“The Origin of the See-Through Graphical Interface: World War II aircraft gunsights and the status of the material in early computer interface design” (Under review)

Abstract

This article defines a new category of media technologies, the See-Through Graphical Interface, which are interface devices that superimpose computer-generated 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.  Based on original archival research at the National Archives, London, 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’ far-reaching implications for prevailing ideas on virtuality, materiality, human-computer interaction and media history.