Vision, our creative response to the world, is basic, regardless of the area of our involvement with the world. It is central in shaping our physical, spatial environment, in grasping the new aspects of nature revealed by modern science, and, above all, in the experience of artists, who heighten our perception of the qualities of life and its joys and sorrows.
Gyorgy Kepes, "Education of Vision", Vision + Value Series, Braziller, 1965
Computer graphics deals with the input, generation, storage, transformation and display of visual information, i.e., data in two or more space dimensions. It has often been said that true man-machine communication which is convenient for man will involve a large element of graphics. In addition to displaying the results of calculations and accepting procedure definitions graphically, we also want computers to process pictorial material. Since the visual information must be coded for the computer numerically (coordinates of the points, etc.) it also becomes a candidate for remote transmission. The following (developed by Kenneth C Knowlton and Leon Harman) categorizes the field into four logical sections according to the type of transformation involved:
The two major modes of communication with the computer are interactive graphics, corresponding to realtime conversational computing, and passive graphics, corresponding to batch processing, where the result is not immediately seen. Although interaction offers great advantages, passive graphics also has a vast potential, and is generally simpler and cheaper.
A limited range of graphics can be achieved on a line printer or teletype, for example the SYMAP (Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis) program for contour maps, Pen on paper electromechanical plotters are the most popular graphic output devices, ranging from inexpensive ($5,000) units to large, highly accurate drafting tables ($200,000). These may be operated remotely, with the plotting commands transmitted over a communications line. The microfilm plotter displays the information on a cathode ray tube which is automatically photographed, by a built-in asynchronous movie camera with the frame advance of the film being under program control. This results in an increase of speed of the order of one hundred, and results in a very condensed form for voluminous outputs.
The cathode ray tube itself is becoming widespread for alphanumeric displays. Storage tubes with picture drawing capabilities are also inexpensive, on the order of a few thousand dollars. The interactive display systems use a fast decay phosphor so that the image can be altered rapidly, refresh system (regenerating the picture about 40 times per second) using a buffer memory, or tying up the whole computer. In addition usually a light-pen, function keys, typewriter keyboard, etc. are also included.
Other devices for sketching and manipulating the pictures are available, such as Rand tablets, mice, joysticks, etc. These systems start at around $100,000. There is a limit on the number of points or lines which may be displayed in one refresh cycle; exceeding this causes an unpleasant flicker. For real time motion to be displayed the picture has to be recalculated rapidly. Some systems are beginning to offer built in hardware to speed up the basic functions, such as rotation of three dimensional objects.
The digitally controlled machine tool may be considered to be a three dimensional graphic output. Other devices may be controlled by digital (or analogue) output from the computer. Such techniques will likely become popular in the multimedia environment type of art, for example, where the program can react to the environment perceived by various sensors (for temperature, pressure, smell, etc.) and control the action of several effectors (projectors, lights, sound synthesizers, etc.).
The computer-generated object on the left and the surrounding room are a photographic simulation to illustrate the perspectives a user sees when looking into a new head-mounted device developed at the University of Utah. The device permits architects to visually step inside their drawings and view the interior of a building. The device is used in a research program which is aimed at simplifying communications between man and computer through the use of pictures.
The latest developments are moving toward standard video output on standard TV sets providing a cheap and readily available output device, and making it possible to use color directly. The major problem is to transmit the large amount of information needed for the video scan rapidly enough; this is being accomplished by means of drums or disk storage.
The graphic information may be generated by program without any input. Such is the case when we use the results of some calculation which are to be plotted, or the generation of basic geometric shapes where only the parameters need be supplied (e.g. the center and radius for a circle). For line drawings only the coordinates of the end points of the lines which make up the picture are required. These could be coded manually and entered on punched cards, or a semiautomatic digitizer may be used.
