Wii + Microsoft Surface = Minority Report HCI?

Happy New Years folks!! Since Matt has us thinking about the future, I figured I’d post this video I just found. (I love getting glimpses of what might become the future of human computer interface!) This brief video clip demos new technology that combines the Wii with Microsoft’s Surface technology to become very similar to what we saw in Minority Report.

Merging Multitouch and the Physical World

Here’s an interesting video where physical pieces are used to manipulate simulations using a multi-touch screen. Very interesting, with potentially lots of possibilities.

Pico is a computer interface that can move electromagnetic pucks, merging the digital and physical worlds. In this video from earlier this year, see how researcher James Patten has used his unique combination of projection, magnets and computing to help visualize problems such as determining the best place to put a group of cellphone network transmission towers. Imagine the games you could play with this thing!

View Pico video.

Video Blurbs: Multitouch Interface and the Semantic Web

Turns out that MIT’s Technology Review is a very interesting site. (No surprise there. How much more wonderfully geeky can you get than MIT?) While browsing their site, I found their Documentaries section to have several interesting video clips, two of which I thought fellow edugeeks would find interesting.

Jeff Han on a Better Interface
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but Tech Review currently has an interesting video available titled “Jeff Han on a Better Interface”. Not only does the video discuss the obvious advantages multitouch functionality provides in terms of user interface, but he also discusses multitouch in relation to mirror and virtual worlds, collaboration, and information management.
[Jeff Han on a Better Interface]

Tim Berners-Lee on the Semantic Web
The inventor of the World Wide Web explains how the Semantic Web works and how it will transform how we use and understand data.
[Tim Berners-Lee on the Semantic Web]

Microsoft Surface

My mouse clicking finger hurts and Microsoft is doing something to help. I always knew they would come through for me. The company is introducing a technology that just might make the keyboard and mouse obsolete. Soon the sound of banging on a keyboard will be nothing more than a fond memory. Do you remember the interface the pre-crazy Tom Cruise used in Minority Report? Check out the real-life iteration:

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

Human Computer Interaction in Scifi Movies

I admit it — HCI was one of my favorite graduate courses that I took. (*If* I ever go on to work on my doctorate, this is what I’ll go into.) Anyway, I found this interesting paper that analyzes human-computer interfaces found in scifi movies. Very interesting read!

Human Computer Interface in Science Fiction Movies

Science Fiction movies have been a source for speculation about the future of technology and human computer interaction. This paper presents a survey of different kinds of interaction designs in movies during the past decades and relates the techniques of the films to existing technologies and prototypes where possible. The interactions will be categorized with respect to their domain of real-life applications and also evaluated in regard to results of current research in human computer interaction.

[Read entire paper here.]