Mihai Nadin

Mihai Nadin (b. February 2, 1938 in Braşov, Romania) is a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, appointed to Ashbel Smith Professorship in Interactive Arts, Technology, and Computer Science. He is, among other things, a pioneer in computer graphics and arts, and in human-computer interaction. He founded and directed the world’s first Computational Design Program. His current pre-occupation is anticipatory computing.

Nadin has published and lectured widely on the application of digital technology in education and creative endeavors of all sorts, and the effects of new technologies on society. Through his lectures and publications, he introduced such terms as "semiotic machine", "invisible computer", "post-industrial society", "the civilization of illiteracy", and "anticipatory computing", many of which have found wide usage. His research in anticipation is aimed at applying possibilistic scenarios to the concerns of politics, government, education, security, medicine, and the design and generation of new products with anticipatory characteristics.

Contents

1 Background 2 Career 3 Bibliography (Selection) 3.1 Books 3.2 Articles 4 External links

Background

Born and educated in Romania, Mihai Nadin is among the very early scholars addressing the relation between computers and human creativity. What distinguishes his contributions to computer science, from the beginning, is a very broad horizon. The study of electronics (Polytechnic Institute, Bucharest) provided an understanding of hardware aspects, in particular control mechanisms; the study of philosophy (University of Bucharest), in particular aesthetics, gave him a good foundation in the cognitive aspects of creative human activity. Post-doctoral studies in logic and the theory of science (University of Munich), as well as computer graphics (while cooperating with the Computer Science Department at Brown University) and neural networks (Johns Hopkins University) contributed further to his perspective on computation.

Career

After making the connection to Leibniz’s attempt towards a universal language, Nadin suggested in 1977 that computers, while apparently processing digital sequences, were ultimately semiotic machines. Through the desktop metaphor, the iconic sign is introduced under suggestions from Nadin’s work on Peirce’s semiotic. Moreover, the distinction syntax-semantics-pragmatics also originates in semiotics, and defines the various levels at which programming is carried out. This understanding of the computer explains Nadin’s contributions to a semiotic foundation for human-computer-interaction (see: Interface Design: A Semiotic Paradigm. Applications on the Leading Edge; 4th Annual Pacific Northwest Computer Graphics Conference, University of Oregon Continuation Center, Eugene, OR. October 27-29, 1985), and the work he carried out (together with Thomas Ockersee, Professor of Graphic Design at the Rhode Island School of Design) for Apple Computer: a semiotic evaluation of the Apple Lisa’s user interface (1982-83). This also explains how, based on Nadin’s understanding of the computer beyond the information processing model, computation constitutes the underlying structure of a fundamentally new stage in the history of human civilization. His book, The Civilization of Illiteracy (1998) argues for an understanding of human action based on the pragmatic self-constitution of the human being: We are what we do. (In the spirit of the argument made in the book, the full text is available on the Internet. See Bibliography and Links.)

Having been involved with computers since the late 1960s, Nadin has dedicated much of his energy towards teaching various classes on digital technology and involving computers in education and creativity. In the early days of the desktop model, he was active in suggesting the adoption of computers in art and design education: the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Oregon, the Ohio State University, the State University of New York system (in particular, FIT in New York City), universities in Germany, France, and Israel). Nadin taught the first known classes in many areas related to computer science: the Semiotics of Computer-Supported Human Activity (1984, during his tenure as William A. Kern Institute Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology); in visualization (1986-1987, during his tenure as Ohio Eminent Scholar in Art and Design Technology). In 1994, Nadin founded the world’s first Computational Design Program (University of Wuppertal, Germany) and served as its director until 2003. The Program’s main purposes were 1) to develop a computational theory of design; 2) to design products and processes through digital means in and for the age of ubiquitous computing. During his tenure at the University of Wuppertal, he taught a number of original and unique courses (Ubiquitous computing devices, User modeling & ergonomics of task-based interaction design, UMTS based products, Integrating Bluetooth, 3D Computing). (See also Links.)

Nadin developed (1989-1990) Docent™, a database driven software for supporting non-linear search and retrieval of information (images and text) from a database, and MetaDocent™, for creating individualized Docents. This software was initially developed for laser discs; more recent versions have been developed for use with CD-ROMs and DVDs.

Of special interest to Nadin (since the early 1980s) is the subject of anticipation. His work started under the influence of Benjamin Libet’s research on the brain. A first book, Mind—Anticipation and Chaos (see Links) was published in the series Milestones in Thought and Discovery (Belser Presse, 1991). The book raises the issues of algorithmic and non-algorithmic computation. It suggests the need to integrate aspects pertinent to living systems in computer science research. This book is the first to advance the notion of variable configuration computers. Supported by the German Science Foundation, Nadin pursued the subject of anticipation in several projects dealing with navigation (Navigation Tools for Multimedia Knowledge Dissemination, see Links). This research led to a second (2003) “hybrid publication”:book (for foundations), DVD (for experiencing anticipation based examples), and Website (see Links) as a medium for keeping information and developments current. Research in the varied aspects of anticipation and anticipatory systems presented Nadin with the opportunity to submit his ideas of a human-machine hybrid that incorporates anticipatory characteristics (DaimlerChrysler, Audi). In 2002, Nadin founded ANTÉ: Institute for Research in Anticipatory Systems (see Links). Its purpose is to disseminate knowledge about research in anticipatory systems pertinent to creativity and performance enhancement in production, government, education, leisure, social problems, among other areas. It will also serve as a think tank for developing and applying the anticipatory approach to a wide variety of circumstances.

