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	sigradi2006_e131c
id	sigradi2006_e131c
authors	Ataman, Osman
year	2006
title	Toward New Wall Systems: Lighter, Stronger, Versatile
source	SIGraDi 2006 - [Proceedings of the 10th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Santiago de Chile - Chile 21-23 November 2006, pp. 248-253
summary	Recent developments in digital technologies and smart materials have created new opportunities and are suggesting significant changes in the way we design and build architecture. Traditionally, however, there has always been a gap between the new technologies and their applications into other areas. Even though, most technological innovations hold the promise to transform the building industry and the architecture within, and although, there have been some limited attempts in this area recently; to date architecture has failed to utilize the vast amount of accumulated technological knowledge and innovations to significantly transform the industry. Consequently, the applications of new technologies to architecture remain remote and inadequate. One of the main reasons of this problem is economical. Architecture is still seen and operated as a sub-service to the Construction industry and it does not seem to be feasible to apply recent innovations in Building Technology area. Another reason lies at the heart of architectural education. Architectural education does not follow technological innovations (Watson 1997), and that “design and technology issues are trivialized by their segregation from one another” (Fernandez 2004). The final reason is practicality and this one is partially related to the previous reasons. The history of architecture is full of visions for revolutionizing building technology, ideas that failed to achieve commercial practicality. Although, there have been some adaptations in this area recently, the improvements in architecture reflect only incremental progress, not the significant discoveries needed to transform the industry. However, architectural innovations and movements have often been generated by the advances of building materials, such as the impact of steel in the last and reinforced concrete in this century. There have been some scattered attempts of the creation of new materials and systems but currently they are mainly used for limited remote applications and mostly for aesthetic purposes. We believe a new architectural material class is needed which will merge digital and material technologies, embedded in architectural spaces and play a significant role in the way we use and experience architecture. As a principle element of architecture, technology has allowed for the wall to become an increasingly dynamic component of the built environment. The traditional connotations and objectives related to the wall are being redefined: static becomes fluid, opaque becomes transparent, barrier becomes filter and boundary becomes borderless. Combining smart materials, intelligent systems, engineering, and art can create a component that does not just support and define but significantly enhances the architectural space. This paper presents an ongoing research project about the development of new class of architectural wall system by incorporating distributed sensors and macroelectronics directly into the building environment. This type of composite, which is a representative example of an even broader class of smart architectural material, has the potential to change the design and function of an architectural structure or living environment. As of today, this kind of composite does not exist. Once completed, this will be the first technology on its own. We believe this study will lay the fundamental groundwork for a new paradigm in surface engineering that may be of considerable significance in architecture, building and construction industry, and materials science.
keywords	Digital; Material; Wall; Electronics
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:47

_id	acadia07_174
id	acadia07_174
authors	Bontemps, Arnaud; Potvin, André; Demers, Claude
year	2007
title	The Dynamics of Physical Ambiences
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2007.174
source	Expanding Bodies: Art • Cities• Environment [Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture / ISBN 978-0-9780978-6-8] Halifax (Nova Scotia) 1-7 October 2007, 174-181
summary	This research proposes to support the reading of physical ambiences by the development of a representational technique which compiles, in a numerical interface, two types of data: sensory and filmic. These data are recorded through the use of a portable array equipped with sensors (Potvin 1997, 2002, 2004) as well as the acquisition of Video information of the moving environment. The compilation of information is carried out through a multi-media approach, by means of a program converting the environmental data into dynamic diagrams, as well as the creation of an interactive interface allowing a possible diffusion on the Web. This technique, named APMAP/Video, makes it possible to read out simultaneously spatial and environmental diversity. It is demonstrated through surveys taken at various seasons and time of the day at the new Caisse de dépôt et de placement headquarters in Montreal which is also the corpus for a SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) research grant on Environmental Adaptability in Architecture (Potvin et al. 2003-2007). This case study shows that the technique can prove of great relevance for POEs (Post Occupancy Evaluation) as well as for assistance in a new design project.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:54

_id	ecfd
authors	Breen, Jack
year	1997
title	Virtual Horizons
source	AVOCAAD First International Conference [AVOCAAD Conference Proceedings / ISBN 90-76101-01-09] Brussels (Belgium) 10-12 April 1997, pp. 109-124
summary	This essay explores directions for Computer Aided Architectural Design. It focuses on the state of the 'art' in the Netherlands - a country which is renowned for a high density of planning, both in its cultivated landscapes and in its urban environments - and investigates in which ways computer aided techniques may be broadening the horizons of Dutch design practitioners and builders. An attempt is made to characterise recent developments within the architectural design community, with respect to the influence of (digital) design media on - stylistic - architectural developments and on the building methods of the nineties.
