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

PDF papers
References

Hits 1 to 20 of 17633

Reformat results as: short short into frame detailed detailed into frame

_id	407caadria2004
id	407caadria2004
authors	Larry Sass
year	2004
title	Rapid Prototyping Techniques for Building Program Study
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2004.655
source	CAADRIA 2004 [Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia / ISBN 89-7141-648-3] Seoul Korea 28-30 April 2004, pp. 655-670
summary	This paper is original research that demonstrates new design possibilities for evaluation in the schematic phase of design through the use rapid prototyping as a tool of representation verses 2D drawing. These program shapes are created from CAD files using a threedimensional printing and laser cutting CAM tools. This way of working is in response to two dimensional plan representation and evaluation (Mitchell 1976). This research combines the best of the visual aspects of plan representation and the formal representation of solid block modeling. The models in this paper demonstrate the building’s physical scale of spaces, building use and overall form. Resulting models will demonstrate a new way of designing in CAD one that combined physical and visual ways or representation.
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	architectural_intelligence2023_18
id	architectural_intelligence2023_18
authors	Lars Spuybroek
year	2023
title	Matter and image: the pharmacology of architecture
doi	https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s44223-023-00035-y
source	Architectural Intelligence Journal
summary	In the history of technologies and materials the transfer from soft to hard plays a central role. From a dialectic point of view it seems to be a clear-cut matter of one overpowering the other, yet conceptually things are more convoluted. What we call the chiastic model of history is driven by the exchange of empowerings where the one inhabits the other. By taking the most antithetical examples of materiality from architectural history, the plastic and the lithic, we begin to understand the psychological aspects of this exchange: a history of dreams, imagination and even hallucination. The technologies involving the plastic offer an enormous array of such imagery, which we start to analyze as part of a fundamental aspect of technology itself. Using the notion of the pharmakon, as developed by Derrida and Stiegler, we study its ambiguities: technology by its nature is both remedy and poison, cure and addiction. Accepting this ambivalence is the explicit goal of pharmacology, which makes the history of soft and hard one of prosthetic extension as much as of mimetic absorption. We will be guided by two architectural fantasists to investigate the what we call the pharmacology of architecture, J. G. Ballard’s fantasy of a house automaton in the case of the plastic, and G. B. Piranesi’s hallucinations of a reversed archeology in that of the lithic.
series	Architectural Intelligence
email
last changed	2025/01/09 15:03

_id	ecaade2007_005
id	ecaade2007_005
authors	Larsen, Knut Einar; Scheurer, Fabian; Schindler, Christoph; Stori, Simen
year	2007
title	The Trondheim Camera Obscura
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2007.051
source	Predicting the Future [25th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 978-0-9541183-6-5] Frankfurt am Main (Germany) 26-29 September 2007, pp. 51-58
summary	This paper discusses a project where we, together with a group of 15 graduate students, designed, produced, and built small timber structure (a Camera Obscura) in Trondheim, Norway. The project was part of a full semester course at the Faculty of Architecture of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The main purpose of the course was to explore the possibilities of prefabrication in timber construction based on file-to-factory processes (digital fabrication). Moreover, we wished to give the students the experience of building a permanent structure in 1:1.
keywords	Teaching project 1:1, industry cooperation, digital fabrication, CAD-CAM, camera obscura
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	ijac20086402
id	ijac20086402
authors	Larsen, Knut Einar; Schindler, Christoph
year	2008
title	From Concept to Reality: Digital Systems in Architectural Design and Fabrication
source	International Journal of Architectural Computing vol. 6 - no. 4, 397-413
summary	One of the challenges for today's architectural designers is the establishment of continuous digital processes between design and fabrication. To achieve this, designers need to acquire knowledge about the production and the methods and tools involved. Two case studies organized at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) on digital timber fabrication investigate the new field of collaboration between architectural designers and fabricators. The studies demonstrate the design potential of acquiring insights into the fabricators' software and digital production machinery and reflect contemporary fabrication technology in formal expression. We identified two different approaches to formal exploration that we defined as "sophistication of the detail" and "variation of the element".
series	journal
last changed	2009/03/03 07:48

