Human Computer Interaction - Essay Example

Human Computer Interaction Abstract Human computer interaction is always desired to be easy, effective and enjoyable for the user. There have been many researches over the years to facilitate such usage of the computing devices. Interaction design is the concept which focuses on making the usage of devices convenient for humans. Pervasive computing involves the interaction design concepts to make their computing devices more user-friendly. An important branch of pervasive computing shall be discussed; mobile computing and communication. The issues pertaining to mobile communication shall also be discussed in the literature review. 1. Human Computer Interaction Dix et al. (2004, pg. 3) states that human computer Interaction (HCI) can be termed as the study of interaction between humans and computer machines. The interaction between the user and the computer happens at the user-interface level where software and hardware are both involved. Sears et al. (2007) refer to Association for Computing Machinery for a description of HCI which is "a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them.” The main purpose of HCI is to make computers user-friendly to promote their greater usage. Computer functionalities should be according to the needs of the user so that they can perform more work from it and get faster outcomes. From the definitions stated above it becomes apparent that the concept of HCI majorly involves the user and the computer; Dix et al. (2004, pg. 10) the users can be individual users or users in groups, whereas computers may be machines ranging from personal PCs to large scale distributed systems. In all of these cases, one thing is common which is to make interaction between the user and the computer as efficient as possible so that user satisfaction is achieved. Carroll (2009) states that HCI is a concept that evolved in the early 1980s, it was considered to be a specialty area of computer science. Since then there have been major developments and research in this field due to which it encapsulates not only computer science now but also cognitive psychology, social sciences etc. Carroll (1997, pg.1) states that in the early 1970s, the focus of computing was more on calculations and computations rather than the display of their outcomes. After the advent of HCI, the need of a good display was identified and now it has become a vital element of any system. The concept of GUI started out as an experiment in the field of HCI and now modern systems heavily rely on it. The early studies of HCI identified the need for a graphical user interface and gave the basis for the GUI mechanism. Gale explains that there has been another by-product witnessed from the concepts of HCI; which is WIMP. It stands for "window, icon, menu, pointing device", it is a mode of interacting with the computer just like GUI. It was developed by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980. The basic concept behind this form of interaction is to use a physical input device that controls the placing of a cursor. The exchange of information between the user and the computer takes place from a pointing device (usually a mouse). The information is presented in windows and icons. The pointing device enables the users to select any icon or any document present on the display screen. 2. Future of HCI The future of HCI holds very promising developments, a glimpse of such revolutions is stated below: 2.1 Multi-touch Interfaces There has been some revolutionary developments in the area of user interfaces that have allowed man to use computers in very diverse techniques. Ted (2007) states that one such example is the ‘multi-touch user interfaces’, the concept of this interfacing started in 1980s. Touch interfaces have been very common but the innovative thing about these interfaces is that it enables multi-touch by multiple users. This multi-user facility proves to be very useful for scenarios where many people want to interact at the same time such as interactive walls and tabletops. There are a number of possibilities with this concept and a complete shift can be witnessed in HCI if this is pursued to its maximum potential. 2.2 Thought – Typing Ted (2007) states that our speed of work is limited by the speed at which our body can perform actions for e.g. we type according to the speed of our fingers or read as per the amount of words that our eyes are able to grasp at one time. These body parts give the messages to the brain which then makes us comprehend and perform work. What if the intermediate stage of the body parts is omitted and the computer starts reading our brains- our thoughts and starts typing. This type of human computer interaction is well underway and will prove to be a revolutionary step in this field. 2.3 Virtual and 3D Environment ScienceDaily (2009) writes that virtual reality is a technology that facilitates interaction with a computer-simulated environment. Users can interact with such an environment in different ways with either conventional input devices of keyboard or mouse or with multimodal devices that include wired glove or omni-directional treadmill. 3D computer graphics are also one of the revolutions of HCI. If this concept is combined with a virtual environment then a person will be able to enjoy a real life experience in an automated world. 