.
keywords	3D City modeling
series	other
email
more	www.udms.net
last changed	2003/11/21 15:16

_id	0c91
authors	Asanowicz, Aleksander
year	1997
title	Computer - Tool vs. Medium
source	Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.b2e
summary	We have arrived an important juncture in the history of computing in our profession: This history is long enough to reveal clear trends in the use of computing, but not long to institutionalize them. As computers peremate every area of architecture - from design and construction documents to project administration and site supervision - can “virtual practice” be far behind? In the old days, there were basically two ways of architects working. Under stress. Or under lots more stress. Over time, someone forwarded the radical motion that the job could be easier, you could actually get more work done. Architects still have been looking for ways to produce more work in less time. They need a more productive work environment. The ideal environment would integrate man and machine (computer) in total harmony. As more and more architects and firms invest more and more time, money, and effort into particular ways of using computers, these practices will become resistant to change. Now is the time to decide if computing is developing the way we think it should. Enabled and vastly accelerated by technology, and driven by imperatives for cost efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness, work in the design sector is changing in every respect. It is stands to reason that architects must change too - on every level - not only by expanding the scope of their design concerns, but by altering design process. Very often we can read, that the recent new technologies, the availability of computers and software, imply that use of CAAD software in design office is growing enormously and computers really have changed the production of contract documents in architectural offices.
keywords	Computers, CAAD, Cyberreal, Design, Interactive, Medium, Sketches, Tools, Virtual Reality
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/asan/asanowic.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	8ec9
authors	Asanowicz, Alexander
year	1997
title	Incompatible Pencil - Chance for Changing in Design Process
source	AVOCAAD First International Conference [AVOCAAD Conference Proceedings / ISBN 90-76101-01-09] Brussels (Belgium) 10-12 April 1997, pp. 93-101
summary	The existing Caad systems limit designers creativity by constraining them to work with prototypes provided by the system's knowledge base. Most think of computers as drafting machines and consider CAAD models as merely proposals for future buildings. But this kind of thinking (computers as simple drafting machines) seems to be a way without future. New media demands new process and new process demands new media. We have to give some thougt to impact of CAAD on the design process and in which part of it CAAD can add new value. In this paper there will be considered two ways of using of computers. First - creation of architectural form in an architect's mind and projects visualisation with using renderings, animation and virtual reality. In the second part - computer techniques are investigated as a medium of creation. Unlike a conventional drawing the design object within computer has a life of its own. In computer space design and the final product are one. Computer creates environments for new kind of design activities. In fact, many dimensions of meaning in cyberspace have led to a cyberreal architecture that is sure to have dramatic consequences for the profession.
series	AVOCAAD
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	0992
authors	Belibani, R. and Gadola, A.
year	1997
title	On Digital Architecture
source	Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.r1n
summary	One of the main aims of this research was to highlight the influence of computer as a designing tool. Their wide acceptance as drawing tools might occult the importance of their role in architectural design. We will try to apprehend, with the help of synthetic images, that computers mark a historic step forward in drawing and representation, as well as a major progress in the understanding of creative processes. Together these features offer a broader horizon to architectural design. New source of inspiration can be found in virtual reality that makes visible what does not really exist, permitting design to suggest itself with its primordial image. We mean a kind of architectural imprint, where the first three-dimensional lines suggest in some way the designer with their shape, and encourage the definition process. Through the visualisation of some images, it is possible to show the modifications of language and style, to examine the transformation modalities of the design process and to propose an essay of the new methods to communicate architecture.
