ELECTRONIC HOW THINGS WORK ARTICLES - 2 EARLY PROTOTYPES

The Electronic Encyclopedia/Exploratorium (E3) is a vision of a future computer system-a kind of electronic ''How Things Work'' book. Typica l articles in E3 will describe such mechanisms as compression refriger ators, engines, telescopes, and mechanical linkages. Each article will provide simulations, three-dimensional animated graphics that the use r can manipulate, laboratory areas that allow a user to modify the dev ice or experiment with related artifacts, and a facility for asking qu estions and receiving customized, computer-generated English-language explanations. In this paper, we discuss some of the foundational techn ology-especially focusing on topics in artificial intelligence, graphi cs, and user interfaces-needed to achieve this long-term vision. We de scribe our initial prototype system and the technical lessons we have learned from it, as well as our second prototype currently under const ruction.