_id	acadia12_209
id	acadia12_209
authors	Larsen, Niels Martin ; Pedersen, Ole Egholm ; Pigram, Dave
year	2012
title	A Method for the Realization of Complex Concrete Gridshell Structures in Pre-Cast Concrete
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2012.209
source	ACADIA 12: Synthetic Digital Ecologies [Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) ISBN 978-1-62407-267-3] San Francisco 18-21 October, 2012), pp. 209-216
summary	This paper describes a method for the design and fabrication of complex funicular structures fromdiscrete precast concrete elements. The research proposes that through the integration of digitalform-finding techniques, computational file-to-fabrication workflows, and innovative sustainableconcrete casting techniques, complex funicular structures can be constructed using prefabricatedelements in a practical, affordable, and materially efficient manner.A recent case study is examined, in which the methodology has been used to construct a pavilion.Custom-written dynamic relaxation software was used to define the overall form and successivealgorithms; it then defined each component’s unique geometry, unrolled into flat shapes, andnested all parts into cut-files. PETG plastic sheets were two-dimensionally laser cut and folded toproduce the unique casting molds. The case study was carried out in collaboration between theAarhus School of Architecture and the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Basic research incasting techniques defined the framework for the design process, and a custom-written dynamicrelaxation software application became the primary form-generating tool in the design process ofa constructed pavilion. Fabrication and construction constraints were embedded within the designof both the overall structure and its components. Finite element analysis [FEA] was completed inorder to verify the form-finding results, to ensure structural stability, and to direct adjustments ofthe structure during the design process.The constructed pavilion case study, constructed in a very short time, for low cost and with relativelyunskilled labor, demonstrates that the integration of algorithmic form-finding techniques, CNCfabrication workflows, and the use of innovative PETG folded-mold techniques enables thepractical realization of freeform funicular structures in precast concrete.
keywords	Gridshells , pre-cast concrete , folded moulds , dynamic relaxation , file-to-factory , form-finding , parametric modeling , computational design , zero-waste production
series	ACADIA
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	caadria2020_149
id	caadria2020_149
authors	Larsen, Niels Martin, Aagaard, Anders Kruse and Kieffer, Lynn Hyun
year	2020
title	Digital Workflows for Natural Wood in Constructions
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2020.1.125
source	D. Holzer, W. Nakapan, A. Globa, I. Koh (eds.), RE: Anthropocene, Design in the Age of Humans - Proceedings of the 25th CAADRIA Conference - Volume 1, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, 5-6 August 2020, pp. 125-134
summary	This research challenges current linear processing methods for standardised timber. The current industry does not leave room for irregular shapes of naturally grown wood. This paper describes a bespoke design and fabrication method that leverages these natural irregularities of the wood. The customised development of a digital tool allows the distribution of the non-standard material to form a structure and the associated robotic machining processes of the individual logs. This research seeks to motivate a more inclusive, diverse and sensitive culture of processing and building with wood while exploring the unique aesthetic qualities of non-standardised wood.
keywords	robotic fabrication; digital workflows; wood processing
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	acadia19_500
id	acadia19_500
authors	Larsen, Niels Martin; Anders Kruse Aagaard
year	2019
title	Exploring Natural Wood
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.2019.500
source	ACADIA 19:UBIQUITY AND AUTONOMY [Proceedings of the 39th Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) ISBN 978-0-578-59179-7] (The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, Austin, Texas 21-26 October, 2019) pp. 500-509
summary	By investigating methods for using computation and digital manufacturing technologies to integrate material properties with architectural design tools, the research in this paper aims at revealing new potentials for the use of wood in architecture. Through an explorative approach, material particularities and fabrication methods are explored and combined into new workflows and architectural expressions. The research looks into different properties and capacities of wood, but the main part of the experimentation revolves around crooked oak logs. Due to their irregularities, these logs are normally discarded. However, through the methods suggested in this research, they are instead matched with unique processing informed by their divergence. The research presents a workflow for handling the discrete shapes of sawlogs in a system that both involve the collecting of material, scanning/digitization, handling of a stockpile, computer analysis, design, and robotic manufacturing. The workflow includes multiple custom-made solutions for handling the complex and different shapes and data of wood logs in a highly digitized machining and fabrication environment. The suggested method is established through investigations of wood as a natural material, studies of the production lines in the current wood industry, and experimentation in our in-house laboratory facilities. This up-cycling of discarded wood supply establishes a non-standard workflow that utilizes non-standard material stock and leads to a critical articulation of today’s linear material economy. The research thereby gives an example of how the natural forms and properties of sawlogs can be directly used to generate new structures and spatial conditions.
series	ACADIA
type	normal paper
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	854e
id	854e
authors	Laskari A, Hanna S, Derix C
year	2008
title	Urban Identity Through Quantifiable Spatial Attributes: Coherence and dispersion of local identity through the automated comparative analysis of building block plans
source	Design Computation Cognition conference 2008
summary	This analysis investigates whether and to what degree quantifiable spatial attributes, as expressed in plan representations, can capture elements related to the experience of spatial identity. By combining different methods of shape and spatial analysis it attempts to quantify spatial attributes, predominantly derived from plans, in order to illustrate patterns of interrelations between spaces through an objective automated process. The study focuses on the scale of the urban block as the basic modular unit for the formation of urban configurations and the issue of spatial identity is perceived through consistency and differentiation within and amongst urban neighbourhoods.
keywords	urban design, spatial analysis, clustering
series	other
type	normal paper
email
more	http://www.springer.com/computer/information+systems+and+applications/book/978-1-4020-8727-1
last changed	2012/09/17 21:30

