Wyrwane z kontekstu – “Natural User Interfaces are not Natural”

Gesture and touch-based systems are already so well accepted that I continually see people making gestures to systems that do not understand them: tapping the screens of non-touch-sensitive displays, pinching and expanding the fingers or sliding the finger across the screen on systems that do not support these actions, and for that matter, waving hands in front of sinks that use old-fashioned handles, not infrared sensors, to dispense water.

Control of our systems through interactions that bypass the conventional mechanical switches, keyboards, and mice is a welcome addition to our arsenal. Whether it is speech, gesture, or the tapping of the body’s electrical signals for “thought control,” all have great potential for enhancing our interactions, especially where the traditional methods are inappropriate or inconvenient. But they are not a panacea. They come with new problems, new challenges, and the potential for massive mistakes and confusion even as they also come with great virtue and potential.

Gestural systems are indeed one of the important future paths for a more holistic, human interaction of people with technology. In many cases, they will enhance our control, our feeling of control and empowerment, our convenience, and even our delight. But like all technologies, gesture-based systems will come at a cost. Different systems will devise different conventions. There will be a learning curve. People with handicaps will have to be accommodated. And there will be an entirely new source of material for comedians. Imagine the problems when a system has a repertoire of dozens of gestures, all of which mean something, but not all of which may be known by the person near the device. I am reminded of those old movie comedies of people in formal clothing at auctions doing silent bidding. One person sneezes and thereby purchases an unwanted painting. A couple argues, and as they wave their hands at one another, the hand waving gets interpreted as ever-escalating bids.

Źródło:  interactions magazine | Natural User Interfaces are not Natural, Don Norman