Importance of Moveable Type and the Renaissance for Interaction Design

Early forms of writing steered a path for languages to develop and convey ideas or stories.  As civilizations formed around the world, the progress of moveable type was invented.  Moveable type, which originated from China around 1040 A.D. using wood was later moved onto cast metal in Europe.  The significance of moveable type revolves around the concept of creating words and the preservation of writing itself.  Moveable type helped the creation of books, which can hold extensive amounts of information and history that can be distributed from one area to another in the masses.  It has come a long way in terms of how it can be printed with the ever-evolving technology from etching to laser and digital printing we see today.  Typefaces also evolved to show different ways characters can be manipulated to show different styles.

The Renaissance gave way for many inventions mainly for military activities as Leonardo de Vinci was an artist as well as a military engineer.  A lot of his concepts are still researched on and used today such as the robotic knight which influenced NASA’s robot designs.  Other contraptions like the first diving suit underwater and the first car are also good examples of incorporating human-centered designs; leading to the exploration of improving human life.

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One thought on “Importance of Moveable Type and the Renaissance for Interaction Design

  1. Very good references right there! It would be more clear for us to understand the influences with the assist of images for objects like NASA’s robot, the diving suit underwater, and the first car.

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