RESTRUCTURING SHAPES IN TERMS OF EMERGENT SUBSHAPES - A COMPUTATIONALAND COGNITIVE MODEL

In order to interpret the current state of a design, designers possess the powerful, spontaneous ability to restructure shapes in terms of e mergent subshapes. In this paper a theoretical model of restructuring shapes is presented, one that aims to recognize explicit and implicit emergent subshapes computationally and to explain cognitively some cri tical phenomena of designers' visual behaviors. A computing procedure using two neuron-like connectionist networks and two attentional techn iques serves as the vehicle to mimic some critical empirical phenomena . By a comparison of the computational and empirical variables embedde d in the subshape viewing processes, the internal behavior of the mode l has been further clarified, and some hypothetical viewpoints have be en cross-validated.