Module 2: The Computer

Module Description
Objectives of the Module:
At the end of the topic session the students are expected to:
1. Defining a computer
2. Understanding the Various elements of a computer system
3. Advantages & Disadvantage of Input and Output devices keeping in view different aspects
of HCI

2. Computer
There is the computer ‘box’ itself, a keyboard, a mouse and a color screen. The screen layout
is shown alongside it. If we examine the interface, we can see how its various characteristics
are related to the devices used. The details of the interface itself, its underlying principles and
design some of this variation is driven by different hardware configurations: desktop use,
laptop computers, PDAs (personal digital assistants).

Partly the diversity of devices reflects the fact that there are many different types of data that
may have to be entered into and obtained from a system, and there are also many different
types of user, each with their own unique requirements

2.1. Input Devices

Input is concerned with recording and entering data into computer system and issuing
instruction to the computer. In order to interact with computer systems effectively, users
must be able to communicate their interaction in such a way that the machine can interpret
them. Therefore, input devices can be defined as: a device that, together with appropriate
software, transforms information from the user into data that a computer application can
process.

One of the key aims in selecting an input device and deciding how it will be used to control
events in the system is to help users to carry out their work safely, effectively, efficiently

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 and, if possible, to also make it enjoyable. The choice of input device should contribute as
positively as possible to the usability of the system. In general, the most appropriate input
device will be the one that:

• Matches the physiology and psychological characteristics of users, their training

and their expertise. For example, older adults may be hampered by conditions such
as arthritis and may be unable to type; inexperienced users may be unfamiliar with
keyboard layout.
• Is appropriate for the tasks that are to be performed. For example, a drawing task
from a list requires an input device that allows continuous movement; selecting an
option from a list requires an input device that permits discrete movement.

• Is suitable for the intended work and environment. For example, speech input is
useful where there is no surface on which to put a keyboard but is unsuitable in
noisy condition; automatic scanning is suitable if there is a large amount of data to
be generated.

Frequently the demands of the input device are conflicting, and no single optimal device
can be identified: trade-offs usually have to be made between desirable and undesirable
features in any given situation. Furthermore, many systems will use two or more input
devices together, such as a keyboard and a mouse, so the devices must be complementary
and well-coordinated. This means that not only must an input device be easy to use and
the form of input be straightforward, there must also be adequate and appropriate system
feedback to guide, reassure, inform and if necessary, correct user’s errors. This feedback
can take various forms. It can be a visual display screen: a piece of text appears, an icon
expands into a window, a cursor moves across the screen or a complete change of screen
presentation occurs. It can be auditory: an alarm warning, a spoken comment or some
other audible clue such as the sound of keys clicking when hit. It can be tactile: using a
joystick. In many cases feedback from input can be a combination of visual, auditory and
tactile responses. For example, when selecting an icon on a screen, the tactile feedback
from the mouse button or function keys will tell users that they instructed the system to

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 activate the icon. Simultaneously, visual feedback will show the icon changing shape on
the screen. This is coordinated with the sound of the button clicking or the feel of the key
resisting further pressure. Let us now discuss various types of devices in terms of their
common characteristics and the factors that need to be considered when selecting an input
device.

2.2. Text entry devices

There are many text entry devices as given below:

Keyboard
The most common method of entering information into the computer is through a
keyboard. Since you have probably used them a lot without perhaps thinking about the
related design issue, thinking about keyboards is a convenient starting point for
considering input design issue. Broadly defined, a keyboard is a group of on—off push
button, which are used either in combination or separately. Such a device is a discrete
entry device. These devices involve sensing essentially one of two or more discrete
positions (for example, keys on keyboards, touch-sensitive switches and buttons), which
are either on or off, whereas others (for example, pens with digitizing tablets, moving
joysticks, roller balls and sliders) involve sensing in a continuous range. Devices in this
second category are therefore, known as continuous entry devices.

