HOMEWORK - READING -- The Ultimate Display -- Ivan E. Sutherland
http://projects.vrac.iastate.edu/hci580x/files/2011/08/Sutherland-The-Ultimate-Display.pdf
The Ultimate Display
Ivan E. Sutherland
Information Processing Techniques
Office, ARPA, OSD
We live in a physical world whose properties we have come to know well through long familiarity.We sense an involvement with this physical
world which gives usthe ability to predict its properties well. For example, we can predict where objects willfall, how well-known shapeslook
fromother angles, and howmuch force isrequired to push objects againstfriction.We lack corresponding familiarity with the forces on charged
particles,forcesin non-uniformfields, the effects of nonprojective geometric transformations, and high-inertia, low frictionmotion. A display
connected to a digital computer gives us a chance to gain familiarity with concepts notrealizable in the physical world.It is a looking glassinto a
mathematical wonderland.
Computer displaystoday cover a variety of capabilities. Some have only the fundamental ability to plot dots. Displays being sold now generally
have built in line-drawing capability. An ability to draw simple curves would be useful. Some available displays are able to plot very short line
segmentsin arbitrary directions, to formcharacters ormore complex curves. Each ofthese abilities has a history and a known utility.
It is equally possible for a computerto construct a picturemade up of colored areas. Knowlton'smovie language,BEFLIX [1], is an excellent
example of how computers can produce area-filling pictures. No display available commercially today hasthe ability to presentsuch area-filling
picturesfor direct human use.It islikely that new display equipment will have area-filling capability.We havemuch to learn about how tomake
good use ofthis new ability.
Themost common direct computerinput today isthe typewriter keyboard. Typewriters are inexpensive,reliable, and produce easily transmitted
signals. As more and more on-line systems are used, it islikely that many more typewriter consoles will come into use. Tomorrow's computer
user will interact with a computerthrough a typewriter. He ought to know how to touch type.
A variety of other manual-input devices are possible. The light pen orRAND Tabletstylusserve a very usefulfunction in pointing to displayed
items and in drawing or printing Forinput to the computer. The possibilitiesfor very smooth interaction with the computerthrough these devices
is only just beginning to be exploited.RAND Corporation hasin operation today a debugging tool which recognizes printed changes ofregister
contents, and simple pointing and moving motionsforformatrelocation. UsingRAND'stechniques you can change a digit printed on the screen
by merely writing what you want on top ofit.If you want to move the contents of one displayed registerinto another, merely point to the first
and "drag" it overto the second. The facility with which such an interaction systemletsits userinteract with the computerisremarkable.
Knobs and joysticks of various kindsserve a usefulfunction in adjusting parameters ofsome computation going on. For example, adjustment of
the viewing angle of a perspective view is conveniently handled through a three-rotation joystick. Push buttons with lights are often useful.
Syllable voice inputshould not be ignored.
Inmany casesthe computer programneedsto know which part of a picture theman is pointing at. The two-dimensional nature of picturesmakes
it impossible to orderthe parts of a picture by neighborhood.Converting fromdisplay coordinatesto find the object pointed at is, therefore, a
time-consuming process. A light pen can interrupt at the time that the display circuitstransferthe itembeing pointed at, thus automatically
indicating its address and coordinates. Special circuits on theRAND Tablet or other position input device canmake itserve the same function.
What the program actually needsto know is where in memory isthe structure which the man is pointing to.In a display with its own memory, a
light pen return tells where in the display file the thing pointed to is, but not necessarily where inmainmemory.Worse yet, the programreally
needsto know which sub part of which part the man is pointing to. No existing display equipment computesthe depths ofrecursionsthat are
needed. New displays with analogmemoriesmay well lose the pointing ability altogether.
Other Types of Display
Ifthe task ofthe display isto serve as a looking-glassinto themathematical wonderland constructed in computermemory, itshould serve as
many senses as possible. So far asI know, no one seriously proposes computer displays ofsmell, ortaste. Excellent audio displays exist, but
unfortunately we have little ability to have the computer producemeaningfulsounds.I want to describe for you a kinesthetic display.
