AIDS: advanced interactive display system

Abstract

Faced with the problem of developing a multiterminal interactive graphics display system, analysis of past experience led to three specific problem areas which must be addressed in order to build a workable system. Not necessarily in order of importance or complexity these areas are (1) the difficulty in specifying interaction between the user and the computer, (2) the complexity of handling large quantities of graphic data and its interrelationship with the display hardware, and (3) the need to get away from assembly (or assembly type) languages so that one need not be a senior systems programmer in order to write a graphics program.