As early as 1960, when he was a successful architect with offices in Russell Square, central London, Lansdown was a believer in the potential for computers for architecture and other creative activities.

In 1977, Lansdown became chairman of System Simulation Ltd the software company which, amongst other pioneering activities, had played a key role in the creation and development of the Computer Arts Society.

System Simulation had been applying computer graphics techniques in TV and film applications following collaborative research work at the Royal College of Art.

[3] At System Simulation Lansdown then played a leading role in several pioneering animation projects, contributing to the flight deck instrumentation readouts on the Nostromo space ship for Ridley Scott's Alien, many advertising sequences and latterly, working with Tony Pritchett,[4] producing the 3D wireframe drawings from which Martin Lambie-Nairn's original Channel 4 logo was rendered.

He continued to advise System Simulation and to work on the development of a digital archive of the Computer Arts Society's history and holdings which the company had initiated.