The force required tomove a joystick could be computer controlled, just asthe actuation force on the controls of a Link Trainer are changed to
give the feel of a real airplane.With such a display, a computermodel of particlesin an electric field could combinemanual control ofthe
position, of a moving charge,replete with the sensation offorces on the charge, with visual presentation ofthe charge's position. Quite
complicated "joysticks" with force feedback capability exist. For example, the controls on the GeneralElectric "handyman" are nothing but
joysticks with nearly as many degrees offreedom asthe human arm.By use ofsuch an input/output device, we can add a force display to our
sight and sound capability.The computer can easily sense the positions of almost any of our body muscles. So far only the muscles ofthe hands and arms have been used
for computer control. There is no reason why these should be the only ones, although our dexterity with them isso high that they are a natural
choice. Our eye dexterity is very high also. Machinesto sense and interpret eyemotion data can and will be built.Itremainsto be seen if we can
use a language of glancesto control a computer. An interesting experiment will be tomake the display presentation depend on where we look.
Forinstance, imagine a triangle so built that whichever corner ofit you look at becomesrounded.What would such a triangle look like? Such
experiments will lead not only to new methods of controlling machines, but also to interesting understandings ofthe mechanisms of vision.
There is no reason why the objects displayed by a computer have to follow the ordinary rules of physicalreality with which we are familiar. The
kinesthetic displaymight be used to simulate themotions of a negativemass. The user of one oftoday's visual displays can easilymake solid
objectstransparent- he can "see through matter!"Concepts which never before had any visualrepresentation can be shown,for example the
"constraints" in Sketchpad [2].By working with such displays of mathematical phenomena we can learn to know them as well as we know our
own natural world. Such knowledge isthe major promise of computer displays.
The ultimate display would, of course, be a roomwithin which the computer can control the existence ofmatter. A chair displayed in such a
room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be
fatal.With appropriate programming such a display could literally be theWonderland into which Alice walked.
References
K.C. Knowlton, "A Computer Technique for Producing Animated Movies", Proceedings of the Spring JointComputerConference,
(Washington, D.C.: Spartan, 1964).
1.
I. E. Sutherland, "Sketchpad-A Man-Machine GraphicalCommunication System", Proceedings of the Spring JointComputerConference,
Detroit, Michigan, May 1963 (Washington, D.C.: Spartan, 1964).
2.
Proceedings ofIFIPCongress, pp. 506-508, 1965.
The Ultimate Display
Ivan E. Sutherland
Information Processing Techniques
Office, ARPA, OSD
We live in a physical world whose properties we have come to know well through long familiarity.We sense an involvement with this physical
world which gives usthe ability to predict its properties well. For example, we can predict where objects willfall, how well-known shapeslook
fromother angles, and howmuch force isrequired to push objects againstfriction.We lack corresponding familiarity with the forces on charged
particles,forcesin non-uniformfields, the effects of nonprojective geometric transformations, and high-inertia, low frictionmotion. A display
connected to a digital computer gives us a chance to gain familiarity with concepts notrealizable in the physical world.It is a looking glassinto a
mathematical wonderland.
Computer displaystoday cover a variety of capabilities. Some have only the fundamental ability to plot dots. Displays being sold now generally
have built in line-drawing capability. An ability to draw simple curves would be useful. Some available displays are able to plot very short line
segmentsin arbitrary directions, to formcharacters ormore complex curves. Each ofthese abilities has a history and a known utility.
It is equally possible for a computerto construct a picturemade up of colored areas. Knowlton'smovie language,BEFLIX [1], is an excellent
example of how computers can produce area-filling pictures. No display available commercially today hasthe ability to presentsuch area-filling
picturesfor direct human use.It islikely that new display equipment will have area-filling capability.We havemuch to learn about how tomake
good use ofthis new ability.
Themost common direct computerinput today isthe typewriter keyboard. Typewriters are inexpensive,reliable, and produce easily transmitted
signals. As more and more on-line systems are used, it islikely that many more typewriter consoles will come into use. Tomorrow's computer
user will interact with a computerthrough a typewriter. He ought to know how to touch type.
A variety of other manual-input devices are possible. The light pen orRAND Tabletstylusserve a very usefulfunction in pointing to displayed
items and in drawing or printing Forinput to the computer. The possibilitiesfor very smooth interaction with the computerthrough these devices
is only just beginning to be exploited.RAND Corporation hasin operation today a debugging tool which recognizes printed changes ofregister
contents, and simple pointing and moving motionsforformatrelocation. UsingRAND'stechniques you can change a digit printed on the screen
by merely writing what you want on top ofit.If you want to move the contents of one displayed registerinto another, merely point to the first
and "drag" it overto the second. The facility with which such an interaction systemletsits userinteract with the computerisremarkable.
