SketchPad

SketchPad (1963) was a revolutionary program which is considered the ancestor to today's Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, as well as a huge step forward in computer graphics. SketchPad was developed by Ivan Sutherland at MIT.

DEMO: SketchPad


A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System:by Ivan Sutherland

The Sketchpad system uses drawing as a novel communication medium for a computer. The system contains input, output, and computation programs which enable it to interpret information drawn directly on a computer display. Sketchpad has shown the most usefulness as an aid to the understanding of processes, such as the motion of linkages, which can be described with pictures. Sketchpad also makes it easy to draw highly repetitive or highly accurate drawings and to change drawings previously drawn with it…

         

What is Interactive Computer Graphics?

}User controls contents, structure, and appearance of objects and their displayed images via rapid visual feedback.

}Basic components of an interactive graphics system

}input (e.g., mouse, tablet and stylus, multi-touch…)

}processing (and storage)

}display/output (e.g., screen, paper-based printer, video recorder…)

}First truly interactive graphics system, Sketchpad, pioneered at MIT by Ivan Sutherland for his 1963 Ph.D. thesis