Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

Minimize sustained physical effort

As an example;

• Lever or loop handles on doors and faucets
• Touch lamps operated without a switch

Size and Space for Approach and Use

Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation,
and use regardless of user’s body size, posture, or mobility.

Guidelines:

Provide a clear line of sight to important elements for any seated
or standing user.

Make reach to all components comfortable for any seated or standing
user.

Accommodate variations in hand and grip size.

Provide adequate space for the use of assistive devices or personal
assistance.

For example:

• Controls on the front and clear floor space around appliances,
mailboxes, dumpster and other elements
• Wide gates at subway station that accommodate all user

The Digital Writing:
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MULTI-MODAL TECHNOLOGY

Multimodal technologies refer to all technologies combining features
extracted from different modalities (text, audio, image, etc.).This covers a
wide range of component technologies:

• Audiovisual Speech Recognition.
• Audiovisual Person Identification.
• Audiovisual Event Detection.
• Audiovisual Object or Person Tracking.
• Biometric Identification (using face, voice fingerprints, iris, etc.).
• Head Pose Estimation.
• Gesture Recognition.
• Multimodal Information Retrieval (e.g. Video Retrieval).

It involve the Interaction with the virtual and physical environment through
natural modes of communication.  The modes involving the five human
senses. It also enables a freer and natural communication, interfacing users
with automated systems in both input and output

Multi-modal Technology Interaction

Multimodal systems can offer a flexible, efficient and usable environment
allowing users to interact through:

• Input Modalities such as speech, handwriting, hand gesture and
gaze.
• Output Modalities such as speech synthesis and smart graphics.

The Digital Writing:
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Multi-modal input modes includes:

• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Speech
• Pen
• Touch
• Manual Gestures
• Gaze
• Head And Body Movements

Illustration below shoes how do user interact with a system using these
modes.

Figure 4.1 : Interaction Modes

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

While, on the other hand, multi-modal output systems presents users with
multimedia displays, primarily in the form of:

• Visual
• Auditory cues
• Hardcopy document

Interface Design for Alternative Mode

There are 4 Alternative mode that will be discuss in this lesson, which are:
1. Sound
2. Touch
3. Handwriting
4. Gesture

Sound in the Interface

This type of interface allows the user to speak or type in their normal everyday
language in order to interact with the computer. An example of a natural
language interface, which makes use of written text, is a ‘chat bot’. This
software mimics a conversation - you ask it questions and it will come back
with a suitable comment for you. This is the most technically challenging
form of interface for the designers as it has to cope with different accents,
dialects, slang, homonyms (bare or bear) etc.

The advantages of using sound in the interface are:

The Digital Writing:
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• The user does not need to be trained in how to use the interface
• More flexibility than a dialogue interface
• Suitable for physically handicapped people

While, the disadvantages are:
• Reliability remains an issue - the interface can only respond to
commands that have been programmed
• Not widely available as other forms of interface are often superior

A voice interface might need training in order to get the software to recognize
what the user is saying.

Touch in the Interface

Touch sensitive interfaces can be found on many mobile devices such as
a smart phone or a tablet computer. They work by your finger touching
the screen. The touching is detected and translated by the device into
instructions. As well as tapping, the screen can sense swiping and pinching
actions.

Many Cashpoint machines (ATMs) have touch sensitive screens where you
can use your finger to select a service such as withdrawing cash, seeing
your balance or ordering a statement. Ticket ordering systems in train and
bus stations also use touch sensitive interfaces. You select your journey
from a menu of options, select the date and time and then indicate how you
are going to pay for the ticket.

The Digital Writing:
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The advantages for using touch in the interface are;
• Do not need good ICT skills such as typing to be able to use
• Most touch screens are fixed to a larger device so there is less
chance of them being removed, lost or stolen (unlike keyboards)
• Can be adapted for many uses e.g. cashpoint machine, shop,
ticket sales office, garage

On the other hand, the disadvantages are:
• If the screen becomes damaged it might not pick up the touch
command
• The screen could become scratched or dirty so it is difficult to see
the options available
• No so good in bright sunshine as the screen is hard to see

Handwriting Recognition

It is an ability of a computer to receive and interpret
intelligible handwritten input from sources such
as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other devices.
The image of the written text may be sensed «off line» from a piece of
paper by optical scanning optical character recognition) or intelligent word
recognition.

