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CREATIVITY INTERACTING WITH

COMPUTERSErnest Edmonds, Gerhard Fischer, S. Joy Mountford, Frieder Nake, Douglas Riecken,Robert Sence

Moderator:

Ernest EdmondsLUTCHI Research Centre

Department of Computer Studies

Loughborough Universit of Techno!ogLoughborough

Leicestershire" LE## $TU" U%

emai! e&a&edmonds'!ut&ac&u(

)erhard *ischer

Universit of Co!orado" +ou!der" C,

S& -o Mountford

Interva! Research" .a!o /!to" C/

*rieder 0a(e

Universit of +remen" )erman

Doug!as Riec(en

/T1T +e!! Labs&" Ho!mde!" 0-

Robert SpenceImperia! Co!!ege" London" U%&

2 /CM

Abstract

http://www.sigchi.org/chi95/ACMcopyright.htmlhttp://www.sigchi.org/chi95/ACMcopyright.html

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Much traditiona! HCI research has concentrated on routine" 3e!!4defined and stab!e" tas(s

or !o3 !eve! computer support for comp!e5 tas(s" e&g& spe!!4chec(ing for someone 3riting

a boo(& Increasing!" ho3ever" interest is moving to the support of peop!e invo!ved increative tas(s& This is the topic of the pane!& Design and the visua! arts 3i!! be used as

tpica! e5amp!es of creative 3or( and visions of computer futures and their cu!tura! and

socia! imp!ications are e5p!ored&

Keywords:

creativit" interaction" design" art" emergence" distribution" concurrenc&

Itrod!ct"o

Computer sstems for professiona! 3or(ers are often constructed in re!ation to a prob!em

so!ving paradigm& ,n the other hand" studies of professiona! peop!e at 3or( suggest that

the spend much more time in prob!em formu!ation than the do in prob!em so!ving&.rob!em so!ving re6uires e5pertise but prob!em finding re6uires creative thought& Shou!d

3e aspire 7ust to automate e5pertise or shou!d 3e aim to amp!if human creativit8

-ust 3hat is stimu!ating to creative thought and 3hat is inhibiting8 *or e5amp!e" a

soft3are critic can be ver he!pfu! in bringing errors to the attention of the user" but the

critics (no3!edge can inc!ude conventiona! 3isdom& / creative act ma often invo!ve

contradicting a standard convention& So does the critic he!p or hinder8 9hat shou!d theresearch agenda be for advancing support for creative thought and action8

POSITION STATEMENTS

Ernest Edmonds

*or computers to support human creative thin(ing" the must be ab!e to (eep up 3ithhuman recognition of emergent ideas& This imp!ies that the sstem is not based upon a

3e!! ordered ob7ect set but has pattern recognition capabi!it that can find the ne3

ob7ects" as the emerge" 3ith minimum human guidance& Emergence is fundamenta! tocreative thought in the sense that 3e find it hard to 6ua!if an idea as creative if it is

c!ear! imp!ied b the preceding conditions& The creative thought introduces something

ne3& In studies of design" for e5amp!e" 3e see the reshaping of the significant creative

events& In a recent stud of innovative bicc!e design it 3as sho3n that the designer"

Mi(e +urro3s" shifted his thin(ing from the conventiona! tubu!ar frame to the concept ofa sing!e monoco6ue 3ho!e that cou!d not have been inferred from the ear!ier mode!& /s

he considered sma!!er tubu!ar frames he came to see the possibi!it of fi!!ing the enc!osedspace in and" then" of abandoning the traditiona! structure entire!& Such emergent ideas

are tpica! of innovative thin(ing" but 3hat are the imp!ications for computing8

)erhard *ischer

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The po3er of the unaided" individua! mind is high! overrated 4 much of our human

inte!!igence and creativit resu!ts from the co!!ective memor of human(ind and of the

artefacts and techno!og surrounding us& Rather than studing humans in iso!ation" 3ehave to deve!op mode!s of distributed cognition and ne3 ro!e distributions bet3een

humans and computers& To e5p!oit artefact" group and institutiona! memories and to bring

design concepts into unseen and untaught" et re!evant conte5ts" ne3 representations areneeded to serve the tas( at hand& Tas(4re!evant reminding is critica! for creative activities&

;/rtefacts do often not spea( for themse!ves; 4 therefore mechanisms are needed to

increase the bac(4ta!( of artefacts& Human (no3!edge is tacit and it on! surfaces in theconte5t of specific tas(s& This imp!ies that prob!ems are not given" re6uiring the

integration of prob!em framing and prob!em so!ving& In our research over the !ast decade

3e have tried to create computationa! artefacts supporting these cha!!enges& The domain4

orientation of our design environments brings tas(s to the forefront" thereb transcending;human computer interaction; b supporting ;human prob!em4 domain interaction;&

