Top Articles: The Next Stages in Human-Computer Interaction
Week 47, 2017
It’s truly incredible how far computers have come since their room-sized processor days. And the human-computer interaction is only getting better through increasingly intuitive user interfaces. Computers are now behaving more like humans in order to create a seamless user experience. This technology includes interfaces like facial recognition, biometrics, haptics, voice recognition, and even brain hacking. For the most part, these perceptual user interfaces are mimicking how humans interact with each other, which is why they’re so intuitive. We are leaving the days of textual interfaces and interactions far behind.
Here are the top articles to read this week:
1. Inside the Race to Hack the Human Brain
By John H. Richardson from Wired
The ultimate human-computer interaction would be to become one with the machine. While this sounds like Cylon and Replicant territory, scientists are actually working on non-intrusive ways for people to interact with machines through thought. Much like how we’re using our voices and faces to interact with computers, the goal is to use an algorithm to harness the power of thought and achieve the most intuitive user interface. While some might wonder who could possibly want such a thing, financial analysts have predicted a $27 billion market for neural devices within 6 years. So apparently, a lot of people do.
2. Google Gives Developers More Tools to Make Better Voice Apps
By Khari Johnson from VentureBeat
Voice tech is probably the most currently used perceptual user interface. It’s enabled on all of our smartphones, smart speakers, and even some refrigerators. Talking is one of the easiest ways to connect with a consumer, and Google knows it. In addition to personalization developments, Google is adding Implicit Discovery to its Assistant. Implicit Discovery involves using AI to understand the context so that users don’t have to use specific commands or call out exact names of brands anymore. This may seem simple, but without a visual interface, it’s tricky for users to indicate exactly what they want beyond simple commands. This is a super big step up in voice tech.
3. HaptX Reveals High-Tech Haptic Gloves That Let You Feel and Touch in Virtual Reality
By Taylor Soper from Geek Wire
You know that feeling when you pick up an object and can intuitively know its texture, size, and approximate weight? It’s a complex feeling that was only possible in the real world. Enter HaptX. This company has developed haptic technology to let you experience the digital world in the same way you experience the physical world, at least through touch. Their VR glove provides tactile feedback based on how the user interacts with the virtual environment, letting them feel the difference between, say, the hood of a car and raindrops falling from the sky. The entertainment possibilities for this tech are endless.
4. The HoloPlayer One Lets You Interact with 3D Holograms
By Ashley Carman from The Verge
For the most part, if we want to interact with digital objects in the real world, we need Virtual Reality headgear. This is frankly nothing like the holograms we were promised in Star Wars or Minority Report. Luckily, a startup called Looking Glass is working to bring these holograms to real life. They have created a hologram viewing and manipulating device that does not require any additional equipment. It’s different from AR and VR because users don’t need to wear special glasses or use their phones to interact with the object. It exists purely in the real world like Princess Leia did.
5. Warby Parker’s App Is Cleverly Using the iPhone X’s Face Mapping to Recommend Glasses
By Chaim Gartenberg from The Verge
This is a great example of using existing tech to your advantage. Warby Parker, the e-commerce glasses brand, is using Apple’s facial recognition technology on the iPhone X to offer new experiences for customers. The company maps the user’s face in order to provide glasses recommendations that will best fit the user’s face. It’s a clever way to provide a personalized experience to customers without having to build the tech yourself.
Curated by Hadley Stork
