This cartoon may seem funny, but is this really what life is coming to? Computers and humans are becoming closer to each other as the relationship between users and computers become stronger. The goal of Human Computer Interaction is to improve this interaction by making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs. Just think about what we have seen in the past twenty years. Computers needed a mouse, a keyboard, speakers, etc. Now, everything is combined into one. We are starting to see the popularity of touch screens in the cell phone market, and pretty soon computers are all going to be touch screens as well so that we can interact with them more easily. But how far will this go? As we witnessed in class on Tuesday (March 9th), there is technology out there that relies on motion rather than touching a screen. We have already seen this with the Nintendo Wii (although this requires use of a controller). But Project Natal for Xbox is taking motion sensing for video games to another level without the use of controllers. Here is a video of what that might be like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oACt9R9z37U
So what does this mean for our personal computers, and how is this going to effect the future of technology? Remember, the goal is to make the interaction between humans and computers easier, so will we soon live in a world that will require nothing more than motion sensing and tracking devices? We saw a video in class of a person that looked like he was shop-lifting, but actually, everything was paid for automatically when he walked out the door. This is going to make everything easier, and a world like this would be amazing to live in. However, what is going to happen if the technology fails, if systems crash, or if we lose power? Is a technologically based world going to come to a standstill every time this happens?
As you can see in the picture above, there are a lot of components that make up the Human Computer Interaction to make our lives easier. As we develop a deeper understanding in each of these areas, technology is only going to get stronger and become more integrated with each area. Just think about technology and how it relates to one area, such as engineering. How might technology improve everyday life in this area? How about linguistics? Will technology allow us to communicate with people who speak other languages across the world quickly and efficiently? We have already seen what technology is doing in areas such as neuroscience and artificial intelligence, as well as plans for future technology in these areas (during class discussions and videos). Imagine what our world will be like once all of these areas are improved and enhanced through advances in technology.
