Human Centric Computing

Commentary: This post was originally written Dec 2010 and was updated then reposted Dec2013. Chief Executive Officers fear commoditization of their products and services. This is a major indicator of attenuating profit margins and a mature market. Efforts such as "new and improved" are short term efforts to extend a product life cycle. A better solution is to resource disruptive technologies that cause obsolescence of standing products and services, shift the market, and create opportunities for profit. Human centric computing does just that and project manager may find they are involved in implementing these projects of various levels of complexity. Thus, project managers should have a grasp of this technology and even seek solutions in their current projects. 

Human Centric Computing
by 
JT Bogden, PMP

Human centric computing has been around for a long time. Movies for decades have fantasized and romanticized about sentient computers and machines that interfaced with human beings naturally.  More recent movies have taken this to the ultimate end with characters such as Star Trek's Data, Artificial Intelligence A.I.'s character David, or the movie iRobot's character Sonny.   In all cases these machines developed self-awareness or the essence of what is considered to be uniquely human but remained machines.  The movie Bicentennial Man went the opposite direction from a self-aware machine who became human. This is fantasy and there is a practical side to this.

Michael Dertouzos in his book, 'The Unfinished Revolution', discusses early attempts at developing the technologies behind these machines. The current computational technologies are being challenged as the Unfinished Revolution plays out. I am not in full agreement with the common understanding of the Graphical User Interface, GUI, as "a mouse-driven, icon-based interface that replaced the command line interface". This is a technology specific definition that is somewhat limiting and arcane in thinking. A GUI is more akin to a visceral human centric interface in which one form utilizes a mouse and icons. Other forms use touch screens, voice recognition, and holography. Ultimately, the machine interfaces with humans as another human would in the end state.

Human Centric Computing

Humans possess sensory capabilities that are fully information based. Under the auspices of information theory, during the 1960's human sensory has been proven to be consistent with Fourier's Transforms. These are mathematical formulas in which information is represented by signals in terms of time domain frequencies. In lay term, your senses pickup natural events and biologically convert the event to an electrical signals in your nervous system. Those signals have information encoded in them and arrive at the brain where they are processed holographically. The current computational experience touches three of the five senses. The visceral capability provides the greatest information to the user currently because the primary interface is visual and actually part of the brain. The palpable and auditory are the lesser utilized with touch screens, tones, and command recognition. The only reason smell or taste is used is if the machine is fried in a surge which leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. However, all the senses can be utilized since their biological processing is identically the same. The only need is for the correct collection devices or sensors.

Technological Innovations Emerging

If innovations such as these device examples are fully developed and combined with the visceral and palpable capabilities cited earlier truly human centric machines will have merged and the 'face' of the GUI forever will have changed.

Microsoft's new Desktop is literally a desktop that changes the fundamental way humans interact with digital systems by discarding the mouse and keyboard altogether. Bill Gates remarks that the old adage was to place a computer on every desktop. Now Gates remarks that Microsoft is replacing the desktop completely with a computational device. This product increases the utilization of the palpable combined with the visceral in order to sort and organize content then transfer the content between systems with the relative ease of using the finger tips (Microsoft, 2008). For example, a digital camera is set on the surface and the images stored are downloaded then appear as arrayed images on the surface for sorting with your fingertips. Ted Talk's Multi-touch Interface highlights the technology. 

Another visceral and palpable product is the Helio Display. This device eliminates the keyboard and mouse as well. Image appears in three dimensions on a planar field cast into the air using a proprietary technology. Some models permit the use of one’s hands and fingers in order to ‘grab’ holographic objects in mid-air and move them around (IO2, 2007). Another example of this concept is Ted Talk's video Grab a Pixel. 

On the touch screens of various forms virtual keyboards can be brought up if needed. However, speech software allows for not only speech-to-text translation but also control and instructions.  Speech engines that can provide high quality instructions replacing error tones and help text. Their telephony products are capable of interaction with callers. Their software also comes in 25 languages. (Loquendo, 2008).

There are innumerable human centric projects ongoing. In time, these products will increasingly make it to the market in various forms where they will be further refined and combined into other emerging technologies. One such emerging trend and field is a blending of Virtual Reality and the natural.  The Ted Talks video 'Six Sense' illustrates some of the ongoing projects and efforts to change how we interconnect with systems.

Combining sensory and collection technology with neutral agents may increase the ability to evaluate information bring the computer systems closer to self-awareness and true artificial intelligence.  Imagine a machine capable of intaking an experience then sharing that experience in a human manner. 

Commentary:  Project managers seeking to improve objectives where selection and collection of information can be quickly gathered with out typing or wiping a mouse across the screen, should consider use of these type of products whenever possible.  Although costly now, the cost for these technologies will drop as the new economy sets in. 

References:

Dertouzos, M.L. (2001). The unfinished revolution: human-centered computers and what they can do for us.  (1st ed.), HarperBusiness 

Englander, I. (2003). The Architecture of Computer Hardware and Systems Software: An information Technology Approach. (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

IO2 Staff Writer, 2007. HelioDisplay, Retrieved 25FEB09 from http://www.io2technology.com/

Microsoft Staff Writer, 2008. Microsoft Surface, 2008, Retrieved 25FEB09 from
 http://www.microsoft.com/surface/product.html#section=The%20Product

Loquendo Staff Writers, 2008. Loquendo Corporate Site, Retrieved 25FEB09 from
 http://www.loquendo.com/en/index.htm