When considering the design of keyboards, both individual keys and grouping
arrangements need to be considered. The physical design of keys is obviously important.
For example, of keys are too small this may cause difficulty in locating and hitting chosen
keys accurately. Some calculators seeking extreme miniaturization and some modern
telephones suffer from this. Some keyboards use electro mechanical switches, while others
use sealed, flat membrane keyboards. When pressing a key on a membrane keyboard,
unless appropriate feedback is given on screen, or using sound it may be difficult to tell
which key , if any , has been presses. On the other hand, membrane keyboards can
typically withstand grease, dirt and liquids that would soon clog up typical

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 electromechanical switches. This can be an important consideration in environments such
as production floors, farm and public places.

Alterations in the arrangement of the keys can affect a user’s speed and accuracy. Various
studies have shown that typing involves a great deal of analyses of trained typists suggest
that typing is not a sequential act, with each key being sought out and pressed as the letters
occur in the works to be typed. Rather, the typist looks ahead, processes text in chunks,
and then types it in chunks. For alphabetic text these chunks are about two to three world
long for numerical material they are three to four characters long. The effect is to increase
the typing speed significantly.

QWERTY keyboard
Most people are quite familiar with the layout of the standard alphanumeric keyboard,
often called the qwerty keyboard, the name being derived from the first letters in the upper
most row from left to center. This design first became a commercial success when used
for typewriters in the USA in 1874, after many different prototypes had been tested.
The arrangement of keys was chosen in order to reduce the incidence of keys jamming in
the manual typewriters of the time rather than because of any optimal arrangement for
typing. For example, the letters ‘s’, ,t, and ‘h’ are far apart even though they are far apart
even though they are frequently used together.

Alphabetic keyboard
One of the most obvious layouts to be produced is the alphabetic keyboard, in which the
letters are arranged alphabetically across the keyboard. It might be expected that such a
layout would make it quicker for untrained typists to use, but this is not the case. Studies
have shown that this keyboard is not faster for properly trained typists, as we may expect,
since there is no inherent advantage to this layout. And even for novice or occasional users,
the alphabetic layout appears to make very little difference to the speed of typing. These
keyboards are used in some pocket electronic personal organizers, perhaps because the
layout looks simpler to use than the QWERTY one. Also, it dissuades people from

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 attempting to use their touch-typing skills on a very small keyboard and hence avoids
criticisms of difficulty of use.

Dvorak Keyboard
With the advent of electric and electronic keyboards and the elimination of levered
hammers such considerations are no longer necessary. Attempts at designing alternative
keyboards that are more efficient and quicker to use have produced, among others, the
Dvorak and Alphabetic boards. The Dvorak board, first patented in 1932, was designed
using the following principles:

• Layout is arranged on the basis of frequency of usage of letters and the frequency
of letter pattern and sequences in the English language.
• All vowels and the most frequently used consonants are on the second or home row,
so that something like 70% of common words are typed on this row alone.
• Faster operation is made possible by tapping with fingers on alternate hands
(particularly the index fingers) rather than by repetitive tapping with one finger and
having the majority of keying assigned to one hand, as in the QWERTY keyboard,
which favors left-handers. Since the probability of vowels and consonants altering
is very high, all vowels are typed with the left hand and frequent home row
consonants with the right.

Figure 2.2.1 QWERTY Keyboard

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 The improvements made by such as ergonomic design are a significant reduction in finger
travel and consequent fatigue and a probable increase in accuracy. Dvorak also claimed
that this arrangement reduces the between –row movement by 90% and allows 35% of all
words normally used to be typed on the home row. Despite its significant benefits, the
dvorak layout, show in figure has never been commercially successful. The possible gain
in input speed has to be weighed against the cost of replacing existing keyboards and
retraining millions of people who have learned the QWERTY keyboard.
Chord keyboards
In chord keyboards several keys must be pressed at once in order to enter a single character.
This is a bit like playing a flute, where several keys must be pressed to produce with a
small number of keys, few keys are required, and so chord keyboards can be very small,
and many can be operated with just one hand. Training is required learn the finger
combination required to use a chord keyboard.

