[:es]
En 1963, Ivan E. Sutherland, presenta su tesis “Sketchpad: A man-machine graphical communication system”, dirigida por Claude E. Shannon, creador de la Teoría de la Información.
«The Sketchpad system makes it possible for a man and a computer to converse rapidly through the medium of line drawings. Heretofore, most interaction between men and computers has been slowed down by the need to reduce all communication to written statements that can be typed; in the past,we have been writing letters to rather than conferring with our computers.»
El objetivo fundamental de este trabajo de tesis doctoral fue la producción de un nuevo sistema de comunicación con los ordenadores. Shutherland era consciente ya de las dificultades de uso que la abstracción necesaria para programar los ordenadores generaba en cierto tipo de usuarios y trató de construir un sistema de mediación que, recurriendo a procedimientos naturales para los usuarios a los que trataba de llegar, solventase ese problema hacia el exterior, hacia el usuario, pero que internamente no perdiese esa capacidad de funcionamiento abstracto.
https://youtu.be/USyoT_Ha_bA
Uno de los puntos de inflexión que supuso el trabajo de Sutherland fue la verdadera objetualización y posterior instrumentalización del dibujo, no como proceso, sino como unidad de contenido.
«It has turned out that the properties of a computer drawing are entirely different from a paper drawing not only because of the accuracy, ease of drawing, and speed of erasing provided by the computer, but also primarily because of the ability to move drawing parts around on a computer drawing without the need to erase them.»
Esto llevo a Sutherland a concebir, y aquí es donde aparece la radical importancia de su propuesta, y que creemos ha sido olvidada hasta ahora en el desarrollo de los sistemas de CAD, un sistema de trabajo en el que, gracias a la objetualización del dibujo y a su consecuente capacidad de ser manipulado de forma no destructiva, se incrementó enormemente la capacidad operativa del usuario.
«As the work has progressed, several simple and very widely applicable facilities have been discovered and implemented. They provide a subpicture capability for including arbitrary symbols on a drawing, a constraint capability for relating the parts of a drawing in any computable way, and a definition copying capability for building complex relationships from combinations of simple atomic constraints.»
Los conceptos de subdibujo, restricción, definición y copia de definición, exponen con claridad las capacidades de articulación de la información en conocimiento o, como lo denomina Sutherland, computación de procesos.
La acción gráfica pasa de ser inmediata a necesitar de una reflexión previa que construya sus estructuras internas.
«We have indicated that the vertices of the hexagon are to lie on the circle,and they will remain on the circle throughout our further manipulations. If we also insist that the sides of the hexagon be of equal length, a regular hexagon will be constructed.»
En el ejemplo introductorio, la construcción de un hexágono regular, apreciamos como, el pensamiento geométrico que determina las reglas internas o de construcción de este polígono, en Sketchpad, mediante la construcción de las restricciones y su conversión en una definición, llevará a ese elemento gráfico a tener una identidad superior que, en nuestra opinión, es capaz de trascender el grafismo, no ya en el plano semántico, si no en el de la propia realidad.
«We have said, in effect, make this line equal in length to that line. We indicate that all six lines are equal in length by five such statements. The computer satisfies all existing conditions (if it is possible) whenever we turn on a toggle switch.»
El subdibujo (subpicture) nos remite en Sketchpad a la posibilidad de iterar, a la fractalidad de ideas capaces de atomizarse iterativamente hasta elementos infinitesimales con una cualidad simbólica idéntica al primer nivel que les da origen.
https://youtu.be/BKM3CmRqK2o
La restricción (constraint) no refleja la idea de limitación si no, por el contrario, está indicando la construcción de relaciones conscientes y explícitas entre elementos gráficos –partes del dibujo– ya sea por determinaciones dimensionales o topológicas.
La copia de definición (definition copying) opera con la instrumentalización operativa del pensamiento, en tanto que es capaz de objetualizar una operación intelectual, las restricciones –independientemente de su complejidad– almacenarla y reutilizarla sin limitación.
