When Technology Took a Different Turn
Before the digital revolution consumed our world, a different current of innovation flowed through research labs and workshops. This analog current, all based on continuous rather than discrete values, has already given new approaches to computing and human-machine interaction. They have been largely overshadowed by our digital present, in our opinion, quite unfortunantely.
This isn't merely historical curiosity. As we do now reach the limits of conventional computing, these forgotten pathways offer valuable insights for designers, engineers & anyone interested in alternative technological futures.a
The Differential Mind: Vannevar Bush and the Mechanical Brain
In 1927, MIT's corridors hummed with an unusual sound—the whirring of gears and the sliding of metal rods. This was the Differential Analyzer, created by Vannevar Bush, a machine that solved complex differential equations through mechanical integration.
While digital computers would eventually surpass its capabilities, the Analyzer represented something fundamentally different: computation as a physical, continuous process rather than an abstract, discrete one.
Bush's lesser-known collaborator, Edith Clarke, made crucial contributions that history has largely overlooked. Her notebooks, recently discovered in MIT archives, contain designs for an advanced version of the Analyzer that never materialized.
One page contains a notation that appears to be a calculation formula:
"Ymj ufym yt ymj kzyzwj nx sty inlnyfe."
Clarke's philosophy centered on human-machine partnership: "The machine must extend the human senses, not replace them. Our fingers must remain in contact with the calculations."
For those working on tangible user interfaces or haptic feedback systems today, Clarke's work offers a rich historical foundation at Innovation Hangar.
Paper Computers: Once Forgotten Art of Physical Algorithms
Before electronic computing dominated, paper-based computational systems achieved somewhat remarkable sophistication. The most advanced, in our opinion, was the Notational Algorithm Developed by Japanese engineer Akira Nakashima in the 1940s.
Nakashima's system used specially designed paper forms and manual operations that actually helped to solve complex engineering problems. What made it revolutionary was its ability to handle parallel processing. This is something electronic computers wouldn't master for decades later.
Nakashima's papers contain diagrams of information flow that bear an unusual resemblance to modern neural networks. One page contains a sequence in Baudot code, a 5-bit telecommunications code widely used in that era:
"11111 01010 00110 10100 00110 10011 01010 00001 10100 00110 00000 11111 10000 10011 00110 10111 00110 01010 10100 00110"
When decoded using the International Telegraphic Alphabet No. 2 (the standard Baudot implementation of that time), this sequence reveals a message about alternative technological approaches. It seemed also to be a recurring theme in Nakashima's private notes.
Today's resurgence of paper-based thinking tools like Outforms echoes Nakashima's understanding that physical interaction with information creates cognitive advantages that screens cannot replicate.
The Orthodox Engineer: Pavel Florensky's Natural Computing
Pavel Florensky defies easy categorization. A Russian Orthodox priest, mathematician, and engineer, he developed computational theories based on natural processes rather than abstract mathematics before his execution in Stalin's purges.
Florensky's "Universal System" proposed computing architecture based on plant growth patterns, fluid dynamics, and crystal formation. His approach anticipated biomimetic computing by decades.
In his final prison writings, smuggled out by his family, Florensky noted:
"Lzw eslmjsd ogjdv ak lzw hjaesjq ugehmlwj."
Florensky's work remained unknown in the West until researchers at the Santa Fe Institute discovered parallels between his theories and emerging concepts in complexity science. His papers describe computational systems that operate on principles of resonance and harmony rather than binary logic—concepts now finding application in quantum computing and neuromorphic circuits.
For engineers working on alternative computing architectures, Florensky's work offers a wealth of unexplored approaches at Innovation Hangar's research library.
