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	b8b4
authors	Igarashi, T., Matsuoka, S. and Tanaka, H.
year	1999
title	Teddy: A Sketching Interface for 3D Freeform Design
source	SIGGRAPH 99 Conference Proceedings, 109-126. ACM
summary	Teddy is a sketching interface for quickly and easily design freeform models such as stuffed animals and other rotund objects. The user draws several 2D freeform strokes interactively on the screen and the system automatically constructs plausible 3D polygonal surfaces. Our system supports several modeling operations, including the operation to construct a 3D polygonal surface from a 2D silhouette drawn by the user: it inflates the region surrounded by the silhouette making wide area fat, and narrow area thin. Teddy, our prototype system, is implemented as a Java program, and the mesh construction is done in real-time on a standard PC. I will give a live demonstration of modeling operations and describe its algorithms in detail.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	399e
authors	Kaga, A., Nakahama, K., Hamada, S., Yamaguchi, S., Yamanishi, H. and Sasada, T.
year	1999
title	Collaborative Design System for Citizen Participation in Planning Public Road Projects
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1999.225
source	CAADRIA '99 [Proceedings of The Fourth Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 7-5439-1233-3] Shanghai (China) 5-7 May 1999, pp. 225-234
summary	The realization of smooth execution of public street enterprise and good communication with inhabitants needs the way of easy and right explanation which the inhabitants understand the street planning, and the scheme of administration and inhabitants make the nice housing environment together. In this paper, the street planing presentation system for inhabitants established by using computer graphics. The applicability of the presentation system is made clear using in the real project.
series	CAADRIA
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	5c07
authors	Lee, H.-L., Liu, Y.-T., Chen, S.-C., Tang, S.-K. and Huang, C.-P., Huang, C.-H., Chang, Y.-L., Chang, K.-W. and Chen, K.-Y.
year	2002
title	A Comparative study of protocol analysis for - Spatiality of a Text-based Cyberspace
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2002.262
source	Connecting the Real and the Virtual - design e-ducation [20th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9541183-0-8] Warsaw (Poland) 18-20 September 2002, pp. 262-266
summary	Graduate Institute of Architecture, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30050, TAIWAN The adaptation of the word cyberspace (Gibson, 1984) following the emergence of the World Wide Web Internet not only succinctly revolutionized the correlation of time and space but also poised to challenge how we view the existing spatial concept. This research tries to use protocol analysis to examine text-based cyberspace, such as bulletin board, chart rooms and so forth, and the objective of this research is to realize the spatiality of cyberspace through the cognitive point of view, and to compare the differences of the definitions and perception ways of spatiality between people with general domain and in design fields. Finally, we validate the existence of cyberspace, where the process not only allows further categorization of spatial elements concluded from the earlier study, but discover that varied backgrounds can affect how a user defines and perceives cyberspace (Strate, 1999).
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	f11d
authors	Brown, K. and Petersen, D.
year	1999
title	Ready-to-Run Java 3D
source	Wiley Computer Publishing
summary	Written for the intermediate Java programmer and Web site designer, Ready-to-Run Java 3D provides sample Java applets and code using Sun's new Java 3D API. This book provides a worthy jump-start for Java 3D that goes well beyond the documentation provided by Sun. Coverage includes downloading the Java 2 plug-in (needed by Java 3D) and basic Java 3D classes for storing shapes, matrices, and scenes. A listing of all Java 3D classes shows off its considerable richness. Generally, this book tries to cover basic 3D concepts and how they are implemented in Java 3D. (It assumes a certain knowledge of math, particularly with matrices, which are a staple of 3D graphics). Well-commented source code is printed throughout (though there is little additional commentary). An applet for orbiting planets provides an entertaining demonstration of transforming objects onscreen. You'll learn to add processing for fog effects and texture mapping and get material on 3D sound effects and several public domain tools for working with 3D artwork (including converting VRML [Virtual Reality Markup Language] files for use with Java 3D). In all, this book largely succeeds at being accessible for HTML designers while being useful to Java programmers. With Java 3D, Sun is betting that 3D graphics shouldn't require a degree in computer science. This book reflects that philosophy, though advanced Java developers will probably want more detail on this exciting new graphics package. --Richard Dragan Topics covered: Individual applets for morphing, translation, rotation, and scaling; support for light and transparency; adding motion and interaction to 3D objects (with Java 3D classes for behaviors and interpolators); and Java 3D classes used for event handling.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	f610
authors	Duarte, D.L. and Snyder , N.T. (ed.)
year	1999
title	Mastering Virtual Teams
source	Jossy-Bass Publishers
summary	The original edition of Mastering Virtual Teams offered a first-of-its-kind tool kit for leaders and members of virtual teams. Now, this revised and expanded second edition includes a CD-ROM packed with useful resources that allow virtual teams to access and use the book's many checklists, assessments, and other practical tools quickly and easily. The authors provide updated guidelines, strategies, and best practices for working cross-culturally and cross-functionally, across time and distance, to see a project through. The useful tools, exercises, and real-life examples show how anyone can master the unique dynamics of virtual team participation in an environment where the old rules no longer apply.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	54a6
authors	Eastman, C. and Jeng, T.S.
year	1999
title	A database supporting evolutionary product model development for design
source	Automation in Construction 8 (3) (1999) pp. 305-323
summary	This paper presents the facilities in the EDM-2 product modeling and database language that support model evolution. It reviews the need for model evolution as a system and/or language requirement to support product modeling. Four types of model evolution are considered: (1) translation between distinct models, (2) deriving views from a central model, (3) modification of an existing model, and (4) model evolution based on writable views associated with each application. While the facilities described support all for types of evolution, the last type is emphasized. The language based modeling capabilities described in EDM-2 include: (a) mapping facilities for defining derivations and views within a single model or between different models; (b) procedural language capabilities supporting model addition, deletion and modification; (c) support for object instance migration so as to partition the set of class instances into multiple classes; (d) support for managing practical deletion of portions of a model; (e) explicit specification and automatic management of integrity between a building model and various views. The rationale and language features, and in some cases, the implementation strategy for the features, are presented.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	maver_104
id	maver_104
authors	Ennis, Gareth and Maver, Tom
year	1999
title	Inside the Map - The Glasgow Directory
source	Proceedings of 36th Annual Symposium of the British Cartographic Society, Glasgow (UK)
summary	The characteristics of the traditional map have remained unchanged for centuries A symbolic representation of reality, the map relies on the user's understanding of scale, orientation, reference and location.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/09/03 15:36