«Sketchpad drawing itself is entirely different from the trail of carbon left on a piece of paper. Information about how the drawing is tied together is stored in the computer as well as the information which gives the drawing its particular appearance. Since the drawing is tied together, it will keep a useful appearance even when parts of it are moved. It is this ability to store information relating the parts of a drawing to each other that makes Sketchpad most useful.»
Las referencias a la información son constantes en todo el trabajo, y puede que por ese propio exceso nos pase desapercibida su relevancia, pero es innegable que todo el proceso que Sutherland desarrolla pasa por la necesidad de traducir a digital las operaciones intelectuales que se producen al usar medios gráficos analógicos.
Es esta traducción a digital, y por tanto a información, la que fuerza a Sutherland a crear un sistema que le permita estructurar lo que hasta entonces ha sido una relación inmediata pensamiento-dibujo.
Sutherland, pese a lo primitivo del trabajo, es capaz ya de afirmar que el ordenador no sabe lo que está dibujando, no tiene capacidad de entender la capa semántica del objeto representado, pero si conoce y mantiene las estructuras internas determinadas por el autor de los dibujos y que también tienen en si mismas una componente significante para la totalidad de la estructura.
«Most important of all, the computer “knows” that a “transistor” is intended at that place in the circuit. It has no need to interpret the collection of lines which we would easily recog- nize as a transistor symbol. Since Sketchpad stores the topology of the drawing as we saw in closing the hexagon, one indicates both what a circuit looks like and its electrical connections when one draws it with Sketchpad.»
Sketchpad y el proceso de diseño.
De este modo, Sketchpad se convierte –por necesidad de su funcionamiento– en un modelo del proceso de diseño. El usuario/diseñador tiene que hacer explícito el proceso de pensamiento –hasta ahora aprendido, interiorizado y generalmente automatizado e inconsciente– que desarrolla en el acto creativo.
Desde un enfoque claramente pragmático, y que se ha demostrado premonitorio en el desarrollo de los modelos de diseño digital performativo (Oxman, 2006 y 2008)1,2, Sutherland asocia la capacidad de Sketchpad de cumplir condiciones geométricas con la necesaria capacidad de un diseño de cumplir condiciones de proyecto, reafirmando su previsible utilidad.
«The ability of Sketchpad to satisfy the geometric constraints applied to the parts of a drawing models the ability of a good designer to satisfy all the design conditions imposed by the limitations of his materials, cost, etc.»
Más allá del gran interés que tiene el relato histórico del desarrollo del programa que el propio autor incorpora a la tesis, es fundamental reseñar que este relato describe con transparencia la importancia de entender los procesos en todo trabajo informacional.
Sutherland se enfrenta constantemente, y lo describe con claridad y profusión, con los conceptos de sistematización, de estructuración en cadena, de anidamiento, de relaciones causa-efecto, de la separación entre lo genérico y lo específico, y su propia consciencia de lo primitivo de su trabajo no hace si no animarlo anticipando futuras aplicaciones.
Los que tuvimos la suerte de disfrutar de asignaturas como Estática Gráfica, no podemos dejar de asombrarnos de que, incluso en las etapas iniciales de desarrollo de Sketchpad, el programa pudiera ser utilizado para una resolución muy aproximada de estructuras en celosía, llegando a anticipar el autor con seguridad que el salto a su aplicación tridimensional era un mero problema instrumental.
No podemos dejar de mencionar, pese a lo aparentemente anecdótico, un comentario que el autor hace como de soslayo sobre la configuración de la interfaz del sistema, en este caso todavía ruedas, diales, e interruptores físicos, muy lejos todavía de los iconos o barras de comandos digitales de los programas actuales.
«Users get used to either sense of change about equally poorly; the major user so far (the author) still must try the knob before being sure of which way it should be turned.»
Nos parece especialmente relevante este comentario por lo explícito de la afirmación de Sutherland. Incluso el usuario principal, el propio autor, debe probar el dial antes de confirmar la idoneidad de su uso.
En los sistemas instrumentales de representación, lo trascendente no es la herramienta, si no su potencial.
