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	c6db
authors	Heylighen, Ann
year	2000
title	In Case of Architectural Design. Critique and Praise of Case-Based Design in Architecture
source	Dissertation - Doct. Toegepaste wetenschappen, KU Leuven, Fac. Toegepaste wetenschappen, Dep. architectuur, stedebouw en ruimtelijke ordening (ISBN 90-5682-248-9)
summary	Architects are said to learn design by experience. Learning design by experience is the essence of Case-Based Design (CBD), a sub-domain of Artificial Intelligence. Part I critically explores the CBD approach from an architectural point of view, tracing its origins in the Theory of Dynamic Memory and highlighting its potential for architectural design. Seven CBD systems are analysed, experienced architects and design teachers are interviewed, and an experiment is carried out to examine how cases affect the design performance of architecture students. The results of this exploration show that despite its sound view on how architects acquire (design) knowledge, CBD is limited in important respects: it reduces architectural design to problem solving, is difficult to implement and has to contend with prejudices among the target group. With a view to stretching these limits, part II covers the design, implementation and evaluation of DYNAMO (Dynamic Architectural Memory On-line). This Web-based design tool tailors the CBD approach to the complexity of architectural design by effecting three transformations: extending the concern with design products towards design processes, turning static case bases into dynamic memories and upgrading users from passive case consumers to active case-based designers.
keywords	Architectural Design; Case-Based Design
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2002/12/14 19:29

_id	10e9
authors	Heylighen, Ann and Neuckermans, Herman
year	2000
title	DYNAMO in Action - Development and Use of a Web-Based Design Tool
source	J. Pohl & T. Fowler (eds.), Proceedings of the Focus Symposium on Advances in Computer-Based and Web-Based Collaborative Systems - InterSymp-2000 International Conference On Systems Research, Informatics and Cybernetics, Baden-Baden (Germany), July 31 - Aug 4, 2000 (ISBN 0-921836-88-0), pp. 233-242
summary	Addressing the subject of Case-Based Design (CBD), the paper describes the development and use of a Web-based design tool called DYNAMO. The tool is firmly rooted in the Dynamic Memory Theory underlying the CBD approach. Yet, rather than adopting it as such, we have tried to enrich this approach by extrapolating it beyond the individual. This extrapolation stimulates and intensifies several modes of interaction. Doing so, DYNAMO tries to kill two birds with one stone. At short notice, it provides architects and architecture students with a rich source of inspiration, ideas and design knowledge for their present design task, as it is filled with a permanently growing collection of design cases that is accessible on-line. Its long-term objective is to initiate and nurture the life-long process of learning from (design) experience as suggested by the cognitive model underlying CBD, and Case-Based Reasoning in general. DYNAMO is therefore conceived as an (inter-)active workhouse rather than a passive warehouse: it is interactively developed by and actively develops the user's design knowledge. Whereas previous papers have focused on the theoretical ideas of DYNAMO, this paper points out how Web technology enables us to implement these ideas as a working prototype. Furthermore, an annotated scenario of the system in use is described.
keywords	Case-Based Design, Web Technology, Architectural Design
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2002/11/22 14:50