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/belibani/belibani.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	debf
authors	Bertol, D.
year	1997
title	Designing Digital Space - An Architect's Guide to Virtual Reality
source	John Wiley & Sons, New York
summary	The first in-depth book on virtual reality (VR) aimed specifically at architecture and design professionals, Designing Digital Space steers you skillfully through the learning curve of this exciting new technology. Beginning with a historical overview of the evolution of architectural representations, this unique resource explains what VR is, how it is being applied today, and how it promises to revolutionize not only the design process, but the form and function of the built environment itself. Vividly illustrating how VR fits alongside traditional methods of architectural representation, this comprehensive guide prepares you to make optimum practical use of this powerful interactive tool, and embrace the new role of the architect in a virtually designed world. Offers in-depth coverage of the virtual universe-data representation and information management, static and dynamic worlds, tracking and visual display systems, control devices, and more. Examines a wide range of current VR architectural applications, from walkthroughs, simulations, and evaluations to reconstructions and networked environments Includes insightful essays by leading VR developers covering some of today's most innovative projects Integrates VR into the historical framework of architectural development, with detailed sections on the past, present, and future Features a dazzling array of virtual world images and sequential displays Explores the potential impact of digital architecture on the built environment of the future
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	ce11
authors	Bradford, J., Wong, W.S. and Tang, H.F.
year	1997
title	Bridging Virtual Reality to Internet for Architecture
source	Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.m9r
summary	This paper presents a virtual reality interface tool which allows a user to perform the following action : 1.Import design from other CAD tools. 2.Assemble an architecture structure from a library of pre-built blocks and geometry primitives dynamically created by user. 3.Export the design interactively in VRML format back to the library for Internet browsing. The geometry primitives include polygon, sphere, cone, cylinder and cube. The pre-built blocks consist of fundamental architecture models which have been categorized with architectural related style, physical properties and environmental attributes. Upon a user’s request, the tool or the composer, has the ability to communicate with the library which indeed is a back-end distributed client-server database engine. The user may specify any combination of properties and attributes in the composer which will instantly bring up all matching 3-dimensional objects through the database engine. The database is designed in relational model and comes from the work of another research group.
keywords	Virtual Reality, Architecture Models, Relational Database, Client-Server
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/bradford/bradford.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	c5a0
authors	Bradford, J., Wong, W.S., Tang, A.H.F. and Yeung, C.S.K.
year	1997
title	A Virtual Reality Building Block Composer for Architecture
source	CAADRIA ‘97 [Proceedings of the Second Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 957-575-057-8] Taiwan 17-19 April 1997, pp. 51-59
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1997.051
summary	Design is a complex and time consuming process. One way to simplify the design process is to use pre-build blocks for commonly known parts instead of creating them again with CAD. To give the designer an immediate 3D view of the design, designing in virtual reality is a good choice. This paper presents a virtual reality interface tool which allows a user to assemble an architecture structure from a library of pre-built blocks. The library is a distributed client-server database.
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	00e7
authors	Bushby, S.T.
year	1997
title	BACnetTM: a standard communication infrastructure for intelligent buildings
source	Automation in Construction 6 (5-6) (1997) pp. 529-540
summary	Intelligent buildings require integration of a variety of computer-based building automation and control system products that are usually made by different manufacturers. The exchange of information among these devices is critical to the successful operation of the building systems. Proprietary approaches to providing this communication have created great challenges for system integrators and hampered the development of intelligent building technology. Even though digital automation and control technology has been widely available for more than a decade and islands of automation are common, intelligent buildings with integrated building services are still more of a promise than a reality. BACnetTM is a standard communication protocol for building automation and control networks developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE, Standard 135-1995: BACnetTM--A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers. Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1995). BACnetTM provides the communication infrastructure needed to integrate products made by different vendors and to integrate building services that are now independent. This paper describes the main features of the BACnetTM protocol and early experience implementing it.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	848a
authors	Caneparo, Luca
year	1997
title	Shared Virtual Reality for Architectural Design
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 431-442
summary	The paper presents the implementation of a system of Shared Virtual Reality (SVR) in Internet applied to a large- scale project. The applications of SVR to architectural and urban design are presented in the context of a real project, the new railway junction of Porta Susa and the surrounding urban area in the city centre of Turin, Italy. SVR differs from Virtual Reality in that the experience of virtual spaces is no longer individual, but rather shared across the net with other users simultaneously connected. SVR offers an effective approach to Computer Supported Collaborative Work, because it integrates both the communicative tools to improve collaboration and the distributed environment to elaborate information across the networks.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	88f9
authors	Carrara, G., Novembri, G., Zorgno, A.M., Brusasco, P.L.