These devices, costing about the same as plotters, generally include some type of stylus (like those on plenimeters) which the operator guides over the curve. The coordinates of points along the curve are automatically recorded on punched cards, magnetic tape, or directly in a computer. Some automatic line followers are also available, useful only with simple line drawings, such as a plot of X VS Y or a seismograph tracing. The flying spot scanners (in the $250,000 range) scan a transparency such as microfilm in a TV type scan, recording the gray level at each spot. For 1,000 by 1,000 resolution 1,000,000 points are generated! The programmable scanners give over control of the scan to the program, so that with line following algorithms, for example, the, amount of data recorded can be cut down drastically. This digital picture processing technology is still in an early stage of development.
Some of the devices for interactive input have already been mentioned. Other digital or analogue inputs may also be arranged to control the processing. For example, in one system the motion of an anthropomorphic harness worn by a man can control the image on the scope, as can sound input such as music. It is in the area of input and output devices that we can look forward to the greatest changes in the next few years. Although these will bring great improvements, it is not yet clear whether they will also produce significant cost reductions.
Computer graphics is one of the newer fields of computer application. Various areas have been developing separately, with not much unification between them. One such area is plotter graphics.
The relatively inexpensive equipment and the ease of programming for simple applications has made plotters quite popular in the scientific and engineering world. Plotting a function of Y against X is the obvious example. The glamour of interactive graphics has retarded the acceptance of plotters more generally. Many people are aware only of interactive graphics and when they find this too expensive and complex for their applications, they abandon further consideration of graphics. However, beginning with passive graphics is a good way to obtain experience in this field, and much useful work can be done with it, such as sales charts, market studies, etc.
A proliferation of alphanumeric displays - devices which display numbers and text - is appearing on the market. Although the development of the equipment is part of graphics, their programming and use does not require anything more complex than the use of line printers. They are often used to replace teletype printers in time shared computing.
As with alphanumeric displays, computerized typesetting the computing aspects of preparing text for conventional or photo typesetting machines is not really graphical in nature. It deals only with linear strings of alphanumeric characters, although some systems are being developed for layout and editing, and illustration will be added eventually.
In the area of interactive design, only a small number of installations are in day-to-day productive operation for circuit design, automobile, ship and aircraft design, and some other engineering fields, such as piping layouts. Even fewer production installations have been established for architecture, graphic design, typography, art, etc.
Another subfield of computer graphics is computer animation. Since the output of a microfilm plotter is directly onto film, by varying the picture frame to frame a motion picture can be easily created for any process which can be suitably programmed. Alternatively, a camera can be placed in front of a display tube. The result of a video display can be recorded on videotape. A number of educational, scientific and art films have been produced, particularly at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, though progress has been slow due to the lack of software, the cost of the equipment, and a lack of appreciation of the benefits to be gained. Suitable languages and interactive animation systems are being developed. Recently a real time, shaded, colour display of simulated objects has been demonstrated by NASA.
Visual presentation of information allows us to perceive many relationships which are difficult to deduce from tables of numbers. There are many situations in which the relationships we seek are not only distributed in space (e.g. the population of various centers) but also in time, since we are interested in the development of these relationships over some period. These include data available as time series (population statistics, pollen counts, per capita income, sales figures, etc.) transportation data (automobile traffic, telephone calls, information transfer, etc.), stochastic events (traffic accidents, births and deaths, war casualties, etc.), dynamic processes (evolution, blood circulation, weather systems, the operation of a computer under program control, etc.). Such information is best displayed in the form of moving pictures.
Consider for example the vast amounts of data which exist in the form of series of values over a period of time (years, days, seconds, etc.) for a large number of locations on a map (of the world, Canada, Ontario, one suburb, etc.). The values at any point of time can be displayed on a map by means of a number of techniques such as circles proportional to the value (the black dots of demographic maps); histogram-like rectangular boxes (or pyramids); figures representing the variable (stick figure for people, dollar bag for money, etc.); shading; elevating a particular region proportionately to the given value, etc.
Between any two successive points in time the data can be interpolated and the appropriate number of frames output, resulting in continuous change when the film is shown by a standard film projector. A calendar (or clock) can be added to provide a frame of reference.