They can be very useful where space is very limited, or where one hand is involved in some
other task. Training is required to learn the finger combinations required to use a chord
keyboard. They can be very useful where space is very limited, or where one hand is
involved in some other task. Chord keyboards are also used for mail sorting and a form of
keyboard is used for recording transcripts of proceeding in law courts.

Figure 2.2.2 Chord Keyboard

Some keyboards are even made of touch-sensitive buttons, which require a light touch and
practically no travel; they often appear as a sheet of plastic with the buttons printed on

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 them. Such keyboards are often found on shop till, though the keys are not QWERTY, but
specific to the task. Being fully sealed, they have the advantage of being easily cleaned and
resistant to dirty environment, but have little feel, and are not popular with trained touch-
typists. Feedback is important even at this level of human-computer interaction! With the
recent increase of repetitive strain injury (RSI) to users’ finger, and the increased
responsibilities of employers in these circumstances, it may be that such designs will enjoy
resurgence in the near future. The tendons that control the movement of the fingers
becoming inflamed owing to overuse cause RSI in fingers and making repeated unnatural
movement.

There are very verities of specially shaped keyboards to relieve the strain of typing or to
allow people to type with some injury or disability. These may slope the keys towards the
hands to improve the ergonomics position, be designed for single-handed use, or for no
hands at all. Some use bespoke key layouts to reduce strain of finger movements.

Phone pad and T9 entry

With mobile phones being used for SMS text messaging and WAP, the phone keypad has
become an important form of text input. Unfortunately a phone only has digits 0-9, not a
full alphanumeric keyboard.

To overcome this for text input the numeric keys are usually pressed several times. Figure
shows a typical mapping of digits to letters. For example, the 3 keys have ‘def’ on it. If you
press the key once you get a ‘d’, if you press 3 twice you get an ‘e’, and if you press it three
times you get an ‘f’. The main number-to-letter mapping is standard, but punctuation and
accented letters differ between phones. Also there needs to be a way for the phone to
distinguish, say, the ‘dd’ from ‘e’. on some phones you need to pause far short period
between successive letters using the same key, for others you press an additional key (e.g.
‘#’).
Most phones have at least two modes for the numeric buttons: one where the keys mean
the digits (for example when entering a phone number) and one where they mean letters
(for example when typing an SMS message). Some have additional modes to make entering

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 accented characters easier. Also a special mode or setting is needed for capital letters
although many phones use rules to reduce this, for example automatically capitalizing the
initial letter in a message and letters following full stops, question marks and exclamation
marks.

This is all very laborious but you can see experienced mobile users make use of highly
developed shorthand to reduce the number of keystrokes. If you watch a teenager or other
experienced txt-er, you will see they often develop great typing speed holding the phone in
one hand and using only their thumb. As these skills spread through society it may be that
future devices use this as a means of small format text input. For those who never develop
this physical dexterity some phones have tiny plug-in keyboards, or come with foldout
keyboards.

Another technical solution to the problem is the T9 algorithm. This uses a large dictionary
to disambiguate words by simply typing the relevant letters once. For example, ‘3926753’
becomes ‘example’ as there is only one word with letters that match (alternative like
‘ewbosld’ that also match is not real words). Where there are ambiguities such as ‘26’,
which could be an ‘am’ or an ‘an’, the phone gives a series of option to choose from.

