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	7546
authors	Coyne, R.
year	1999
title	Technoromanticism - digital narrative, holism, and the romance of the real
source	MIT Press
summary	It's no secret that contemporary culture romanticizes digital technologies. In books, articles, and movies about virtual community, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, artificial life, and other wonders of the digital age, breathless anticipation of vast and thrilling changes has become a running theme. But as Richard Coyne makes clear in Technoromanticism: Digital Narrative, Holism, and the Romance of the Real, a dense but rewarding piece of academic criticism, we also get romantic about the new technologies in a more rigorous sense of the word. Whether heralding an electronic return to village communalism or celebrating cyberspace as a realm of pure mind, today's utopian thinking about the digital, Coyne argues, essentially replays the 18th- and 19th-century cultural movement called Romanticism, with its powerful yearnings for transcendence and wholeness. And this apparently is not a good thing. Romanticism, like the more sober Enlightenment rationalism against which it rebelled, has outlived its usefulness as a way of understanding the world, Coyne argues. And so he spends the duration of the book bombarding both the romantic and the rationalist tendencies in cyberculture with every weapon in the arsenal of 20th-century critical theory: poststructuralism, Freudianism, postmodern pragmatism, Heideggerian phenomenology, surrealism--Coyne uses each in turn to whack away at conventional wisdoms about digital tech. Whether the conventional wisdoms remain standing at the end is an open question, but Coyne's tour of the contemporary intellectual landscape is a tour de force, and never before has digital technology's place in that landscape been mapped so thoroughly. --
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	7ccd
authors	Augenbroe, Godfried and Eastman, Chuck
year	1999
title	Computers in Building: Proceedings of the CAADfutures '99 Conference
source	Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures [ISBN 0-7923-8536-5] Atlanta, 7-8 June 1999, 398 p.
summary	This is the eight CAADfutures Conference. Each of these bi-annual conferences identifies the state of the art in computer application in architecture. Together, the series provides a good record of the evolving state of research in this area over the last fourteen years. Early conferences, for example, addressed project work, either for real construction or done in academic studios, that approached the teaching or use of CAD tools in innovative ways. By the early 1990s, such project-based examples of CAD use disappeared from the conferences, as this area was no longer considered a research contribution. Computer-based design has become a basic way of doing business. This conference is marked by a similar evolutionary change. More papers were submitted about Web- based applications than about any other area. Rather than having multiple sessions on Web-based applications and communications, we instead came to the conclusion that the Web now is an integral part of digital computing, as are CAD applications. Using the conference as a sample, Web-based projects have been integrated into most research areas. This does not mean that the application of the Web is not a research area, but rather that the Web itself is an integral tool in almost all areas of CAAD research.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2006/11/07 07:22

_id	bd21
authors	Barría Chateau, H., García Alvarado, R., Lagos Vergara, R. and Parra Márquez, J.C.
year	1999
title	Evaluation of Spatial Perception in Virtual Environments
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 145-148
summary	The 3D environments created by computers can be used as a powerful simulation tool for architecture, especially with inmersive devices, but it is necessary to know properly their spatial characteristics to use it effectively. It is also important to consider their possibilities in communication networks and their implications in contemporary architecture. For this reason, the goal of this research is to evaluate the perception of virtual architectonic spaces in relation to the perception of real architectonic spaces. This research is based on the comparison of experiences of university students in a real space (Entrance Hall of Faculty of Economy) and in the same space modeled by a computer. The evaluation considers tests with stereoscopic helmets and interactive navigation, making questionnaires to characterize the sensation of dimensions, relationships and time for an specific activity. The measuring of real and virtual spaces are made through references (furniture, textures, etc.) or by proportional relations between height, width and depth, in different patterns. The experience also reveals mental schemes to perceive the dimension of architectonic space and the orientation in a real and virtual environment. Besides, the research allows to relate the different levels of complexity and information with the understanding of real architectonic space and modeled space.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:47