Miguel Villegas, arquitecto
Editor en arquitextónica
Sevilla, septiembre 2015
Notas:
1. Oxman, R. “Theory and Design in the First Digital Age.” Design Studies 27, no. 3 (2006): 229-265.
2. Oxman, R. “Digital Architecture as a Challenge for Design Pedagogy: Theory, Knowledge, Models and Medium.” Design Studies 29, no. 2 (In: Design Studies. (Design Studies, March 2008, 29(2):99-120); 2008-03-01, : 99
[:gl]
En 1963, Ivan E. Sutherland, presenta a súa tese “Sketchpad: A man-machine graphical communication system”, dirixida por Claude E. Shannon,, creador da Teoría da Información.
«The Sketchpad system makes it possible for a man and a computer to converse rapidly through the medium of line drawings. Heretofore, most interaction between men and computers has been slowed down by the need to reduce all communication to written statements that can be typed; in the past,we have been writing letters to rather than conferring with our computers.»
O obxectivo fundamental deste traballo de tese doutoral foi a produción dun novo sistema de comunicación cos computadores. Shutherland era consciente xa das dificultades de uso que a abstracción necesaria para programar os computadores xeraba en certo tipo de usuarios e tratou de construír un sistema de mediación que, recorrendo a procedementos naturais para os usuarios aos que trataba de chegar, liquidase ese problema cara ao exterior, cara ao usuario, pero que internamente non perdese esa capacidade de funcionamento abstracto.
https://youtu.be/USyoT_Ha_bA
Un dos puntos de inflexión que supuxo o traballo de Sutherland foi a verdadeira objetualización e posterior instrumentalización do debuxo, non como proceso, senón como unidade de contido.
«It has turned out that the properties of a computer drawing are entirely different from a paper drawing not only because of the accuracy, ease of drawing, and speed of erasing provided by the computer, but also primarily because of the ability to move drawing parts around on a computer drawing without the need to erase them.»
Isto levo a Sutherland a concibir, e aquí é onde aparece a radical importancia da súa proposta, e que cremos foi esquecida ata agora no desenvolvemento dos sistemas de CAD, un sistema de traballo no que, grazas á objetualización do debuxo e á súa consecuente capacidade de ser manipulado de forma non destrutiva, incrementouse enormemente a capacidade operativa do usuario.
«As the work has progressed, several simple and very widely applicable facilities have been discovered and implemented. They provide a subpicture capability for including arbitrary symbols on a drawing, a constraint capability for relating the parts of a drawing in any computable way, and a definition copying capability for building complex relationships from combinations of simple atomic constraints.»
Os conceptos de subdibujo, restrición, definición e copia de definición, expoñen con claridade as capacidades de articulación da información en coñecemento ou, como o denomina Sutherland, computación de procesos.
A acción gráfica pasa de ser inmediata a necesitar dunha reflexión previa que constrúa as súas estruturas internas.
«We have indicated that the vertices of the hexagon are to lie on the circle,and they will remain on the circle throughout our further manipulations. If we also insist that the sides of the hexagon be of equal length, a regular hexagon will be constructed.»
No exemplo introductorio, a construción dun hexágono regular, apreciamos como, o pensamento xeométrico que determina as regras internas ou de construción deste polígono, en Sketchpad, mediante a construción das restricións e a súa conversión nunha definición, levará a ese elemento gráfico a ter unha identidade superior que, na nosa opinión, é capaz de transcender o grafismo, non xa no plano semántico, se non no da propia realidade.
«We have said, in effect, make this line equal in length to that line. We indicate that all six lines are equal in length by five such statements. The computer satisfies all existing conditions (if it is possible) whenever we turn on a toggle switch.»
O subdibujo (subpicture) remítenos en Sketchpad á posibilidade de iterar, á fractalidad de ideas capaces de atomizarse iterativamente ata elementos infinitesimais cunha calidade simbólica idéntica ao primeiro nivel que lles dá orixe.
https://youtu.be/BKM3CmRqK2o
A restrición (constraint) non reflicte a idea de limitación se non, pola contra, está a indicar a construción de relacións conscientes e explícitas entre elementos gráficos ?partes do debuxo? xa sexa por determinacións dimensionales ou topológicas.
