SAP Inscribe: The Future Is (Hand)Written
Augmented humanity is transforming the relationship between humans and machines
One of the goals of the Intelligent Enterprise (IE) is to support people by optimizing their potential using augmentative and intuitive technologies. We at SAP Design call this augmented humanity, and it is completely transforming the connection between machines and humans by adding value and efficiency to our work.
Augmented humanity extends the human potential by harnessing the power of machines. This idea is not new, but 2018 has been particularly innovative in the way that augmented humanity has been reimagined. People are increasingly unwilling to adapt so that machines can understand them; instead, we are seeing technology become more human. “Never before have digital tools been so responsive to us,” claim Wilson and Daughtery in the Harvard Business Review. Part of this change is driven by bringing the focus back on people: how they work, what their natural tendencies are, what improves their efficiency and creativity, and to have technology meet them there.
Leveraging our human abilities
Think of the way you work, and how you come up and work through new ideas. Even in the age of laptops, smartphones, and tablets, most of us still feel comfortable working with pen and paper. This isn’t just a preference for the old way of doing things. Studies done at Princeton and UCLA, for example, actually showed that people who take hand-written notes during meetings understand more and retain more information than those taking notes with their laptops.
How can technology honor and augment the human practice of putting pen to paper? This question sparked something in Philip Miseldine, Director of Strategic UX Innovations at SAP Design, who himself always keeps a pad of paper next to his computer to take notes and organize his thoughts while developing new concepts. “Imagine you write something down at a meeting,” says Miseldine. “What if the paper wrote back to you with an answer?”
Honoring the human experience with SAP Inscribe
Enter the mobile app SAP Inscribe, which offers a new user experience for the Intelligent Enterprise. The app uses the interactive experience of the written word as a gateway into your intelligent system. You can explore ideas by writing, scribbling, or drawing on your touchscreen device, while at the same time connecting with real-time analytics using SAA Smart Business powered by SAP HANA. SAP Inscribe allows you to let your creativity flow, while supporting you with insights and analyses that let you drill further down into your data, refine it, make associations, and ultimately make informed decisions.
Take a look at the demo below to see how SAP Inscribe can support the way you work:
SAP Inscribe is a great example of augmented humanity. It represents the natural evolution of humans and machines collaborating in a way that speaks to the human experience. It is the logical evolution of natural interfaces, and it really is quite a thing of beauty. It’s both innovative and playful. With it, the metaphorical paper comes alive, understanding your scribbles and handwritten notes, delighting and surprising you, while at the same time harnessing the power of analytics and machine learning to bring you a powerful tool that makes your work more efficient and valuable.
Can’t wait to get your hands on it? Toward the beginning of 2019, SAP Inscribe is planned for availability in beta version for select customers. General availability is targeted for mid 2019 for SAP S/4HANA.
