In 1959, Ivan Sutherland utilized a forerunner to today's tablet pens and one of the computers at MIT to devise the beginnings of interactive computer graphics. With the light pen and a control box be was able to draw on the screen of the TX-2 computer. 'Sketchpad' supported a large number of commands which ranged from basic to advanced, giving it a surprising complexity for the era.

Sutherland's program ultimately led to the vast range of digital construction programs such as Photoshop that we have today.