_id	bfc2
authors	Bessone, Miriam and Mantovani, Graciela
year	1999
title	Integración del Medio Digital a la Enseñanza del Diseño Arquitectónico. Huellas de un Taller Experimental (Integration of Digital Media in the Teaching of Architectural Design. Tracks of an Experimental Studio)
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 289-294
summary	This paper presents the searching of new building modes for the knowledge of design in curriculum workshops at Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseno y Urbanismo of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral the proposed “research action” program articulates longitudinally in the three cycles of the career, understanding architecture as metaknowledge within a new paradigm of subjectivity, complexity and multidimensionality. In other words, it is recognized a new scenery tending to modify didactic relations. This experimental field looks for conscientious equilibrium between “written culture/audiovisual culture”, and “analog instruments/digital media”. We focus our interest on the “machine interacting with and for men”, looking for harmonious synthesis through a new way of thinking, to allow “real progress”. For turning this idea into action, we organized an alternative and plural team-work in architecture. We called it “experimental workshop”. In this first level the students worked. On a preliminary plan of a “kindergarden”. They developed a divergent process through the 3D simulations (using the software 3DS MAX v2), scale models and sensible sketches. For conclusions, the paper addresses the characteristics of the pedagogic model used and the results achieved.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:47

_id	avocaad_2001_02
id	avocaad_2001_02
authors	Cheng-Yuan Lin, Yu-Tung Liu
year	2001
title	A digital Procedure of Building Construction: A practical project
source	AVOCAAD - ADDED VALUE OF COMPUTER AIDED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Nys Koenraad, Provoost Tom, Verbeke Johan, Verleye Johan (Eds.), (2001) Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunst - Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas, Campus Brussel, ISBN 80-76101-05-1
summary	In earlier times in which computers have not yet been developed well, there has been some researches regarding representation using conventional media (Gombrich, 1960; Arnheim, 1970). For ancient architects, the design process was described abstractly by text (Hewitt, 1985; Cable, 1983); the process evolved from unselfconscious to conscious ways (Alexander, 1964). Till the appearance of 2D drawings, these drawings could only express abstract visual thinking and visually conceptualized vocabulary (Goldschmidt, 1999). Then with the massive use of physical models in the Renaissance, the form and space of architecture was given better precision (Millon, 1994). Researches continued their attempts to identify the nature of different design tools (Eastman and Fereshe, 1994). Simon (1981) figured out that human increasingly relies on other specialists, computational agents, and materials referred to augment their cognitive abilities. This discourse was verified by recent research on conception of design and the expression using digital technologies (McCullough, 1996; Perez-Gomez and Pelletier, 1997). While other design tools did not change as much as representation (Panofsky, 1991; Koch, 1997), the involvement of computers in conventional architecture design arouses a new design thinking of digital architecture (Liu, 1996; Krawczyk, 1997; Murray, 1997; Wertheim, 1999). The notion of the link between ideas and media is emphasized throughout various fields, such as architectural education (Radford, 2000), Internet, and restoration of historical architecture (Potier et al., 2000). Information technology is also an important tool for civil engineering projects (Choi and Ibbs, 1989). Compared with conventional design media, computers avoid some errors in the process (Zaera, 1997). However, most of the application of computers to construction is restricted to simulations in building process (Halpin, 1990). It is worth studying how to employ computer technology meaningfully to bring significant changes to concept stage during the process of building construction (Madazo, 2000; Dave, 2000) and communication (Haymaker, 2000).In architectural design, concept design was achieved through drawings and models (Mitchell, 1997), while the working drawings and even shop drawings were brewed and communicated through drawings only. However, the most effective method of shaping building elements is to build models by computer (Madrazo, 1999). With the trend of 3D visualization (Johnson and Clayton, 1998) and the difference of designing between the physical environment and virtual environment (Maher et al. 2000), we intend to study the possibilities of using digital models, in addition to drawings, as a critical media in the conceptual stage of building construction process in the near future (just as the critical role that physical models played in early design process in the Renaissance). This research is combined with two practical building projects, following the progress of construction by using digital models and animations to simulate the structural layouts of the projects. We also tried to solve the complicated and even conflicting problems in the detail and piping design process through an easily accessible and precise interface. An attempt was made to delineate the hierarchy of the elements in a single structural and constructional system, and the corresponding relations among the systems. Since building construction is often complicated and even conflicting, precision needed to complete the projects can not be based merely on 2D drawings with some imagination. The purpose of this paper is to describe all the related elements according to precision and correctness, to discuss every possibility of different thinking in design of electric-mechanical engineering, to receive feedback from the construction projects in the real world, and to compare the digital models with conventional drawings.Through the application of this research, the subtle relations between the conventional drawings and digital models can be used in the area of building construction. Moreover, a theoretical model and standard process is proposed by using conventional drawings, digital models and physical buildings. By introducing the intervention of digital media in design process of working drawings and shop drawings, there is an opportune chance to use the digital media as a prominent design tool. This study extends the use of digital model and animation from design process to construction process. However, the entire construction process involves various details and exceptions, which are not discussed in this paper. These limitations should be explored in future studies.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	sigradi2016_499
id	sigradi2016_499
authors	Crivelli, Juliana de Mello; Vizioli, Simone Helena Tanoue
year	2016
title	Gamificaç?o na educaç?o patrimonial: Escola Álvaro Gui?o (SP-BR) [Gamification in patrimonial education: Escola Álvaro Gui?o (SP-BR)]
source	SIGraDi 2016 [Proceedings of the 20th Conference of the Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics - ISBN: 978-956-7051-86-1] Argentina, Buenos Aires 9 - 11 November 2016, pp.860-864
summary	This article integrates works developed in the Núcleo de Apoio em Pesquisa em Estudos de Linguagem em Arquitetura e Cidade (N.elac) of the Instituto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de S?o Paulo, and aims to evaluate the contribution of the game as an auxiliary instrument to the patrimonial education (Horta, Grunberg & Monteiro, 1999). Games present themselves as one of the constitutive elements of culture, and many are the authors that discuss the theme. Between them, Huizinga, 2000; Callois, 1990 and Broug?re, 2004. The developed game is an interactive narrative inside a building listed as herritage by the Conselho Municipal de Defesa do Patrimônio Histórico, Arquitetônico, Artístico e Turístico (CONDESPHAASC): the Escola Estadual Dr. Álvaro Gui?o.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2021/03/28 19:58

