The beginnings of computer art in the United States: a memoir

to each other, and f rom these I chose which l ine density and aspect rat io was most pleasing to me. In other experiments, I used different random distributions to determine their artistic effects. I described the results o f these experiments in a Bell Labs technical memorandum entit led "Patterns by 7090," dated 28 August 1962. One pattern, Gaussian-Quadratic (Fig. I ) , was particularly pleasing to me. Later, I discovered that i t reminded me of the Picasso painting Ma Jobe. For fun, I would use colored-ink markers to trace over the pattern to produce customized art for my colleagues at work. At the end of the summer, I returned to my regular department and my work in subjective assessments o f telephone transmission quality, but my interests in computer art continued. Much was happening at Bell Labs in the early 1960s involving art, music and animation. Bela julesz was using the computer and plotter to produce random-dot stereograms for investigations o f human visual percept ion. Kenneth Knowlton was working with the famed animator Stanley Van Der Beek to generate computer-animated movies. Max V. Mathews was using the computer to generate musical sounds. Frank W. Sinden and Edward E. Zajec were creating computer-animated movies to help visualize scientific and technical kinetics. There was just too much happening for me to forget my interests in art and computers, and so I continued my investigations on an informal basis. My research into computer art and computer graphics continued to attract the attention o f managers in Bell's research department and in 1964, I was transferred into the research division, even though I did not have the usual prerequisite doctoral degree. I had, however, started doctoral study on a part-time basis at the Polytechnic Institute o f Brooklyn. This study culminated in my doctoral dissertation, which investigated the use o f a three-dimensional force-feedback device to enable the user to feel shapes and objects simulated by software in the computer. In mid-1971, after receiving my doctorate from Brooklyn Poly, I lef t Bell Labs to work on the staff of then-President Nixon's Science Advisor, Edward E. David, Jr., who had left Bell Labs to accept this post a year or so before. This change in the Three decades ago, such terms as computer art, virtual reality and computer animation had not yet entered our vocabulary. This was a time for the experimentation and innovation that produced today's industry of computer art and animation, along with new media for creative experiences with computers. The author has used digital computers in a variety of the visual arts, including still images, stereoscopic images, computer holography, three-dimensional animation, fourdimensional animation, interactive stereoscopic displays and input devices and, ultimately, three-dimensional force-feedback—the latter becoming a major component of today's virtual reality. This research and experimentation in computer art was performed during the 1960s. In this article the author reminisces and describes his early work. A. Michael Roll (educator), Annenberg School for Communication. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0281, U.S.A. Received 25 June 1993. Solicited by Roger F. Malina. 1994 ISAST L E O N A R D O , Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 39-44,1994 3 9