The Future of Human Interface Devices

A while back, a co-worker of mine sent me an email with a link to a talk by New York University researcher scientist Jeff Han, demonstrating the bleeding-edge of technological innovation in the realm of Human Interface Devices.  Since watching the video on TED Talks, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a Human Interface Device is the peripheral that allows you, the human, to communicate with the machine - keyboard, mouse, joystick, microphone hooked up with voice recognition software...

So what was so special about this new interface?  Simply put, it's a touch screen that allows for multiple points of simultaneous contact.  Sure, on the surface, that doesn't sound novel at all.  Touch screens have been around for years - we use them at ATMs and kiosks all the time. 

Well, here's the difference: those ATMs and kiosks only register contact at one point on the screen at one time.  If you place two fingers, one at each corner, the device has to decide which one is more important and register that one.  This new device simultaneously registers all points of contact on the grid - you touch it with all ten fingers, it registers those ten touches.

Okay, that's not so new or novel, either, and, besides, who cares?  Well, like all things, it's not what it is, but what you can do with it, that matters.  Remember, this is a touch screen - what you see on the screen is completely configurable and amorphous, and the interpretation of your touch is completely contextual. 

Think of using your hands to zoom in and out on a map, or to rotate an image.  Think of designing in three-dimensions.  Think of drawing, yes, drawing, with your fingers, digitally.  All of them, at once. 

Up to this point, most kiosks use the touch screen to emulate a keyboard-style interface.  Press a button.  Type in some numbers.  Move a slider.  This new interface and the software that powers it allows users to move beyond these traditional limitations, outside of the trap of keyboard-and-mouse. 

Think of the controls on the Star Trek's Enterprise, or Tom Cruise's desk in the movie Minority Report.  Now you're starting to get the picture.

Soon, we will no longer be bound by keyboards and mice.  Sure, we'll still need to bring up the keyboard interface now and then to make annotations, write emails to friends, put together business reports, but we no longer need to be bound by the limitations of the keyboard or the mouse.  We can begin to interface in more natural, intuitive ways, ways that change logically and contextually.  And if we don't like the way a certain interface works, we can fine tune it, or just go find another one that suits us better.

To view Jeff Han's talk at the February 2006 in Monterey, CA, at the TED conference, go here:

http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han