After finishing his work in Europe with a year as Professor in Computer Science (University of Bremen), Nadin returned to the USA. He has been appointed (2004) the Ashbel Smith Professor in the Interactive Arts, Technology, and Computer Science at the University of Texas-Dallas.

Bibliography (Selection)

Books

• Anticipation – The End Is Where We Start From (English-German-French text). Baden, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers, 2003. 129 pp.

Here, Nadin set forth the significance of “anticipation,” describing it as a new frontier in science and a second Cartesian revolution

• The Civilization of Illiteracy. Dresden: Dresden University Press, 1997. 881 pp.
• MIND-Anticipation and Chaos. From the series Milestones in Thought and Discovery (English-German parallel text). Stuttgart/Zürich: Belser Presse, 1991. 176 pp.

Nadin’s theory of mind is the first to reflect two aspects: 1) Minds define themselves only in relation to other minds; 2) It is the nature of minds to be anticipatory. The book discusses the self-organization of complex systems and derives practical conclusions for the education of minds.

Articles

• "The Meaning of the Visual: On Defining the Field" (Editor). Semiotica 52:3/4 Amsterdam: Mouton, 1985. 240 pp. + 100 plates
• "The interesting as the aim of computation. A journey in the aesthetic space" (Das Interessantes als computationale Zielsetzung – Ein Ausflug im ästhetischen Raum), in Algorithmik – Kunst – Semiotik (K.H. Rödiger, Ed.). Heidelberg: Synchron, 2003. pp. 99-134
• "Not everything we know we learned", in Adaptive Behavior in Anticipatory Learning Systems. LNAI 2684. Heidelberg: Bertelsmann-Springer, 2003. pp. 23-43
• "Can Institutions Anticipate?" Technologieabschätzung. Theorie und Praxis (Technology Assessment – Theory and Practice), Nr. 3/4, November 2003. pp. 144-148.
• "Vive la Difference. Quality of Life in an Integrated World, in Unity and Diversity." The Contribution of the Social Sciences and the Humanities to the European Research Area. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002. pp. 152-158
• "Where is the “Human” in Human-Computer Interaction?" Proceedings of the 2nd Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction/NORDICHI, Aarhus, Denmark (O. W. Bertelsen, S. Bodker, K. Kuutti, Eds.). New York: ACM. 2002
• "Education in the Digital Age: Knowledge Dissemination in Upheaval", in Visualisierung und Digitalisierung in der Wissensvermittlung [Visualization and Digitization in Knowledge Dissemination] (Volker Deubel, Klaus H. Kiefer, Eds.). Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag, 2002. pp. 95-111
• "Trust—Anticipation and Survival", in Trust: das Prinzip Vertrauen. (M. Nadin, editor, assisted by L. Becker and T. Eicher). Heidelberg: Synchron WVA, 2001. pp. 1-10
• "Anticipation: A Spooky Computation", in CASYS, International Journal of Computing Anticipatory Systems (D. Dubois, Ed.), Partial Proceedings of CASYS 99, Liege: CHAOS, Vol. 6. pp. 3-47
• "The best computer is invisible", in Computer Art Fascination. 1996. Dr. Dotzler Media Institute: Frankfurt/Main. pp. 210-212
• "Computational Design. Design in the Age of a Knowledge Society", in formdiskurs, Journal of Design and Design Theory, 2, I/1996. Frankfurt/Main: Verlag Form. pp. 40-60
• "The Art and Science of Multimedia", in Real-Time Imaging (P. Laplante, A. Stoyenko, Eds.). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, January, 1996. pp. 261-299
• "Design und Designausbildung im Zeitalter allgegenwärtiger Computerisierung" (Design and Design Education in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing), in Kunst Design & Co. Wuppertal: Verlag Müller + Busmann, 1994. pp. 230-233
• "Interface design: A semiotic paradigm", in Semiotica 69-3/4. Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter, 1988. pp. 269-302

External links

• Mihai Nadin (http://www.nadin.name/)
• ANTÉ: Institute for Research in Anticipatory Systems (http://www.anteinstitute.org/)
• anticipation.info a knowledge community (http://www.anticipation.info/)
• Computational Design (http://www.code.uni-wuppertal.de/uk/welcome.html)
• The Civilization of Illiteracy (http://www.code.uni-wuppertal.de/uk/civilization/)
• Mind—Anticipation and Chaos (http://www.oikos.org/naminds1.htm) (full English text)