Week 8- Origins and Early Expectation of Computers Reading

ORIGINS AND EARLY EXPECTATION OF COMPUTERS:
 
Readings:

"The Pioneers of Digital Art" by R. Lewis and J. Luciana, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2002, pp 90-112.
“Computing in Architectural Design” from Architecture’s New Media by Yehuda Kalay, The MIT Press, 2004, pp 63-81.
“20 Things I learned about the browsers and the Web”: http://www.20thingsilearned.com/web-apps/1
Site on the history of computer-aided design: http://mbinfo.mbdesign.net/CAD-History.htm
A historical timeline of computer-aided design: http://accad.osu.edu/~waynec/history/timeline.html
The machine that changed the world: http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/TMTCTW.html

A quick comparison of the various articles brings to mind the fact the different key innovations within digital art are often left out of computer history. Also, it is important to be reminded of the innovation with internet and CAD that have allowed for instant and detailed project team analysis of complex building designs to occur simultaneously throughout the world.  The paths of these innovations are interestingly very interlinked with the American Universities. A lot of the innovation work in computers throughout various times of history has been found to start on the campus. These breakthroughs are often not upheld and celebrated as a model for future students to embrace.

Further development of the internet browser has also brought with it great advantage.  With the access and ease to information it offers (and the great trial with the viruses), it has become an important part of our daily lives. Today, we would be unable to enjoy life without this technology. It is the phenomena of once you have a privilege it is so hard to give it up. With the ability for computers to take on repetitive tasks and/or mathematical computations, AutoCAD has allowed for a more informed platform for design work and it has greatly benefited the designer trying to create more responsible and informed designs.

Question #1- What aspects of the history of computer graphics is relevant to interior design and architecture?

Knowing the background development of technology used in interior design, including computer graphics, allows for a greater depth of knowledge when utilizing and designing with computers. The proliferation and reliance upon the computer is as pronounced in interior design as it is in most other graphic based industries. I think to move forward it is often best to know the past. It can inform the development and also avoid reliving mistakes learned, like the short sided views of Xerox. With this information, I feel better prepared to incorporate new technology as it comes along through having a more informed background. I think it can help with also not feeling overwhelmed when discussing and exploring new areas of computing, like animation. Animation has become so advanced, that when looking at it as a beginner it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Seeing the past allows me to feel encouraged to continue learning and trying new ideas, programs, and designs.  Exploration and design research can help catapult design forward at any moment, by any source. It can only happen, though, when someone is out there trying and doing new things. I feel that this is a universal principle that easily applies to interior design and architecture. It is through innovation that we are continually inspired and challenged as humans in our experiences in our interior environment. The interior environment impacts how we develop and how we view the world and it is subsequently how we can learn to attain a restorative environmental design philosophy.  Technology is a tool that we can use toward that goal.

Question #2- What will the future of computer-aided design/ internet be?

The future of computer-aided design is going to continue to grow with our reliance upon it in our daily lives as designers in both the work place and away. The use of internet will be a similar integration. We are incorporating these in greater measures every year and I think that it is going to be their separate and joined function(s) that will bring us into more advanced and knowledgeable buildings. I also feel that the internet can be the gateway for creating spaces that are more knowledgeable of worldwide design and innovation, and also knowledgeable of worldwide trends.  The internet has brought a limitless supply of information and it will aid in producing more educated and demanding clients. Thus, the importance of maintaining and increasing relevant skills and knowledge, I think, will be one of the major challenges of the future for designers. I see that computer-aided design will also be more interactive and more web-based with global access by customers and global based information incorporated within the building, by the use of case studies for example. The market will continue to trend toward global and environmentally responsible design and the use of computer-aided design and the internet will be the leading portals to this future.

Other thoughts and commentary-

I am always interested to see the way history ends up being both heralded and forgotten. There have been so many people in the history of the computer who are basically unknown and yet were major innovators in their time. Of course, it is the famous and big names that are mostly talked about. I think that the other people who worked so hard and ended up not being famous are the most interesting stories of them all. Ivan Sullivan and Doug Englebart are two of my favorite stories. The other is Babbage and his Analytical Engine. I think their major breakthroughs are not really known to the public, yet they were major innovators. 

 The three emerging effects of computers on environments mentioned in the Kalay reading are interesting. In the first phase of changing the culture of the design profession does continue to occur. With our lives revolving around the computer, its portability and accessibility is another adjustment that we continue to make. We are no longer chained to shared shift work on one computer, but we seem to always need them around us now. The second effect of computers being inhabitable physical environments is in the day to day control they have.  It is normally seen as aiding in comfort and habitability with climate control and safety mechanisms. It can create almost impersonal and automated environments that as designers we have paid little attention to in regards to how all the technology can make spaces feel psychologically.   Thirdly, the use of cyberspace has become a place that interior designers have had little involvement with and can become a new frontier for the profession.  There is more work ahead.