Key Contribution

1999

Computation, Interaction and Imagination: into virtual space and back to reality
Ernest Edmonds and Linda Candy, Gero & Maher (editors), Proceedings of 4th International Round Table Conference on Computational Models of Creative Design IV, University of Sydney, Australia, pp.19-31.

ABSTRACT

The main aim of the research from which this paper arises is to identify requirements of computer support for creative work by investigating the work of artists and exploring the potential of new creative technology in this field. The paper reports upon an experimental artists-in-residence on the campus of Loughborough University during which events were recorded and analysed. The nature of the interchanges between artist and technologist as well as the artists’ perspectives upon the use of technologies and what they gained from it are described. One significant conclusion is that the influence of using computers on the artists’ thinking is quite as significant as any direct outcome in terms of product. The paper poses three questions and tries to find an answer to each by exploring the modeling of the results of the study in the context of what we know so far about computational approaches to understanding creativity. The results demonstrate that one aspect of VR may be understood in relation to previous studies of emergence.