Handwriting recognition
Handwriting is a common and familiar activity, and is therefore attractive as a method of
text entry. If we were able to write as we would when we use paper, but with the computer
taking this form of input and converting it to text, we can see that it is an intuitive and
simple way of interacting with the computer. However, there are a number of disadvantages
with hand writing recognition. Current technology is still fairly inaccurate and so makes a
significant number of mistakes in recognizing letters, though it has improved rapidly.
Moreover, individual differences in handwriting are enormous, and make the recognition
process even more difficult. The most significant information in handwriting is not in the
letter shape itself but in the stroke information– the way in which the letter is drawn. This
means that devices which support handwriting recognition must capture the stoke
information, not just the final character shape. Because of this, online recognitions far

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 easier than reading handwritten text on paper. Further complications arise because letters
within words are shaped and often drawn very differently depending on the actual vide
enough information. More serious in many ways is the limitation on speed; it is difficult to
write at more than 25 words a minute, which is no more than half the speed of a decent
typist.

The different nature of handwriting means that we may find it more useful in situation
where a keyboard-based approach would have its own problems. Such situation will
invariably result in completely new systems being designed around the handwriting
recognizer as the predominant mode of textural input, and these may bear very little
resemblance to the typical system. Pen-based systems that use handwriting recognition are
actively marked in the mobile computing market, especially for smaller pocket organizers.
Such machines are typically used for taking notes and jotting down and sketching ideas, as
well as acting as a diary, address book and organizer. Using handwriting recognition has
many advantages over using a keyboard. A pen-based system can be small and yet still
accurate and easy to use, whereas small keys become very tiring, or even impossible, to
use accurately. Also the pen-based approach does not have to be altered when we move
from jotting down text to sketching diagrams; pen-based input is highly appropriate for this
also.

Some organizer designs have dispensed with a keyboard completely. With such systems
one must consider all sorts of other ways to interact with the system that are not character
based. For example, we may decide to use gesture recognition, rather than commands, to
tell the system what to do, for example, drawing a line through a word in order to delete it.
The important point is that a different input device that was initially considered simply as
an alternative to the keyboard opens up a whole host of alternative designs and different
possibilities for interaction.

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 Speech recognition
Speech recognition is a promising are of text entry, but it has been promising for a number
of years and is still only used in very limited situations. However, speech input suggests a
number of advantages over other input methods:
• Since speech is a natural form of communication, training new users is much easier
than with other input devices.
• Since speech input does not require the use of hands or other limbs, it enables
operators to carry out other actions and to move around more freely.
• Speech input offers disabled people such as the blind and those with severs motor
impairment the opportunities to use new technology.

However, speech input suffers from a number of problems:

• Speech input has been applied only in very specialized and highly constrained tasks.
• Speech recognizers have severe limitations whereas a human would have a little
problem distinguishing between similar sounding words or phrases; speech
recognition systems are likely to make mistakes.
• Speech recognizers are also subject to interference from background noise,
although the use of a telephone-style handset or a headset may overcome this.
• Even if the speech can be recognized, the natural form of language used by people
is very difficult for a computer to interpret.

The development of speech input systems can be regarded as a continuum, with device that
have a limited vocabulary and recognize only single words at one end of the spectrum and
systems that attempt to understand natural speech at the other, Isolated word recognition
systems typically require pauses between words to be longer than in natural speech and
they also tend to be quite careful about how she speaks. Continuous speech recognition
systems are capable, up to a point, of problems and system complexity. Although these
systems still operate by recognizing a restricted number of words, the advantage is that
they allow much faster data entry and are more natural to use. One way of reducing the
possible confusion between words is to reduce the number of people who use the system.
This can overcome some of the problem caused by variations in accent and intonation.

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 Speaker-dependent systems require each user to train a system to recognize her voice by
repeating all the words in the desired vocabulary one or more times. However, individual
variability in voice can be a problem, particularly when a user has a cold. It is not
uncommon for such systems to confuse words like three and repeat. Speaker-independent
systems, as the name suggests, do not have this training requirement; they attempt to
accommodate a large range of speaking characteristics and vocabulary. However, the
problem of individual variability means that these types of system are less reliable, or have
a smaller vocabulary than speaker-dependent systems.