_id	22b7
authors	Donath, D. and Regenbrecht, H.
year	1999
title	Der Bleistift im 21. Jahrhundert. Das architektonische Entwerfen in interaktiven VR Umgebungen. (The pencil in the 21th century. The architectural design process in Virtual Environments)
source	IAO Forum Architektur im Informationszeitalter, FhG Stuttgart, 21.-22.4.1999, proceedings, chapter 7, 10 p.
summary	In the very young discipline of Virtual Reality Applications only a few reports are available about using this technology for periods longer than in experimental setups. This paper describes experiences made during five years of usage of Virtual Reality (VR) in educational training for architects. About 100 different people were working with our systems during this period. Three programs were developed at Bauhaus University with the aim of teaching architectural students to design in three-dimesional environments. The first program called voxDesign is based on the metaphor of voxels. The second program, planeDesign, uses rectangualar planes to describe room-like situations. An other program vram for the user orientated description of flexible and own interfaces and environments is current under construction, a first verson is presented at the international computer exhibition ìCeBitî in 1999. All programs force the users to design in a 1:1 scale, that means that the design and the feedback actions are coupled in an embodied way. A real walking metaphor is used for navigation. The experiences made by users are explained too.
keywords	Virtual Reality, Interaction, Human Computer Interfaces, Digital Media
series	other
email
last changed	2003/02/26 18:58