year	1997
title	Virtual Studio of Design and Technology on Internet (I) - Educator's approach
source	Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.n2w
summary	This paper presents a teaching experience involving students and professors from various universities, in Italy and abroad, which began in 1996 and is still on going. The Virtual Studios on the Internet (VSI) have some features in common with the Teaching Studios planned for the new programme of the faculties of Architecture in Italian universities. These are the definition of a common design theme, and the participation of disciplinary teachers. The greatest difference is in the modes of collaboration, which is achieved through information and communication technologies. The chief result of this is that the various work groups in different places can work and collaborate at the same time: the computer networks provide the means to express, communicate and share the design project.
keywords	CAAD, Teaching of architectural design, Shared virtual reality, Virtualdesign studio, Collective intelligence.
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/lvi_i&ii/zorgno.html
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	b4c4
authors	Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A. and Novembri, G.
year	2000
title	A framework for an Architectural Collaborative Design
source	Promise and Reality: State of the Art versus State of Practice in Computing for the Design and Planning Process [18th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-6-5] Weimar (Germany) 22-24 June 2000, pp. 57-60
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.057
summary	The building industry involves a larger number of disciplines, operators and professionals than other industrial processes. Its peculiarity is that the products (building objects) have a number of parts (building elements) that does not differ much from the number of classes into which building objects can be conceptually subdivided. Another important characteristic is that the building industry produces unique products (de Vries and van Zutphen, 1992). This is not an isolated situation but indeed one that is spreading also in other industrial fields. For example, production niches have proved successful in the automotive and computer industries (Carrara, Fioravanti, & Novembri, 1989). Building design is a complex multi-disciplinary process, which demands a high degree of co-ordination and co-operation among separate teams, each having its own specific knowledge and its own set of specific design tools. Establishing an environment for design tool integration is a prerequisite for network-based distributed work. It was attempted to solve the problem of efficient, user-friendly, and fast information exchange among operators by treating it simply as an exchange of data. But the failure of IGES, CGM, PHIGS confirms that data have different meanings and importance in different contexts. The STandard for Exchange of Product data, ISO 10303 Part 106 BCCM, relating to AEC field (Wix, 1997), seems to be too complex to be applied to professional studios. Moreover its structure is too deep and the conceptual classifications based on it do not allow multi-inheritance (Ekholm, 1996). From now on we shall adopt the BCCM semantic that defines the actor as "a functional participant in building construction"; and we shall define designer as "every member of the class formed by designers" (architects, engineers, town-planners, construction managers, etc.).
keywords	Architectural Design Process, Collaborative Design, Knowledge Engineering, Dynamic Object Oriented Programming
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	d60a
authors	Casti, J.C.