_id	2006_458
id	2006_458
authors	Laskari, Iro
year	2006
title	Automatic production of paths within audiovisual “narrative space” by making use of genetic algorithms
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2006.458
source	Communicating Space(s) [24th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-9541183-5-9] Volos (Greece) 6-9 September 2006, pp. 458-461
summary	This paper documents the theoretical aspect of a research project that deals with the application of an artificial life (AL) approach to engraving coherent paths within the narrative space of video fragments. These paths, which are constituted by the succession of short video segments, represent the best way to juxtapose isolated elements in the overall narrative landscape. In this case the notion of space is being used in a metaphorical way. Once this has been clarified, the concept of “narrative space” is used as a metaphorical representation of a database comprising all the fragmented/autonomous narrations that are being used. Therefore, the creation of an “intelligent” system that will be able to automatically create cinematographic narration is being examined. This project in particular investigates the possibility and the consequences of producing an autonomous cinematographic narration system, in which meaning results from a kind of hypermontage (Hakola, http://www.kromaproductions.net/HYPERMONTAGE.htm: Jan 2003) conditioned by genetic algorithms. A different type of spatial experience emerges when the video fragments used are automatically “put together” by the system. Video as a medium could be considered as representing crystallized shortcuts within physical reality. Since video fragments constitute the database, different elements of constructed space are parts of the same ensemble. From the composition of such fragments, there emerge new paths within the same spatial context and certain spatial experiences are formulated which are different from the ones experienced by actors during the shootings.
keywords	Non - linear narrative; cinematic language; Artificial Life
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	ecaade2010_210
id	ecaade2010_210
authors	Lassance, Guilherme; Klouche, Djamel; Izaga, Fabiana; Duarte, Gabriel
year	2010
title	Contemporary Metropolitan Conditions: New challenges for design education
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2010.157
source	FUTURE CITIES [28th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 978-0-9541183-9-6] ETH Zurich (Switzerland) 15-18 September 2010, pp.157-166
summary	This paper aims to address design education issues, with a focus on the way the contemporary metropolis is conceived. We understand the reality of the contemporary metropolis as an amalgam of specific issues that transcend local and regional contexts, converging into the categories of the so-called ‘global cities’. These new urban realities derive from territories originally controlled by other logics, and are now in new stages of post-industrial development. Thus, we notice the presence of large peripheral areas where existing industrial activities initially took place, which were later transformed and migrated, leaving behind urban fragments that are taken over by informal activities. Such sites are often crossed, when not ‘on-winged’, by transport infrastructure, increasingly essential to the growing intensity of metropolitan flows. Working with this new reality clearly means first and foremost to reexamine the tools and traditional methods of design and representation of the architect and urban planner.
wos	WOS:000340629400017
keywords	Design process; Design education; Contemporary metropolis
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