_id	8c06
authors	Eastman, C.M.
year	1999
title	Building Product Models
source	CRC Press, NewYork
summary	Presents the concepts, technology, and methods used to develop a new, digital representation for architecture, civil engineering, and building construction. Eastman (architecture and computing, Georgia Institute of Technology) introduces and explains ISO-STEP and the Industry Foundation Classes, as well as reviewing modeling concepts, supporting technologies, and standards. He uses numerous examples and figures, making this book both accessible as a text for graduate students, and as a reference for professionals in the fields of real estate, building, and software development.
series	other
email
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

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

_id	9f08
authors	Hillis, K.
year	1999
title	Digital Sensations: Space, Identity, and Embodiment in Virtual Reality
source	University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota
summary	Virtual reality is in the news and in the movies, on TV and in the air. Why is the technology -- or the idea -- so prevalent precisely now? What does it mean -- what does it do -- to us? Digital Sensations looks closely at the ways representational forms generated by communication technologies -- especially digital/optical virtual technologies -- affect the "lived" world. Virtual reality, or VR, is a technological reproduction of the process of perceiving the real; yet that process is "filtered" through the social realities and embedded cultural assumptions about human bodies, perception, and space held by the technology's creators. Through critical histories of the technology -- of vision, light, space, and embodiment -- Ken Hillis traces the various and often contradictory intellectual and metaphysical impulses behind the Western transcendental wish to achieve an ever more perfect copy of the real. Because virtual technologies are new, these histories also address the often unintended and underconsidered consequences -- such as alienating new forms of surveillance and commodification -- flowing from their rapid dissemination. Current and proposed virtual technologies reflect a Western desire to escape the body Hillis says. Exploring topics from VR and other, earlier visual technologies, Hillis's penetrating perspective on the cultural power of place and space broadens our view of the interplay between social relations and technology.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	9480
authors	Kan, J.W.T., Chow, B.K.M. and Tsou, J.-Y.
year	1999
title	Visual Impact Evaluation of Electricity Substation Architecture
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. 81-87
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.1999.081
summary	This paper presents a case study of the application of computer techniques for design communication and visual impact analysis. We were sponsored by China Light & Power Company Ltd. To simulate the design of a proposed electricity substation and its it is setting in a residential neighborhood. During a five-week intensive study, we took nearly one thousand photographs of the existing site. We also created a three-dimensional CAD model of the proposed substation, and produced perspectives from points of view analogous to the photographs. We applied Apple Quicktime VR technology to document the site environment with 360-degree panoramas. We then montaged the computer-generated panoramas with those taken from the real environment. A navigable virtual environment, architectural animation and set of still images were presented to the public in September 1998. The reactions from the regional council members and local residents nearby were recorded to provide evidence to measure the effectiveness of digital architectural design communication.
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	24f0
authors	Kram, Reed and Maeda, John
year	1999
title	Transducer: 3D Audio-Visual Form-Making as Performance
source	AVOCAAD Second International Conference [AVOCAAD Conference Proceedings / ISBN 90-76101-02-07] Brussels (Belgium) 8-10 April 1999, pp. 285-291
summary	This paper describes Transducer, a prototype digital system for live, audio-visual performance. Currently the process of editing sounds or crafting three-dimensional structures on a computer remains a frustratingly rigid process. Current tools for real-time audio or visual construction using computers involve obtuse controls, either heavily GUI'ed or overstylized. Transducer asks one to envision a space where the process of editing and creating on a computer becomes a dynamic performance. The content of this performance may be sufficiently complex to elicit multiple interpretations, but Transducer enforces the notion that the process of creation should itself be a fluid and transparent expression. The system allows a performer to build constructions of sampled audio and computational three-dimensional form simultaneously. Each sound clip is visualized as a "playable" cylinder of sound that can be manipulated both visually and aurally in real-time. The transducer system demonstrates a creative space with equal design detailing at both the construction and performance phase.
series	AVOCAAD
email
last changed	2005/09/09 10:48