_id	394a
authors	Jabi, Wassim
year	2000
title	WebOutliner: A Web-Based Tool for Collaborative Space Programming and Design
source	Eternity, Infinity and Virtuality in Architecture [Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture / 1-880250-09-8] Washington D.C. 19-22 October 2000, pp. 195-201
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2000.195
summary	This paper discusses a web-based tool that allows members of a design team to collaboratively specify a hierarchical spatial program for an architectural project. Given its object orientation, the represented artifacts have built-in data and methods that allow them to respond to user actions and manage their own sub-artifacts. Given that these components are hierarchical allows users to filter information, analyze and compare design parameters and aggregate hierarchical amounts in realtime. Furthermore, the software goes beyond outlining functions to support synchronous collaborative design by linking each item in the spatial program to a detail page that allows file uploading, realtime group marking of images, and textual chat. Thus, the software offers a seamless transition from the largely asynchronous definition of an architectural program to synchronous collaboration. In addition, and in contrast to commercially available groupware, the software allows multiple collaboration sessions to run at the same time. These sessions are artifact-based in the sense that they get automatically initiated once participants visit the same architectural space in the program hierarchy. The software employs a three-tier object-oriented, web-based scheme for a richer representation of hierarchical artifacts coupled with a relational database for server-side storage. The prototype integrates this technology with Java-based tools for synchronous web-based collaboration.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	ga0013
id	ga0013
authors	Annunziato, Mauro and Pierucci, Piero
year	2000
title	Artificial Worlds, Virtual Generations
source	International Conference on Generative Art
summary	The progress in the scientific understanding/simulation of the evolution mechanisms and the first technological realizations (artificial life environments, robots, intelligent toys, self reproducing machines, agents on the web) are creating the base of a new age: the coming of the artificial beings and artificial societies. Although this aspect could seems a technological conquest, by our point of view it represent the foundation of a new step in the human evolution. The anticipation of this change is the development of a new cultural paradigm inherited from the theories of evolution and complexity: a new way to think to the culture, aesthetics and intelligence seen as emergent self-organizing qualities of a collectivity evolved along the time through genetic and language evolution. For these reasons artificial life is going to be an anticipatory and incredibly creative area for the artistic expression and imagination. In this paper we try to correlate some elements of the present research in the field of artificial life, art and technological grow up in order to trace a path of development for the creation of digital worlds where the artificial beings are able to evolve own culture, language and aesthetics and they are able to interact con the human people.Finally we report our experience in the realization of an interactive audio-visual art installation based on two connected virtual worlds realized with artificial life environments. In these worlds,the digital individuals can interact, reproduce and evolve through the mechanisms of genetic mutations. The real people can interact with the artificial individuals creating an hybrid ecosystem and generating emergent shapes, colors, sound architectures and metaphors for imaginary societies, virtual reflections of the real worlds.
series	other
email
more	http://www.generativeart.com/
last changed	2003/08/07 17:25

_id	bbb9
authors	Blaise, Jean-Yves and Dudek, Iwona
year	1999
title	SOL: Spatial and Historical Web-Based Interface for On Line Architectural Documentation of Krakow's Rynek Gowny
source	Architectural Computing from Turing to 2000 [eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9523687-5-7] Liverpool (UK) 15-17 September 1999, pp. 700-707
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.1999.700
summary	Our paper presents recent developments of a co-operation program that links the MAP-GAMSAU CNRS laboratory (Marseilles, France), specialised in computer science and the HAiKZ Institute of Krakow's Faculty of Architecture, specialised in architectural heritage and conservation. Before undertaking any action to a listed building or interventions in its neighbourhood, it is vital to gain a clear understanding of the building in question. Numerous heterogeneous data detained by diverse institutions has to be handled. This process can be greatly eased by enhanced classification of the information. The development we present is a multidisciplinary platform independent information tool dedicated to education and research. SOL uses an http protocol centred computer architecture connecting a relational database, a VRML 2.0 representation module and a web search interface. It allows searches and updating of the database through a standard text based interface, a VRML 2.0 graphical module and a thematic interface. SOL is experienced on the urban fabric of the Main Square (Rynek Gówny) in Kraków. The choice of a web-centred development, both in the search and updating interface and in the representation module provides platform independence and distant access to the database, and enables successive contributions of students or researchers.
keywords	Web Interface, Database, Architectural Heritage Environment, Information Module, Historical Evolutions
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://alberti.gamsau.archi.fr
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	7da6
authors	Campbell, Dace A.
year	2000
title	Architectural construction documents on the web: VRML as a case study
source	Automation in Construction 9 (1) (2000) pp. 129-138
summary	The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) and the World Wide Web (WWW) offer new opportunities to communicate an architect's design intent throughout the design process. We have investigated the use of VRML in the production and communication of construction documents, the final phase of architectural building design. A prototype, experimental Web site was set up and used to disseminate design data as VRML models and HTML text to the design client, contractor, and fabricators. In this paper, we discuss the way our construction documents were developed in VRML, the issues we faced implementing it, and critical feedback from the users of the Web space/site. We analyze the usefulness of VRML as a communication tool for the design and construction industries. Finally, we discuss technical, social, and legal issues the AEC industry faces as it shifts to embrace widespread use of a "paperless" Web-based communications infrastructure for design documentation.
series	journal paper
more	http://www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon
last changed	2003/05/15 21:22

