Abstract
Shape computations recognise parts and create new shapes through transformations. These elementary computations can be more than they seem, inducing complicated structures as a result of recognising and transforming parts. This paper introduces, what is perhaps in principle, the simplest case where the structure results from seeing embedded parts. It focusses on lines because, despite their visual simplicity, if a symbolic representation for shapes is assumed, lines embedded in lines can give rise to more complicated structures than might be intuitively expected. With reference to the combinatorial structure of words the paper presents a thorough examination of these structures. It is shown that in the case of a line embedded in a line, the resulting structure is palindromic with parts defined by line segments of two different lengths. This result highlights the disparity between visual and symbolic computation when dealing with shapes—computations that are visually elementary are often symbolically complicated.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Prats, M., Lim, S., Jowers, I., Garner, S. W., & Chase, S. C. (2009). Transforming shape in design: Observations from studies of sketching. Design Studies, 30(5), 503–520.
Stiny, G. (2006). Shape: Talking about seeing and doing. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Stiny, G. (1996). Useless rules. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 23, 235–237.
Jowers, I., Prats, M., McKay, A., & Garner, S. (2013). Evaluating an eye tracking interface for a two-dimensional sketch editor. Computer-Aided Design, 45, 923–936.
Earl, C. F. (1997). Shape boundaries. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 24, 669–687.
Krishnamurti, R. (1992). The maximal representation of a shape. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 19, 267–288.
Krstic, D. (2005). Shape decompositions and their algebras. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 19, 261–276.
Lothaire, M. (1997). Combinatorics on words (2nd edn.). Cambridge University Press.
Lyndon, R. C., & Schützenberger, M. P. (1962). The equation aM = bNcP in a free group. Michigan Mathematical Journal, 9, 289–298.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank George Stiny for his generosity in ongoing discussions about this particular ‘walk in the park’.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jowers, I., Earl, C. (2018). Visual Structures of Embedded Shapes. In: Lee, JH. (eds) Computational Studies on Cultural Variation and Heredity. KAIST Research Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8189-7_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8189-7_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-8188-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-8189-7
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)