Read article in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies
Title: The Origin of the See-Through Graphical Interface: World War II aircraft gunsights and the status of the material in early computer interface design
Abstract: This article defines a new category of media technologies, the See-Through Graphical Interface, which are interface devices that project graphical information into a user’s field of view. This category includes technologies as diverse as Head-up Displays, Augmented Reality, military gunsights, and others. This article identifies and discusses the first See-Through Graphical Interface, the British Mark II Gyro Gunsight, a computing gunsight used in the cockpits of fighter aircraft during the latter half of World War II. On the basis of an analysis of the design and history of this gunsight, this article considers the See-Through Graphical Interfaces’ implications for prevailing ideas on virtuality, materiality, human-computer interaction and media history.
Keywords: See-Through Graphical Interface, Augmented Reality, gyro gunsight, Head-up Display, material, virtual, virtuality, Graphical User Interface, computing history, military history