The perfect system would be one that would understand natural speech to such extent that
it could not only distinguish differences in speech presentation but also have the
intelligence to resolve any conflicts in
meaning by interpreting speech in
relation to the context of the
conversation, as a human being does. This is
a deep unsolved problem in
Artificial Intelligence, and progress is likely
to be slow.

2.3. Positioning, Pointing and Drawing

Pointing devices are input devices that can be used to specify a point or path in a one-, two-
or three- dimensional space and, like keyboards, their characteristics have to be considering
in relation to design needs. Pointing devices are as follow:
• Mouse
• Touch pad
• Track ball
• Joystick
• Touch screen
• Eye gaze

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 Mouse
The mouse has become a major component of the majority of desktop computer systems
sold today, and is the little box with the tail connecting it to the machine in our basic
computer system picture. It is a small, palm-sized box housing a weighted ball- as the box
is moved on the tabletop; the ball is rolled by the table and so rotates inside the housing.
This rotation is detected by small rollers that are in contact with the ball, and these adjust
the values of potentiometers.

The mouse operates in a planar fashion, moving around the desktop, and is an indirect input
device, since a transformation is required to map from the horizontal nature of desktop to
the vertical alignment of the screen. Left-right motion is directly mapped, whilst up-down
on the screen is achieved by moving the mouse away-towards the user.
Foot mouse
Although most mice are hand operated, not all are there have been experiments with a
device called the foot mouse. As the name implies, it is foot-operated device, although
more akin to an isometric joysticks than a mouse. The cursor is moved by foot pressure on
one side or the other of pad. This allows one to dedicate hands to the keyboard. A rare
device, the foot mouse has not found common acceptance.

Touch pad
Touchpad’s are touch-sensitive tablets usually around 2-3 inches square. They were first
used extensively in Apple PowerBooks portable computers but are now used in many other
notebook computers and can be obtained separately to replace the mouse on the desktop.
They are operated by stroking a finger over their surface, rather like using a simulated
trackball. The feel is very different from other input devices, but as with all devices users
quickly get used to the action and become proficient.

Because they are small it may require several strokes to move the cursor across the screen.
This can be improved by using acceleration settings in the software linking the trackpad
movement to the screen movement. Rather than having a fixed ratio of pad distance to
screen distance, this varies with the speed of movement. If the finger moves slowly over

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 the pad then the pad movements map to small distances on the screen. If the finger is
moving quickly the same distance on the touchpad moves the cursor a long distance.

Trackball and thumbwheel

Trackball is really just an upside-down mouse. A weighted ball faces upwards and is
rotated inside a static housing, the motion being detected in the same way as for a
mechanical mouse, and the relative motion of the ball moves the cursor. It is a very compact
device, as it requires no additional space in which to operate. It is an indirect device, and
requires separate buttons for selection. It is fairly accurate, but is hard to draw with, as long
movements are difficult. Trackball now appear in a wide variety of sizes, the most usual
being about the same as golf ball, with a number of larger and smaller devices available.
Thumbwheels are different in that they have two orthogonal dials to control the cursor
position. Such a device is very cheap, but slow, and it is difficult to manipulate the cursor
in any way other than horizontally or vertically. This limitation can sometimes be a useful
constraint in the right application.

Although two-axis thumbwheels are not heavily used in mainstream applications, single
thumbwheels are often included on a standard mouse in order to offer an alternative mean
to scroll documents. Normally scrolling requires you to grab the scroll bar with the mouse
cursor and drag it down. For large documents it is hard to be accurate and in addition the
mouse dragging is done holding a finger down which adds to hand strain. In contrast the
small scroll wheel allows comparatively intuitive and fast scrolling, simply rotating the
wheel to move the page.

Joystick and track point

The joystick is an indirect input device, taking up very little space. Consisting of a small
palm-sized box with a stick or shaped grip sticking up form it, the joystick is a simple
device with which movements of the stick cause a corresponding movement of the screen
cursor. There are two type of joystick: the absolute and the isometric.

