Human-Computer

Interface

By Fahwad Mahmood 0924472

Abstract

This report looks into the relationship we have with computers and why human
computer interaction is important, how it affects everyday lives what implications it
has on the environment, what security issues there are with technology. The progress
technology has made since the first invention of its kind and where this invention will
be in the future. Research has been done on various sources include the internet,
books and newspapers. The report will not give you an overall solution as there are
many issues that need to be addressed in different ways for them to reach a
satisfactory solution.

threats

google progress

biotechnology microsoft

HCI
possible
ethics
limitations

digital
disabilites
footprint

Computer have become a part of every day life now and in the future may be more
involved in our lives than other people through interaction. When the idea of
computers came to Charles Babbage his analytical engine could not be completed
because of limited finance. After Zuse the first computer company in 1946, came this
Eniac which was design primly for military use. 1973 brought the release of a
computer Xerox Alto that had a mouse driven GUI, windows icons and local area
network capabilities.

The development continued when windows released its operating system in 1985 after
the Apple Lisa and apple Macintosh. The war had begun between the most power full
computer companies in the world.

The computer is a development of previous models as from Xerox parc to the apple
Lisa and they have developed and changed at a very fast rate to become a part of our
everyday lives, our mobile phones are computers and are more powerful than some
computers. The technology of computers has been developed so much that smart
phones with different operating software have been developed that can do as many
functions if not more functions that a pc.
The most important functions of a computer even from the early inventions is that
they can play a vital role in the security of the country, to help fight and prevent
crime, in industry where large organization need to store and retrieve data. To help
people with disabilities as some disabilities can be overcome with the help of
computers.

The social impact of computers is that some people without them would feel lost as
this is the only way they can keep in touch with some friends, relatives that are not
close by but would like to keep them informed of everyday actives and news about
their life.

Economic impact of computers is that they have helped countries in terms of revenue
when they make computers and in terms of organisation’s when they need technical
support for their computers they will need to employ someone or outsource this job to
a company that has some knowledge in this field.

Touch screen development

Touch screens are one of the easiest ways to interact with pc’s, mobile phones,
interactive white boards etc the interface has a wide choice of applications for the user
to chose from allowing them to navigate more easily. The touch screen technology
was first developed in 1974 by Sam Hurst at the University of Kentucky. The touch
screen technology was first developed as a touch sensor in 1971 and further
developed into the touch screen. Early designs were rightly criticized for causing
fatigue, hand-obscuring-the-screen, hand-off-keyboard, imprecise pointing, and the
eventual smudging of the display.

Potential markets and existing uses of this technology are; Education in the form of
interactive white boards, in health care touch screens, handheld/mobile computers, the
mobile phone industry,

The Future of Multi-Touch Technology

The future use of multi-touch technology is expected to rapidly become common

Potential markets of mobile air hockey screen, interactive floors, robotic restaurant,
touch screen dj turntable and dual screen touch laptops. All this technology is will
increase ease of use and improve efficiency of devices operated by the individual.
The development of this technology will benefit not only industry but disadvantaged
children or children with disabilities as they can concentrate on using the technology
instead of learning how to use the hardware involved through the touch screen system.
 Inventors of the mouse

The mouse saw it first release in 1964 and was invented by Douglas Engelbart. The mouse
changed the way the computer worked; later inventions of the mouse have included the
trackball, digital mouse, optical, laser, wireless mouse, 3d mice. Connections of the mouse have
moved from the ps2 to usb and to wireless.

Mouse use is restricted to the desktop and more people are using touchpads/trackpads and the
release of apples new magic track pad may see the end of the mouse as apple say “Looking at
the big picture, more users are using our trackpad because there are more notebook users than
desktop users “. “People love the trackpad. People love those characteristics. So we wanted to
bring that kind of design to our desktop users,”

Mouse use for people without disabilities likely to phase out over the next few years where it
benefits disable people is that the mouse can be operated with a touch of a finger through motion
and pressure sensors, they can even be operated through radio waves so the benefits for disabled
people are more likely to stay but for able bodied people the mouse is “dead”.

Speech recognition

The first speech recognition device was used in 1952, and further developed by IBM in 1964. It
is now widely used in military operations, health care, air traffic control, telephones and
computer games. Important feature of speech recognition would be the benefit to disabled
people. Disabled people with difficulty in using their hands can use this technology to benefit
them.

Keyboards

Keyboards were first designed for typewrite in 1868 by Christopher Sholes and later changed in
1868 to the QWERTY keyboard layout as the key arrangement of the keyboard caused the keys
to get jammed when typists typed too fast.

Other input devices have been designed and used but the keyboard is most used and the most
versatile input device. Latest technology of keyboards is the Opitums Tactus Touch keyboard
which is keyboard which has no physical keys so there is no restriction on the size and shape of
the keys. Some parts of the keyboard can be programmed to display images.

The use of keyboards in mobile phones has been popular for texting and many mobile phones
have touch screen keyboards to enable the user to use the latest technology on their phone. The
blackberry phones are most popular for its QWERTY keyboard.

Conclusion

The interaction of humans and computers is increasing worldwide and into different cultures and
with different uses. Computer will soon be everywhere including in our bodies. The use of
computers and the threats that are involved with the use i.e. privacy of information, security,
connections-spoofing will need to be looked at as we are posting more and more information
about our selves on the internet, we need to know how is this information being used who is
looking at it and what action can be taken to prevent this information being misused. There are
risks involved but the progress of this technology is important for society and the progress of
our lives as we live more demand more information and want easy access to technology and our
demands.

Bibliography

When was the first computer made report (online)

Mary bellis Touch screen report(online)

http://www.funnypix.ca/v/human-computer-interaction.gif.html
(Accessed 03/02/2011)

Speech recognition(online)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition
(Accessed 03/02/2011)