On May 29, 1940, shortly before the beginning of the war in the Pacific, Kanji Ishihara, leader of the army's Kyoto 16th Division, gave a speech entitled "The End of War as We Know It," which later came to be known as the "final war theory." Beginning with a summary of the history of war - from ancient Greek and Roman times through the "Second War in Europe" - Ishihara goes on to suggest that the next war, the "war to reach the limit of decisive battle advancements," would involve all the nation's citizens and would require all its resources. After this war, war would become impossible and thus would cease. In other words, this would be the final war. Ishihara's explanation is as follows:"If we examine the changes in methods of war, we see that square troop formations developed into line formations, walking formations and combat force formations. No matter how seriously we look at it, with respect to methods of war, square formations are dots, line formations are solid lines, walking formations are dotted lines, and combat force formations are surfaces. Dots and lines developed into surfaces. We can expect the next war to be three-dimensional...This war will be fought by three-dimensional solid objects. In other words, it will be a war fought mainly in the air.
We cannot comprehend a world of more than three dimensions. If such a world exists, it is probably a spiritual world with ghosts and such. This is not something normal human beings can understand. In short, the next war will reach the limit of decisive battle advancement."
Ishihara explains the historical change from dots and lines to surfaces from a sociological point of view - for example, the difference between mercenary armies and national armies - as well as from a military technology point of view - the advent of guns and mechanical weaponry. The final war, the "three-dimensional war," will include the use of two technologies: airplanes capable of circling the earth numerous times without landing and weapons of mass destruction that can obliterate hundreds of thousands of people at a time. Ishihara was aware of the potential for developing nuclear weapons and he believed this final war would occur "very soon," or within thirty years or so.
Only five years after this speech, a weapon of a destructive force "more powerful than we could possibly imagine" exploded overhead.
Computers have always been machines for calculation. However, when we examine the way in which human beings adapt the calculation results for meaningful uses and the way in which the computer output is expressed, our attention focuses on the evolution of various forms and styles of computer output. Computer-related information technology is moving toward the "war of solid objects" stage. Cybernetic automata, or "robots," can also be thought of as important output machines, but I would like to focus this discussion on forms of output related to human senses.
The name "analytical engine" appears on the opening page of any work written on the history of computers. In 1833, English inventor Charles Babbage conceived the idea of a machine capable of various calculations - the "Analytical Engine." This machine had many of the features of today's computers. It had four mechanisms - input, operation, memory and output - and was controlled by programs. A machine on a grand scale, it was to be powered by a steam engine. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, Babbage was not able to produce this machine from mahogany and brass. This happened more than one hundred years before the first standard electronic calculator was produced. The analytical engine was capable of accurate calculations of up to 50 digits, the results of which were to be printed by an automatic typesetting machine developed by Babbage.
Herman Hollerith, an employee of the Federal Census Bureau of the United States, invented an electronic device to calculate enormous figures. This device was produced in time to be used during the 1890 federal census. After receiving a patent for his invention, Hollerith started his own company. This company later merged with a smaller firm to become IBM. Hollerith machine read data electronically from punch hole data cards and calculated the totals, with the results displayed on more than 40 dial gauges in a row. At the end of each day, employees would read the numerical values of each gauge, record this data on paper, and then reset every needle to zero. The results of calculations such as these were not automatically printed on paper until 1915, when James Powers invented a printing device.
Numerous inventions and discoveries followed. In 1946, the world's first digital computer - the ENIAC, or Electronic Numeric Integrator and Computer - made its debut. The main purpose for the development of ENIAC was to calculate the trajectory of shells from weapons. The ENIAC was not completed until after the war, and it's first use was related to the development of the hydrogen bomb. The computer was born as a military technology.
After this, computers became more and more advanced, and, though they were being used for various purposes and no longer limited to military purposes only, printed output still consisted exclusively of numbers and letters.
Line printers were the only type of printing devices imaginable. Everyone thought line printers were just fine.
If, for example, my job were to prepare payroll slips for 10,000 employees every month, the first thing I would do is to collect the data necessary for each employee and prepare a program describing the procedures for utilizing this data. Next, I would record the data and program on punch hole data cards. I would then pass the bundle of cards on to the person in charge of computer systems. This is because I am not qualified to operate the computer directly. Then, I would wait several hours or maybe even several days. During this time, there is nothing for me to do but wait. Finally, the printed payroll slips would be delivered. 10,000 employee payroll slips - no mistakes. I don't know how long it would take to prepare these payrolls slips by hand (probably more than a month), but there would undoubtedly be many mistakes. Computers are fast and accurate. I think computers are great. This kind of data processing is called "batch processing." A batch is a bundle of punch hole data cards. Each bundle of data, or one bundle of punch hole data cards, is input into the computer and processed according to the program, yielding results. We don't have to worry about the process, we just want results. In this case, the results are the printed payroll slips.