_id	sigradi2005_097
id	sigradi2005_097
authors	Luhan, Gregory A.
year	2005
title	At Full-Scale \| From Installation to Inhabitation
source	SIGraDi 2005 - [Proceedings of the 9th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Lima - Peru 21-24 november 2005, vol. 1, pp. 97-102
summary	In 1999, the University of Kentucky (then the College of Architecture, now the College of Design-School of Architecture) established a Digital Design Studio to combine the strong tradition of handcrafting in the existing design program with those technologically sophisticated tools shaping the profession for the 21st century. Over a six-year period, this all-digital design studio has developed from a pedagogical model for developing new different ways of seeing and making architecture to a proof-of-concept real-world experience to coalesce state-of-the-art visualization techniques with current expectations of practice. Creating dynamic links between students, industry, and the profession has enabled the School of Architecture to provide leadership for practicing architects, to create an effective dialogue between industrial and design professionals, and to incorporate successfully leading-edge design pedagogy with the more technological applications that will shape the future of architecture practice. The materials presented here reflect a sequence of comprehensive digital projects produced under my direction from 1999 through 2005.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:55

_id	ga9905
id	ga9905
authors	Maldonado, Gabriel
year	1999
title	Generating digital music with DirectCsound & VMCI
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	This paper concerns two computer-music programs: DirectCsound, a real-time version of the well-known sound-synthesis language Csound, and VMCI, a GUI program that allow the user to control DirectCsound in real-time. DirectCsound allows a total live control of the synthesis process. The aim of DirectCsound project is to give the user a powerful and low-cost workstation in order to produce new sounds and new music interactively, and to make live performances with the computer. Try to imagine DirectCsound being a universal musical instrument. VMCI (Virtual Midi Control Interface) is a program which allows to send any kind of MIDI message by means of the mouse and the alpha-numeric keyboard. It has been thought to be used together with DirectCsound, but it can also be used to control any MIDI instrument. It provides several panels with virtual sliders, virtual joysticks and virtual-piano keyboard. The newer version of the program (VMCI Plus 2.0) allows the user to change more than one parameter at the same time by means of the new Hyper-Vectorial-Synthesis control. VMCI supports seven-bit data as well as higher-resolution fourteen-bit data, all supported by the newest versions of Csound.
series	other
email
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	cd0b
authors	Meloni, Wanda
year	2001
title	The Slow Rise of 3D on the Web
source	Computer Graphics Worlds - July 2001, p. 22
summary	Consumer, commercial, and educational applications on the Web have been slow to take advantage of 3D, although for years it has been viewed as a boon for the graphics industry. Over the last 18 months, the situation has begun to look more favorable for the graphics industry, reports M2 Research's Wanda Meloni. Meloni says changes in the market and in technology have fueled the rise of 3D on the Web. The increase in broadband connections from 2.7 million users in 1999 to 8 million users in 2000 means that the market of consumers who have Internet connections fast enough to view and interact with 3D content has grown considerably. Also, 3D players are no longer limited to a proprietary format now that new game consoles from Nintendo and Microsoft will offer Web-based real-time 3D multiplayer gaming; in addition, 3D graphics technology will now be embedded into applications for Internet appliances and handheld devices. M2 Research estimates that the number of Web media players that are 3D-enabled will rise from 17 percent currently to 32 percent by the end of the year, as 3D player vendors offer more direct support to 2D players such as RealPlayer and Shockwave. Still, content production will remain a major hurdle because millions of Web authors are not using 3D. Meloni says creative professionals and digital designers will need a new set of 3D tools that will work seamlessly with current Web content in video, 2D graphics, and audio.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