_id	4f24
authors	Cury Paraizo, Rodrigo
year	2000
title	CMC 2000 - A internet como ferramenta auxiliar do projeto de arquitetura (CMC 2000 - Internet as an Aiding Tool in Architectural Projects)
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. 72-74
summary	This paper briefly describes low cost and low maintenance web-based hyperdocument system, focused using an elementary school architecture project. It describes the experience of interaction with the project and its results. It also contains some observations on already available digital representation techniques for presenting such hyperdocuments, discussing their efficacy for given purposes. A great part of the website is available on the digital publication (CD-Rom).
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:49

_id	389b
authors	Do, Ellen Yi-Luen
year	2000
title	Sketch that Scene for Me: Creating Virtual Worlds by Freehand Drawing
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
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.265
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	34f7
authors	Ehrhardt, Mark A. and Gross, Mark D.
year	2000
title	Place Based Web Resources for Historic Buildings
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. 177-179
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.177
summary	Web sites with animations, panoramic images, sound, and virtual reality can provide a strong sense of place, richer than text and photographs and more interactive than cinema. Constructing these sites demands a great deal of visual and textual information, which must be organized, integrated, and coded for delivery. Existing authoring packages are general-purpose, not specifically for architectural applications, and require technical sophistication. In our process for building Place Based Web Resources (PBWRs), after assembling photographic, drawing, text, and audio resources, the author follows a straightforward series of steps. The Hagia Sophia Web Resource resulted from this process; it includes panoramic pictures, photographs and interpretive text about the building and a VRML model.
keywords	Historic Documentation, Web Authoring Tools, Representations of Place
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:55

_id	83b5
authors	Heylighen, Ann and Neuckermans, Herman
year	2000
title	Time, equipment and encouragement - Travel requisites for the World-Wide Wanderstudent
source	G. Van der Perre and P. Vandevelde (eds.), The Wanderstudent 2000: The Wanderstudent of 1425 revived in virtual reality in 2000? Towards a European Virtual University, Proceedings of the International Colloquium organised by EuroPACE at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, on October 20-21, 2000 Leuven University Press, Leuven (Belgium), 2000 (ISBN 90 5867 156 9), pp. 133-136
summary	In Winter/Spring 1999, DYNAMO - a Web-based design assistant for student architects - received its baptism of fire in a 4th year design studio at our department. The paper describes the setting and procedure of the baptism, the participation of the studio teaching staff, and the students' reactions and appreciation. Based on students' responses to a questionnaire and observations of the tool in use, we investigated whether DYNAMO succeeded in engaging students and what factors stimulated/hampered this engagement. Although students were noticeably enthusiastic about the tool, three factors revealed themselves as major obstacles to student engagement: lack of time, of encouragement by the teachers and of studio equipment. The paper concludes with lessons learned for the future of DYNAMO and, more in general, of ICT in education.
series	journal paper
email
last changed	2002/11/14 08:38