series	AVOCAAD
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	ae56
authors	Bruton, Dean
year	1997
title	Grammars and Art - A Contingent Sense of Rules
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 71-82
summary	This paper contributes to the debate about the utility of the grammatical paradigm in art and design. It reports an investigation of the contingent sense in which grammars and grammatical design apply in the practice of form making in art using two complementary research strategies: the examination through a perspective of grammatical design of some selected bodies of art work, including interviews with artists, theorists and designers; and the reflective practice of image making with computer media in my own work as an artist. The major hypothesis is that a contingent, sense of grammar can facilitate the creation, understanding, and discussion of form-making in art. The sub-hypotheses are that (1) An understanding of grammatical design can enhance a reflective design activity, and that (2) Revealing the contingency of grammars can expose moments of inspiration and redirection in a reflective design activity.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	1073
authors	Bruton, Dean
year	1997
title	A contingent sense of grammar
source	University of Adelaide
summary	Investigates the contingent senses in which concepts of grammars and grammatical design apply in the practice of form making in art and design. Using the strategies of a literature review; an examination through a perspective of grammatical design of some selected bodies of art work, including interviews with artists, theorists and some designers; and the reflective practice of image making with computer media in the author's own work as an artists.
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	b4c4
authors	Carrara, G., Fioravanti, A. and Novembri, G.
year	2000
title	A framework for an Architectural Collaborative Design
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.057
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
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	ga9921
id	ga9921
authors	Coates, P.S. and Hazarika, L.
year	1999
title	The use of genetic programming for applications in the field of spatial composition
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	Architectural design teaching using computers has been a preoccupation of CECA since 1991. All design tutors provide their students with a set of models and ways to form, and we have explored a set of approaches including cellular automata, genetic programming ,agent based modelling and shape grammars as additional tools with which to explore architectural ( and architectonic) ideas.This paper discusses the use of genetic programming (G.P.) for applications in the field of spatial composition. CECA has been developing the use of Genetic Programming for some time ( see references ) and has covered the evolution of L-Systems production rules( coates 1997, 1999b), and the evolution of generative grammars of form (Coates 1998 1999a). The G.P. was used to generate three-dimensional spatial forms from a set of geometrical structures .The approach uses genetic programming with a Genetic Library (G.Lib) .G.P. provides a way to genetically breed a computer program to solve a problem.G. Lib. enables genetic programming to define potentially useful subroutines dynamically during a run .* Exploring a shape grammar consisting of simple solid primitives and transformations. * Applying a simple fitness function to the solid breeding G.P.* Exploring a shape grammar of composite surface objects. * Developing grammarsfor existing buildings, and creating hybrids. * Exploring the shape grammar of abuilding within a G.P.We will report on new work using a range of different morphologies ( boolean operations, surface operations and grammars of style ) and describe the use of objective functions ( natural selection) and the "eyeball test" ( artificial selection) as ways of controlling and exploring the design spaces thus defined.
series	other
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	4983
authors	Cutting-Decelle, A.-F., Dubois, A.-M. and Fernandez, I.