_id	maver_096
id	maver_096
authors	Ennis, Gareth and Maver, Tom
year	1999
title	Inside the Map - The Glasgow Directory
source	Proceedings of 36th Annual Symposium of the British Cartographic Society, Glasgow (UK)
summary	The characteristics of the traditional map have remained unchanged for centuries A symbolic representation of reality, the map relies on the user's understanding of scale, orientation, reference and location.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/09/03 15:01

_id	1022
authors	Jozen, T., Wang, L. and Sasada, T.
year	1999
title	Sketch VRML - 3D Modeling of Conception
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.557
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 557-563
summary	When an idea hits upon architect's mind suddenly, that idea may be memorized on a piece of paper like as napkin of a restaurant, reverse face of pamphlet etc. For conceptual design, free-form drawing with pencil and paper can efficiently delineate architect's thinking. In environmental design such as urban developing, architects usually describe their initial conception on 2D sketch. Our aim is to construct the Sketch-VRML system mixing non-photo realistic free-form 2D sketch and usual 3D computer graphics for conceptual design applying it to environmental design. It is our principle that we can use CG lightly and naturally like 'croquis' with no special hardware needed but just pencil and paper. From free-form 2D sketch on paper, the Sketch-VRML system builds it up to 3D model 'as is' resembling free hand drawing and it can be revolved and extruded. 3DCG component already produced will be useful material for design making as well as sketches. Therefore, we would like to use these materials as conception making resource with database.
keywords	Conception, Sketch, 3DCG, Database
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	62c2
authors	Kavakli, M., Suwa, M., Gero, J.S. and Purcell, T.
year	1999
title	Sketching interpretation in novice and expert designers
source	Gero, J.S. and Tversky, B. (Eds.), Visual and Spatial Reasoning in Design , Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, pp. 209-220
summary	This paper focuses on the differences in visual reasoning between a novice and an expert architectural designer during the conceptual design process. The cognitive actions of each designer while sketching were categorized into four main groups (each consisting of a number of sub-groups): physical, perceptual, functional, and conceptual. Based on this analysis, we found that the expert differs markedly from the novice in productivity in terms of the number of sketches and the number of alternative ideas. We focused on the differences between them in terms of the frequencies of cognitive actions, with the hypothesis that the difference in productivity could be attributed to the differences in some or all types of cognitive actions. Differences between the expert and the novice were found for revising features (in the subcategory of drawing actions in the physical action category), for paying attention to the relations of depicted elements (perceptual category) and for the rates of new and revisited functions (functional category). These results are discussed in terms of the types of visual reasoning processes that could be involved in expert design and the possible implications of these results if they can be demonstrated to be characteristic of expert designers generally.
keywords	Visual Reasoning, Cognitive Actions, Sketching Interpretation
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/06 09:18

