Ideas For the Next Generation In Human-Computer Interfaces

Singularity Hub writes "For decades our options for interacting with the digital world have been limited to keyboards, mice, and joysticks. Now with a new generation of exciting new interfaces in the pipeline our interaction with the digital world will be forever changed. Singularity Hub looks at some amazing demonstrations, mostly videos, that showcase new ways of interacting with the digital world." Along similar lines, reader shakuni points out a facial expression-driven user interface reported on News.com for operating, say, an iPhone, explaining "This device is tiny and fits into the ear and measures movements inside the ear due to changes in facial expression and then uses that as input triggers. So [tongue out] starts or stops your iPod Touch; [Wink] rewinds to the last song; and [smile] replays the same song."

Comments

Ah-Choo!

[Something Witty Here]

And when you sneeze, it reboots!

Re:Ah-Choo!

[ChangelingJane]

For ordinary everyday users, this is very impractical and even silly. But for quadriplegics, it could be something else entirely.

voice control

[Keruo]

When windows 95 arrived, I played around with its voice recognition.
I wasnt quite impressed with it, since the only command I got working properly was "fuck" which caused the machine to reboot.

Although voice control has interesting potential, its not optimal for most situations. (think open cubicle office)

Re:voice control

[Hatta]

I wasnt quite impressed with it, since the only command I got working properly was "fuck" which caused the machine to reboot.

Are you sure you have the causation straight on that one? When I used Windows 95, it was the other way around.

Re:voice control

[ShieldW0lf]

I don't think that's the only hurdle to overcome. In a lot of cases, I just don't think voice control is very useful beyond a novelty. I played with it a number of years ago. After a bit of training, it was recognizing my commands pretty well. Thing is, it was tedious as hell to do things with voice control. I spent 10x longer doing things simply for the novelty to doing it using voice commands.

I feel the same way about it. But my brother swears by it... he can have his hands full of scientific equipment and still issue commands to his computer which is interfacing with the tools he's using.

I could see this sort of tech being really useful for those who wish to access reference materials while their hands are full too... be it doctors who have their hands covered in blood switching to a different monitor or mechanics who have their hands covered in grease switching to a different schematic.

Personally, some days I'd give my left nut for a good heads up display and a glove with an integrated chording keyboard and touch pad. If I could do my work lying on my back instead of sitting in this chair, I probably wouldn't have to go to the chiropractor.

Missing options

[Bovius]

Seems like there are some other practical interface options for the iPod.

* Snoring: stop playing music
* Gagging: remove song from playlist
* Startled jump, clenched jaw and frantic grasping at earbuds: reduce volume

Facial-expression driven interface?

[Tokerat]

I can see useful applications for this, but I hope there is a switch I have to depress while I make the gesture, plus a "hold" switch so I can lock gestures on or off at all times. For example, if I catch my wife cheating and I look stunned, I don't want that to accidentally to push the "panic" button on my car alarm so my nosy neighbor starts poking around during the ensuing drama. That would certainly be a small and silly example of this technology making life more difficult instead of better.

...not that I'd ever be able to get a wife (let alone a girlfriend), but at least I made a good car analogy ;-)

Facial Expressions?

[PPH]

I still think that people using BlueTooth headsets look like they're off their meds, walking down the street, talking to themselves. This'll open up whole new Vistas of crazy-looking people. Is he having a seizure or just skipping through his iPod's playlist?

In the future

[Joce640k]

We'll all have to sit infuriatingly still if we want to listen to some music.

"Decades"? Both of them?

[Anonymous Coward]

And no mention of graphics tablets, which have been available from retailers as long as the mouse. I admit these weren't too popular until the Wacom units were combined with Photoshop in the 90s, but people did buy and try the Koala pads. MIDI has been a significant input device group too. Touchpads are also left out. Stylus interfaces like Newton and Palm... geeze, the list goes on.

Singularity Hub doesn't sound like much of an authority. Thanks for the heads-up Timothy, but a self-submitted shallow adver-blog like that is what makes for accusations of slashvertisement. Better to have specific interface news posts run on, well, Slashdot.

(No mention of the Powerglove? I mean where's the love?)

Steam Punk Interface

[stoicio]

I prefer tried and true ergonomic interfaces. For this reason I suggest
levers and foot pedals. All lever interfaces should have a grip lock
to keep them from moving by themselves.

There should also be two large dials to allow for precision X/Y
axis movement of the cursor.

Random numbers should be generated with a large wheel that has a rubber
stop and pins. Simply spin the big wheel for a random number.

There should be cranks on the side and top of the monitor to allow
the view to be scrolled.