_id	3338
authors	Heylighen, Ann and Neuckermans, Herman
year	2000
title	DYNAMO - Dynamic Architectural Memory On-line
source	Educational Technology and Society, Vol.3, No.2, April 2000 (ISSN 1436-4522), pp. 86-95
summary	This paper describes the current status of DYNAMO, a web-based design assistant for students and professional designers in the field of architecture. The tool can be considered a Case-Based Design (CBD) system in so far that it was inspired by the view of cognition underlying CBD. The paper points out how DYNAMO incorporates this view, and at the same time extrapolates it beyond the individual. In this way, the tool attempts to embrace and profit from several kinds of interaction that are crucial for the development and renewal of design knowledge. This should result in a design tool that both feels cognitively comfortable to (student-) designers, and offers them a platform for exchanging knowledge and insights with colleagues in different contexts and at different levels of experience. In addition, the paper describes the implementation of these theoretical ideas as a working prototype, which has recently been tested by 4th year design students. Finally, DYNAMO is situated in the context of other comparable tools that have been or are being developed in the field of architectural design.
keywords	Educational Multimedia, Interactive Learning Environments, Online Education
series	journal paper
email
more	http://ifets.gmd.de/periodical/vol_2_2000/heylighen.html
last changed	2002/11/14 08:40

_id	63b9
authors	Jabi, Wassim
year	2000
title	Visualizing and Investigating Architectural Space Using Spherical Panoramic Imaging
source	Emerging Technologies and Design: The Intersection of Design and Technology, Proceedings of the 2000 ACSA Technology Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 14-17, 2000
summary	This paper reports on the use of immersive spherical imaging techniques to document, visualize and investigate architectural space. This technology can be used in the classrooms and design studios to augment traditional instructional and design investigation tools. As opposed to cylindrical imaging found in the popular QuickTime VR format, spherical imaging provides a 360-degree view in all directions – horizontally and vertically. The ability to capture and display a full sphere can be crucial for many interior architectural spaces. Spherical panoramas can originate from real, synthetic or hybrid source images. In addition to the ability to embed links to web pages or other panoramas, a unique feature of this technology allows the viewer to navigate through a scene as well as pause at any point and view the space in all directions. In addition, the technology allows the user to sketch over the scene in an intelligent manner such that the sketched artifacts rotate correctly when the target view shifts. The software also integrates with collaborative tools to allow synchronous viewing of shared panoramas over the Internet. These features allow for a truly immersive and interactive experience of the space that can be quite useful in a design studio setting. Finally, this paper describes ongoing efforts to integrate this technology with an interactive web-based, databasedriven virtual slide tray system for the storage, sorting, and display of multimedia content.
keywords	Spherical Panoramic Imaging
series	other
email
last changed	2002/03/05 19:55