This situation changed with the Cold War. It was necessary to develop an air defense system to protect the North American continent from the possibility of nuclear attack. The Air Defense Command can identify enemy weapons headed toward North America, it can predict their course, and it can give orders to intercept them. This is a battle against the clock. The enemy weapon is getting closer and closer. Radar and wireless technology must be able to process large amounts of data in an instant. A computer that can respond in real time to an ever changing situation and is capable of high speed data processing is necessary. Even more difficult, the computer must process the data and express the results rapidly and in a way that is easily comprehensible. There is no time for printing the results on paper.
The problem of expressing real time results was solved with graphic displays using tubes. The military personnel who operated this new air defense system, "SAGE," were the first people to view computer-displayed information. This was in 1958.
There is a significant difference between the relationship of people and computers using the original "batch" processing with punch hole data cards and line printers and the relationship of people and computers using real time processing of keyboards and displays. Batch processing - such as the employee payroll slips - results in output, the outcome of the computer's efforts.
This outcome is the finished product. Still, the effect of inputting information on a keyboard and having the information displayed graphically in real time is far more direct. This feeling of "type and see" was called "interactive computing" by J.C.R. Rickrider, a research psychologist involved in the development of the SAGE program. Rickrider believed that interactive computing should not be used exclusively for military purposes, but that it could be used for everyday tasks as well. Around 1962, Ivan Sutherland, a young researcher discovered by Rickrider, developed a computer graphic system called the "sketch pad." The "sketch pad" is regarded as the beginning of true computer graphics.
Tube display technology brought about a totally new concept of real-time, interactive graphic computers. Computers were no longer black boxes spitting out finished products. With interactive computing, users receive real time feedback on the data being processed, allowing them to "experience" computing.
A good example is computer games. Even if we play computer games all night long, no tangible gain is achieved. The only thing we receive is a stream of computer feedback. Thirty years have passed since the development of the SAGE program. It is now 1997, and I am using a computer to write this text. The letters typed on the keyboard are processed and displayed quickly enough to be called real time. The display used today is still a tube display, but it is capable of displaying more than 16,700,000 different colors, and it can reproduce detailed photos and even simple animation.
If we look at the various forms and styles of computer equipment output, we note that development has progressed from dial gauges to line printers to graphic displays. No matter how seriously we think about it, as for forms of expression, dial gauges are dots, line printers are lines, and graphic displays are surfaces. Dots and lines have developed into surfaces. We can imagine that the next form of expression in this progression would be the "solid" or three-dimensional form...
Of course, this idea of three-dimensional expression is no longer simply hypothetical. There is no need to read the latest report on modern virtual reality technology to know that the standard personal computers we use everyday are already becoming capable of expressing information in three-dimensional format, and the realm of possibility is constantly expanding.
Most computer users would like to use bigger screens. If cost and space were not a problem, I think it's obvious that the bigger the display, the better. I think this is true not only for uses with systems like CAD or computer graphics, but also for word processing as well. It is certainly true for me right now. My computer display is piled up with various windows - texts in progress (this text), old memos, CD-ROM dictionaries, web browser, etc. - all arranged haphazardly. Every time I want to use something, I have to move everything around. I would like to be able to look over a greater amount of information at one time.
But, the fact remains that it is difficult to have such large displays. Therefore, in situations like these, we make a computer printout and spread this out on a desk or tack it up on the wall. This use of computer printouts is totally different from that of the batch processing printed payroll slips. We are beginning to use computer printouts, copies, faxes and the like (sometimes even magazines and books) as temporary displays.
They are lightweight, they don't need electricity, they can be carried anywhere, and when they are no longer needed, we can dispose of them in the recycle box. These are extremely convenient, easy-to-use displays. A researcher writing the conclusion to a theory or a businessman about to finish writing an important report can sometimes become surrounded in so many of these sorts of displays that their situation is like that of a cocoon. This is not a joke. It is a simple example that shows we are in an environment in which information expression is expanding into the three-dimensional realm and is all around us. Virtual reality is a three-dimensional form of expression in which people are surrounded by an environment of computer information that directly controls the experience. There are two categories of equipment that create virtual reality. One category is equipment used in direct contact with the body. An example of this type is the head mount display (the first person to develop this product was Sutherland, the researcher who developed the sketch pad). It is based on the same principle as three-dimensional photography from the mid-19th century. The technique relies on the difference between the field of vision in the right and left eyes. Using both eyes at once, the user sees a three-dimensional image. The other category of virtual reality is equipment that fills a room into which people enter. Examples of this type of room include the "Media Room," developed by researchers in MIT's media lab in the 1980s, and the "CAVE," or Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, announced by a group at Illinois University in 1992. The entire wall of the main entrance to the Media Room and the four surfaces of the front wall, left wall, right wall and ceiling of the CAVE are all displays. People are totally surrounded by enormous displays.