Knobs and joysticks of various kindsserve a usefulfunction in adjusting parameters ofsome computation going on. For example, adjustment of
the viewing angle of a perspective view is conveniently handled through a three-rotation joystick. Push buttons with lights are often useful.
Syllable voice inputshould not be ignored.
Inmany casesthe computer programneedsto know which part of a picture theman is pointing at. The two-dimensional nature of picturesmakes
it impossible to orderthe parts of a picture by neighborhood.Converting fromdisplay coordinatesto find the object pointed at is, therefore, a
time-consuming process. A light pen can interrupt at the time that the display circuitstransferthe itembeing pointed at, thus automatically
indicating its address and coordinates. Special circuits on theRAND Tablet or other position input device canmake itserve the same function.
What the program actually needsto know is where in memory isthe structure which the man is pointing to.In a display with its own memory, a
light pen return tells where in the display file the thing pointed to is, but not necessarily where inmainmemory.Worse yet, the programreally
needsto know which sub part of which part the man is pointing to. No existing display equipment computesthe depths ofrecursionsthat are
needed. New displays with analogmemoriesmay well lose the pointing ability altogether.
Other Types of Display
Ifthe task ofthe display isto serve as a looking-glassinto themathematical wonderland constructed in computermemory, itshould serve as
many senses as possible. So far asI know, no one seriously proposes computer displays ofsmell, ortaste. Excellent audio displays exist, but
unfortunately we have little ability to have the computer producemeaningfulsounds.I want to describe for you a kinesthetic display.
The force required tomove a joystick could be computer controlled, just asthe actuation force on the controls of a Link Trainer are changed to
give the feel of a real airplane.With such a display, a computermodel of particlesin an electric field could combinemanual control ofthe
position, of a moving charge,replete with the sensation offorces on the charge, with visual presentation ofthe charge's position. Quite
complicated "joysticks" with force feedback capability exist. For example, the controls on the GeneralElectric "handyman" are nothing but
joysticks with nearly as many degrees offreedom asthe human arm.By use ofsuch an input/output device, we can add a force display to our
sight and sound capability.The computer can easily sense the positions of almost any of our body muscles. So far only the muscles ofthe hands and arms have been used
for computer control. There is no reason why these should be the only ones, although our dexterity with them isso high that they are a natural
choice. Our eye dexterity is very high also. Machinesto sense and interpret eyemotion data can and will be built.Itremainsto be seen if we can
use a language of glancesto control a computer. An interesting experiment will be tomake the display presentation depend on where we look.
Forinstance, imagine a triangle so built that whichever corner ofit you look at becomesrounded.What would such a triangle look like? Such
experiments will lead not only to new methods of controlling machines, but also to interesting understandings ofthe mechanisms of vision.
There is no reason why the objects displayed by a computer have to follow the ordinary rules of physicalreality with which we are familiar. The
kinesthetic displaymight be used to simulate themotions of a negativemass. The user of one oftoday's visual displays can easilymake solid
objectstransparent- he can "see through matter!"Concepts which never before had any visualrepresentation can be shown,for example the
"constraints" in Sketchpad [2].By working with such displays of mathematical phenomena we can learn to know them as well as we know our
own natural world. Such knowledge isthe major promise of computer displays.
The ultimate display would, of course, be a roomwithin which the computer can control the existence ofmatter. A chair displayed in such a
room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining, and a bullet displayed in such a room would be
fatal.With appropriate programming such a display could literally be theWonderland into which Alice walked.
References
K.C. Knowlton, "A Computer Technique for Producing Animated Movies", Proceedings of the Spring JointComputerConference,
(Washington, D.C.: Spartan, 1964).
1.
I. E. Sutherland, "Sketchpad-A Man-Machine GraphicalCommunication System", Proceedings of the Spring JointComputerConference,
Detroit, Michigan, May 1963 (Washington, D.C.: Spartan, 1964).
2.
Proceedings ofIFIPCongress, pp. 506-508, 1965.
No comments:
Post a Comment