Such a moving picture will make evident not only the rate of change of the values, but also the changes in the rate of development (sudden spurts, the leveling off of the increase or decrease, etc.) Furthermore, the developments at the various locations on the map will be seen in relation to each other. The westward spread of population in North America is an obvious example. Techniques for showing more than one variable at a time (e.g. population and income) can also be developed.
The fields of potential application are widespread. Demographic and economic data, medical and educational statistics, production and sales figures are a few of the major types. In the case of many of the developing problems of our society the figures would speak for themselves with dramatic impact through such films; for example water and air pollution, the increasing incidence of lung cancer and traffic accidents and other information about the quality of life.
In addition to the use of actual data, this technique may also be used to display the effect of various alternative predicted figures, as well as for data obtained from simulation programs.
Arrows between locations can be used to display volume of traffic. The width or the intensity of the arrow can indicate the volume, and this can be made to change continuously on the resulting moving picture. By showing small objects (arrowheads, boxes, cars, stick-figures) in motion (their number proportional to the traffic density) the velocity of movement can also be indicated.
This type of data can be superimposed over the population type of map, so that, for example, the immigration and emigration rates can be shown together with the dynamic population map.
Any type of traffic can be displayed including vehicles, telephone conversations, employee transfers and data communication between computers.
Exceptional events can be superimposed in the form of a bright flash, for example, to indicate traffic deaths, communication breakdowns, births, etc.
Simulation of dynamic processes of other types ( e.g. blood circulation, evolution, kinship relations, cash flow, movement of the planets, weather systems, topological transformations) require different programs, each depending on the particular problem.
As an example we may cite the visualization of computing concepts. We see only the static initial condition of the stored program, but must imagine it in a dynamic, changing form to understand it. This has to be done in conjunction with the visualization of the data on which the program operates. We have flowcharts, but usually need to trace through them with specific sample data to understand them.
To demonstrate a complex sorting routine, for example, we cover large chalkboards with numerous columns of variable data (current inputs and outputs, the state of each index, etc.). In some situations, such as the communication between an operating system and the tasks it is supervising, a dynamic visualization of the process may well provide new insights to the system designer. In other cases such moving pictures will serve mainly as educational and training aids.
In addition to the abstract graphic symbols indicated, previously stylized renderings of real entities (human figures, birds, cars, trees, etc.) have to be used. The motion of these must seem believable. A demonstration of the laws of gravity by means of a circle representing a bouncing ball is graphic simulation, but to show two boys playing ball would be cartoon animation according to this terminology. (However, the whole field of computer-generated moving pictures is often referred to as computer animation.)
Cartoon effects can add a human element to educational movies, providing the appeal to feelings which many educators consider essential to real learning. The commercial potential of cartooning is extremely large, production costs are high and the results are generally poor - as one can judge by tuning a television set to any channel on a Saturday morning.
Some primitive cartoon elements have been incorporated into a few computer-generated films, and one or two papers have appeared in the literature. The development of cartoon animation involves the solution of many interesting problems. It also presents a good vehicle for studying various types of motion, such as the natural movements of men and animals.
On the simplest level the computer is used merely for the fill-in task, interpolating between two given frames to provide the intermediate frames needed for the illusion of continuous motion. The animator presents the two pictures on the display tube. A better approach is to provide subroutines for the most common motions of the usual types of animated figures. To take an example, if the animator wants a flying bird he would sketch the bird or retrieve it (in coded form) from the picture library (on disk), then draw with the light pen the path to be taken.
The flying bird subroutine would then be used to provide the motion, including the flapping of the wings.
Although the conventional cartoon consists of two dimensional drawings, usually it has to simulate motion in three dimensions. A three dimensional representation of the figures is necessary, so that perspective can be introduced, the figures can be presented from various angles, and the portions of the scene hidden by the figures can be eliminated. Representation of three dimensional arbitrary surfaces, hidden line elimination, and shading are very complex processes involving large amounts of computer time. Colour adds further complexities.
