Electronic “How Things Work” Articles: Two Early Prototypes

The Electronic Encyclopedia/Exploratorium (E3) is a vision of a future computer system—a kind of electronic “How Things Work” book. Typical articles in E3 will describe such mechanisms as compression refrigerators, engines, telescopes, and mechanical linkages. Each article will provide simulations, three-dimensional animated graphics that the user can manipulate, laboratory areas that allow a user to modify the device or experiment with related artifacts, and a facility for asking questions and receiving customized, computer-generated English-language explanations. In this paper, we discuss some of the foundational technology—especially focusing on topics in artificial intelligence, graphics, and user interfaces—needed to achieve this long-term vision. We describe our initial prototype system and the technical lessons we have learned from it, as well as our second prototype currently under construction.