2.4 Gesture recognition GestureRecognition.us (2007) writes that another research in the field of HCI which is in progress is the computer interpretation of the human’s hand and facial gestures. Gesture recognition is outcome of efforts vested on three-dimensional modeling of the human’s hand and face and then studying its movements. The mode of measuring the human gestures can be via a mechanical glove or indirectly by optically analyzing the video images. 3. Interaction Design Roger et al. (2007) states that in the hi-tech world of today; we tend to use many devices and gadgets in our daily routine; ranging from cell phones to coffee machines, from personal computers to calculators etc. If we analyze their usability we’ll come to know that only a few can be termed user-friendly and effortless. Many products that require user interaction are not designed while keeping the users in mind which make their operations complex and difficult to grasp. They have been engineered as systems so that they can do some designated work; they might work perfectly in terms of their engineered functions but can prove to be very complex for human’s use. The basic goal of interaction design is to address this issue and induce usability in the devices and gadgets to benefit the users. Interaction design is about developing products which prove to be easy, efficient and enjoyable to users. Fig.1: Roger et al. (2007): HCI and interaction design 4. Pervasive Computing Dix et al. (2004, pg. 250) Pervasive Computing can be regarded as a post-desktop model of HCI. In this form of computing the processing of information is integrated in our everyday routine gadgets and machines. Many people might be making use of the concept of pervasive computing and engaging many computational devices and systems without even being aware of doing so. Cooper et al. (2007) states "As a consequence of pervasive computing, interaction design is poised to become one of the main liberal arts of the twenty-first century." A conventional system’s behavior is only limited to its specific environment when it is provided all its resources. Whereas, a pervasive system will change its behavior and adapt itself to new locations and environments. Elsevier (2009) states that there has been tremendous research and developments noticed in the following areas due to pervasive computing; wireless communications and networking, mobile computing and hand held devices, wearable computers etc. 5. Mobile Computing and Communication Helal et al. states that over the past years, mobile computing has developed into a promising discipline in the field of computer science; attracting attention all over the world. Due to the advancement in this field, portable gadgets and devices have become more mobile in nature. Gadgets and devices like cell phones, PDAs and laptops have increased the level of communication, utilized from wireless communication. Therefore, it can be defined as the process of computation on a mobile device. Avancha (2002, pg. 1) states that the concept of mobility can be considered in two forms in pervasive networks; mobility of devices and mobility of the user from one device to the other. Considering these two forms; research can be done in two ways for designing pervasive applications. One mode of designing can be to start from the beginning and design the system from scratch, whereas the other approach is to consider the existing applications and systems in wireless technology and explore how they can be modified to make them the next generation applications. The figure below shows the different areas of mobile computing and how it is related to pervasive computing. Fig 2: Garlan et al.: Evolution of Mobile and Pervasive Computing from Distributed Systems TCP performance in wireless networks. Avancha et al. (2001, pg. 3) states that “Some of the pervasive connectivity is due to the infrastructure based on 2.5/3G cellular networks.” Along with the numerous advantages that are offered by mobile computing, there are some issues pertaining to it as well. Some of them are listed below: 5.1 Localized Scalability Garlan et al. states that there has been a significant growth in the sophistication of the smart spaces, due to this there seems to be an increase in the interactions between a user’s personal computing environment and his surroundings (even if not desired by the user). This might have an effect on the bandwidth and energy for a wireless mobile user. Scalability, in a wide perspective, can be considered a critical problem in pervasive computing. 5.2 Masking Uneven Conditioning Garlan et al. states that there are still many years left when the mobile computing will conveniently penetrate in the infrastructure of our systems. As there still seems to be a great difference in the ‘smartness’ of different spaces. Some spaces and environments are well-equipped to support pervasive computing and mobile computing, due to great interaction designs and technology. Whereas, some do not offer services that one would desire or a user-friendly environment. This difference can prove to be troublesome for the users as the shift from a smart space to an unequipped one can be very distracting. 