Although stress has been laid on recording the resulting dynamic graphics on film, this arises from current technical limitations. Display systems with real-time capabilities will be able to generate the images (still or dynamic) upon demand, utilizing programs and pictures stored on mass memories. With a trend toward a graphic processor as a part of each display system, the display may be at a location remote from the central computer.
Digitized picture processing deals with the computer processing of photographic transparencies. It has received its impetus from the space program where pictures of the moon and Mars were transmitted digitally and processed through a computer at the California Jet Propulsion Laboratory to filter out the noise and for contrast enhancement. Other applications, so far, have been largely in the scanning of photographs of bubble chamber tracks in high energy physics, and chromosome counts, nerve fibres, etc. in medicine. These techniques are necessary for fully automated picture analysis of aerial photographs, maps, X-rays, photomicrographs, etc.
Closely related to the picture processing area is pattern recognition. Although a field quite distinct from graphics, where visual images are involved a graphic preprocessing is necessary before further analysis. Character recognition is the most important area commercially, due to the computer input preparation problem. The infantile robot projects at M.I.T. and Stanford use video input for the visual system. The scene analysis required is fraught with many difficulties; currently only very regular objects with strong contrasts between faces can be handled.
The interrelations of the many factors we need to take into account in considering many of society's problems can best be understood visually.
The graphic method, with its various developments, has been of immense service to almost every branch of science, and consequently many improvements have of late been effected. Laborious statistics have been replaced by diagrams in which the variations of a curve express in a most striking manner the several phases of a patiently observed phenomenon, and, further, a recording apparatus which works automatically can trace the curve of a physical or physiological event, which by reason of its slowness, its feebleness, or its rapidity, is otherwise inaccessible to observation.
Language is as slow and obscure a method of expressing the duration and sequence of events as the graphic method is lucid and easy to understand. As a matter of fact, it is the only natural mode of expressing such events; and, further, the information which this kind of record conveys is that which appeals tu the eyes, usually the most reliable form in which it can be expressed.
E J Marey, "Movement", D Appleton and Company, New York, 1895.
No full-fledged generalized programming languages for graphics have yet emerged. Most software systems are oriented toward a particular piece of hardware and a particular application area. Thus the user has to concentrate on various types of graphics problems instead of his application. Many of the potential users have no programming background at all and problem-oriented, higherlevel programming languages with graphics capabilities are required.
It would appear that the best approach for now would consist of an extensible language in which one of the well known algorithmic languages (FORTRAN, APL, ALGOL, etc.) would have added to it the capability to deal with pictorial data and the basic graphic manipulations (translation, rotation, scaling, etc.). All program modules dealing with specific input-output devices would be separate, so that they could be easily changed for a particular installation. In addition, by means of a capability to define operators, the graphics programmer could develop particular sets of problem-oriented operators for each application area.
Thus out of the one basic system, languages using the terms familiar to particular applications could be rapidly developed for use by people with little programming skill. Such a graphics language would also be useful for communication between people in describing a particular problem or algorithm. A large number of operators could be stored in a subroutine library, so that the various users could share the development effort. An international workshop has been proposed to be held in Canada, which would be the first meeting on graphic programming languages.
At the Overly Manufacturing Company in Greensburg, Pa., a computer is used to design fabricated structures built by the company. First, the computer theoretically bombards the structure to test its ability to withstand forces ranging from hurricane winds to nuclear blasts at varying distances and angles of approach. Then a computer-controlled plotter produces a finished drawing of the structure for inspection by engineers, and a punched tape to control machine tools to make the structures. In the photograph, Sam Schrecengost is shown welding computer-designed sections of a church steeple shell before it is shipped to its destination for erection.
In the case of interactive graphics, at the moment a great deal of attention must be paid to picture regeneration, attention handling, menu building, etc. Again, no software systems exist which make it simple to prepare an interactive procedure without attention to the many bookkeeping problems. The human factors involved in display organization, etc. also require further study.