_id	b5f3
authors	Johnson, Brian R.
year	2000
title	Sustaining Studio Culture: How Well Do Internet Tools Meet the Needs of Virtual Design Studios?
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. 15-22
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.015
summary	The Internet beckons seductively to students. The prospect of nearly instantaneous communication with acquaintances spread across the face of the earth is alluring. The ease with which rich graphical content can be made available to the world is stunning. The possibility of a design being seen by friends, family, and famous architects is tantalizing. Faculty are drawn by the potent synergy and learning that can be found in the opposition and cooperation of different cultural roots. It is probable that entire design studio sequences will be offered through distance-learning programs in the near future. Is that a good idea? Much has been written about "virtual design studios" in architecture schools and "virtual offices" in practice. Most offices have largely or totally abandoned drafting boards in favor of digital tools of production. Yet, regarding design, Ken Sanders, author of The Digital Architect, and Manager of Information Services at Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (ZGF), of Portland, Oregon, has written "we still make an effort to locate project teams together and always will". Production CAD work requires different kinds of interaction than design and design instruction. The experiments have been invaluable in developing strategies for use of the Internet as a component of a design studio series, but rarely depend entirely on use of the Internet for all course communications. In fact, most describe fairly isolated efforts to augment some aspect of traditional design environments using Internet tools (ftp, email, web). A few have implemented new pedagogic or collaboration paradigms (e.g., ETH’s phase(x)). This paper considers the traditional design studio in terms of formal and informal activities, characterizes the major Internet technologies with regard to the resulting interaction issues. In particular, it describes an area of informal work group communications that appears to be ill-supported with existing tools. The paper goes on to describe a web-based collaboration tool which was developed to address the need for less formal communication. The context for this development is the concept of a fully distributed collaboration environment with particular attention to questions of informal communication. Finally, it describes how the tool was deployed in an experimental "web studio" setting and student responses to use of the tool.
keywords	Virtual Design Studio, Collaboration, Online Communities, Web Tools
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	2683
authors	Kos, Jose Ripper
year	2000
title	Architectural Hypermedia Based on 3D Models
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. 221-224
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.221
summary	The World Wide Web gave a new dimension to the terms hypermedia and hypertext. Their distinctions are not very clear and in this paper we will use both with the same meaning. They are usually defined in a very generic way as a revolutionary form of writing. The generalization and glorification of hypertext, however, obscures a clearer view of its real possibilities. Architects will benefit by investigating carefully its resources - and how it can be a powerful tool for the profession, particularly when associated with 3D models.
keywords	Hypermedia, 3D Model, Hypertext, Latin-American Cities, Architecture
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	ce1b
authors	Kvan, Th., Lee, A. and Ho, L.
year	2000
title	Anthony Ng Architects Limited: Building Towards a Paperless Future
source	Case Study and Teaching Notes number 99/65, 10 pages, distributed by HKU Centre for Asian Business Cases, Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP) and The European Case Clearing House (ECCH), June 2000
summary	In early 1997; Mr. Anthony Ng; managing director of Anthony Ng Architects Ltd.; was keenly looking forward to a high-tech; paperless new office; which would free his designers from paperwork and greatly improve internal and external communication – a vision that he had had for a couple of years. In 1996; he brought on board a friend and expert in Internet technology to help him realise his vision. In July 1997; his company was to move into its new office in Wan Chai. Their plan was to have in place an Intranet and a web-based document management system when they moved into the new office. But he had to be mindful of resulting changes in communication patterns; culture and expectations. Resistance from within his company was also threatening to ruin the grand plan. Several senior executives were fiercely opposed to the proposal and refused to read a document off a computer screen. But Ng knew it was an important initiative to move his practice forward. Once the decision was made there would be no chance to reconsider; given the workload demands of the new HK$12 billion project. And this decision would mark a watershed in the company’s evolution. This case study examines the challenges and implications of employing IT to support an architectural office.
keywords	IT In Practice; Professional Practice; Archives
series	other
email
last changed	2002/11/15 18:29

_id	8b8e
authors	Kvan, Th., Wong, J.T.H. and Vera, A.H.
year	2000
title	Supporting Structural Activities in Design: A Multiple-Case Study
source	Proceedings, Fifth International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design (CSCWD2000), Hong Kong, November 29 – December 2, 2000, pp. 116-120
summary	This paper describes case studies in design teaching and their analysis; examining the role of structural activities and other solution searching activities in design learning and problem solving. The case studies follow students working on the same problem under two conditions – one group is taught using traditional face-to-face teaching while the other group is supported by a text-based web board. The design activities of two students were followed in each condition through a semester; followed by in-depth interviews at the end of semester. Interviews and logs were coded according to an activity-based model of design activity. The results show that cases with above average design work involved more structural activities than the mediocre cases. It also showed that design problem dissections are more organized in the better cases. These successful cases engaged in textual expression of their design solutions. Computer tools for design should therefore support textual representation in addition to graphic; video or audio.
keywords	Collaborative Design; Computer Supported Collaborative Work; Structure Activities; Text
series	other
email
last changed	2002/11/15 18:29

_id	ddssar0019
id	ddssar0019
authors	Madrazo, Leandro
year	2000
title	Networking: media, representation and architecture
source	Timmermans, Harry (Ed.), Fifth Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning - Part one: Architecture Proceedings (Nijkerk, the Netherlands)
summary	In this paper we present a pedagogic work, carried out in a third year architecture course, focused on the relationship between teaching content and media. The subject-matter of the course is the concept of representation; an eminently philosophical issue which transcends the limits of a particular discipline. The media that have been used are mostly the web, along with other standard programs to process text and images, create models and animations. The core of this research work is the course ‘Sistemas de Representación’, which has taken place for the first time in the academic year 1999/00. The course is structured in six themes, each one standing for a system of representation: TEXT, FIGURE, OBJECT, IMAGE, SPACE and LIGHT. Within every system, a variety of topics dealing with the concept of representation are addressed in an interdisciplinary manner. A web based learning environment named NETWORKING has been created especially for the course. This environment allows students to perform a variety of collaborative works: drawing visual and linguistic relationships, developing further the works of other students, and participating in collective processes of form generation and space perception.
series	DDSS
last changed	2003/08/07 16:36

