D1 - The impact of a potential future development in HCI

In this post, i will be giving my opinion on the possible impacts of future development on HCI.

Society
 In this day and age we are just getting to grips with voice control, we are selling it in phones and sometimes it works however sometimes it doesn't. The problem with voice control in phones is the fact that it may pick up certain words but not any others. It will generally use words in the dictionary and not any slang new words you may want to use.

 In the future Voice control could get so much more powerful and the great thing is its only just starting. Starting with the negatives this time we could have all this amazing voice control but would you still ever use it on the street. some people may find it weird being seen talking to a mobile phone telling it for you to note to buy some milk before you go home.

 So we could go as far as to say how long till we can open a locked door in our house with just our voice, No need for keys we could just say 'Door open' and it would recognize your voice and open. Or how about a simple home system which you could interact with and just say random things around your house such as 'light off'. 

 As I said voice control is just starting and the things we could potentially do with it are crazy and some what scary. Being able to control a house with just your voice could in fact improve security, by almost eradicating the possibility of your house keys being stolen, as you wouldn't have any.

Economy
 So what can HCI do for the economy? I personally believe that it will help it improve in the future. First of all, it ca help businesses search for emails or notes. There are programs out there which allow you to put your emails in them whether you have photocopied your notes into an email or received an email from your boss and you have a lot of emails. It could be frustrating having to look through all those emails so there are programs which will let you type in a word or keywords and analyse the pictures or emails to pick up the words and show them to you, even if it is handwritten. It could potentially get so much better. This could improve a businesses productivity as it could allow employees to have overloaded emails but make it so much easier for them to find there notes.

 With businesses you could in fact in the future have a 'power computer' which can talk to you and do things for you and could literally be the boss. Kind of like an AI. You can speak to it or email it, scan things in and it could literally run the company while you were working. This is realistically more in the future by a long shot but the concept is really there today! 

Culture
 The things HCI could do in the future are amazing, just the idea of talking on Skype to someone or a piece of software with a video transmission and then having the ability to see a hologram of that persons face you were talking to around the room you could walk through it or around it would just be incredible. To be able to play a game of chess with your friend in china in 3D would just be incredible and possible! Very expensive but completely possible. It could allow teaching in ways we could not imagine now. A geography lesson where you can pull out the world in 3D and get students to walk around it zoom in on different countries by touching it is an idea that may sound incredibly far-fetched, is very possible in the near future.

Google Glass

 Google glasses are a great example as to just how far HCI has come in time. They have similar functions to a phone however they are designed to easier to use and easy to see. The glasses have the physical approach of typical glasses however they have a small camera built into the side and when the person wears the Google glasses the projection is on the lenses. The camera is able to take pictures and videos, showing progress on the lenses, capturing life moments more easily. 

 When lost or if the usual route to work/ a friend’s house has been blocked the glasses will inform the user and quickly afterwards, show them another route that they could take. Directions are displayed in front of the person. Similar to phones, Google glasses can record the user’s voice and send it in a message to another person, saving them time on typing. The device is a hands free device increasing the simplicity. A really good feature of the Google glasses is the translator, if the user is in a foreign country and says something in English, the glasses are able to translate this and tell them how to pronounce it in their language as well as how to write it out. This affects culture and communication barriers. 

 When arriving at a bus, train, fairy or an airport the glasses will let the person know automatically how early/ how later they are. Unlike average glasses, these Google glasses are proven to be strong and light in weight. There are several designs and colors which are available to the public.

 The Advantages of Google Glass

1. Hands Free: The currently most popular applications for Google Glasses are continuous hands free tasks, such as video recording, maps/directions, and clock/date apps.
2. Convenience: The second most obvious advantage of Google Glasses are convenience apps, such as taking photos with just a push of a button, head or eye movement, or voice command without the need of taking out a cell phone or camera from a pocket or bag, possibly turning it on, then starting the camera application, and then finally aiming the camera to take the photo.
3. Multitask: With Google Glasses, users no longer have to look away from the task that they are performing. For instance, drivers do not need to take their eyes off the road if they need directions.
4. Open Platform: Any developer or company can implement new applications on the open platform of Google Glasses.

The Disadvantages of Google Glass 

1. Distraction: Imagine doing an important task and being continuously or suddenly distracted by audio and/or visual information that does not pertain to that task. For instance, Google Glass users could be talking with someone when they are simultaneously bombarded with advertisements or emails. An even worse example is if users are driving a car, then any distraction could become very dangerous. Therefore, distractions from Google Glasses could be much worse than simple information overload with liability concerns.
2. Rudeness: Additionally, many people consider Google Glass users to be rude when they are or can be distracted by the devices.
3. Privacy: Other people are not aware if and when they are being recorded by Google Glass users, unlike a regular camera or cell phone when it is much more obvious when they are recording. Furthermore, people even behave differently when they believe that they could possibly be recorded. As a result, people are socially wary and even shun people who wearing Google Glasses.
4. Stress: With the always online culture with cell phones, tablets, and computers causing social and information overload, the lack of winding down periods has increased stress and anxiety in the population in general. With Google Glasses that can be always worn and in use, stress and anxiety will probably be significantly worse.
5. Surfing: Using Google Glasses for regular Internet surfing is a combination of both awkwardness and clumsiness. Thus, Google Glass is not as convenient and easy to use as a computer, tablet, or even a cell phone.

At this moment in time, it is unclear as to what Google have planned for Glass, however in my personal opinion i believe that there is plenty of improvement and features which can be added to the device. I think that in the future user compatibility and pin-point accuracy will be the main areas of focus of improvement in developments to come. The accuracy being that information being picked up from the Glasses is accurate and relevant to the users request of information.

 

 When it comes to the user compatibility, I believe that Google need to work on making the device more user friendly, making sure that it doesn't become a challenge to use the device, and they should be able to do what they want freely, with minimal stress. For example, if somebody wished to take a picture it should as simple as it says it is, and there should be no faults when it comes to picking up a clear image. 

However, i believe that in the future the social side of HCI will slowly start to fade, and will concentrate on the concept of a better living experience for the user. I believe that people will become addicted to all of these devices, hence making them less and less sociable, because the amount of devices being created and the ever going development of HCI will mean that people don't necessarily need to leave their homes, as all they have and need is within reaching distance around their house.

 In conclusion i believe that the on-going development with HCI could potentially be catastrophic, however if it is managed to be kept under control in the future, it will improve the well-being and quite possibly the living of the human population around the world, what with new machines being created to aid people in living, and so on.