year	1997
title	Management and Integration of Product Information in Construction: Reality and Future Trends
source	The Int. Journal of Construction IT 5(2), pp. 19-46
summary	For many years numerous efforts have been spent on the development of standardized approaches for modelling industrial information. During this period stand-alone software tools have been developed in most industries including the Building and Construction sector : Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools, technical software such as software development for energy analysis, project management systems, product databases etc. As this set of computer tools became more and more heterogeneous, the need for communication tools has emerged to enable data to be exchanged between them. Standardising data exchange then becomes a logical step in the improvement of the information management during the whole construction process. The aim of this paper is to put forward the state-of-the art in the domain of product model approaches and standards developments : ISO 10303 STEP, ISO 13584 P-LIB and ISO 15531 MANDATE. We will give a global overview of the existing applications in the construction sector, both in terms of product, or process models, most of them provided by either national or European projects.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/05/15 21:45

_id	389b
authors	Do, Ellen Yi-Luen
year	2000
title	Sketch that Scene for Me: Creating Virtual Worlds by Freehand Drawing
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.265
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. 265-268
summary	With the Web people can now view virtual threedimensional worlds and explore virtual space. Increasingly, novice users are interested in creating 3D Web sites. Virtual Reality Modeling Language gained ISO status in 1997, although it is being supplanted by the compatible Java3D API and alternative 3D Web technologies compete. Viewing VRML scenes is relatively straightforward on most hardware platforms and browsers, but currently there are only two ways to create 3D virtual scenes: One is to code the scene directly using VRML. The other is to use existing CAD and modeling software, and save the world in VRML format or convert to VRML from some other format. Both methods are time consuming, cumbersome, and have steep learning curves. Pen-based user interfaces, on the other hand, are for many an easy and intuitive method for graphics input. Not only are people familiar with the look and feel of paper and pencil, novice users also find it less intimidating to draw what they want, where they want it instead of using a complicated tool palette and pull-down menus. Architects and designers use sketches as a primary tool to generate design ideas and to explore alternatives, and numerous computer-based interfaces have played on the concept of "sketch". However, we restrict the notion of sketch to freehand drawing, which we believe helps people to think, to envision, and to recognize properties of the objects with which they are working. SKETCH employs a pen interface to create three-dimensional models, but it uses a simple language of gestures to control a three-dimensional modeler; it does not attempt to interpret freehand drawings. In contrast, our support of 3D world creation using freehand drawing depend on users’ traditional understanding of a floor plan representation. Igarashi et al. used a pen interface to drive browsing in a 3D world, by projecting the user’s marks on the ground plane in the virtual world. Our Sketch-3D project extends this approach, investigating an interface that allows direct interpretation of the drawing marks (what you draw is what you get) and serves as a rapid prototyping tool for creating 3D virtual scenes.
keywords	Freehand Sketching, Pen-Based User Interface, Interaction, VRML, Navigation
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	837b
authors	Elger, Dietrich and Russell, Peter
year	2000
title	Using the World Wide Web as a Communication and Presentation Forum for Students of Architecture
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.061
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. 61-64
summary	Since 1997, the Institute for Industrial Building Production (ifib) has been carrying out upper level design studios under the framework of the Netzentwurf or Net-Studio. The Netzentwurf is categorized as a virtual design studio in that the environment for presentation, criticism and communication is web based. This allows lessons learned from research into Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) to be adapted to the special conditions indigenous to the architectural design studio. Indeed, an aim of the Netzentwurf is the creation and evolution of a design studio planing platform. In the Winter semester 1999-2000, ifib again carried out two Netzentwurf studios. involving approximately 30 students from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Karlsruhe. The projects differed from previous net studios in that both studios encompassed an inter-university character in addition to the established framework of the Netzentwurf. The first project, the re-use of Fort Kleber in Wolfisheim by Strasbourg, was carried out as part of the Virtual Upperrhine University of Architecture (VuuA) involving over 140 students from various disciplines in six institutions from five universities in France, Switzerland and Germany. The second project, entitled "Future, Inc.", involved the design of an office building for a scenario 20 years hence. This project was carried out in parallel with the Technical University Cottbus using the same methodology and program for two separate building sites.
keywords	Virtual Design Studios, Architectural Graphics, Presentation Techniques
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	acadia07_040
id	acadia07_040
authors	Hyde, Rory
year	2007
title	Punching Above Your Weight: Digital Design Methods and Organisational Change in Small Practice
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2007.040
source	Expanding Bodies: Art • Cities• Environment [Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture / ISBN 978-0-9780978-6-8] Halifax (Nova Scotia) 1-7 October 2007, 40-47
summary	Expanding bodies of knowledge imply expanding teams to manage this knowledge. Paradoxically, it can be shown that in situations of complexity—which increasingly characterise the production of architecture generally—the small practice or small team could be at an advantage. This is due to the increasingly digital nature of the work undertaken and artefacts produced by practices, enabling production processes to be augmented with digital toolsets and for tight project delivery networks to be forged with other collaborators and consultants (Frazer 2006). Furthermore, as Christensen argues, being small may also be desirable, as innovations are less likely to be developed by large, established companies (Christensen 1997). By working smarter, and managing the complexity of design and construction, not only can the small practice “punch above its weight” and compete with larger practices, this research suggests it is a more appropriate model for practice in the digital age. This paper demonstrates this through the implementation of emerging technologies and strategies including generative and parametric design, digital fabrication, and digital construction. These strategies have been employed on a number of built and un-built case-study projects in a unique collaboration between RMIT University’s SIAL lab and the award-winning design practice BKK Architects.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	6707
authors	Jakimowicz, A., Barrallo, J. and Guedes, E.M.