Alternatively, the movements of the pen tip may be sensed “on line”,
for example by a pen-based computer screen surface. Handwriting
recognition principally entails optical character recognition. However, a
complete handwriting recognition system also handles formatting, performs
correct segmentation into characters and finds the most plausible words

The Digital Writing:
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The advantages of using handwriting recognition are:
• Can be easier form of writing
• Verification methods
• Historical Preservation

And, the disadvantages of handwriting recognition are:
• Not always accurate
• Unique style of writing
• Poor images of text

Gesture Recognition

Enables humans to communicate with the machine and interact naturally
without any mechanical devices. Using the concept of gesture recognition,
it is possible to point a finger at the computer screen so that the cursor
will move accordingly. This could potentially make conventional input
devices such as mouse, keyboards and even touch-screens redundant.

This computing not only going to reduce the hardware impact of the system
but also it increases the range of usage of physical world object instead
of digital object like keyboards, mouse. Using this we can implement and
can create a new thesis of creating of new hardware no requirement of
monitors too. This idea may lead us to the creation of holographic display.

The term gesture recognition has been used to refer more narrowly to non-
text-input handwriting symbols, such as:

• inking on a graphics tablet, 
• multi-touch gestures,
• mouse gesture recognition

The Digital Writing:
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This is computer interaction through the drawing of symbols with a pointing
device cursor.

The advantages of Gesture Recognition can be listed as follows:
• Speed and sufficient reliable for recognition system.
• System successfully recognized static and dynamic gesture.
• Simple, fast and easy to implement

While, on the other hand, the disadvantages are:
• Irrelevant object might overlap with the hand.
• Performance recognition algorithm decreases when the
distance is greater.
• System limitations restrict the applications such as the palm
is facing camera, ect.
• Ambient light affects the color detection threshold

ACCESSIBILITY IN USER INTERFACE

The term accessible is used to refer to software that has been designed
so that people who have disabilities have a successful interaction with it. 
Accessible software takes many different kinds of disabilities into account:

• visual - people with color blindness, low vision, or who are
completely blind
• audio - people who are hard of hearing or are completely
deaf
• mobility - people who have physical impairments that limit
their movement and fine motor controls
• cognitive - people who have learning disabilities and may
need more consistency or simplicity in their interfaces

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Figure 4.2 : Accessibility In User Interface
We will see 2 of the accessibility features in user interface:

• Biometric access control
• Narrator

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Biometrics Access Control

Refers to the identification of humans by their characteristics or traits.
Biometrics is used in computer science as a form of identification
and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are
under surveillance.
There are two main types of biometric identifiers:

1. Physiological characteristics: The shape or composition of the body.
2. Behavioral characteristics: The behavior of a person.

Examples of physiological characteristics used for biometric authentication
include fingerprints; DNA; face, hand, retina or ear features; and odour. 
Behavioural characteristics are related to the pattern of the behaviour of a
person, such as typing rhythm, gait, gestures and voice. 

Narrator

Narrator is a screen reader that reads text on the screen aloud and
describes events like error messages so you can use your PC without a
display.

For example, Use Narrator:
• To turn Narrator on or off on a PC, in Windows, press
Windows logo key+Enter.
• To turn Narrator on or off on a tablet, press Windows logo
button+Volume Up.

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN INTERFACE DESIGN

Mobile Computing

Mobile computing is human–computer interaction by which a computer
is expected to be transported during normal usage, which allows for
transmission of data, voice and video. Mobile computing involves mobile
communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software.

The goal of mobile computing are:
• To have a (networking) computer you can always bring with
you
• Reduced size of components (processor, memory, screen...)
• Lower cost
• Increasing battery length (less power consumption)
• Pervasive networking (GPRS, WiFi)

Wearable Computing

Wearable computers, also known as body-borne computers or wearable are
miniature electronic devices that are worn under, with or on top of clothing.
This class of wearable technology has been developed for general or special
purpose information technologies. It is also used in media development.
Wearable computers are especially useful for applications that require more
complex computational support, such as accelerometers or gyroscopes,
than just hardware coded logic.

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

A recent trend has been to make body-worn, always-on computers - so-
called wearable computing. The hope is that this will make possible a form
of interaction that is less obtrusive than current mobile & desktop computing.
Some of the example of recent trend of this wearable computing such as
Health / Wellness Devices and Google Glass.

