Presidents' forum: Current issues in Computer Graphics

Abstract

Computer Graphics has been an integral part of the computer environment since the mid-1950's with origins in military, academic and industrial applications. Presidents of several leading computer graphics companies will discuss some of the issues they see facing this dynamic industry. One president believes that the 1980's will belong to the systems integrators because of the rapid rate of change in both technology and the competitive environment. Vertical integration will not be a successful strategy for the 1980's. Another president is concerned that industry research analysts are misusing the term “CAD/CAM” and that, in fact, most of today's CAD/CAM systems are simply productive drafting systems. He is concerned about the confusion between realistic pictures and solid modelling and about the proper mix of functionality and interactivity. Still another president believes the crucial issues in computer graphics are those that concern users; those that have access to the tools and those of future development of hardware and software to meet their needs. He suggests that only about one to five percent of the potential users have adopted computer graphics. He is concerned about providing increased access to computer graphics facilities and about removing the widespread psychological barrier of “I can't use the computer to do what I want!”. Other current issues will also be addressed.