_id	ecaade2011_086
id	ecaade2011_086
authors	Lassance, Guilherme; Libert, Cédric; Lassance, Patricia Figueira; Feghali, Maria Elisa
year	2011
title	The sensitive tower: Architectural and urban design education faced with fragile metropolitan ecologies
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2011.581
source	RESPECTING FRAGILE PLACES [29th eCAADe Conference Proceedings / ISBN 978-9-4912070-1-3], University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture (Slovenia) 21-24 September 2011, pp.581-588
summary	Neighborhoods that are still outside the market target can find alternative ways of re-development. Therefore, it is necessary to design architectures compatible with their fragile ecologies. This research benefits from a previous study where we tried to observe the evolution of the uses of buildings and ways of living faced with changes in environmental conditions in a given urban context. Increased automobile traffic has led to changes in the use of residential spaces whose function was gradually replaced by commercial activities. Making use of graphic-oriented interpretation of urban ambiance and landscape analysis methodology applied to the design of different floor levels, this paper aims to introduce the concept of sensitive tower defined on the basis of observations made in our post-occupancy survey as a teaching strategy for the design studio faced with the current challenges of the contemporary metropolis.
wos	WOS:000335665500067
keywords	Design process; design education; contemporary metropolis; urban environment
series	eCAADe
email
last changed	2022/05/01 23:21

_id	ad42
authors	Lasser, Dieter
year	1986
title	Intersection of parametric Surfaces in the Bernstein-Bexier Representation
source	Computer Aided Design May, 1986. vol. 18: pp. 188-192 : ill. includes bibliography.
summary	A user-friendly 'divide-and-conquer' algorithm, which finishes quickly, is presented for finding all the intersection curves between two parametric surfaces in the Bernstein-Bezier representation. The underlying idea of the algorithm is to deal with the Bezier net instead of the surface description itself. By alternately subdividing the Bezier nets, and estimating the intersection area, a finite element mesh is created in the intersection region of the surfaces. The intersection is approximated by polygons computed by plane-plane-intersections using planes defined by Bezier points of the refined Bezier nets. Contour lines can also be produced by the algorithm
keywords	divide-and-conquer, CAD, algorithms, parametrization, curved surfaces, Bezier, curves, intersection
series	CADline
last changed	1999/02/12 15:09

_id	acadia22pr_190
id	acadia22pr_190
authors	Lasting, Liam; Akbari, Mostafa; Mogas-Soldevila, Laia; Akbarzadeh, Masoud
year	2022
title	Terrene 2.0 - Biomaterial Systems and Shellular Structures for Augmented Earthen Construction
source	ACADIA 2022: Hybrids and Haecceities [Projects Catalog of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Association of Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) ISBN 979-8-9860805-7-4]. University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. 27-29 October 2022. edited by M. Akbarzadeh, D. Aviv, H. Jamelle, and R. Stuart-Smith. 190-195.
summary	For specific design criteria, rammed earth construction offers solutions as a concrete substitute since it has significantly less embodied energy. However, its typical construction process still utilizes wasteful formwork. Therefore, we propose to augment the principles of rammed earth by integrating renewable additives to improve the mechanical properties of the system towards richer geometry and developing a reusable waste-free formwork.
series	ACADIA
type	project
email
last changed	2024/02/06 14:06