Since many pictures of interest involve a large number of points or lines and characters, much attention must be paid to efficiency. Otherwise even with our fastest present computers some applications become completely uneconomical. The efficient coding of the pictures (into coordinates) is one of these problems. The structuring of the data (into arrays, lists, rings, etc.) has also received much attention.
The representation of three-dimensional objects is particularly difficult, unless all sides have plane faces. Surfaces, for example, require appropriate mathematical expressions to be found, or a large number of contour lines stored. Research is proceeding toward efficient algorithms for a number of common problems for which straightforward brute force methods are easy to deduce, but they require unduly large amounts of computer time. Some of these are the hidden line problem, perspective projections, shading, finding whether two pictures intersect, windowing, clipping, shielding, etc. Computers with large numbers of parallel processors would be a great help, even optical computers have been considered, but both of these are still far from realization.
The handling of picture libraries share the problems of information retrieval of other material but in addition are complicated by the two (or more) dimensional nature of visual material. A data bank of coded maps, for example, has to be accessible not only by index terms, but also by the geographic boundaries of the area to be retrieved.
Recently it has become apparent to many people working in the computer graphics field that most of the attention has been placed on these technical problems, and not nearly enough effort has been expended on the development of useful application packages for the many potential areas where graphics could make a significant contribution. Many practical applications with widespread potential are actually relatively simple. Within the next two to three years the bandwagon effect may well occur with respect to computer graphics, if the potential benefits are suddenly realized by a large number of users. The provision of the required software and services may well become a major industry within the field. If graphics software and services become readily available, many new areas of computer use, where calculations and data processing are not the major requirement, should be open. Accelerated progress can also be expected in the development of improved input and output equipment, and relatively small organizations with good ideas will be able to make their mark in this field.
The potential scope for the application of graphic techniques is virtually unlimited. We will briefly mention some of the possibilities.
Our cities do not have reliable base maps of the street layouts, the lots and buildings, nor of the various utility conduits. In the first part of this article we described some of the statistical type of data which can be tied to a map, and displayed visually. Topographic maps, contour maps, etc. are other items in widespread use, and are expensive to produce by hand.
Information retrieval systems from large data banks will in many cases require graphic output. Even from nonnumeric data banks, the distribution of occurrence of various items will often be required, which can be best presented graphically.
Regardless of the material being taught, one rarely sees a chalkboard with only English text and numbers in a classroom. We turn to pictorial representation time and again to explain ideas and relationships. Educational technology must take this into account, and educators must realize that this is not merely an arty frill, but a necessity.
Most of television programming is only radio with a camera attached, we see almost no graphics, except in the commercials. If rapid means can be found to visualize the news of the day and the statistics of the many situations reported on, and if this can be done economically, our public affairs broadcasting could be greatly enriched.
Circuit analysis; ship, car, and plane design; training simulators; structural design; architectural layouts; and display of chemical structures are some of the areas in which interactive techniques have already been applied. Graphic output of simulation programs, traffic studies, etc. provide other possibilities. These techniques will make possible the examination of a larger number of alternatives than currently possible, improving the design process. They will also allow the intervention of human judgment into the mathematical design methods as they are emerging.
Remote transmission of electrocardiograms have been demonstrated. Consultations without timely personal travel require that the medical communication systems offer visual possibilities. The number of microphotographs, X-rays and other material which modern medicine needs exceeds the availability of personnel for analysis. Medical doctors have available to them practically no statistical information. They could be easily provided with the computerized systems which have been proposed.
Future air traffic control systems can be envisaged which provide the air traffic controller with a real-time, three-dimensional display of the airspace he is controlling, with the position of each aircraft indicated. He will be able to control the scale and point of view of the display. A similar display can also be installed in the cockpit of the airplane, together with a representation of the airfield to assist the pilot in instrument landings. The control of automobile traffic, and automatic pilots on automobiles will also require computer graphic techniques.