year	1997
title	Spatial Computer Abstraction: From Intuition to Genetic Algorithms
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 917-926
summary	Many of the emblematic buildings constructed at present shows many formal and technological innovations that have not been satisfactorily resolved by the existing CAAD software. Frank 0. Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is a good example of architecture whose shapes and design are very advanced from the concepts and tools used by CAAD. The search for new creative resources, from the educational and professional point of view, must be a priority. This will be the only way to get that CAAD contributes essentially in the process of architectural innovation, instead of merely being a reproduction tool. From this viewpoint the computer exploration of the three dimensional form is presented in here. The concept of abstract art, that has been successfully applied to painting and sculpture in this century is used as a way to experiment, design and create architecture. This paper juxtaposes three approaches, three different ways of understanding the abstract character, with the purpose to create new objects and environments, which are exclusively characteristic for computer space. This juxtaposition shows how creative and innovative activities in the field of CAAD can be developed using different intellectual bases: intuition, mathematical formulas and genetic algorithms.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	8504
authors	Junge, Richard. (Ed.)
year	1997
title	CAAD futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings]
source	7th International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design/ ISBN 0-7923-4726-9 / München / Germany, 4-6 August 1997, 931 p.
summary	Since the establishment of the CAAD futures Foundation in 1985 CAAD experts from all over the world meet every two years to present and at the same time document the state of art of research in Computer Aided Architectural Design. The history of CAAD futures started in the Netherlands at the Technical Universities of Eindhoven and Delft, where the CAAD futures Foundation came into being. Then CAAD futures crossed the oceans for the first time, the third CAAD futures in '89 was held at Harvard University. Next stations in the evolution where in '91 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the ETH Zürich. In '93 the conference was organized by Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh and in '95 by National University Singapore. CAAD futures '95 marked the world wide nature by organizing it for the first time in Asia. The seventh CAAD futures is the first being organized by a German University. For the as small as newly and only provisional established CAAD group at the Faculty for Architecture at Technical University München it is honor and challenge at the same time to be the organizer of CAAD futures '97.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	7e15
authors	Kvan, Thomas
year	1997
title	Chips, chunks and sauces
source	International Journal of Design Computing, 1, 1997 (Editorial)
summary	I am sure there is an art in balancing the chunks to use with your chips. Then there is the sauce that envelops them both. I like my chips chunky and not too saucy. Not that I am obsessed with food but I don't think you can consider design computing without chunks. It's the sauce I'm not sure about.The chunks of which I write are not of course those in your salsa picante but those postulated by Chase and Simon (1973) reflecting on good chess players; the chunks of knowledge with which an expert tackles a problem in their domain of expertise. The more knowledge an expert has of complex and large configurations of typical problem situations (configurations of chess pieces), the greater range of solutions the expert can bring a wider to a particular problem. Those with more chunks have more options and arrive at better solutions. In other words, good designs come from having plenty of big chunks available. There has been a wealth of research in the field of computer-supported collaborative work in the contexts of writing, office management, software design and policy bodies. It is typically divided between systems which support decision making (GDSS: group decision support systems) and those which facilitate joint work (CSCW: computer-based systems for co-operative work) (see Dennis et al. (1988) for a discussion of the distinctions and their likely convergence). Most implementations in the world of design have been on CSCW systems, few have looked at trying to make a group design decision support system (GDDSS?). Most of the work in CSCD has been grounded in the heritage of situated cognition - the assumption that collaborative design is an act that is intrinsically grounded in the context within which it is carried out, that is, the sauce in which we find ourselves swimming daily. By sauce, therefore, I am referring to anything that is not knowledge in the domain of expertise, such as modes of interaction, gestures, social behaviours.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2003/05/15 10:29

_id	895d
authors	Liou, S.-R., Vakalo, E.-G. and Chang, K.-C.
year	1997
title	An Experiment on Hybrid Architectural Form-Making
source	CAAD Futures 1997 [Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-7923-4726-9] München (Germany), 4-6 August 1997, pp. 837-842
summary	This paper illustrates an approach to hybrid architectural form-making. A hypothetical project - the Des Moines Art Center 3rd Addition - is employed as a design experiment. The computer is used as a form-searching medium in the form-making process. Suggesting an addition to the existing center designed by Saarinen, Pei, and Meier, the designer is confronting the problem of how to respond to the three distinct architectural styles. The proposed solution to this problem is to create a hybrid building which inherits architectural properties from those precedents. Potentials of the use of the computer for such task are discussed.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	1999/04/06 09:19

_id	25a2
authors	MacCallum, C. and Hanna, R.
