Most people think of computers in an industrial, or mathematical setting, but more and more computers are used in the field of the arts to help artists or to actually create themselves. They can make jobs that deal with the arts more efficient and can save a lot of time and money. Computers are involved in various artistic fields- especially art, music, and writing. Today computers are used for artistic purposes in the professional world as well as that of fine arts. In 1973 Harold Cohen, a Californian artist, decided to try something new and to give his Digital Vax 11/75 computer drawing lessons. First he "taught" AARON (the computer's new name) to move a Radiograph drawing pen along a sheet of paper. He also programmed it to remember every drawing and to never repeat itself. That didn't - 1 - take too long, but the next step was a little more difficult. AARON had to learn concepts that we just take for granted like the difference between inside and out, the difference between image and ground, negative and positive, large and small, and textures. It has about 20 different rules to remember. Consisting of four drawing tables with drawing attachments called "turtles", AARON draws without hesitation. Although the computer wasn't programmed to draw any sort of figures, some of it's drawings are suprisingly suggestive of people or things. It also knows when it's done and doesn't have to be turned off. AARON draws in black and white, but Cohen adds his own color to some. In an exibition AARON's drawings sold for $10 a piece. AARON's basic principle is that it has "the ability to make decisions based on the changing state of drawing as it proceeds, without waiting for further instructions" Now Cohen is trying to develop a way for AARON to draw with color. So far AARON's computer drawings aren't much competition 1K for human artists, but in the future, who knows. Plastic surgeons who have always needed artists now are finding a use for computer graphics in their profession. In the early years of face surgery, the doctors used artists to help them draw and reshape peoples faces. But human artists were hard to K ---------- 1. Campbell,L., "The Machine that Learned to Draw" Art in ___ __ America, Nov 1983. _______ - 2 - control, and some got carried away with their artistic liscence. Then they used CT scans which are cross-sectional X-ray images of the skull, but they are two-dimensional and the surgeons neede three dimensions. Now with a new program developed for plastic surgery, CASPR- Computer Aided Surgery Project- plastic surgeons can rotate a three-dimensional image of a skull and look inside. They also can form a "skin" over the skull to see how the face 2K will turn out. CASPR is now used for severe patients. Archetects also use graphics to improve their jobs. Using CAD they can design ten times faster and can cut fees by 10%-60% while still increasing profit margins. Archetecture graduates with computer training now make 10%-50% more than those without it. Computers have increased the efficiency of archetecture incredibly. Because of the cuts in time they can build buildings that are more expensive and more efficient. By watching computerized men build on the screen first, they can avoid many unnecessary construction problems, and the archetects also simulate hurricanes and snowstorms to test the clapsing point. CAD can help to plot piping, analyze structural tolerences, tally parts, prepare bills, and to go over lans to make sure they don't violate local zoning regulations. They can even build larger things than just buildings. Now they can use the computer to make oil field drawings from geological data run through them. K ---------- 2. Rosenthal,E.,"Computer Art Aids Surgeons " Science Digest, May _______ ______ 1983, p.7