Abstract

Abstract People perceive patterns in representations, patterns that may not have been initially intended. This phenomenon of emergence is deemed to play an important role in design. Computer based design assistants can and should support this human perceptual ability, using pattern recognition to anticipate human designers ’ perception of emergent shapes and supporting the subsequent manipulation of and reasoning with these shapes as part of the design. Freehand drawing programs with gesture recognition are well positioned to implement shape emergence. Support for emergent shapes in the Back of an Envelope system is described. 1. Emergence in Visual Representations and Design Textbook examples of visually ambiguous figures such as the “two faces or a vase, ” “young or old woman”, or the Necker cube (Solso 1994) remind us that visual representations need not dictate a single reading. Yet these figures are more than curiosities: They illustrate a powerful visual-cognitive effect that artists and designers take advantage of in everyday work. Multiple

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