year	1997
title	Would be Worlds: How simulation is changing the frontiers of science
source	John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
summary	Five Golden Rules is caviar for the inquiring reader. Anyone who enjoyed solving math problems in high school will be able to follow the author's explanations, even if high school was a long time ago. There is joy here in watching the unfolding of these intricate and beautiful techniques. Casti's gift is to be able to let the nonmathematical reader share in his understanding of the beauty of a good theory.-Christian Science Monitor "[Five Golden Rules] ranges into exotic fields such as game theory (which played a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis) and topology (which explains how to turn a doughnut into a coffee cup, or vice versa). If you'd like to have fun while giving your brain a first-class workout, then check this book out."-San Francisco Examiner "Unlike many popularizations, [this book] is more than a tour d'horizon: it has the power to change the way you think. Merely knowing about the existence of some of these golden rules may spark new, interesting-maybe even revolutionary-ideas in your mind. And what more could you ask from a book?"-New Scientist "This book has meat! It is solid fare, food for thought . . . makes math less forbidding, and much more interesting."-Ben Bova, The Hartford Courant "This book turns math into beauty."-Colorado Daily "John Casti is one of the great science writers of the 1990s."-San Francisco Examiner In the ever-changing world of science, new instruments often lead to momentous discoveries that dramatically transform our understanding. Today, with the aid of a bold new instrument, scientists are embarking on a scientific revolution as profound as that inspired by Galileo's telescope. Out of the bits and bytes of computer memory, researchers are fashioning silicon surrogates of the real world-elaborate "artificial worlds"-that allow them to perform experiments that are too impractical, too costly, or, in some cases, too dangerous to do "in the flesh." From simulated tests of new drugs to models of the birth of planetary systems and galaxies to computerized petri dishes growing digital life forms, these laboratories of the future are the essential tools of a controversial new scientific method. This new method is founded not on direct observation and experiment but on the mapping of the universe from real space into cyberspace. There is a whole new science happening here-the science of simulation. The most exciting territory being mapped by artificial worlds is the exotic new frontier of "complex, adaptive systems." These systems involve living "agents" that continuously change their behavior in ways that make prediction and measurement by the old rules of science impossible-from environmental ecosystems to the system of a marketplace economy. Their exploration represents the horizon for discovery in the twenty-first century, and simulated worlds are charting the course. In Would-Be Worlds, acclaimed author John Casti takes readers on a fascinating excursion through a number of remarkable silicon microworlds and shows us how they are being used to formulate important new theories and to solve a host of practical problems. We visit Tierra, a "computerized terrarium" in which artificial life forms known as biomorphs grow and mutate, revealing new insights into natural selection and evolution. We play a game of Balance of Power, a simulation of the complex forces shaping geopolitics. And we take a drive through TRANSIMS, a model of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to discover the root causes of events like traffic jams and accidents. Along the way, Casti probes the answers to a host of profound questions these "would-be worlds" raise about the new science of simulation. If we can create worlds inside our computers at will, how real can we say they are? Will they unlock the most intractable secrets of our universe? Or will they reveal instead only the laws of an alternate reality? How "real" do these models need to be? And how real can they be? The answers to these questions are likely to change the face of scientific research forever.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	e292
authors	Charitos, D. and Bridges, A.H.
year	1997
title	On Architectural Design of Virtual Environments
source	Design Studies, Vol.18, No. 2, 143-154
summary	This paper considers the domains of architectural design and film theory for the purpose of informing the design of virtual environments (VEs). It is suggested that these domains may form a background for the consideration of possible metaphors for the design of VEs. Firstly, the paper investigates the relation between architecture and virtual reality technology, through the nature of drawings and virtual environments as means of representing three-dimensional spaces. Then, differences between VEs and physical environments (PEs) are identified for the purpose of understanding the intrinsic nature of VEs, by comparing them to our familiar everyday spatial experience. This step is considered essential in helping us understand how we might be able to develop an architectural conception of designing spaces, in the context of VEs. The paper then presents two directions towards informing VE design by means of theoretical and practical architectural design knowledge. Finally, the use of film-related studies is considered as a means of enhancing our conception of time and movement in VEs.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	6496
authors	Chen, Y.Z. and Maver, T.W.
year	1997
title	Integrating Design Tools within a Human Collaborative Working
source	The Int. Journal of Construction IT 5(2), pp. 47-73
summary	This paper stresses the importance of establishing a collaborative working context as the basis for design integration. Within a virtual studio environment framework, a hybrid architecture for design tool integration is presented. Each design tool is wrapped as an autonomous service provider with its own data store; thus the project design data is physically distributed with the design tools. A global product model, which is augmented with meta-data description, is employed to provide a common vocabulary for communications and to assist the management of the distributed resources and activities. Collaboration-aware information is modelled and structured through the meta-data model and a tool model. Based on this, mechanisms for tool service coodination in varying modes are developed. It is then illustrated, through an implemented prototype system, how the integrated design tools might be used in human design work.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/05/15 21:45

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