A copia de definición (definition copying) opera coa instrumentalización operativa do pensamento, en tanto que é capaz de obxetualizar unha operación intelectual, as restricións –independentemente da súa complexidade– almacenala e reutilizala sen limitación.
«Sketchpad drawing itself is entirely different from the trail of carbon left on a piece of paper. Information about how the drawing is tied together is stored in the computer as well as the information which gives the drawing its particular appearance. Since the drawing is tied together, it will keep a useful appearance even when parts of it are moved. It is this ability to store information relating the parts of a drawing to each other that makes Sketchpad most useful.»
As referencias á información son constantes en todo o traballo, e poida que por ese propio exceso pásenos desapercibida a súa relevancia, pero é innegable que todo o proceso que Sutherland desenvolve pasa pola necesidade de traducir a dixital as operacións intelectuais que se producen ao usar medios gráficos analóxicos.
É esta tradución a dixital, e por tanto a información, a que forza a Sutherland a crear un sistema que lle permita estruturar o que ata entón foi unha relación inmediata pensamento-debuxo.
Sutherland, a pesar do primitivo do traballo, é capaz xa de afirmar que o computador non sabe o que está a debuxar, non ten capacidade de entender a capa semántica do obxecto representado, pero se coñece e mantén as estruturas internas determinadas polo autor dos debuxos e que tamén teñen en se mesmas unha compoñente significante para a totalidade da estrutura.
«Most important of all, the computer “knows” that a “transistor” is intended at that place in the circuit. It has no need to interpret the collection of lines which we would easily recog- nize as a transistor symbol. Since Sketchpad stores the topology of the drawing as we saw in closing the hexagon, one indicates both what a circuit looks like and its electrical connections when one draws it with Sketchpad.»
Sketchpad e o proceso de deseño.
Deste xeito, Sketchpad convértese –por necesidade do seu funcionamento– nun modelo do proceso de deseño. O usuario/deseñador ten que facer explícito o proceso de pensamento –ata agora aprendido, interiorizado e xeralmente automatizado e inconsciente– que desenvolve no acto creativo.
Desde un enfoque claramente pragmático, e que se demostrou premonitorio no desenvolvemento dos modelos de deseño dixital performativo (Oxman, 2006 e 2008)1,2, Sutherland asocia a capacidade de Sketchpad de cumprir condicións xeométricas coa necesaria capacidade dun deseño de cumprir condicións de proxecto, reafirmando a súa previsible utilidade.
«The ability of Sketchpad to satisfy the geometric constraints applied to the parts of a drawing models the ability of a good designer to satisfy all the design conditions imposed by the limitations of his materials, cost, etc.»
Máis aló do gran interese que ten o relato histórico do desenvolvemento do programa que o propio autor incorpora á tese, é fundamental apuntar que este relato describe con transparencia a importancia de entender os procesos en todo traballo informacional.
Sutherland enfróntase constantemente, e descríbeo con claridade e profusión, cos conceptos de sistematización, de estruturación en cadea, de anidamiento, de relacións causa-efecto, da separación entre o xenérico e o específico, e a súa propia consciencia do primitivo do seu traballo non fai se non animalo anticipando futuras aplicacións.
Os que tivemos a sorte de gozar de materias como Estática Gráfica, non podemos deixar de asombrarnos de que, mesmo nas etapas iniciais de desenvolvemento de Sketchpad, o programa puidese ser utilizado para unha resolución moi aproximada de estruturas en celosía, chegando a anticipar o autor con seguridade que o salto á súa aplicación tridimensional era un mero problema instrumental.
Non podemos deixar de mencionar, a pesar do aparentemente anecdótico, un comentario que o autor fai como de esguello sobre a configuración da interface do sistema, neste caso aínda rodas, diales, e interruptores físicos, moi lonxe aínda das iconas ou barras de comandos dixitais dos programas actuais.
«Users get used to either sense of change about equally poorly; the major user so far (the author) still must try the knob before being sure of which way it should be turned.»