Regardless of the type of virtual reality equipment used, the important thing is that it be interactive, in other words, that it be highly sensitive to human actions. This is the key to whether the particular virtual reality enables the user to "experience" something new and different. In addition, experiments continue with types of virtual reality that express "space" and creates an "experience" for all human sensory perceptions, not only sight, but also sound, smell, touch, movement, and so on.
The most important characteristic of three-dimensional information expression through virtual reality is that it encompasses all other forms of information expression previously developed. Virtual reality includes every kind of gauge, electronic calculator device, and graphic display.
This is certainly the "war by solid objects" stage, the limit of advancement in information technology.
Virtual reality is a technology that tries to incorporate all forms of information expression developed up until now. Of course, virtual reality requires an amount of computer power which can not be compared with the amount used for simple word or data processing and visual images. The most appropriate form of information expression will not necessarily always be three-dimensional. This is not only a question of cost. Too much information causes confusion and hinders understanding. We must chose the most appropriate form of expression for each situation and circumstance.
The World Wide Web, with its very clear "boundaries" such as the limited speed of information transfer and fees charged for information, has actually accentuated the aversion to excessive and useless information. Anyone who has used the World Wide Web has probably had the experience of getting upset when a picture that has taken a long time to download (and thus costs the user money) turns out to be a needlessly detailed company logo or overly detailed image. Of course, full color, detailed pictures are required for the "Playmate of the Month," but even if the technology of virtual reality continues to advance, most information can be transferred by simple images and texts.
Nevertheless, why is it necessary to express something in three-dimensional virtual reality? What makes this necessary? In what direction is the "war by solid objects" stage of computer development heading?
For centuries, architects have worked to express something by creating three-dimensional spaces and physical structures using stone, wood, and steel, creating architectural environments which encompass human beings.
Architects are now faced with the question of where virtual reality will lead us. This is not a question that can be answered easily, but I would like make the following proposal.
Operations research and experiments with artificial intelligence study the methods for using computers abstractly, structurally and logically. On the other hand, the goals of virtual reality are more specific, more tangible, and more discernible methods of expression by computer use. Logical steps are swiftly skipped over, and the user must deal with a great deal of content immediately. This experience is so exciting, it can cause people to shake. This reaction is based on emotions and it is directly connected to human desires and wishes. The technology of virtual reality has not yet reached maturity, and it is limited by low resolution and slow reaction to commands. Still, the power of the human imagination takes us far beyond the image. We can feel true grief over the death of our "tamagocchi" virtual pet.
With virtual reality, we can look forward to the possibility of experiencing completely new images of space. As Keisuke Shimada, a game designer, has pointed out, "Castles in games should look like castles." But there is a good possibility that this could result in meaningless production and massive copying of stale, cheap, and poor images. In any case, most will be "senseless virtual reality."
We can not reproduce nature. It is also very difficult to create architectural environments such as cities, gardens, and buildings. For this reason, expressions using space have been monopolized by authorities and power. Virtual reality can help eliminate the constraints of the architecture's physical difficulties. Using space, virtual reality releases expression from the monopoly of power. But, this does not necessarily mean virtual reality has a bright future. There is a danger that emotions released by three-dimensional expressions could easily lead to guerrilla activities, violence and discrimination. This is a result of the fact that architecture and cities have been means of power to suppress and control, and now the people can turn the situation around.
Virtual reality can achieve direct three-dimensional information expression It is the limit of advancement in information technology that began with the dial gauges and line printers. The era in which we innocently welcomed this increase in forms of expression is drawing to a close. The problem is not the form of expression, but the content expressed and the way in which it is designed. We have already begun living inside the three-dimensional space of computers.
Reference Materials
Ishihara, Kanji, "The Final War Theory, Collected works of Kanji Ishihara," volume 3, "Tamairabo," 1986
Rheingold, Howard, "Tools for Thought," translated by Shohei Kurita, "Personal Media," 1987
Rheingold, Howard, "Virtual Reality," translated by Hiroshi Sawada, Softbank , 1992
Eames, Charles and Ray, the Office of Charles and Ray Eames, "A Computer Perspective," translated by Eichi Wada, ASCII, 1994
"Nikkei Architecture," March 10, 1997, Nikkei BP
 |
 |
 |