_id	65b4
authors	Kos, Jose Ripper
year	1999
title	Architecture and Hyperdocument: Data Shaping Space
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 462-465
summary	The computer interface can't convey the hole experience of walking through a city or a building. Nevertheless, the complexity of all the aspects involved in those threedimensional spaces can be better understood through the non-linearity of the hyperdocument. Each dweller of a city and a building has many layers of relationship with both. The sequence and the extent each observer explores the space is unique. It’s not totally apprehended in a first visit. As the observer knows better that space, his experience changes. A similar situation takes place in a multimedia application. Hence, it's possible to build an analogy between the architectonic or urban structure and a hyperdocument navigation structure. We can also state that the computer is critical to create paths of architectural information through space and time. The 3D model of a city is a powerful basis to structure the hyperdocument navigation. The city can be viewed in separate parts or layers of information. One investigates the city through different aspects of its configuration and explores it in different scales and levels of detail. The images generated from this 3D model can be combined with video, photo, sound and text, organizing the information which gives form to the city. The navigation through this information, addresses the citty by its economy, housing, religion, politics, leisure, projects, symbolic buildings, and other aspects. This paper will discuss these issues through the experiments of the research done at the School of Architecture and Urbanism of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. The research group at the "Laboratory of Urban Analysis and Digital Representation" in PROURB (Graduate Program of Urbanism) analyses the city and its buildings using CD-ROMs and websites.
keywords	3D City Modeling, Hyperdocument, Multimedia, Architecture, Urbanism
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:54

_id	4fa1
authors	Lee, E., Ida, Y., Woo, S. and Sasada, T.
year	1999
title	Environmental Design Using Fractals in Computer Graphics
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.533
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 533-538
summary	Computer graphics have developed efficient techniques for visualisation of the real world. Many of the algorithms have a physical basis, such as computational models for the light and the shadow, models of real objects (buildings, mountains, roads and so on) and the simulation of natural phenomenon. Now computer graphics techniques provide the virtual world with a perception of three dimensions. The concept of the virtual world and its technology have been expanding and intensifying in recent years. Almost everything in the real world has been simulated in virtual world. When it comes to a terrain model, what we need is labour and time. But now it is possible to simulate terrain like the real world using fractals in computer graphics with a very small program and small data set. This study aims to show how to build a real world impression in the virtual world. In this paper the authors suggest a landscape design method and show the results of its application.
keywords	Fractals, Polygon-Reduction, Computer Graphics, Virtual World, Collaboration
series	eCAADe
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	a25e
authors	Loy, Hollis A.
year	1999
title	Foundation for a Thorough CAAD Education
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.301
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 301-308
summary	The birth and development of computing is considered by most as one of the greatest technological achievements of the twentieth century. Since the integration of computers in the built environment, over two decades ago, computing methods developed into efficient designing and calculating tools. In contrast, accelerating advancements in computing technology have created generation gaps amongst architects. There are inexperienced, novice, intermediate and advanced computer-capable architects. If each group was asked to define CAAD, some would still describe it as a computer program for technical draughting. Others may define CAAD (Computer Aided Architectural Design) as a vast array of digital media in CAD, multimedia and DTP, assisting architects in compiling visual presentations. Currently, most architectural schools are capable of instructing most, if not all, facets of CAAD (2D & 3D CAD, model rendering, photo montage, brochure layouts, etc.). However, this knowledge is accumulated at random throughout the course of study. "Computer Graphics for Architects" is the latest educational development in Europe bridging generation gaps with senior architects and serving as an introductory CAAD seminar to beginning architecture students. This book and lecture presents a gallery of recent architectural CAD, multimedia, and DTP presentations practiced in Europe´s second largest architectural firm. The terminology is user-friendly and its content concentrates on responding to the most often posed questions by CAAD beginners relating to: (1) Terminology (2) Appearance (3) Time Consumption (4) Cost Techniques introduced are independent of any platform. The goal is to summarize quickly and effectively the countless possibilities of presentations applicable in architecture practice. "Computer Graphics for Architects" provides a direction for future presentations and motivates students to excel in CAAD.
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:59

