The first age of computer interfaces involved paper tape, punch cards, and other cumbersome methods that required specialized operators.
The second age allowed users to type in commands, and required plastic template overlays that fit over computer keyboards, or function code cheat-sheets taped next to computers. Employees typically needed training and thick manuals in order to learn to use the software, and usually specialized in just a couple of applications.
User interfaces, hardware -- and IE sponsor IBM -- have changed a lot. New interfaces based on gesture and voice promise more dramatic evolutions, applications, and opportunities. (Source: Columbia University)
The third age starred graphical user interfaces, where employees could often figure out how to do things on their own simply by clicking on menus and buttons to see what they did. Many software packages used a similar menu structure, allowing tech-savvy users to quickly learn how to use new software.
Now we're entering the fourth age, an era that features more natural, intuitive interfaces.
Consider Microsoft Kinect or Apple's iPhone Siri virtual assistant. In this fourth age, the computer can see who you are, what you're doing, and even where you are. You can use gestures, facial expressions, and voice commands to tell the computer what you want it to do. Or it can guess what you want, based on what you're doing, saying, or emoting.
For example, your computer could automatically turn on when you sit in front of it, or temporarily postpone reminders about upcoming meetings or incoming emails if you look busy or stressed. My computer already reminds me of meetings a day ahead of an appointment, which is useful if I have to prepare anything for the event -- but that reminder doesn't have to interrupt me when I'm on deadline or on a call.
Gesture control is even more interesting, but more problematic.
As I've discovered when trying to navigate the Hulu Plus menu on my TV from the couch across the room, gesture controls can be imprecise.
A better bet, when it comes to controlling a computer over a distance, is to use a smartphone or tablet as the input device or remote control. A TV set or display can automatically see which smart devices are nearby, and which are authorized to do what.
As we're getting to the point where everyone carries a personal smartphone, we could arrive at a time when everybody has their own personal control for the home entertainment center -- or office or factory floor display screens.
Another problem with the kind of gesture controls displayed so ably in Minority Report is that we don't have a common vocabulary of hand gestures. Well, except the impolite ones.
People would need to learn which gestures to use to select, cut, and paste -- and, unless we all learn sign language, data entry via hand gestures would be extremely difficult. My Hulu Plus interface deals with this issue with an on-screen alphabet. Say, for example, I want to find a particular program. I point my Wii controller at one letter at a time, but it's tricky to point to a single letter on the other side of the room and it takes a long time to peck out a title this way.
A combination of voice and gestures could address most of these concerns.
The immediate applications in the enterprise would be work environments that aren't conducive to keyboard-based input: factory floors, hospital operating rooms, at the front of a classroom, in moving vehicles, at construction sites, retail showroom floors, in the field of battle, and at accident or murder scenes.
Eventually, there will come a point where instead of us having to learn how to use our computers, our computers will have to learn how to understand us.
— Maria Korolov is president of Trombly International, an editorial services company that provides coverage of emerging technologies and markets. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years.
I agree that the haptic keyboard has made me type better (and with less typos), nothing can beat an actual keyboard. I've seen concept designs of keyboards on seemingly flat surfaces that actually pop out. With further development, we might soon see this technology make it to tablets and e-readers.
So for me if you need to make a good super computer I feel a super brain needs to build it.
@hiranya, no doubt we need super brains to built it. I think we already have built computers which think like human brain. Only think we need to develop is coding intelligence into the computers which will enable computers to think and take their own decisions.
My Kindle Fire has the haptic keyboard, and even with the sounds enabled to give the impression of a physical keyboard, I still hit the wrong buttons half the time.
@StaceyE, true. Haptic keyboard has its own limitations. Its very hard to entirely mimic the physical keyboard but I feel haptic keyboard is pretty easy to use compared to the normal touch screen keyboard.
@AnandY: You think so ? I feel still to make something overcome another you need a superior thing to build it. So for me if you need to make a good super computer I feel a super brain needs to build it.
My Kindle Fire has the haptic keyboard, and even with the sounds enabled to give the impression of a physical keyboard, I still hit the wrong buttons half the time. Sometimes you hit the right one, and it types something else....
I am the same way...my Rumor Touch still works great for what my needs are...I am sure I will run it completely into the ground before I splurge for a new phone.
It's nice if cellphone makers would make it easier to pick the keyboard that works for you.
If you're looking for a custom physical keyboard, that would probably be a bit costly for a manufacturer to do. But software-based keyboards are starting to provide many more options for people who can stand to use touchscreen keyboards. There are even some software keyboards that adjust to the length of your fingers (in case your pinkies aren't quite as long as everyone else's), and typo recognition is sorta getting better all the time (although there are still some pretty hilarious auto-corrected msgs that get passed around).
I have used a keyboard similar to that on a Samsung device. To be honest I didn't like it very much. The virtual keyboard seemed better to me but that's a matter of opinion. Someone might like it and someone might not.
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I don't wear a watch. I haven't worn one years. If I'm carrying a phone -- any phone -- I always know what time it is and don't have to worry about time zones or daylight savings time. And I don't want to have an iPod or an iPhone that I can wear on my wrist. Again: Why? If I want to sport one while jogging, there are plenty of bands you can already buy that do that.
Organizations are expending enormous resources to improve their internal productivity by implementing cloud, adding collaborative applications, and investing in analytics solutions. Individually, we can improve our own productivity, even during sometimes lengthy meetings, by using free note-taking apps like Evernote or Microsoft OneNote.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
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