Interesting fact - Durer used a kind of 3d rendering engine to study and teach perpective. He made a woodcut of it called "Man Drawing a Lute". I learned it from Computer Graphics Principles and Practice which uses it to teach how 3d rendering works. See [1] or [2] for illustration and description of the method.
He also made another woodcut called "Daraughsman Drawing a Recumbent Woman" with more practical method. See illustration [3].
This is an example of something commonly called a drawing machine, of which the camera obscura is an other example. He certainly was not the last and likely not the first. What made him stand out was that he was so open about his tricks of the trade. Other artists were very secretive on such matters.
Yes, not the first but most open. In Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks there is a drawing "Draftsman drawing an armillary sphere" dated 1510 which shows a kind of drawing machine. It is 15 years earlier than Durers woodcut. But Durers one was published in a book at the time.
Wikipedia has a short timeline of perspective machines [1].
There is also a link to excelent classification and description of all the drawing machines. [2]