10/GUI: Concept for human-computer interaction
The touchscreen concept have proven to be a successful interface in mobile devices especially on mobile phones like the Iphone for example. The concept itself is however not new, many manufacturers have been looking into implementing the touchscreen in desktop computers. Microsoft came up with its Surface product which is a multi-touch computer, however it is not a solution that could replace the standard mouse+keyboard+screen interface that we are using today.
If you haven’t heard of Microsoft Surface before, you can check out this video to get an idea about what is does and how it works.
Although it seems like a cool product, and will certainly find suitable areas like in hotels, restaurants but I can’t see that product as the next generation of desktop computers.
The reasons are described in the next video but can be summarized by this title “not a practical solution”. The concept I believe might be the new generation of human-computer interaction is presented by R. Clayton Miller and shown in the same video below. It consists of splitting the touchscreen from the screen itself. The mouse+keyboard placement relatively to the screen is proven to be convenient for the user. Imagine that you can use 10 fingers multi-touch instead of a single pointer, and different actions result in different events (zoom-in and out using 2 fingers, moving objects using 3 fingers, …)
It might feel strange and many would consider it awkward in the beginning and wonder why would someone change something that is working, the same reaction that followed the invention of the mouse in early 80s by Xerox.
In 1984 a prominent PC columnist commented the release of this new computer with a mouse: “There is no evidence that people want to use these things.”
It’s not about changing a way of working rather that opens a new horizon. We were able to achieve what we have today because of that single pointer GUI. When applications will take advantage of the 10/GUI, it will be adapted by the majority and become a natural transition from the normal mouse+keyboard interface to the new multi-touch screen. Watch the video to learn more about the 10/GUI concept