year	1997
title	DEFLECT: A Computer Aided Learning Package for Teaching Structural Design - Phase Two
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1997.x.f6j
source	Challenges of the Future [15th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-3-0] Vienna (Austria) 17-20 September 1997
summary	This paper reports on Phase Two of a SHEFC funded project jointly carried out by the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University of Paisley, the Mackintosh School of Architecture, and Lamp Software. The project aims to build a computer-assisted learning package on the response of structures to load. The software will be used as an interactive teaching tool for both architectural and engineering students. The package has four levels: Beginners (Level 1), Intermediate (Level 2) and Advanced (Levels 3 and 4). The first two levels have been completed after continuous feedback from both institutions. Level 1 is geared towards architectural and engineering students to help them understand structural behaviour of building components, such as deflection. Level 2 is a graphical editor that enables students to draw precisely the structure of their designs, investigate the deflection of structural members and identify areas of tension and compression. Levels 3 and 4 are a design tool which is aimed at architectural and civil engineering students where they can design and analyse realistic structures by choosing structural members from a library, and specify materials and multiple loads. Phase One of DEFLECT was presented in the 14th ECAADE conference , which was held at the University of Lund, Sweden. In Phase Two, the range of structural examples was expanded to include typological classics. This was accompanied by additional teaching and learning material. The package was enlarged to include bending moment and shear force diagrams, tapered and curved members, and additional materials such as glass.
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ecaade/proc/maccull/maccull.htm
last changed	2022/06/07 07:50

_id	ddss9842
id	ddss9842
authors	Mattsson, Helena
year	1998
title	Working with unpredictability
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Fourth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning Maastricht, the Netherlands), ISBN 90-6814-081-7, July 26-29, 1998
summary	The paper deals with notions of complexity in art and architecture. On the basis of a recent sculptural work by Richard Serra, Torqued Ellipses (1997), the notion of complexity is investigated in terms of how it situates the viewer, and affects our sense of space and time. Serra’s work is analyzed in terms of the artist’s working method, the production of the work, and finally the ”external relations” which connect it to the viewer and the context. In each of these steps, the notions of complexity and unpredictability are shown to have a formative role. The relations between space and time, object and context, are redefined in Serra’s work, which also gives it great importance for architectural theory and practice.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_id	a5f1
authors	Piegl, Les and Tiller, Wayne
year	1997
title	The Nurbs Book
source	New York: Springer (2nd ed.)
summary	The second, revised edition of this book covers all aspects of non-uniform rational B-splines necessary to design geometry in a computer-aided environment. Basic B-spline features, curve and surface algorithms, and state-of-the-art geometry tools are all discussed. Detailed code for design algorithms and computational tricks are covered, too, in a lucid, easy-to-understand style, with a minimum of mathematics and using numerous worked examples. The book is a must for students, researchers, and implementors whose work involves the use of splines.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_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.
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more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	4ec6
authors	Richens, P.
year	1997
title	Computer-aided Art Direction
source	F. Penz and M. Thomas (Eds.) , Cinema & Architecture: Méliès, Mallet-Stevens, Multimedia, British Film Institute, London
summary	Computer-aided design for architects began to be possible about 25 years ago; in the last five it has become commonplace. In a few years time, it will be as ubiquitous as the word-processor is today. But the construction industry as a whole is not a sophisticated user of Information Technology. The state of affairs in the film industry is quite different; computer graphics of the utmost sophistication plays an increasingly important part in the production of film, but very little in their design. Is it possible that an opportunity is being missed? This paper is written from the standpoint of a designer of architectural CAD software, and seeks to explore the extent to which computer graphics techniques, which have proved useful in architecture, could be used in Production Design, and the simulation of Cinematography. Several experiments, using commercial software of the sort that architects find useful, have lead to the realisation that much is possible, but that a full realisation of the benefits would require software specially adapted to the task. The bulk of this paper describes the nature of this adaptation; it is in the nature of a preliminary specification for software for Computer-aided art direction. The initial investigation centred on the needs of film students; it has since broadened to look at the needs of established practitioners.
series	other
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more	http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/research/pubs/pdfs/rich97a.pdf
last changed	2003/03/05 13:10

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