Parécenos especialmente relevante este comentario polo explícito da afirmación de Sutherland. Incluso o usuario principal, o propio autor, debe probar o dial antes de confirmar a idoneidade do seu uso.
Nos sistemas instrumentais de representación, o transcendente non é a ferramenta, se non o seu potencial.
Miguel Villegas, arquitecto
Editor en arquitextónica
Sevilla, setembro 2015
Notas:
1. Oxman, R. “Theory and Design in the First Digital Age.” Design Studies 27, no. 3 (2006): 229-265.
2. Oxman, R. “Digital Architecture as a Challenge for Design Pedagogy: Theory, Knowledge, Models and Medium.” Design Studies 29, no. 2 (In: Design Studies. (Design Studies, March 2008, 29(2):99-120); 2008-03-01, : 99[:en]
In 1963, Ivan E. Sutherland, presents his thesis “Sketchpad: A man-machine graphical communication system”, directed by Claude E. Shannon, creator of the Theory of the Information.
«The Sketchpad system makes it possible for a man and a computer to converse rapidly through the medium of line drawings. Heretofore, most interaction between men and computers has been slowed down by the need to reduce all communication to written statements that can be typed; in the past,we have been writing letters to rather than conferring with our computers.»
The fundamental aim of this work of doctoral thesis was the production of a new system of communication with the computers. Shutherland was conscious already of the difficulties of use that the necessary abstraction to programme the computers was generating in certain type of users and it tried to construct a system of mediation that, resorting to natural procedures for the users to whom it was trying to come, was settling this problem towards the exterior, towards the user, but that internally was not losing this capacity of abstract functioning.
https://youtu.be/USyoT_Ha_bA
One of the points of inflexion that supposed Sutherland’s work was the real objetuatilation and later instrumentalización of the drawing, not as process, but as unit of content.
«It has turned out that the properties of a computer drawing are entirely different from a paper drawing not only because of the accuracy, ease of drawing, and speed of erasing provided by the computer, but also primarily because of the ability to move drawing parts around on a computer drawing without the need to erase them.»
This I lead Sutherland to conceiving, and here it is where there appears the radical importance of his offer, and that we believe has been forgotten till now in the development of CAD‘s systems, a work system in which, thanks to the objetualización of the drawing and to his consistent aptitude to be manipulated of not destructive form, the operative capacity of the user was increased enormously.
«As the work has progressed, several simple and very widely applicable facilities have been discovered and implemented. They provide a subpicture capability for including arbitrary symbols on a drawing, a constraint capability for relating the parts of a drawing in any computable way, and a definition copying capability for building complex relationships from combinations of simple atomic constraints.»
The concepts of subdrawing, restriction, definition and copy of definition, they expose with clarity the capacities of joint of the information in knowledge or, since it names it Sutherland, process computation.
The graphical action happens of being immediate to needing from a previous reflection that he constructs his internal structures.
«We have indicated that the vertices of the hexagon are to lie on the circle,and they will remain on the circle throughout our further manipulations. If we also insist that the sides of the hexagon be of equal length, a regular hexagon will be constructed.»
In the introductory example, the construction of a regular hexagon, we estimate like, the geometric thought that determines the internal rules or of construction of this polygon, in Sketchpad, by means of the construction of the restrictions and his conversion in a definition, it will lead to this graphical element to having a top identity that, in our opinion, is capable of coming out the graphic design, not already in the semantic plane, if not in that of the own reality.
«We have said, in effect, make this line equal in length to that line. We indicate that all six lines are equal in length by five such statements. The computer satisfies all existing conditions (if it is possible) whenever we turn on a toggle switch.»
The subpicture sends us in Sketchpad to the possibility of iterar, to the fractalidad of ideas capable of being atomized iterativamente up to infinitesimal elements by a symbolic identical quality to the first level that gives them origin.
https://youtu.be/BKM3CmRqK2o
The constraint does not reflect the idea of limitation if not, on the contrary, it is indicating the construction of conscious and explicit relations between graphical elements – parts of the drawing – already be for dimensional determinations or typologys.
