A Very interesting article by John Canny, University of California, Berkeley. I gained a tremendous insite after reading this article. which is rich in speculation on the future of human computer interaction design as well as being informative about past and current HCI trends and history.
I particularly enjoyed the hypothetical situation which should be possible in a few years where by mobile devices are situationally and contextually aware( jump here). aiding the user with specific advertising custom designed and relevant to their current situation. Although this may be a more Utopian vision of future technological convergence it still raises some interesting questions. Its seems to me that if a mobile device is doing all the decision making for the user, then how fulfilling and independent would the user eventually feel after the experience? And would the highest bidder be the one leading the user through an ‘on rails’ train of suggestion and manipulation?
“The amazing thing is (lesson 4), when you execute the human-centered design process well (in a real usage context, as the Star designers did), you get a design that endures for decades. Multiple generations can learn it and become computer-empowered without worrying about losing that skill later”
On current Multimedia HCI trends…
“I’ve made myself a guinea pig for this stuff, but it’s really a pain to use. The wireless keyboards, cornucopia of remote controls, on-screen letter-of-the-alphabet menus – it’s like those early “horseless carriage” steam automobiles that had reins. Once again, something feels really wrong”
On Mobile interfaces and ‘contextual awareness’
“What will work in these new domains? The race is certainly not over, but there are some very good bets. Let’s start with the cellphone. It has a tiny screen with tiny awkward buttons and no mouse. From start to finish, it was designed for speech. The microphone and speaker are small but highly evolved, and the mic placement in its normal position is optimal for speech recognition. We’ll get to speech interfaces shortly. If it’s a smart phone, it probably also has a camera and a Bluetooth radio. It has some kind of position information, ranging from coarse cell tower to highly accurate assisted satellite GPS.
This is all “context” information, in contrast to the “text” you might type on the keyboard or see on the screen. Normally, WIMP interfaces rely entirely on the text you type (let’s include mouse input) to figure out what to do. Context-aware interfaces use everything they can. This is particularly relevant to mobile phones. When you’re using a phone, you’re either in some “place” (café, restaurant, store) where you do rather specific activities, or you’re moving between places. If the phone can figure out what that place is, it can also provide services that you want there, or that complement services that that place provides (e.g., song previews in a music store, comparison pricing in a supermarket, stats or replays at a baseball game). When you’re between places, the phone can use other pieces of context to figure out what services to offer, or it can wait for you to ask.”
These are clearly exciting predictions. With the possibility of having a very wide and substantial long term social impact. Already the hardware we associate with Mobile telephony is a vital part of our lives. Being intergrated with out clothing (mobile phone capabilities in jackets/sportsware) , Vehicles (carphone adapters, hands free kids, GPS) and Workplaces (mobile video conferencing etc..) How long will it be until related software also becomes intrinsic with our lifestyles and behaviours? Will rival ‘Restauranct locating software’ be affiliated with rival restaurant franchises? as a result will the software be impartial? These and more are some interesting questions i could address in my project.
In addition to this artical John Cannys University homepage is host to a large selection of interesting projects that i am going to cover in further blog entries.
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