Human Computer Interface

Human–computer Interaction (HCI) involves the study, planning, and design of the interaction between people (users) and computers. It is often regarded as the intersection of computer science, behavioral sciences, design and several other fields of studyInteraction between users and computers occurs at the user

Interface (or simply interface), which includes both software and hardware; for example, characters or objects displayed by software on a personal computer's monitor, input received from users via hardware peripherals such as keyboards and mouses, and other user interactions with large-scale computerized systems such as aircraft and power plants. The Association for Computing Machinery defines human-computer interaction as "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."An often-sought facet of HCI is the securing of user satisfaction (see Computer user satisfaction), although user satisfaction is not the same thing as user performance by most meaningful metrics.

Because human–computer interaction studies a human and a machine in conjunction, it draws from supporting knowledge on both the machine and the human side. On the machine side, techniques in computer graphics, operating systems, programming languages, and development environments are relevant. On the human side, communication theory, graphic and industrial design disciplines, linguistics, social sciences, cognitive psychology, and human factors such as computer user satisfaction are relevant. Engineering and design methods are also relevant. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of HCI, people with different backgrounds contribute to its success. HCI is also sometimes referred to as man–machine interaction (MMI) or computer–human interaction (CHI).

What is Human–computer interface?

The human–computer interface can be described as the point of communication between the human user and the computer. The flow of information between the human and computer is defined as the loop of interaction. The loop of interaction has several aspects to it including:

· Task environment: The conditions and goals set upon the user.

· Machine environment: The environment that the computer is connected to, e.g. a laptop in a college student's dorm room.

· Areas of the interface: Non-overlapping areas involve processes of the human and computer not pertaining to their interaction. Meanwhile, the overlapping areas only concern themselves with the processes pertaining to their interaction.

· Input flow: The flow of information that begins in the task environment, when the user has some task that requires using their computer.

· Output: The flow of information that originates in the machine environment.

· Feedback: Loops through the interface that evaluate, moderate, and confirm processes as they pass from the human through the interface to the computer and back

     Goals of HCI

·       A basic goal of HCI is to improve the interactions between users and computers by making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs. Specifically, HCI is concerned with:

·          methodologies and processes for designing interfaces (i.e., given a task and a class of users, design the best possible interface within given constraints, optimizing for a desired property such as learnability or efficiency of use)

·          methods for implementing interfaces (e.g. software toolkits and libraries; efficient algorithms)

·          techniques for evaluating and comparing interfaces

·          developing new interfaces and interaction techniques

·         developing descriptive and predictive models and theories of interaction

      A long term goal of HCI is to design systems that minimize the barrier between the human's cognitive model of what they want to accomplish and the computer's understanding of the user's task.

 

Future of HCI

The future for HCI, based on current promising research, is expected to include the following characteristics:

· Ubiquitous communication. Computers are expected to communicate through high speed local networks, nationally over wide-area networks, and portably via infrared, ultrasonic, cellular, and other technologies. Data and computational services will be portably accessible from many if not most locations to which a user travels.

· High-functionality systems. Systems can have large numbers of functions associated with them. There are so many systems that most users, technical or non-technical, do not have time to learn them in the traditional way (e.g., through thick manuals).

· Mass availability of computer graphics. Computer graphics capabilities such as image processing, graphics transformations, rendering, and interactive animation are becoming widespread as inexpensive chips become available for inclusion in general workstations and mobile devices.

· Mixed media. Commercial systems can handle images, voice, sounds, video, text, formatted data. These are exchangeable over communication links among users. The separate worlds of consumer electronics (e.g., stereo sets, VCRs, televisions) and computers are partially merging. Computer and print worlds are expected to cross-assimilate each other.

· High-bandwidth interaction. The rate at which humans and machines interact is expected to increase substantially due to the changes in speed, computer graphics, new media, and new input/output devices. This can lead to some qualitatively different interfaces, such as virtual reality or computational video.

· Large and thin displays. New display technologies are finally maturing, enabling very large displays and displays that are thin, lightweight, and low in power consumption. This is having large effects on portability and will likely enable the development of paper-like, pen-based computer interaction systems very different in feel from desktop workstations of the present.

· Information utilities. Public information utilities (such as home banking and shopping) and specialized industry services (e.g., weather for pilots) are expected to proliferate. The rate of proliferation can accelerate with the introduction of high-bandwidth interaction and the improvement in quality of interfaces.

 Factors of change

Human–computer interaction is affected by the forces shaping the nature of future computing. These forces include:

· Decreasing hardware costs leading to larger memory and faster systems

· Miniaturization of hardware leading to portability

· Reduction in power requirements leading to portability

· New display technologies leading to the packaging of computational devices in new forms

· Specialized hardware leading to new functions

· Increased development of network communication and distributed computing

· Increasingly widespread use of computers, especially by people who are outside of the computing profession

· Increasing innovation in input techniques (e.g., voice, gesture, pen), combined with lowering cost, leading to rapid computerization by people previously left out of the "computer revolution."

· Wider social concerns leading to improved access to computers by currently disadvantaged groups