_id	29f3
authors	Ohno, Ryuzo and Aoki, Hirofumi
year	1999
title	Development of an Interactive Simulation System for Environment-Behavior Study
source	Simulation of Architectural Space - Color and Light, Methods and Effects [Proceedings of the 4rd European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 3-86005-267-5] Dresden (Germany), 29 September - 1 October 1999, pp. 36-49
summary	An important recent development in the simulation techniques was the changes in the mode of presentation: from passive mode to active one. It is now possible to present an image according to the observer’s voluntary movement of body and head by means of a head-mounted display. Such interactive simulation system, which allows people to observe what they like to see, is suitable to study environmental perception, because active attention is essential to manipulate enormous information in the environment. The present paper reports two case studies in which an interactive simulation system was developed to test psychological impact of interior and exterior spaces: the case study 1 intended to clarify the effect of the disposition of transparent and opaque surfaces of a room on the occupants’ „sense of enclosure“, the case study 2 intended to make clear some physical features along a street which are influential for changing atmosphere. In addition to the empirical research, an attempt to develop a new simulation system which uses both analogue and digital images is briefly reported, and a preliminary experiment was conducted to test the performance of the simulation system in which such movable elements as pedestrians and cars generated by real-time CG were overlaid on the video image of a scale model street.
series	EAEA
email
more	http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea
last changed	2005/09/09 10:43

_id	3186
authors	Price, Nicholas E. and Noble, Douglas
year	1999
title	Animation and Multimedia: Interviews at Five Large Los Angeles Firms
source	ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 1-3
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.001
summary	Developments in digital media have created a myriad of tools to help architects communicate ideas. Three dimensional graphics software has revolutionized our ability to visualize our ideas. With the advent of animation and advanced methods of real time video presentation seem to have substantially upgraded the architects' tool chest. Significant advances have been made recently in bringing animation capabilities to the architectural desktop. To discover the level of integration of animation and multimedia in architectural firms, a series of interviews were conducted at five large Los Angeles firms. The interviews were structured with open-ended questions to allow the firms to emphasize their interests and capabilities. This document depicts the status of the current thinking at Gensler, Jerde, NBBJ, RTKL, and DMJM.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 08:00

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

_id	4ed3
authors	Roberts, G.W., Dodson, A.H. and Ashkenazi, V.
year	1999
title	Global Positioning System aided autonomous construction plant control and guidance
source	Automation in Construction 8 (5) (1999) pp. 589-595
summary	The advent of Real Time Kinematic (RTK) Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning means that this technology can now be used for dynamic control and guidance applications. The paper outlines the recent advances in GPS technology, which have enabled RTK GPS to become a reality. Tests have been carried out in construction plant control and monitoring applications with a demonstrated precision of the order of a few millimeters. The results are compared with those achieved using a laser level and a digital automatic level.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:23

_id	b6d4
authors	Rousse, Pierre
year	1999
title	Envisioning an Urban space that Integrates Architecture into an Information Oriented Society
source	III Congreso Iberoamericano de Grafico Digital [SIGRADI Conference Proceedings] Montevideo (Uruguay) September 29th - October 1st 1999, pp. 197-200
summary	There is an assumption that architecture can provide an evocative vision of an artificial environment using digitalized and wireless communication technology. It is a ideal based on perception of virtual space, where distance is minimized through the continual process of breaking barriers in none visible planes. It is domain of mind, in which the object becomes real by individual choice. It is conceived in a plane known as virtual space or cyber space. Marcos Novak describes it as "space created as habitat for our imagination". I approach the topic trying to establish a connection between the boundaries of virtual space and real space through architecture. These are the objectives of my inquiry: 1) To explore an architectural form in a media of non-concrete space. Space created by a negative space (empty space, residual space, loading space). 2) To define a new technology that marks the beginning of a real virtual environment accessible to everybody. Proposing the idea of socialization through the architecture and revitalizing negative spaces comprehended as valuable public places. 3) Identification and representation of sources that make possible telecommunication technology in an enclosed space. Prototype of a new communicational platform re-interpreted by cyber space, digital images, high-speed data, mobile Internet and application based on Intranets, extranets and mobile multimedia.
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:59

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