Space planning and preliminary design using artificial life

Abstract

The majority of CAD tools are designed for precision modelling of forms. The very earliest stages of design tend to be worked through with traditional media such as sketching with pen or pencil. A reason why this is, stems from the difficulty of drawing or diagramming uncertainty or vague ideas in a traditional CAD application. When a designer is still working through the design, pen and pencil are a means of exploring. While any simple pencil sketch can be imitated using CAD, this is too time consuming and limiting when compared with traditional media. This paper presents research in a prototype for a early stage planning software application using blobs (closed recursively subdivided curves) and ideas from artificial life. While not a replacement for sketching, the aim of this research is to provide a means of diagramming preliminary ideas as exploring the idea of a dialogue between humans and computers. The shapes represented in the software use physics simulations and act as 'soft-bodies' allowing users to manipulate them in various ways. Ideas from artificial life simulations are used to have the shapes interact with each other and produce unexpected configurations. The aim of these interactions is to trigger a response from the user and to allow them to explore configurations that they did not anticipate.