The First Radiosity Image Was Ironed Together by Hand in the 1940s
The Computer Graphics Book of Knowledge
Before pixels or plotters, MIT professors Parry Moon and Domina Eberle Spencer computed global illumination by hand, then assembled the first radiosity image from cut-out Munsell paper samples ironed together. Their method, called interflection reflection, was presented in 1946 and published in their 1948 lighting textbook. This history traces computer graphics from those analog roots through Bell Labs, Boeing, Sketchpad, and the founding of ARPA.
Lacking any display or output mechanism, the image itself was created by painstakingly selecting Munsel paper samples that matched the output data of their mathematical model. The paper was cut out and ironed together by hand to create the image shown here in print for the first time in over 50 years.
- snvzz
Unsure why not link the parent[0].
- ChrisArchitect
Alt title from the site index:
Milestones of CGI (1999)
- aj7
In 1968 or 1969, I saw an Evans & Sutherland graphics input computer, complete with light pen, at MIT. Along one wall was industrial shelving. Students slept on the shelving, concentration camp style, to get a session on the computers in the room. It was very inspiring; I had already had two Fortran 4 classes at my high school, 1966-67, which had its own IBM 1130 system as well as an Olivetti Programma. But it was not more interesting than Physics.