A Perceptually-Supported Sketch Editor
UIST '94
Eric Saund and Thomas P. Moran
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
Abstract
The human visual system makes lots more of images than the elemental
marks on a surface. In the course of viewing, creating, or editing a
picture, we actively construct a host of visual structures and
relationships as components of sensible interpretations. This paper
shows how some of these computational processes can be incorporated into
{\it perceptually-supported} image editing tools, enabling machines to
better engage users at the level of their own percepts. We focus on the
domain of freehand sketch editors, such as an electronic whiteboard
application for a pen-based computer. By using computer vision
techniques to perform covert recognition of visual structure as it
emerges during the course of a drawing/editing session, a perceptually
supported image editor gives users access to visual objects as they are
perceived by the human visual system. We present a flexible image
interpretation architecture based on token grouping in a multiscale
blackboard data structure. This organization supports multiple
perceptual interpretations of line drawing data, domain-specific
knowledge bases for interpretable visual structures, and gesture-based
selection of visual objects. A system implementing these ideas, called\\
PerSketch, begins to explore a new space of WYPIWYG (What
Your Perceive Is What You Get) image editing tools.
Paper (6.7M compressed to 350K)