-o Mountford

Have ou ever seen anone" doing much creative 3or( direct! using a computer8

Computers 3ere ;invented; more as productivit aids" 3hich has made them more or !essuse!ess in the creative domains& 9hen do ou see mathematicians" even" 3or(ing their

thoughts through direct! on a computer screen8 The too!s of the creative businesses are

tpica!! paper and penci!" 3hite boards and phsica! ob7ects& Ideas are initia!! s(etchedout in a rough form& The nice" order! approach of 3ord processing ma(es everthing

;!oo(; and be perceived in a finished form& The issue is ho3 much can 3e change this

order! sstem to encourage the use of the computer for a!ternate methods and thought

processes8 Is it as simp!e as change the I" )?rg Ligeti" sas he isma(ing minima!" c!ose to @ero" use of the computer" but ma5ima! use of his brain& The

computer does not" b itse!f" inf!uence creativit much& Aet its e5istence changes our

vie3s of the 3or!d" and thus it has an impact on creative 3or(& It has often been said that

3ith the computer" artists" designers" or architects ma easi! p!a 3ith hundred ofvariations& Thus" computers have an impact on the combinatoria! aspects of creativit&

Combinatorics" ho3ever" is on! the trivia! aspect of creativit& Saing this" shou!d not

divert us from the importance of the ground3or( of creativit& The computer is themachine to thin( 3ith" it has been said& More precise!" it is a semiotic machine" the

machine to carr out a!gorithmic semioses =sign processes>& If 3e 3ant to understand the

re!ation of computers to creativit" 3e can !earn from conceptua! art& Creativit happens3hen an innovative idea encounters the proper materia!" and shapes it& 9hen creating" I

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ma direct! manipu!ate m materia!" or I ma on! describe ho3 to manipu!ate it& /

definite inf!uence of computers on creativit is the separation of description and

manipu!ation& The computer is the machine for creativit in post4modernism&

Doug!as Riec(en

Ho3 might the process of innovative design benefit from the app!ication of computing

techno!ogies8 9e cou!d emp!o the computer during a design session to enumerate an

e5haustive set of vie3s representing p!ausib!e so!utions to a given prob!em& ,f course"this 3ou!d re6uire the computer to be endo3ed 3ith an e5tensive domain specific

(no3!edge4base& / critica! concern regarding this approach is the embodiment of

aesthetics in the (no3!edge4base& 9hen formu!ating so!utions" a (no3!edge4basedapproach cou!d focus its search criteria biased b emergent design properties 3hich

satisf some aesthetic va!ue& To achieve this behaviour" a (no3!edge4based sstem

shou!d =in the minima! case> functiona!! entai! t3o phsica! characteristics& *irst" the

(no3!edge schema 3hich serves to represent various compositiona! !eve!s" ranging from

the design primitives to comp!e5 composite design artefacts" must be e5treme! f!e5ib!eBthe schema must be reconfigurab!e so as to functiona!! support p!an reformu!ation& The

(no3!edge embodied in the sstem must provide a representation for aesthetic va!ues anda mapping bet3een these va!ues and the different tpes of design artefacts&

Robert Spence

I have recent! comp!eted a series of intervie3s 3ith visionar engineers in a pro7ect

3hich has attempted to !oo( for3ard to the design office in the ear & / topic of3ide concern" and commented upon in depth" the ear! ;creative; stage of design 3as

neverthe!ess one for 3hich a pressing need 3as identified rather than so!utions envisaged&

The possibi!it of the computer itse!f being creative 3as dismissed& .enci! =probab! soft>and paper" together 3ith the essentia! eraser" fre6uent! combined 3ith face4to4facediscussion 3ith co!!eagues" 3i!! sti!! be common in & 9hat 3i!! have emerged b

then" ho3ever" is a range of 3as in 3hich the computer 3i!! faci!itate the creative

process& Emergence" 3here a ne3 concept emerges from the combination of t3o e5istingones" ma be faci!itated b pattern recognition and /rtificia! Inte!!igence and Creativit& %!u3er /cademic"

Dordrecht" #F&

$& Edmonds" E&/& Cu!ture" %no3!edge and Creativit 4 +eond Computab!e0umbers" Languages of Design" #" $" pp G$4#" #F&

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F& *ischer" )& Turning +rea(do3ns into ,pportunities for Creativit& %no3!edge4

+ased Sstems" pp #4$" #F&

G& )ero" ) 1 Maher" M4L =eds>" Mode!!ing Creativit and %no3!edge4+asedCreative Design" Er!baum" Hi!!sda!e" 0e3 -erse" #$&

& Sch?n" D&/& The Ref!ective .ractitioner" Maurice Temp!e Smith" London" #$&