_id	f2cf
authors	Madrazo, Leandro
year	2001
title	NETWORKING : a web environment for a collaborative education
source	Stellingwerff, Martijn and Verbeke, Johan (Eds.), ACCOLADE - Architecture, Collaboration, Design. Delft University Press (DUP Science) / ISBN 90-407-2216-1 / The Netherlands, pp. 169-182 [Book ordering info: m.c.stellingwerff@bk.tudelft.nl]
summary	NETWORKING is a teaching environment developed in close connection with the course "Sistemas de RepresentaciÛn", which has been carried out for the first time at the E.T.S. d'Arquitectura La Salle, Barcelona, in the academic year 1999/00. It is a web-based environment that promotes the exchange of ideas among students and their capacity to work collaboratively. There is a customized NETWORKING environment for each one of the six themes that made up the course: text, shape, object, image, space and light. In this paper we will discuss two of the six environments: OBJECT and SPACE.
series	other
last changed	2001/09/14 21:30

_id	6476
authors	Maver, T., Petric, J., Ennis, G. and Lindsay, M.
year	2000
title	Visiting The Virtual City
source	SIGraDi’2000 - Construindo (n)o espacio digital (constructing the digital Space) [4th SIGRADI Conference Proceedings / ISBN 85-88027-02-X] Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 25-28 september 2000, pp. 135-139
summary	In 1999, the city of Glasgow in Scotland, celebrated the honour of being the UK City of Architecture and Design. The same year saw the successful launch, on the Internet, of a fully interactive virtual experience of the city. This paper describes the evolution and functionality of vrglasgow over the last 10 years and anticipates its future development over the next 5 years. Currently the system comprises the VRML topography, the road network and the 3-D geometry of around 10,000 buildings within the city centre. The visitor to the virtual city to navigate and search under a range of headings for items of interest and experience some of Glasgow’s best architecture. Data from a number of information sources are interlinked and made accessible through VRML as well as through the conventional internet modes such as lists, tables and search engines. Consequently, the visitor can explore the city intuitively.
keywords	3D City modeling
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:55

_id	473d
authors	Maver, Tom and Petric, Jelena
year	1999
title	Virtual Heritage: Is There a Future for the Past?
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 482-487
summary	This paper attempts an overview of the contribution which emerging information technologies - viz CAD, Multimedia, Virtual Reality and the Internet - can make to the presentation, understanding and preservation of the rich architectural heritage which exists (pro-term) in almost every cultural context. In the UK, the growing interest in sites such as Stonehenge has, through the threat of greater physical presence, increasingly kept the public at bay - a curious paradox which Virtual Reality (VR) has the potential to address. Virtual Reality (-an overly used and underly understood term-) is an information technology which can provide a convincing experience of environments which: i) exist, but are too remote, costly or hazardous, to visit. ii) don't yet exist but are planned, such as architectural designs or urban plans. iii) never will exist, other than in the imagination. iv) existed in the past and are now threatened or already lost. // This paper has its focus on the latter category, i.e. what is now becoming known as Virtual Heritage (VH), but it puts VH in the context of the broader spectrum of simulated experiences of past, present and future environments of cultural significance. The paper draws largely on the work of ABACUS, the Architecture and Building Aids Computer Unit, Strathclyde. The examples of the application of IT to VH include: i) a virtual reality experience of Historic Scotland's premier historical site: Skara Brae, the most complete neolithic settlement in Northern Europe. ii) a multimedia CD-ROM featuring some 50 of the most wonderful interiors of Glasgow's architectural treasures. iii) a computer based archive of rare and normally inaccessible 17C and 18C drawings of Scottish buildings from three seminal sources. iv) a massive 3-D model of Glasgow (some 10,000 buildings located on the hilly terrain of the city), which is now accessible on the Internet. // The paper concludes with conjectures based on the examples given of how emerging information technologies can help secure a future for the past.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:55