5.3 Security Issue Cornwell et al. (2007, pg. 3) states that it has always been a difficult job to manage security and privacy policies. It has even been a daunting task with desktop computing system, in mobile and pervasive computing environments it poses greater complexity due to the limitation of devices and great number of tasks performed by the user simultaneously. The security and privacy settings are not only difficult but also change with time making it more confusing for the users. These issues may result in new forms of attacks on privacy of users and high levels of frustrations. If enough measures are not planned then people might soon start fearing pervasive computing technologies. The security issues are often ignored by users as they tend to focus more on the easiness of a specific system. Although this aspect should be explored first as it threatens ones system and entire data. 5.4 Dependency on Technology: Yang et al. (2006, pg.3) explains that as people start using this technology, they tend to get in the habit of using it. This habit makes them expect its availability everywhere, which might not be true in some environments. 5.5 Interoperability issues: Oxford University Press (2007, pg. 15) writes that there seem to be interoperability issues with the protocols because of their standards varying all the time. There might be connection errors if the protocols are not of the same standard. 5.6 Connection stability Oxford University Press (2007, pg. 15) writes that the stability of the connection plays an important role for a smooth workflow. It depends on the quality and reliability of the network provided in that environment. 6. Conclusion Dix et al. (2004, pg. 5) HCI is not just about creating devices or software; it encapsulates the whole concept of the interaction between user, software and their environment. Interaction design is related to HCI in the sense that its goals are to improve this interaction and make it as convenient as possible for the users. Nowadays the interaction between humans and computers in not limited to the limits of their desktop or laptop. With the emergence of pervasive computing the interaction has leaped to a new level where computation is now integrated in our daily life devices. Mobile computing and communication is a form of pervasive computing; Oxford University Press (2007, pg. 3): in which a set of distributed computing devices connect with a service provider server and coordinate via mobile communication. The developments in the field of pervasive computing can be termed as revolutions in the field of mobility and communication. The issues in mobile computing are being researched to find efficient solutions so that the computing environments can be made safe and reliable. References Acharya, S., 2002, Application and Infrastructure Challenges in Pervasive Computing, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Inc. www.cs.brown.edu/nsfmobile/SAcharya.pdf Avancha, S., Chakraborty, D., Chen, H., Kagal, L., 2001, Issues in Data Management for Pervasive Environments Carroll, J., 1997, The Evolution of Human-Computer Interaction, Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 48, pg 501–522. Carroll, J., 2009, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/human_computer_interaction_hci.html Cooper, A., Reimann, R. & Cronin, D., 2007, About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design (3rd edition), Wiley, ISBN 0-4700-8411-1. Cornwell, J., Fette, I., Hsieh, G., Prabaker, M., 2007, User-Controllable Security and Privacy for Pervasive Computinghttp://www.cs.cmu.edu/~jasonh/publications/HotMobile2007-user-controllable-security-privacy-final.pdf Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G. and Beale, R. 2004, Human-Computer Interaction, Pearson Education: Hemel Hempstead Elsevier, 2009, Pervasive and Mobile Computing, http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/704220/description#description Garlan, D., Hallaron, D., Perrig htt, A., Mobile and Pervasive Computing Research in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon  http://www.csd.cs.cmu.edu/research/areas/mopercomp/ Gale, T., Wimp (Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointing Devices), BookRags, http://www.bookrags.com/research/wimp-windows-icons-menus-and-pointi-wcs/ GestureRecognition.us, 2007, Gesture Recognition, http://www.gesturerecognition.us/ Helal, S., Procopio, M., Manescu, C., Ad-hoc, Wireless Collaboration Groupware, http://www.icta.ufl.edu/projects_A_ad-hoc.htm Oxford University Press, 2007, Mobile Computing http://www.dauniv.ac.in/downloads/Mobilecomputing/MobileCompChap01L07_MobComputing.pdf Rogers, Y, Sharp, H & Preece J, 2007, Interaction Design: beyond human computer interaction, Wiley, http://www.id-book.com/chapter1.htm Sears, A., Jacko, J., 2007, Handbook for Human Computer Interaction (2nd Edition). CRC Press. ISBN 0-8058-5870-9 Science Daily, 2009, Virtual Reality, http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/v/virtual_reality.htm Ted, 2007, The Future of HCI, Notelay, http://www.notelay.com/articles/hardware/human_computer_interaction/ Yang, H., Lim, S., King, J., Helal, S., 2006, Open Issues in Nomadic Pervasive Computing, http://www.icta.ufl.edu/projects/publications/UbiSys2006-heni.pdf Read More