Human-Computer Interactions

Most people spend most of their time in the real world, not in the much
ballyhooed realms of cyberspace, and, as a description of the current utility of
computation, it can very rightly be pointed out that "the value of a
computer decreases with the square of your distance from its monitor"

The researchers are transforming physical objects, augmented surfaces and
spaces into tangible-acoustic embodiments of natural seamless unrestricted
interfaces.

Obstacles and opportunities

The most important factor in making intelligent rooms possible in recent
years has been the novel viability of real-time computer vision, face detection
and gesture recognition, and speech understanding.

A new approach emphasizes again the relevance of physical objects. One result
of this research is so called 'Roomware' components for the Workspaces of
the Future in so called 'Cooperative Buildings'.

Roomware consists of computer-augmented room elements with integrated
information and communication technology facilitating new forms of
human-computer interaction. They are part of an approach that the 'world
around us' is the interface to information and for the cooperation of people.
The Roomware components were developed in the AMBIENTE-division at GMD-IPSI in
Darmstadt, as part of the i-LAND environment. Roomware components are
interactive and networked; some of them are mobile due to independent power
supply and wireless networks, and are provided with sensing technology. Already,
the second generation of roomware has been made.

The future

The following areas of research will drive future Human Computer Interaction
(HCI) work:

Better interface navigation: Although GUI and WIMP interfaces are a
big step past line-oriented terminals, they still have a learning curve and they
can be awkward to use. HCI research must develop improved interfaces that are
more natural to use and more simple to learn than current interfaces.

Visualization tools for understanding: Efforts to develop display
technologies that would make it possible to view data in a natural manner are
ongoing.

Reasoning/Intelligence Filtering: To realize the full potential of HCI,
the computer has to share the reasoning involved in interpreting and
intelligently filtering the input provided by the human to the computer or,
conversely, the information presented to the human.

Robotics: Ultimately, in order for the human being to affect the
environment, there has to be control over a machine or robot that will act on
the environment to produce a desired result. Autonomous navigation is the focus
of one project under way in which a mobile robot senses and navigates through
the environment, for example, on a factory floor. Another project is aimed at
building a walking six-legged robot, which is modeled after the physical and
neural mechanisms of a cockroach. Research in this area can have a significant
impact on manufacturing industries and introduce new and safer mechanized
systems in our lives.

Amardeep Gupta, head of Computer Science, DAV College, Amritsar