SUMMARY

As a conclusion, this lesson covers 4 sub-topics which are:
• Understand Universal Design
• Multi-Modal Technology
• Accessibility in User Interfaces
• Emerging Technologies in Interface DesigN

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

QUIZ 1

1. Which sense is NOT usually associated with Human-Computer
Interaction?
A. Seeing
B. Tasting
C. Hearing
D. Touching 
ANSWER:B

2. Which of the following is NOT a computer input device?
A. Chord keyboard
B. Handwriting recognition
C. Eye gaze
D. Situated display
ANSWER:A

3. Which of the following is NOT a computer output device?
A. Joystick
B. Monitor
C. Head-Mounted Display
D. Speakers 
ANSWER:A

4. Eyes, head and feet can be used to control computers as well as hands.
A. TRUE
B. FALSE

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

ANSWER: A

5. Which of the following are using sensor to operate?

I. Automatic escalator
II. RFID security tags
III. Thermometer
IV. Ultrasound detector

A. I and II
B. II, III, IV
C. III and IV
D. All of the above

ANSWER:D

6. HCI is based on psychological factors of humans?

A. True
B. False

ANSWER:A

7. Which one of these is a good reason to include sounds in an HCI?

A. Users react more quickly to sounds than to visual signals
B. Users react more slowly to sounds than to visual signals
C. There is no preference. People just like sounds
D. The computer reacts to sounds in the same way as a human

ANSWER:A

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8. Which of these films uses futuristic HCI, except:
A. Fast and Furious
B. Iron Man
C. Terminator
D. CSI
ANSWER:A

9. Although humans often rely on spoken natural language to communicate
with each other, spoken language is not used very heavily in human-
computer interfaces. What is an important reason for that?

A. The bandwidth of the auditory channel is more limited than that of the
visual channel.

B. Computers would have to understand many different languages and
dialects.

C. It requires speech recognition by computers, which as of now is too
error-prone and consumes too many resources.

D. Speech output by computers sounds rather unnatural.
ANSWER:C

10. __________ use touch screens to provide information and services to
the public.
A. ATMs
B. Kiosks
ANSWER:B

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QUIZ 2

1. The perspective from which a story is told is known as:
A. Narration
B. Hyperbole
C. Point-of-view
D. Persuasion

ANSWER : A

2. Typically, biometric access control devices cannot read:
A. Palm prints
B. Fingerprints
C. Human irises
D. Human pulse rates

ANSWER:B

3. What is Google Glass?

A. An extension for Google Chrome that predicts which keywords will
become popular in the near future

B. A wearable, voice-controlled Android device that looks like eyeglasses
C. An Android tablet that looks like a piece of glass
D. A set of 16 glass tumblers branded with Google’s logo

ANSWER : B

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4. Wearable computers can be worn on the body and often use in study of
behavior modelling and human health.
A. True
B. False
ANSWER:A

5. Pretty similar to what we’re used to but a little splashier, as you can see.
Can you guess it’s?

A. It monitors heart rates
B. It`s a GPS tracking device
C. It`s an external smartphone call receiver for security guards
D. Alert you on notifications from Facebook and Instagram by lighting up.
ANSWER:D

6. Something for the feet at last: a pair of socks. What do you think the
function of this sock?

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A. They offer compression treatment for plantar facilities
B. They provide comprehensive data on every aspect of steps and
movements.
C. Equipped with GPS trackers to measure distance, speed and location of
wearer.
D. All of above

ANSWER:B

7. Biometric devices, such as fingerprint readers, consist of Software that
converts the scanned information into digital form and compares match
points.

A. TRUE
B. FALSE

ANSWER:A

8. Which one is not commonly used as a biometric?

A. Eye retina
B. Hand geometry
C. Shoulder-to-waist geometry
D. Fingerprint

ANSWER:C

9. How does multiple-factor authentication improve security?

A. By using biometrics, no other person can authenticate
B. It restricts users to smaller spaces
C. By using a combination of authentications, it is more difficult for some to
gain illegitimate access
D. It denies access to an intruder multiple times

ANSWER:C

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10. Why would you want to connect a wearable medical device to the
cloud?

A. Because it’s required by the FDA
B. For data backup, data processing, and data sharing
C. To increase the power consumption of the device
D. You should never connect a wearable device to the cloud

ANSWER:B

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

STORYBOARD
CHAPTER 4 : UNDERSTAND UNIVERSAL DESIGN

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

The Digital Writing:
Human Computer Interaction

REFERENCE

Alan Blackwell (2009), Human Computer Interaction Notes, University of
Cambridge Computer Laboratory
Ana Maria Martins Henriques, Wearable Computing: the Present and the
Future, Braga, Portugal.
David Aspinall (2007), Interface Design Rules, University of Edinburgh
David E. Kieras, Model-Based Evaluation, University of Michigan
Hung Nguyen (2012), HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION IN GAME
DESIGN, Oulu University of Applied Sciences
John Stasko (2007), Universal Design, Georgia Tech HCI Faculty.
John Stasko (2007), Usability Principles http://www.instructionaldesign.org/
models/addie.html
Prof. Dr. Keith Andrews (2016), Human-Computer Interaction, Graz
University of Technology
Prof.Dr.Keith Andrews (2016), Human-Computer Interaction, Graz
University of Technology
Stephen Kimani (2012), Evaluation, Rome, Italy

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