In the area of visual arts and design, I think some points discussed recently by Maurice Constant of the University of Waterloo are worth noting here.
Computer graphics, a technique by which the computer generates images - still or moving, on paper, film or tape - has now passed through the research stage and entered the period of development. In consequence, the subject of computer-generated images has now become a matter of direct and immediate concern to the designer and film maker.
In effect, one of the most powerful tools ever offered to the creative imagination is asking for direction from the user. What would you like me to do for you? What form would you like me to take?
The sad fact is that up to the present, designers and film makers are hardly aware of the existence of this tool, much less its personal relevance. And where some interest has existed, too often the esoteric language and habits of mind of the computer scientists have discouraged further investigation.
Nevertheless, some design-oriented minds, industrial designers and architects, have begun to explore the use of computer animation to evaluate structures and sequences. The architect or exhibition designer has been intrigued by the possibility of seeing on film an accurate model of the structure he has dreamed up. He can walk around it or through it, examine vistas, spatial relationships, and evaluate the effect of sequential experiences.
In general, it is not a matter of inventing a technology, but rather of taking existing technology and putting it together in a computer graphics system directed specifically at the needs of the designer and film maker.
Hitherto, much of the relevant computer technology has concerned itself with the problems of the engineer, and the need to plot information in the form of a graph. Typical of this concern is the development of high contrast film techniques. However, let us consider the more sophisticated requirements of the film maker - these will include most of the concerns of the designer. Now we must broaden our interest in computer graphics beyond points and lines to somewhat more sophisticated requirements: shape, color, shading, tone, image quality, movement within the frame and from frame to frame (shot to shot).
All this implies, too, an interest in the means of manipulating these elements in a meaningful way, that is, according to the conventions of the film medium. It also implies that the hardware involved be convenient, economical and, in general, more effective than existing film-making procedures.
What do we wish to achieve? In general, to extend the film maker's powers to manipulate shapes and colors in space; to help him do the kinds of things he has been doing but better, less laboriously, more economically and with greater accuracy. In many cases the peculiar power of the computer makes possible the construction of images which are beyond the scope of the film maker. For example, in the field of education, the subject matter of the sciences is full of expository material which suggests or sometimes demands visual capabilities beyond the present capacities of the film maker or the film medium. An obvious instance is the accurate rendering of complex movements or shapes governed by mathematical prescription or requiring great numbers of laborious calculations and drawings.
We must be prepared, too for the emergence of new techniques and modes of expression based on the peculiar capabilities of the computer capabilities of which the film maker is not aware and which he cannot even imagine. This is a most exciting prospect. It is quite possible that the continued extension of the film maker's powers in combination with new display and projection devices and ideas (such as multiple screen and total image envelopment) will produce not just a difference of degree but of kind - in effect, a new medium.
Many of the possibilities outlined here for the film maker could become equally useful to the visual artist, the art teacher, the graphic designer, the commercial artist, typographer, illustrator, industrial designer, landscape and interior designer, in exhibition and stage design, choreography, and so on.
Computers and Automation magazine has pioneered in this field by conducting an annual Computer Art contest (in the August issues) since 1963. Computers and the Humanities, since its inception in 1967, has included the visual arts in its annual bibliography (March issues). A major public show, Cybernetic Serendipity, was assembled at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London by Jaschia Reichardt.
Our public agencies and educational institutions deeply involved in the visual media must become leaders in the uses of the new technology. Since the new developments break down the boundaries between media, interdisciplinary work is vital, and the different agencies must learn to work together, and also open up their doors and facilities to outsiders.
We produce vast amounts of data by computers, and communicate great amounts of information. In some instances fork-lift trucks are needed to transport the computer printouts. These can only be understood, comprehended and used if they are organized into meaningful patterns. The most effective way of doing this is visually. The interrelations of the many factors we need to take into account in considering many of society's problems can best be understood visually. The complexity of our society and of our institutions makes the use of computers and of computer graphics real necessities. For proof we need only observe almost any face to face communication, where invariably sketching, drawing, plotting, outlining, etc., occur spontaneously.