_id	0d5b
authors	Latch Craig, David and Zimring, Craig
year	1999
title	Practical Support for Collaborative Design Involving Divided Interests
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.126
source	Media and Design Process [ACADIA ‘99 / ISBN 1-880250-08-X] Salt Lake City 29-31 October 1999, pp. 126-137
summary	Collaboration is common in design, yet relatively little is known about the cognitive reasoning processes that occur during collaboration. This paper discusses collaborative design, emphasizing the elaboration and transformations of the problem search space, and the roles that unstructured verbal communication and graphic communication can play in these processes. The paper discusses a prototype system called the Immersive Discussion Tool (IDT) that supports asynchronous design. IDT allows collaborators to mark-up 3-D models over the Internet using a variety of tools, including diagrammatic marks, dynamic simulations and text annotations. IDT relies on VRML to view the models, with an extensive Java-based interface on the backend powering the interactive construction and playback of graphical annotations, the management of threaded discussions, and the management of file input/output. The development of this tool has revealed the difficulty of constructing complex marks in a virtual 3-D space, and the initial implementation of IDT suggests several strategies for solving these problems.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	caadria2016_219
id	caadria2016_219
authors	Latifi, Mehrnoush; Daniel Prohasky, Jane Burry, Rafael Moya, Jesse Mccarty and Simon Watkins
year	2016
title	Breathing skins for wind modulation through morphology
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2016.219
source	Living Systems and Micro-Utopias: Towards Continuous Designing, Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA 2016) / Melbourne 30 March–2 April 2016, pp. 219-228
summary	This study aims to investigate the design power to manipu- late the behaviour and characteristics of air through geometrical ma- nipulation of building skins. The simple cubic cells in the global sys- tem of a porous screen were manipulated to investigate the impacts of screen’s morphology on the air movement pattern within and around it. The results we discovered from the evaluation of several screen systems revealed trends in response to the careful manipulation of ef- fective shape parameters within a designed matrix of variations as a Matrix of Possible Effective Typologies (MPET). In this research, the main principles of framing the initial matrix were based on: a) Creat- ing pressure differences across the screens as a result of surface intru- sion and extrusion compositions. b) Changing the nature of the airflow (velocity and turbulence variation) with geometrical manipulations of the inlet and outlet of the screens’ components. Experimental and nu- merical studies were undertaken in parallel including the use of a wind tunnel with very smooth flow with precision wind sensors and the numerical studies by Computational Fluid Dynamics. The aim of this paper is to present part of the empirical investigations to demonstrate the power of geometry in shaping the air patterns, altering pressure and velocity through geometrical modification of porous surfaces for future applications.
keywords	Porous screens; microturbulance; facade component; microclimate; parametric CFD
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	f799
authors	Lau, Kok Hong and Maher, Mary Lou
year	1999
title	Architectural Design and Virtual Worlds
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1999.004.2
source	ACADIA Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 4-6
summary	The combination of architectural design and virtual world design has lead to a rapidly expanding area of study and possibly the birth of a new profession. The potential as well as the uncertainty in the area of virtual architectural design are challenging to anyone who is concerned with our living environment, whether it is physical or virtual. Living in the virtual realm has raised the attention not only of architects, but also philosophers, social scientists and the wider academic and professional community. The discussion and debate on cyberspace will certainly remain an important branch of virtual architecture. In this paper we explore the potential and implications of architectural design in virtual worlds.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	caadria2021_342
id	caadria2021_342
authors	Lau, Siu Fung George and van Ameijde, Jeroen
year	2021
title	City Centres in the Era of Self-Driving Cars: Possibilities for the Redesign of Urban Streetscapes to Create Pedestrian-oriented Public Spaces
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2021.2.609
source	A. Globa, J. van Ameijde, A. Fingrut, N. Kim, T.T.S. Lo (eds.), PROJECTIONS - Proceedings of the 26th CAADRIA Conference - Volume 2, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Online, Hong Kong, 29 March - 1 April 2021, pp. 609-618
summary	The forthcoming popularization of Self-driving Vehicles (SDVs) suggests a significant challenge in urban planning, as it enables new mobility patterns for urban citizens. While manufacturers have been developing visionary scenarios where cars become rentable mobile activity spaces, the impact of SDVs on the urban context is unclear. Through the analysis of the new social and technological functionalities developed by car manufacturers, and the projection of these functions into spatial scenarios of use within urban case study site, this paper explores the potential for the redesign of urban streetscapes to reclaim open spaces for pedestrian experiences and urban culture.
keywords	High-density urbanism; Self-driving vehicles; Urban analytics
series	CAADRIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:51

