Can You Imagine A New Color?

An impossible task is to imagine an entirely new color, not a different shade of an existing color but an entirely new color. This paradox is very similar to what happens when we try to invent something new. It is hard to imagine something that has never been seen. Instead, we tend to build new things as improvements on existing ideas.

The general design of the keyboard and monitor is based on a typewriter, which evolved from the printing press that came about from pen and paper. The car is based on the horse-drawn carriage — birds-inspired airplanes. Even the processors running this computer are continuations upon the numerical machines from the past.

How Imagination Works

The ability to imagine comes from a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Albert Einstein proclaimed, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” There is a human need to simplify explanations while holding a more complex mental picture. It is a cornerstone of learning and a significant piece of the computer interface puzzle.

We cannot imagine an entirely new color, animal, plant, or rock. This is because our imagination is based on what we know. As we better understand a topic, we can imagine it more thoroughly. For example, imagine how a car engine works. The adult may have a mental picture of pistons moving up and down and valve springs compressing and decompressing. In contrast, a child’s imagination of the same is limited to the noise the vehicle makes.

Evolving Solutions

Before calculators, there were slide rules. Similar in appearance to a ruler, the slide rule performed multiplication, trigonometry, and many other mathematical functions by manipulating the middle section along with a small window.

In 400 years, we went from slide rule to Excel. Perhaps most surprising is that this electronic evolution did not speed up the time to produce an answer. Calculators can be slower than slide rules, and spreadsheets are slower to start than the power button on a calculator. The reason spreadsheets gained popularity over calculators and slide rules came out of favor was a change in how we worked problems.

Users of the slide rule and calculator worked on paper. Software equivalents of these tools felt cumbersome, so a new problem-solving method was devised to fit the new medium of computer screens. The spreadsheet added continuous calculations in multiple directions with copy-and-paste answers. Transferring computations to a written report became more straightforward, and showing how a solution was derived did not change.

How Interfaces Change Us

Each computer interface is a continuation of an experience in the physical world. Spreadsheets were not entirely new. They were based on the accounting ledger, a bound volume of specially ruled paper for continuous computation by hand. So far, we have gone from typing to pointing to speaking to chatting at our computers. All things that were previously known.

Computer interfaces come from the imagination of the designer. When we experience them, we are forced to fit our imagination into a new view of reality. Before graphical computing, pointing with a mouse was not a natural action. Writing and drawing with a pen are much more intuitive. However, the limitations of the underlying hardware made this impossible.

Sometimes, the interface limits us. Before the iPhone was PalmPilot, a portable device for taking notes and maintaining a personal digital calendar that used handwriting recognition as the primary interface. It was clunky as users had to write each letter a specific way for it to work. For the iPhone, Apple bypassed handwriting for the more straightforward solution of pointing and hand gestures.

What’s Next

The real challenge is imagining something new. Most of the advances in technology are continuations or improvements to existing methods. At Estimand, we are working to make interactive diagrams to convey complex information in a simple form. Our inspiration comes from the periodic table of elements, illustrations of DNA, and molecular models.

Founded in April 2023, Estimand Inc. is a Delaware Corporation with principal offices in Raleigh, North Carolina. We began as a paper on causal AI that evolved into the first company to instantly reveal the factors behind global financial risk. You can learn more about Estimand by visiting our website: https://estimand.ai.