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 In absolute joystick, movement is the important characteristic, since the position of the
joystick in the base corresponds to the position of the cursor on the screen. In the isometric
joystick, the pressure on the stick corresponds to the velocity of the cursor, and when
released, the stick returns to its usual upright centered position.

Track point is a smaller device but with the same basic characteristics is used on many
laptop computers to control the cursor. Some older systems had a variant of this called the
key mouse, which was a single key. More commonly a small rubber nipple projects in the
center of keyboard and acts as a tiny isometric joystick. It is usually difficult for novice to
use, but this seems to be related to fine adjustment of the speed settings.

Touch screens
Touch displays allow the user to input information into the computer simply by touching
an appropriate part of the screen or a touch-sensitive pad near to the screen. In this way the
screen of the computer becomes a bi-directional instrument in that it both receives
information from a user and displays output from a system. Using appropriate software
different parts of a screen can represent different responses as different displays are
presented to a user. For example, a system giving directions to visitors at a large exhibition
may first present an overview of the exhibition layout in the form of general map. A user
may then be requested to touch the hall that he wishes to visit and the system will present
a list of exhibits. Having selected the exhibit of his choice by touching it, the user may then
be presented with a more detailed map of the chosen hall.

The advantages of touch screens are that they are easy to learn, require no extra workplace,
have no moving parts and are durable. They can provide a very direct interaction. Ease of
learning makes them ideal for domains in which use by a particular user may occur only
once or twice, and users cannot be expected to spend a time learning to use the system.

They suffer from a number of disadvantages, however. Using the finger to point is not
always suitable, as it can leave greasy marks on screens and, being a fairly blunt instrument,
it is quite inaccurate. This means that the selection of small regions is very difficult, as is

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 accurate drawing. Moreover, lifting the arm to point a vertical screen is very tiring, and
also means that the screen has to be within about a meter of the user to enable to be reached,
which can make it too close for comfort.

Stylus and light pen

For more accurate positioning, systems with touch-sensitive surface often employ a stylus.
Instead of pointing at the screen directly, small pen-like plastic stick is used to point and
draw on the screen. This is particularly popular in PDAs, but they are also being used in
some laptop computers.

An old technology that is used in the same way is the light pen. The pen is connected to
the screen by a cable and, in operation, is held to the screen and detects a burst of light
from the screen phosphor during the display scan. The light pen can therefore address
individual pixels and so is much more accurate than the touch screen.

Eyegaze
Eyegaze systems allow you to control the computer by simply looking at it. Some systems
require you to wear special glasses or a small head-mounted box, others are built into the
screen or sit as a small box below the screen. A low-power laser is shone into the eye and
is reflected off the retinal. The reflection changes as the angle of the eye alters, and by
tracking the reflected beam the eyegaze system can determine the direction in which the
eye is looking. The system needs to be calibrated, typically by staring at a series of dots on
the screen, but thereafter can be used to move the screen cursor or for other more
specialized uses. Eyegaze is a very fast and accurate device, but the more accurate versions
can be expensive. It is fine for selection but not for drawing since the eye does not move
in smooth lines. Also in real application it can be difficult to distinguish deliberately gazing
at something and accidentally glancing it.

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 Cursor keys
Cursor keys are available on most keyboards. Four keys on the keyboard are used to control
the cursor, one each for up, down, left and right. There is no standardized layout for the
keys. Some layouts are shown in figure but the most common now is the inverted ‘T’.
Cursor keys used to be more heavily used in character-based systems before windows and
mice were the norm. However, when logging into remote machines such as web servers,
the interface is often a virtual character-based terminal within a telnet window.

Figure 2.3.1 Cursor Keys

2.4. Display Devices

Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is the television-like computer screen still most common as we write
this, but rapidly being displaced by flat LCD screens. It works in a similar way to a standard
television screen. A stream of electrons is emitted from an electron gun, which is then
focused and directed by magnetic fields. As the beam hits the phosphor-coated screen, the
phosphor is excited by the electrons and glows. The electron beam is scanned from left to
right, and then flicked back to rescan the next line, from top to bottom.

