It is also possible to create compound objects, such as (for example) a triangle inscribed in a circle, and for the individual entities to then act as one - moving, scaling, rotating, copying, and deleting in tandem.Īn early video prototype demonstrating the Sketchpad reconstruction's capabilities: Drawing, moving, copying, deleting, and creating compound objects. A user may draw these to the screen, and retain the ability to move, manipulate, copy, and delete the graphical objects.
#SKETCHPAD IVAN SUTHERLAND SOFTWARE#
Because of this, there are several more layers of abstraction mediating between the software description of an object and its representation in memory.ĭrawing from Sutherland’s thesis, contemporary video documentation, and interviews with users of the original system, the reconstruction allows users to create and manipulate geometric entities including lines, arcs, and circles.
#SKETCHPAD IVAN SUTHERLAND ANDROID#
Whereas Sutherland programmed Sketchpad in a low-level assembly language directly on the TX-2 computer, this reconstruction paradigm uses Java running on an Android tablet. There are important differences between this software reconstruction and the original Sketchpad, owing to advances in software development, and to simplify some of the complexities of the original while retaining its character as a software artifact. The TX-2’s original user interface of flywheels, switches, and a keyboard are imitated using the tablet, a series of control knobs, a keypad, and stylus at a custom-built work station.Įarly axonometric drawing of plywood work station construction Software For example, in place of the light pen control, there is a stylus for the Android tablet: Readily available tools requiring little additional hardware integration. Rather than a detailed replica, this reconstruction relies on modern devices to evoke visual, gestural, and ergonomic aspects of Sketchpad. Visitors interacting with the reconstruction can be draw and manipulate geometric shapes in ways that evoke Sutherland’s original system. Its key elements are a "light pen," a keypad, and a 7" x 7" screen. This piece, originally built for the 2017 Designing the Computational Image, Imagining Computational Design exhibition at Carnegie Mellon University, approximates the ergonomics of the TX-2 computer, on which Ivan Sutherland developed Sketchpad in his 1963 dissertation.
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