<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'><font size="2">Some of my <font size="2">experience</font> is in <font size="2">creating bespoke interfaces <font size="2">for</font> <font size="2">the</font> <font size="2">disab<font size="2">led</font></font><font size="2">. The only thing I <font size="2">can really say is make <font size="2">HCI</font> so<font size="2">mething you already know how to use.<br>
<font size="2"><font size="2">I think <font size="2">the</font> hardest HCI device we have is <font size="2">the</font> keyboard. It can take years to master and some of us are still<font size="2"> perfectly capable of screwing it up even after <font size="2">decades</font> of practice.<br>
Whet<font size="2">her the HCI is physical or virtual representation I find it is essential to keep it as caveman as possible. A mouse is little different to dragging a rock on <font size="2">the</font> ground and prod<font size="2">ing it occasionally with a finger. Yet from <font size="2"><font size="2"><font size="2">simple</font> move<font size="2">ment endless complex<font size="2"> control</font> can <font size="2">be had.<br>
Keep the ingenuity and novelness hidden in the technology, don't try to dazzle the user with it. No one wants a light switch that tells you how fantastic its inventor was eveyti<font size="2">me you want to turn the light on. Or rotates when it looks like it should push.</font><br>
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One area you mention where I thin<font size="2">k the problems <font size="2">are</font> being magnified is in gaming. We have pushed gaming interfaces beyond what is physically possible. In a 3d CA<font size="2">D program you can manipulate virtu<font size="2">al objects as you would in the real world, but in the games world. You can do far more than the <font size="2">human body is capable of. All this needs to be done mainly with fingers and thumbs, so we have abstracted and <font size="2">combination</font> actions which do n<font size="2">ot exist in reality. <font size="2">We dont drive with a fiddly little gamepad.</font><br>
<font size="2">We can jump left. roll, change weapon, stab, lob a grenade, duck then <font size="2">run with a <font size="2">few deft wiggles of the thumb and button pushes. Which leads me to wonder how is our use of <font size="2">this kind of HCI changing our br<font size="2">ains? Is it pushing a new generation to desire more functionality from the real world to match their HCI based mastery and normality of <font size="2">the</font> virtual worlds? Maybe something to tal<font size="2">k about with the students? How HCI can <font size="2">influence</font> the real world and visa versa.<br>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Natasha Vita-More <natasha@natasha.cc><br>
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><br>
Sent: Thu, 31 Jan 2013 2:21<br>
Subject: [ExI] The Field of HCI<br>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Human-computer interaction is one field I am teaching two classes in (theory and prototyping) and I’d like to ask you all for any insights, suggestions, latest theories, methods, etc. that would be helpful to these undergrad students who want to their work at a master’s level.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Most of these students are working in HCI areas of apps, gaming, video, and interface design, 3D modeling, etc. They have a very weak theoretical background, but they are anxious to learn.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">If anyone has taught HCI at the undergrad or grad level, please let me know. And if you have not but can offer insights and suggestions, that would be much appreciated!</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Thank you,</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Natasha</div>
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