_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	988d
authors	Russell, Peter and Forgber, Uwe
year	2000
title	The E-Talier: Inter-university Networked Design Studios
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. 45-50
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2000.045
summary	The widespread infiltration of internet based variations of traditional areas of society (e-commerce, e-business, e-mail etc.) will not spare the halls of academia in its propagation. The term courseware is well nigh 20 years old and considerable research and development has been done in bringing network based distributed courses to university consortiums including those in architecture and civil engineering. Indeed, the European Commission has recently approved funding for a 3-year web-based virtual university of architecture and construction technology: the WINDS project led by the University of Ancona. Such attempts to create e-courses are largely an extension of typical courseware where the syllabus is quantified and divided into lessons for use by the students alone or in conjunction with their tutors and professors. This is quite adequate in conveying the base knowledge of the profession. However, the tenants of being an architect or engineer involve the deft use of that unwieldy named and deliciously imprecise tool called "design". Teaching design sooner or later involves the design studio: a pedagogically construed environment of simulation intended to train, not teach the skills of designing. This is fundamentally different from normal courseware. A network based design studio (Etalier) must be able to reflect the nature of learning design. Design studios typically involve specifically chosen design problems, researched supporting information to assist design decisions, focussed discussions, individual consultation and criticism, group criticism, public forums for presentation discussion and criticism as well as a myriad of informal undocumented communication among the students themselves. So too must an Etalier function. Essentially, it must allow collaboration through communication. Traditional barriers to collaboration include language, culture (both national and professional) and distance. Through the internet's capricious growth and the widespread use of English as a second language, the largest hurdle to attaining fruitful collaboration is probably cultural. In the case of an Etalier in a university setting, the cultural difficulties arise from administrative rules, the pedagogical culture of specific universities and issues such as scheduling and accreditation. Previous experiments with virtual design studios have demonstrated the criticality of such issues. The proposed system allows participating members to specify the degree and breadth with which they wish to partake. As opposed to specifying the conditions of membership, we propose to specify the conditions of partnership. Through the basic principal of reciprocity, issues such as accreditation and work load sharing can be mitigated. Further, the establishment of a studio market will allow students, tutors and professors from participating institutions to partake in studio projects of their choosing in accordance with their own constraints, be they related to schedule, expertise, legal or other matters. The paper describes these mechanisms and some possible scenarios for collaboration in the Etalier market.
keywords	e-Studio, Virtual Design Studio, Courseware, CSCW
series	eCAADe
email
more	http://www.uni-weimar.de/ecaade/
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	70cc
authors	Witten, I.H. and Frank, E.
year	2000
title	Data Mining - Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques with JAVA Implementations
source	Morgan Kaufmann
summary	Witten and Frank's textbook was one of two books that I used for a data mining class in the Fall of 2001. The book covers all major methods of data mining that produce a knowledge representation as output. Knowledge representation is hereby understood as a representation that can be studied, understood, and interpreted by human beings, at least in principle. Thus, neural networks and genetic algorithms are excluded from the topics of this textbook. We need to say "can be understood in principle" because a large decision tree or a large rule set may be as hard to interpret as a neural network. The book first develops the basic machine learning and data mining methods. These include decision trees, classification and association rules, support vector machines, instance-based learning, Naive Bayes classifiers, clustering, and numeric prediction based on linear regression, regression trees, and model trees. It then goes deeper into evaluation and implementation issues. Next it moves on to deeper coverage of issues such as attribute selection, discretization, data cleansing, and combinations of multiple models (bagging, boosting, and stacking). The final chapter deals with advanced topics such as visual machine learning, text mining, and Web mining.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

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