_id	60c9
authors	Laurel, B.
year	1993
title	Computer as Theatre
source	Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
summary	I used Aristotelian poetics as a way to look at how plays in particular are made and constructed and to figure out what their parts are and how they work together. So some of the ways, in which there is a relationship, is the idea of action as being the primary element of a play. Often in the old days in particular working with the computer we did not think of the user taking action or getting something done. We thought of the computer presenting information. In the early days it felt much more like television. The idea of taking action and make choices is a very important one in understanding the deepest potential of interactivity. That said I could have based that book on a dramatic theory of Bertolt Brecht for example. There are other consistent, systematic theories of drama you could use to model and interact the system. The only reason I checked Aristotelian poetics is because it seemed so fundamental to me.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	aea2
authors	Laurel, B. (ed.)
year	1990
title	The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design
source	New York: Addison-Wesley.
summary	Human-computer interface design is a new discipline. So new in fact, that Alan Kay of Apple Computer quipped that people "are not sure whether they should order it by the yard or the ton"! Irrespective of the measure, interface design is gradually emerging as a much-needed and timely approach to reducing the awkwardness and inconveniences of human-computer interaction. "Increased cognitive load", "bewildered and tired users" - these are the byproducts of the "plethora of options and the interface conventions" faced by computer users. Originally, computers were "designed by engineers, for engineers". Little or no attention was, or needed to be, paid to the interface. However, the pervasive use of the personal computer and the increasing number and variety of applications and programs has given rise to a need to focus on the "cognitive locus of human-computer interaction" i.e. the interface. What is the interface? Laurel defines the interface as a "contact surface" that "reflects the physical properties of the interactors, the functions to be performed, and the balance of power and control." (p.xiii) Incorporated into her definition are the "cognitive and emotional aspects of the user's experience". In a very basic sense, the interface is "the place where contact between two entities occurs." (p.xii) Doorknobs, steering wheels, spacesuits-these are all interfaces. The greater the difference between the two entities, the greater the need for a well-designed interface. In this case, the two very different entities are computers and humans. Human-conputer interface design looks at how we can lessen the effects of these differences. This means, for Laurel, empowering users by providing them with ease of use. "How can we think about it so that the interfaces we design will empower users?" "What does the user want to do?" These are the questions Laurel believes must be asked by designers. These are the questions addressed directly and indirectly by the approximately 50 contributors to The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design. In spite of the large number of contributors to the book and the wide range of fields with which they are associated, there is a broad consensus on how interfaces can be designed for empowerment and ease of use. User testing, user contexts, user tasks, user needs, user control: these terms appear throughout the book and suggest ways in which design might focus less on the technology and more on the user. With this perspective in mind, contributor D. Norman argues that computer interfaces should be designed so that the user interacts more with the task and less with the machine. Such interfaces "blend with the task", and "make tools invisible" so that "the technology is subervient to that goal". Sellen and Nicol insist on the need for interfaces that are 'simple', 'self-explanatory', 'adaptive' and 'supportive'. Contributors Vertelney and Grudin are interested in interfaces that support the contexts in which many users work. They consider ways in which group-oriented tasks and collaborative efforts can be supported and aided by the particular design of the interface. Mountford equates ease of use with understating the interface: "The art and science of interface design depends largely on making the transaction with the computer as transparent as possible in order to minimize the burden on the user".(p.248) Mountford also believes in "making computers more powerful extensions of our natural capabilities and goals" by offering the user a "richer sensory environment". One way this can be achieved according to Saloman is through creative use of colour. Saloman notes that colour can not only impart information but that it can be a useful mnemonic device to create associations. A richer sensory environment can also be achieved through use of sound, natural speech recognition, graphics, gesture input devices, animation, video, optical media and through what Blake refers to as "hybrid systems". These systems include additional interface features to control components such as optical disks, videotape, speech digitizers and a range of devices that support "whole user tasks". Rich sensory environments are often characteristic of game interfaces which rely heavily on sound and graphics. Crawford believes we have a lot to learn from the design of games and that they incorporate "sound concepts of user interface design". He argues that "games operate in a more demanding user-interface universe than other applications" since they must be both "fun" and "functional".
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	7475
authors	Laurel, B., Strickland, R. and Tow, R.
year	1994
title	Placeholder: Landscape and Narrative In Virtual Environments
source	ACM Computer Graphics Quarterly Volume 28 Number 2 May
summary	The idea of using virtual reality for entertainment purposes is actually quite recent in the history of VR technology. Early VR entertainment applications, appearing in the late 1980s, were extensions of the existing "serious" application of flight simulation training. The other branch of flight - simulator technology - motion platforms used in synchronization with motion video or animation - was much more amenable to the theme park environment. These systems, of which Star Tours is the best known, trade off individual viewpoint control and the sense of agency for thrilling, finely calibrated effects and the optimization of "throughput" - that is, getting the most people through the ride in the least time. Second to motion-platform rides in this regard are networked pods, as used in Virtual World Entertainment systems (previously Battletech). "Classic" virtual reality, with head-mounted displays and various forms of body tracking, are especially problematic in theme park environments for several reasons. It takes time to get the gear onto the participants. Only a handful of people can experience the attraction simultaneously (although a much larger audience might watch what the people "inside" the VR are doing). A hard-driving plot with distinct beginning, middle, and end is a great way to control how long an experience takes, but "classic" VR is inimical to this kind of authorial control - it works best when people can move about and do things in virtual environments in a relatively unconstrained way.
series	journal paper
last changed	2003/04/23 15:50

For more results click below: