Simulation
noun
- imitation of a situation or process.
Emulation
noun
- reproduction of the function or action of a different computer, software system, etc.
History of computer graphics
The PDP-1
The PDP-1 was created by the Digital Equipment Corporation and released in 1959. PDP stands for Program Data Processor as an attempt to differentiate it from computers as DEC were not in the business of making computers at the time. The screen of the PDP-1, as with early computers, was a radar screen like that used by planes and boats. A radar display uses Oscilloscopes which use an electron gun to project oscillating voltages on the screen.
The PDP-1 featured a program called ‘Snowflake’ which would make the ‘computer’ display moving snowflake patterns on the radar screen. The electron gun projects white marks on the screen in the shape of snowflakes and, because the screen is a radar screen, the marks fade out in a greenish hue after the gun moves away.
The Minskytron is an in-browser emulator of the PDP-1. This website shows emulations of the graphics featured on the PDP-1 such as the snowflakes, Minskytron and Munching Squares. This emulation of a pre-digital computer helps to historicise media materiality and computer graphics.
Response to Oscillon Graphics
Several visual artists have created works inspired by Ben Laposky’s oscillon works. Laposky was known for using an oscilloscope as a tool for creating art. He also colourised his designs using rotating filters.
“Oscillographic art might be considered as a kind of visual music, as the basic waveforms resemble sound waves. I used sine waves, saw tooths, square waves, triangular waves, and others in various combinations, modulations, envelopes, sweeps, etc. Oscillons usually are not accidental or naturally occurring forms, but are composed by the selection and control of the oscilloscope settings and of varied input circuitry. I used especially modified oscilloscopes for this work, as well as some of my own specifically designed electronic instruments.”
Ben Laposky
Mark Lyken created ‘Oscillon Response’ as an interpretation of Laposky’s original works. Oscillon Response featured video recordings of oscillon graphics, unlike Laposky’s still images. Lyken credits Laposky as the inspiration for his work.
Another interesting response to Laposky is Andrew Duff’s ‘Vectrex Oscillographics’. Duff’s work incorporates live performances of Oscillographics, and uses soundwaves as the input for the electron gun to turn into graphics. This connects nicely to Laposky’s comment that his graphics were a sort of “visual music”. I think the use of sound-waves in creating graphics to be rather poetic.
Rutt-Etra
The aptly-named Rutt-Etra machine was created by Steve Rutt and Bill Etra. A similar device, called the Scanimate, was created by the Computer Image Corporation. The Rutt-Etra was an analog, real-time image editor. This made it possible to edit video in real time using analog control boxes.
In the following clip, Bill Etra demonstrates the features of the Rutt-Etra machine such as; moving the image on an x or y axis, zooming, flipping, and distorting/warping.
Andrew Duff displayed a similar system at the University of Sussex, using modules to change video frequencies being fed from a camera into an analogue screen. The modules could change colour outputs by excluding certain colours, distort images and create many different effects. I find this extremely interesting – using analog equipment to enact effects on images is a very different approach to that of Photoshop. Photoshop can achieve visually similar effects with two clicks of a mouse, yet a large amount of equipment and knowledge are required to achieve these effects in an analog format. In some ways I find it disheartening that modern technology has taken some of the craft away from visual graphics. It was noted that Laposky’s career diminished as modern computers undermined his work. Another part of me, however, finds it mind-blowing how manipulations which were expensive, confusing and difficult 50 years ago are now incredibly simple.
The Rutt-Etra-Izer can instantly convert images into a style which emulates the Rutt-Etra’s effects, without any technological input from the user (other than uploading a photograph). Whilst computers are often considered to be an augmentation of human capabilities, this feels to me far more like automation. A digital artefact exploring automation and augmentation would be fascinating.
However, I am more interested in Duff’s method of turning sound-waves into computer graphics using analog devices. I have discovered that computers can be very restrictive in what they allow you to do, so this example of using an analog method to use sound devices ‘incorrectly’ is fascinating. Whilst, during the glitching exploration, it became evident that you could open sound files in an image editor, you would only be visualising data encoded into the sound file. Duff’s method physically uses waves of sound to influence the oscillations of an electron gun to create images. This is fascinating.
Resources
Digital Media: Theory and Critique 