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 Figure 2.4.1 Cathode ray tube

Black and white screens are able to display grayscale by varying the intensity of the
electron beam; color is achieved using more complex means. Three electron guns are used,
one each to hit red, green and blue phosphors. Combining these colors can produce many
others, including white, when they are all fully on. These three phosphor dots are focused
to make a single point using a shadow mask, which is imprecise and gives color screens a
lower resolution than equivalent monochrome screens.

The CRT is a cheap display device and has fast enough response times for rapid animation
coupled with a high color capability. Note that animation does not necessarily means little
creatures and figures running about on the screen, but refers in a more general sense to the
use of motion in displays: moving the cursor, opening windows, indicating processor-
intensive calculations, or whatever. As screen resolution increased, however, the price
rises. Because of the electron gun and focusing components behind the screen,
CRTs are fairly bulky, though recent innovations have led to flatter displays in which the
electron gun is not placed so that it fires directly at the screen, but fires parallel to the screen
plane with the resulting beam bent through 90 degrees to his the screen.

Liquid Crystal Display

Liquid Crystal Displays are mostly used in personal organizer or laptop computers. It is a
light, flat plastic screen. These displays utilize liquid crystal technology and are smaller,
lighter and consume far less power than traditional CRTs. These are also commonly

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 referred to as flat-panel displays. They have no radiation problems associated with them,
and are matrix addressable, which means that individual pixels can be accessed without the
need for scanning.

This different technology can be used to replace the standard screen on a desktop computer,
and this is now common. However, the particular characteristics of compactness,
lightweight, and low power consumption have meant that these screens have created a large
niche in the computer market by monopolizing the notebook and portable computer
systems side.

Digital paper
A new form of display that is still in its infancy is the various forms of digital papers. These
are thin flexible materials that can be written to electronically, just like a computer screen,
but which keep their contents even when removed from any electrical supply.

Physical controls and sensors

Sound output
Another mode of output that we should consider is that of auditory signals. Often designed
to be used in conjunction with screen displays, auditory outputs are poorly understood: we
do not yet know how to utilize sound in a sensible way to achieve maximum effect and
information transference. Sounds like beeps, bongs, clanks, whistles and whirrs are all used
for varying effect. As well as conveying system output, sounds offer an important level of
feedback in interactive systems. Keyboards can be set to emit a click each time a key is
pressed, and this appears to speed up interactive performance.

Telephone keypads often sound different tones when the keys are pressed; a noise
occurring signifies that the key has been successfully pressed, whilst the actual tone
provides some information about the particular key that was pressed.

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 2.5. Touch, Feel & Smell
Sense of touch and feel is also used for feedback; tactile feedback has its own importance
and is being used in many interactive devices. We usually feel textures when we move our
fingers over a surface. Technology for this is just beginning to become available.

2.6. Physical Controls

A desktop computer has to serve many functions and do has generic keys and controls that
can be used for a variety of purpose. In contrast, these dedicated controls panes have been
designed for a particular device and for a single use. This is why they differ so much.
Usually microwave a flat plastic control panel. The reason is this, the microwave is used
in the kitchen whilst cooking, with hands that may be greasy or have food on them. The
smooth controls have no gaps where food can accumulate and clog buttons, so it can easily
be kept clean a hygienic.

When using the washing machine you are handling dirty clothes, which may be grubby,
but not to the same extent, so the smooth easy-clean panel is less important. It has several
major settings and the large buttons act both as control and display.

2.7. Environment & Bio Sensing

Although we are not always conscious of them, there are many sensors in our
environment—controlling automatic doors, energy saving lights, etc. and devices
monitoring our behavior such as security tags in shops. The vision of ubiquitous computing
suggests that our world will be filled with such devices.

The Computer 19
Dennis Giovanni R. Caronan