Sketchpad Demonstration by Ivan Sutherland

Ivan Sutherland's doctoral thesis demonstrated Sketchpad, a revolutionary program that allowed users to draw and manipulate objects directly on a CRT screen using a light pen. It was the first interactive graphics system.

Significance

Laid the conceptual and technical foundation for all subsequent interactive computer graphics, graphical user interfaces, and computer-aided design, showing the power of direct manipulation of digital objects.

Key facts

Date
1963-05-15
Type
invention
Location
MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA