Bret Victor - The Humane Representation of Thought

Bret Victor argues that modern computing interfaces ignore human sensory and motor capabilities, proposing alternative representations that engage more physical modalities.

For cool updated about the future of computing, follow me at twitter.com/iamvriad. Closing keynote at the UIST and SPLASH conferences, October 2014. Preface: worrydream.com/TheHumaneRepresentationOfThought/note.html References to baby-steps towards some of the concepts mentioned: Dynamic reality (physical responsiveness): - The primary work here is Hiroshi Ishii's "Radical Atoms": tangible.media.mit.edu/project/inform/ - but also relevant are the "Soft Robotics" projects at Harvard: softroboticstoolkit.com - and at Otherlab: youtube.com/watch?v=gyMowPAJwqo - and some of the more avant-garde corners of material science and 3D printing Dynamic conversations and presentations: - Ken Perlin's "Chalktalk" changes daily; here's a recent demo: bit.ly/1x5eCOX Context-sensitive reading material: - worrydream.com/MagicInk/ "Explore-the-model" reading material: - worrydream.com/ExplorableExplanations/ - worrydream.com/LadderOfAbstraction/ - ncase.me/polygons/ - redblobgames.com/pathfinding/a-star/introduction.html - earthprimer.com/ Evidence-backed models: - worrydream.com/TenBrighterIdeas/ Direct-manipulation dynamic authoring: - worrydream.com/StopDrawingDeadFish/ - worrydream.com/DrawingDynamicVisualizationsTalk/ - tobyschachman.com/Shadershop/ Modes of understanding: - Jerome Bruner: amazon.com/dp/0674897013 - Howard Gardner: amazon.com/dp/0465024335 - Kieran Egan: amazon.com/dp/0226190390 Embodied thinking: - Edwin Hutchins: amazon.com/dp/0262581469 - Andy Clark: amazon.com/dp/0262531569 - George Lakoff: amazon.com/dp/0465037712 - JJ Gibson: amazon.com/dp/0898599598 - among others: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodied_cognition I don't know what this is all about: - worrydream.com/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign/ - worrydream.com/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign/resp… --- Abstract: New representations of thought — written language, mathematical notation, information graphics, etc — have been responsible for some of the most significant leaps in the progress of civilization, by expanding humanity’s collectively-thinkable territory. But at debilitating cost. These representations, having been invented for static media such as paper, tap into a small subset of human capabilities and neglect the rest. Knowledge work means sitting at a desk, interpreting and manipulating symbols. The human body is reduced to an eye staring at tiny rectangles and fingers on a pen or keyboard. Like any severely unbalanced way of living, this is crippling to mind and body. But it is also enormously wasteful of the vast human potential. Human beings naturally have many powerful modes of thinking and understanding. Most are incompatible with static media. In a culture that has contorted itself around the limitations of marks on paper, these modes are undeveloped, un