The definition copying operates with the operative exploitation of the thought, while an intellectual operation is capable of objetualizar, the restrictions -independently of his complexity- to store it and reutilizarla without limitation.
«Sketchpad drawing itself is entirely different from the trail of carbon left on a piece of paper. Information about how the drawing is tied together is stored in the computer as well as the information which gives the drawing its particular appearance. Since the drawing is tied together, it will keep a useful appearance even when parts of it are moved. It is this ability to store information relating the parts of a drawing to each other that makes Sketchpad most useful.»
The references to the information are constant in all the work, and it is possible that for this own excess his relevancy happens to us unnoticed, but it is undeniable that the whole process that Sutherland develops spends for the need to translate into foxglove the intellectual operations that take place on having used graphical analogical means.
It is this translation to foxglove, and therefore to information, which forces Sutherland to create a system that allows him to structure what till then has been an immediate relation thought – drawing.
Sutherland, in spite of the primitive of the work, is capable already of affirming that the computer does not know what it is drawing, there does not have aptitude to understand the semantic cap of the represented object, but if it knows and supports the internal structures determined by the author of the drawings and that also they have in if same one significant componente for the totality of the structure.
«Most important of all, the computer “knows” that a “transistor” is intended at that place in the circuit. It has no need to interpret the collection of lines which we would easily recog- nize as a transistor symbol. Since Sketchpad stores the topology of the drawing as we saw in closing the hexagon, one indicates both what a circuit looks like and its electrical connections when one draws it with Sketchpad.»
Sketchpad and the process of design.
Thus, Sketchpad turns – for need of his functioning – into a model of the process of design. The user / designer has to make the process of thought explicit – till now now learned, internalized and generally automated and unconsciously – that it develops forthwith creativly.
From a clearly pragmatic approach, and that has demonstrated indicative in the development of the models of digital design performativo (Oxman, 2006 and 2008)1,2, Sutherland associates Sketchpad’s aptitude to fulfill geometric conditions with the necessary capacity of a design to fulfill project conditions, reaffirming his predictable usefulness.
«The ability of Sketchpad to satisfy the geometric constraints applied to the parts of a drawing models the ability of a good designer to satisfy all the design conditions imposed by the limitations of his materials, cost, etc.»
Beyond the great interest that has the historical statement of the development of the program that the own author incorporates into the thesis, it is fundamental to outline that this statement describes with transparency the importance of understanding the processes in all work informacional.
Sutherland faces constant, and describes it with clarity and profusion, with the concepts of systematizing, of structure in chain, of anidamiento, of cause and effect relationships, of the separation between the generic thing and the specific thing, and his own conscience of the primitive of his work does not do if not to encourage it anticipating future applications.
Those that we were lucky to enjoy subjects as Graphical Statics, we cannot stop astonishing that, even in the initial stages of Sketchpad’s development, the program could be used for a resolution very brought near of structures in lattice, managing to anticipate the author safely that the jump to his three-dimensional application was a mere instrumental problem.
We cannot stop mentioning, in spite of the seemingly anecdotal thing, a comment that the author does like obliquely on the configuration of the interface of the system, in this case still you roll, dials, and physical switches, very far still of the icons or bars of digital commands of the current programs.
«Users get used to either sense of change about equally poorly; the major user so far (the author) still must try the knob before being sure of which way it should be turned.»
This comment seems to us to be specially relevant for the explicit of Sutherland’s affirmation. Even the principal user, the own author, must prove the dial before confirming the suitability of his use.
In the instrumental systems of representation, the transcendent thing is not the tool, if not his potential.
Miguel Villegas, architect
Editor in arquitextónica
Sevilla, september 2015
Notes:
1. Oxman, R. “Theory and Design in the First Digital Age.” Design Studies 27, no. 3 (2006): 229-265.
2. Oxman, R. “Digital Architecture as a Challenge for Design Pedagogy: Theory, Knowledge, Models and Medium.” Design Studies 29, no. 2 (In: Design Studies. (Design Studies, March 2008, 29(2):99-120); 2008-03-01, : 99[:]