_id	cd2e
authors	O’Reilly, T.
year	1999
title	Hardware, Software and Infoware
source	Di Bona, C., Ockman, S. Stone, M.: Open Sources. Voices from the Open Source Revolution, First Edition, Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Publishers
summary	I was talking with some friends recently, friends who don't own a computer. They were thinking of getting one so they could use Amazon.com to buy books and CDs. Not to use ``the Internet,'' not to use ``the Web,'' but to use Amazon.com. Now, that's the classic definition of a ``killer application'': one that makes someone go out and buy a computer. What's interesting is that the killer application is no longer a desktop productivity application or even a back-office enterprise software system, but an individual web site. And once you start thinking of web sites as applications, you soon come to realize that they represent an entirely new breed, something you might call an ``information application,'' or perhaps even ``infoware.'' Information applications are used to computerize tasks that just couldn't be handled in the old computing model. A few years ago, if you wanted to search a database of a million books, you talked to a librarian, who knew the arcane search syntax of the available computerized search tools and might be able to find what you wanted. If you wanted to buy a book, you went to a bookstore, and looked through its relatively small selection. Now, tens of thousands of people with no specialized training find and buy books online from that million-record database every day. The secret is that computers have come one step closer to the way that people communicate with each other. Web-based applications use plain English to build their interface -- words and pictures, not specialized little controls that acquire meaning only as you learn the software. Traditional software embeds small amounts of information in a lot of software; infoware embeds small amounts of software in a lot of information. The ``actions'' in an infoware product are generally fairly simple: make a choice, buy or sell, enter a small amount of data, and get back a customized result.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	ecaade2015_161
id	ecaade2015_161
authors	Papasarantou, Chrissa; Kalaouzis, Giorgos, Pentazou, Ioulia and Bourdakis, Vassilis
year	2015
title	A Spatio-Temporal 3D Representation of a Historic Dataset
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2015.1.701
source	Martens, B, Wurzer, G, Grasl T, Lorenz, WE and Schaffranek, R (eds.), Real Time - Proceedings of the 33rd eCAADe Conference - Volume 1, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, 16-18 September 2015, pp. 701-708
summary	Previous research (Bourdakis et al, 2012; Papasarantou et al, 2013) dealt with the problem of creating information visualisation systems capable of combining historical data of MUCIV's database and developing strategies that embed the non-spatial data in spatial models. The database was primarily designed as an experimental flexible spatio-temporal configuration of dynamic visual structures generating a variety of narrations through interaction.The attempt of producing a legible configuration driven by a number of criteria, led to the proposition of two different arrangements, namely the linear and radial array. The aim of this paper is to present the next step on the visualization after redefining both the way that thematic axes and data are visualized and arranged/scattered. Alternate configurations are investigated, based also on theoretical analysis on the conceptualization and perception of information visualization systems (Card et al 1999, Ware, 2004).
wos	WOS:000372317300076
series	eCAADe
email
more	https://mh-engage.ltcc.tuwien.ac.at/engage/ui/watch.html?id=74178dba-702a-11e5-aa5b-67bfe1e6502f
last changed	2022/06/07 08:00

_id	23a1
authors	Pereira, A.T.C. and Lima, E.K.M.
year	1999
title	Analysis of a Collaborative Computer Based Design Experience
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 491-495
summary	The design experience referred to in this paper deals with the creative process for developing the pre-design of a new building for the Architecture and Urbanism Department of the Federal University of Santa Catarina / Brazil. The methodological proposition was to develop the design in a collaborative way and to try to use computers from the very beginning of the process. A tri-dimensional computer model was constructed on the sketch phase. Plans, sections and views were generated from this unique 3D model in order to assist development of ideas, coordination and visualization. As soon as the design alterations were defined, the 3D model was updated in order to generate automatic new drawing documents. Due to the number of design team components (8 people) and the high level of design complexity, constant hardcopies were necessary to ease designer’s participation in the idea propositions during meetings.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:57

_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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