Introduction to Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

HCI (Human Computer Interaction) is a field of study that refers to communication between the human user and a computer system. Here interface refers to a medium or interaction between the computer and the end user. It is also known as CHI (Computer Human Interface) or MMI (Man Machine Interaction). It is concerned with design, evaluation, and implementation. It is used to provide a user-friendly environment.

Objective

Human uses digital devices to perform various activities. HCI is to design a systems in such a way that make them efficient, stable, usable and attainable. Lack of communication can result in poor designed user interfaces. It provides a ways to reduce design time through various task models. There are some disciplines contributing to HCI.

Computer Science

Computer science is a field of computation and information. Computer science plays a crucial role in modern development of HCI. Smart Television, Voice assistant, AR/VR technology and gaze detection are some of the technology exists in modern world, that are running our day to day life.

Cognitive Psychology

It is a field of HCI which identifies how human interact with systems. It includes Language based interaction, a set of rules are provided to the system. Based on that rules we create our model. It also includes Human motor skills, where we identifies physical characteristics of user and based on that characteristics we create our model.

Fine arts design

An artistic way of thinking always produce creative ideas. E-books and novels, digital drawings, video games are some of the applications of fine arts contributing to HCI.

History

• Early computers was extremely difficult to use, it was large and expensive. It was used by specialists or engineers.
• ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) was released in 1945. It was the first programmable electronic and general purpose digital computer.
• In mid 1960‘s command line interface(CLI) was used to interact with computer. CLI are light weight and requires few memory consumption.
• 1980‘s are the booming phase for HCI. Some of the market leaders like Apple and Microsoft plays a crucial role for the modern development of HCI. GUI (Graphic User Interface) application was created that was easy to use, understand and visualize.
• XEROX STAR was released in 1981. It had mouse driven graphical user interface and built-in ethernet network and protocol. It also had laser printer. This was considered far ahead of its time. Two years later in 1983 Apple Lisa was released, it offered document-centered graphical interface based on the metaphor of desktop.
• In 1984 first Macintosh was release and it was revolutionary. It had good graphic user interface and a variety of fonts that makes your document more appealing to readers.
• In 1990‘s internet starts it’s journey. Communication between people become very easy through social networking like Email. The World Wide Web(WWW) was created by Tim Berners-Lee. It is way for people to share information.
• In 2000 mobile, laptop, tablet was a buzz word in this period. These gadget provides more flexibility to user. User can connect with anyone at any place. Smart phones comes into picture. User don’t need any mouse or pointing device to select anything. They can use their fingers to interact with device. It provides more features like built-in music player, camera, weather forecast, Internet, GPS, games, video conferencing and many more.
• In 2006 NINTENDO released Wii. It was famous for it’s rear remote controller a handheld pointing device that detects movements in 3D. It enables users to simulate real world sports and activities through different games. This paved the way for gaming consoles like XBOX
• Windows 10 is a series of operating systems developed by Microsoft released in 2015. It made user experience more consistent between different classes of device. The rising popularity and availability of laptops and computer systems, Microsoft made windows 10 adaptable into different systems.
• VR oculus rift was a revolution in virtual reality. It was launched in 2016. The rift is primarily a gaming device. However it is also capable of viewing conventional movies and videos from inside the virtual cinema environment. It is increasingly used in universities and schools as an educational tool.

Input and Output devices

Input are actions received from user and output are the signals that sent back to user by system. It acts as a medium between computer and user. Some of the examples of input and output devices are as follows.

Input devices

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Light pen
• Microphone
• Bar code reader

Output Devices

• Monitor
• Television
• Printer
• Speakers
• Headphones

Interaction Styles

• Command Line : It is one of the oldest interaction style present today. But it is not user friendly because user needs to learn so many commands. Each task or work have it’s own command, you have to be expert or proficient in writing these commands.
• Graphic user interface : It is one of the popular interaction style available today. Operating systems like Windows and macOS are the best style of GUI, where user can provide input with the help of mouse and keyboard.
• Natural Language : It is one step ahead of GUI. We can interact with system by the help of languages that we are using in our day to day life. Alexa, Siri, Google voice are the best example of voice assistant that uses natural language.
• Q/A (Question and Answer) : The best example of this interaction style are chatbots. Every application whether it is web or mobile application has chatbot now a days. But chatbots are always domain specific not universal.

Use Cases of HCI

• Smart home : Smart homes refers to home amenities that have been fitted with communication technology enabling some degree of automation or remote control. It includes control of air conditioning, heating and lighting through voice activated commands or mobile app. Home security systems are also fitted with communication technology to alert the residents in case of burglary.
• Biometric Sensors : Biometric sensors are the use of human biometrics in various technological applications. It can be used in access controls for example granting access to a computer network or security system.
• Autonomous vehicle : An autonomous vehicle is one that can drive itself. Tesla is a company which pioneered the engineering of autonomous driving vehicles. It has advanced autopilot technology which allows real time navigation updates.
• Virtual assistants : Another innovation in this era is the intelligent virtual assistant or intelligent personal assistant. It is a software agent that can perform task or services or an individual based on commands or questions. These virtual assistants can interpret human speech and respond via voices.
• Smart phones for Visual Disabilities : There are some features present in smart phones that make the life of people with disabilities easy. Voiceover is a screen reader which basically means that your phone will talk out loud and tell you what’s on the screen. User can control it with certain touch gestures. There are some other features also like Magnification.

Application of HCI in different domains

It includes the design and development of application. These application includes desktop application, websites and mobile apps. These application are used in different domains it includes healthcare, banking, education, networking and many more.

Health care

Patients have so many options now a days. They can buy medicines online and book appointments with doctor just with the help of mobile application. Augmented Reality(AR) and Virtual Reality(VR) are now transforming surgical process, previously it was very risky. Now doctor can use 3D animations to visualize the process. It can be used to train new surgeons.

Education

Now students can understand any concept more easily. There are so many resources available on internet now a days. Class room teaching are now very interesting with the help of smart classes. AR/VR can really help students to visualize any concept very easily. Students have option to study online. During COVID-19 students couldn’t able to go outside their home. In this situation they have option to study online.

Banking

Now common people don’t need to wait in long queues of bank. They can get banking solution right at their home using Net banking or Mobile banking. These application also provides user a secure environment to avoid cyber crimes.

Networking

Networking is very easy now a days. It includes social media networking and business networking. Now it is very easy for us to connect and share thoughts with anyone. It streamlines the process of finding jobs.