The keyboard and mouse are dead. Long live touch interactions.
The term CAD (Computer Aided Design), may be due for an update in terminology.
Moving from the physical drafting board to the desktop computer resulted in the keyboard and mouse filling in for the pen, paper, rulers and protractors.
30 years later, technology has advanced to a point where touch screens could be used as modern day paper, and our hands can return to their natural way of direct manipulation of objects by touch or stylus.
Despite the enormous leap, we still find ourselves replicating mouse and keyboard behaviors on this relatively new platform, and there are no set standards for these new types of interactions.
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF DRAFTING
Drafting, as a way for the architect or inventor to communicate their designs to the contractor or implementer, has typically been a manual process, until only a few decades ago.
The tools of the trade were pencils, pens, tracing paper, rulers, protractors, compasses and stencils.
That’s until the introduction of the first IBM PC in 1981, when Computer Aided Design, or CAD, began to be more widely adopted.
In 1983, A group of programmers formed Autodesk and released AutoCAD, which became the industry standard for drafting using a computer.
The drafting tools of past, were then replaced with the default input devices at that time, the keyboard and mouse. That was the default interface for anyone wanting to work with computers, and the software had to bridge between these input devices and the users’ intent.
FROM AUTOCAD TO AUTOCAD 360
In 2009, Autodesk started a cloud based web tool for drafting online, it was dubbed AutoCAD WS (which later became AutoCAD 360) and became a part of the AutoCAD product line.
AutoCAD 360, aiming to be a familiar extension of the desktop product, used a lot of the existing interactions and behaviors of the desktop product.
About a year later, AutoCAD 360 ventured into the mobile world, and released an iOS application, which was followed later by Android and Windows mobile versions.
AutoCAD 360 proved to be a very successful product, allowing users not only to draft anywhere, but collaborate and discuss their drawings in context and in real-time.
However, since the core of the mobile application is shared with its browser based counterpart, the interactions were ported over with only slight changes to accommodate the touch platform.
The middle mouse button used to pan became a drag gesture, and the mouse wheel used to zoom became a two-finger pinch gesture. When drawing, a click simply became a tap, which essentially means creation and editing remained loyal to the interactions invented decades ago to compensate for the move from the drawing board to the personal computer.
We are effectively using the iPad with a keyboard and mouse mentality, when it has the potential for much more.
TOUCH SCREENS AS DIGITAL TRACING PAPER
Touch screens are becoming more and more accessible these days. Smartphones, tablets, even laptops now come with a touch screen as a default. Even styli are steadily improving, with numerous offerings such as the Adonit Jot, Adobe Ink & Slide, Pencil by 53 and Wacom Intuos and the new Apple Pencil, to name but a few.
The tablet is becoming our modern day paper, and we should start treating it accordingly.
New tools can be created that act more like physical tools in reality, only smarter. A pen that can help me draw a perfect circle, or precision lines. A ruler that can snap to drawn points, react and adapt to the drawing and switch between scales and measuring systems with ease.
TALK IS CHEAP… WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT?
Smart Pen: A few years back, at AutoCAD 360, we developed a tool called the Smart Pen, which uses gesture recognition, to identify shapes drawn roughly with a stylus or finger, and turn them into accurate shapes.
In our labs, we are working to improve the tool, add accuracy, guides and functionality to it, to create a virtual pen tool that will understand the users’ intent and help create accurate drawings with the ease of using a physical pen and paper, in a manner more fitting the touch platform.
Quick Measure: AutoCAD 360 currently offers 4 different measuring tools and 4 different dimensioning tools. Effectively harnessing the touch capabilities of a tablet, we’re able to create a single tool which offers most of the existing tools’ functionality, and it’s actually easier to use.
Quick Trim/Delete: In order to delete an object today, you need to select it and select the delete button. In order to trim overlapping objects, you currently need to select the object you would like to keep whole, and select intersecting objects to be deleted.
The quick trim tool works just like a smart physical eraser. Cross an object or segment with your finger or stylus, and it’ll just disappear, easy as that.
IN SUMMARY
Touch and gesture based CAD tools still have a long way to go to match the full capabilities of AutoCAD 360 mobile or AutoCAD desktop. Many improvements are already in the works, to improve measuring and drawing capabilities. Machine learning could improve drawing functionality. Better snapping would match AutoCAD’s accuracy. Smart interactions need to be worked out for some of the more advanced editing functionality.
The touch platform is here to stay, and though we have grown accustomed to the keyboard and mouse, we should remember that these were temporary alternatives to more natural ways of interaction, that are already available to us in new technologies.
It won’t be long before designers can draft entire designs on their iPad, without requiring elaborate toolbars full of buttons, without announcing their intent before each action. They will be able to express their creativity quickly and easily, naturally, as they would on a piece of paper, but at a higher standard of accuracy and fidelity and with a shorter learning curve.
Noam Hamou is a Senior User Experience Designer for the AutoCAD 360 Mobile product at Autodesk. An avid believer in innovation and driving technology forward.
A big music fan, record collector and gig photographer.
