This page would look a lot spiffier if you downloaded a standards compliant web browser.

Digital Clay: Deriving Digital Models from Freehand Sketches, in ACADIA
    ACADIA 'Digital Design Studios: Do Computers Make A Difference?', proceedings of ACADIA 1998, Quebec City, CANADA October 22-25, 1998 pp202-211 1998
    abstract:
    During the initial stages of design, it is not uncommon to find an architect scribbling furiously with a thick pencil. Later in the design process, however, one might not be surprised to encounter the same individual in front of a computer monitor, manipulating three dimensional models in a series of activities that seem completely divorced from their previous efforts.

    Armed with evidence that sketching is an effective design method for creative individuals, we also recognize that modeling and rendering applications are invaluable design development and presentation tools, and we naturally seek a connection between these methodologies. We therefore present Digital Clay, a working prototype of a sketch recognition program that interprets gestural and abstracted projection drawings and constructs appropriate three dimensional digital models.