As the possibilities are realized and the needs felt, graphics promises to be a growth area within the computer field. Graphics will also serve to open the door to many new computer users for whom current communication means with the computer are unsatisfactory. Some research studies, for example, are moving toward the graphic specification of procedures for the computer.
If computers are to be successfully introduced in under-developed countries, graphic techniques will have to play a major role. Social scientists who understand the culture of a particular area and the habits of perception of its people must be consulted.
Before really widespread use of graphics will be possible, the cost of equipment will have to decrease and the software will have to be provided to make it easy to use. Due to the cost and complexity of maintenance; central service facilities will be needed. The research and development effort should identify the areas most likely to be of help to society as a whole, and out of these begin with the ones easiest to achieve technically.
The systems developed should have general applicability, rather than being for a specific application on a specific piece of equipment. Much can be learned from the development of the rest of the computer field, without going through the same painful steps with graphics. While we need to alert potential users to the possibilities, we must not oversell it and promise things we cannot deliver. There is already much disenchantment with computers because of previous unfulfilled promises.
Our school systems tend to neglect the education of our visual sense. Many existing facilities in the graphic arts are underused because of a lack of appreciation of their value. In one university physics department a few years ago, a list of physics films was circulated, which were to be made available without charge. Only one professor expressed interest. However, now the same department has a committee on educational technology, and is becoming interested in computer animation. They want to make their own films!
The film making going on in the high schools is another positive sign. One very important factor in all of this is the realization that most graphics serve their purpose in a short time, and need not be of a quality to be preserved for the ages. Gyorgy Kepes' Vision & Value series of books constitutes one of the best resources for arguing the values of visual communication.
The best uses of visual data transmission will bring the non-numerate, but inherently visual citizen into the picture. People who specialize in a field and are intimately familiar with it can usually deal with it in an abstract manner. They are able to visualize the relationships and processes involved without external aid. They are not even aware of the needs of those less gifted in their field which is one of the reasons why many teachers are less than illuminating to their students. For example, future mathematicians can absorb most of their mathematics exclusively by means of symbols, the rest of the mathematics students need graphic visualization.
Information presented graphically tends to have a far greater emotional impact. It leads more often to a Eureka gut-feeling, an Oh, now I see. And what we need if our data is to have any real value, our information explosion any real benefit, is understanding and insight which will hopefully lead to wisdom in making our vital decisions. In a democracy we are committed to the principle that this cannot be delegated, that the whole citizenry should be informed, so that everyone can fully participate in the social process. This includes not only the interpretation of what has happened already, but also the prediction and evaluation of alternate future courses of action. We must all become futurists in a rapidly changing world, or we will lose control.
Everything that has been said so far refers to the near future. All these things are possible now, and will likely become economically feasible within the next 5-10 years.
In the more distant future other exciting vistas exist, but will only be mentioned here. We should remember that utopians and science fiction writers speculated about many developments 50 and even 100 years in advance. It took 300 years from Pascal's machine to develop the computer. Many of the implications were foreseen by Lady Lovelace (considered to be the first programmer for Charles Babbage and his Analytical Engine) one hundred years ago. Technological advances which make these things feasible are hard to predict.
However, we can look in our crystal ball and see the home entertainment and information center, with access not only to the supermarket and the world's libraries, the stock exchange and the race track, but also to the world's art collections, movies, and video tapes. And this would be available not only to the megalopolis housewife, but also to the Arctic eskimo, and the sailor on his ship. Not only will he be able to select what he wishes to see, but also interact with this and alter it. Each of us can be a citizen artist with the help of the new medium. We will be able to enter the communication stream ourselves, sending messages, poems, sonatas, pictures for others to see.
Computers can help us develop a participatory democracy - if we want it. ?
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