Sketchpad was a revolutionary program written by
Ivan Sutherland in
1963 that helped change the way people interact with
computers. Sketchpad is considered to be the ancestor of modern
computer aided drafting (
*)(CAD) programs as well as an important influence that led to the development of the
graphical user interface. Sketchpad used an x-y point plotter display as well as the recently invented
light pen. Sketchpad ran on the
Lincoln TX-2 computer at
MIT.