HCI Foundation - Computer

J. Dheeba/SCOPE

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Computer
 Interaction is a process of information transfer, from the
user to the computer and from the computer to the user.
 An interactive system or technology is made up of
various elements that may affect the interaction:
 input devices – text entry and pointing
 output devices – screen (small/large), projector
 virtual reality – special interaction and display devices
 physical interaction – e.g. vocal, touch screens, bio-sensing
 paper – as output (print) and input (scan)
 memory – RAM and permanent media, capacity and access
 processing – speed of processing, networks

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
A typical computer system

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Levels of interaction – batch processing
 information was entered into the computer in a large mass –
batch data entry
 There was minimal interaction with the machine
 In contrast the typical desktop computer system has
interactions taking seconds or fractions of a second
 Richer interaction – everywhere, everywhen

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Text entry devices
 Entering text is one of our main activities when using the
computer.
 Most obvious means of text entry is the plain keyboard,
but there are several variations on this:
 ‘chord’ keyboards (use combinations of fingers to enter
letters)
 phone key pads
 Handwriting and speech recognition

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Alphanumeric keyboard
 Entering textual data and commands
 The QWERTY keyboard

 keyboards work by a keypress closing a connection,

causing a character code to be sent to the computer

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Maltron left-handed keyboard
 There are a variety of specially shaped keyboards to relieve the
strain of typing or to allow people to type with some injury
(e.g. Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)) or disability.
 The keyboard illustrated is produced by PCD Maltron Ltd. for
left-handed use

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Alphabetic keyboard
 In this letters are arranged alphabetically across the keyboard.
 not faster for trained typists
 not faster for beginners either!
 DVORAK keyboard and split designs
 It is biased towards right-handed people, in that 56% of
keystrokes are made with the right hand.
 common letters under dominant fingers
 minimize the number of keystrokes made with the weak fingers

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Chord keyboards
 Chord keyboards are significantly different from normal
alphanumeric keyboards.
 Only a few keys, four or five, are used and letters are produced
by pressing one or more of the keys at once.
 For example, in the Microwriter, the pattern of multiple
keypresses is chosen to reflect the actual letter shape.
 Chord keyboards can also be used where only one-handed
operation is possible

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Numeric keypads
 the calculator style that has ‘123’ on the bottom and the
telephone style that has ‘123’ at the top.

ATM machine

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Phone pad and T9 entry
 for text input the numeric keys are usually pressed several
times.
 T9 algorithm
Typical key
mapping:
1 – space,
comma, etc.
hello = (varies)
4433555[pause]555666 2–abc
surprisingly fast 3–def
4–ghi
5–jkl
6–mno
7–pqrs
8–tuv
9–wxyz
0 – +, &, etc.
J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Handwriting recognition
 Text can be input into the computer, using a pen
 Natural interactions
 Technical problems:
 capturing all useful information - stroke path, pressure, etc. in a
natural manner
 segmenting joined up writing into individual letters
 interpreting individual letters
 coping with different styles of handwriting
 signature authentication
 where the purpose is to identify the user rather than read the
signature.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Speech recognition
 Most successful when:
 single user – initial training and learns peculiarities
 limited vocabulary systems
 Problems with
 external noise interfering
 imprecision of pronunciation
 large vocabularies
 different speakers

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Few other keyboards

Ergonomic keyboard Laser keyboard

Foldable keyboard

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Positioning, pointing and drawing
 ability to point at something on the screen and thereby
manipulate it, or perform some function.
 The mouse
 relative motion information is passed to the computer via a
wire attached to the box, or in some cases using ireless or
infrared, and moves a pointer on the screen, called the cursor.
 Although most mice are hand operated, not all are – there
have been experiments with a device called the footmouse

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Two methods for detecting motion
 Mechanical
 Ball on underside of mouse turns as mouse is moved
 Rotates orthogonal potentiometers
 Can be used on almost any flat surface
 Optical
 light emitting diode on underside of mouse
 may use special grid-like pad or just on desk
 less susceptible to dust and dirt
 detects fluctuating alterations in reflected light intensity to
calculate relative motion in (x, z) plane

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Touchpads
 Touchpads are touch-sensitive tablets usually around 2–3
inches (50–75 mm) square.
 They are operated by stroking a finger over their surface,
rather like using a simulated trackball

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Trackball
 A weighted ball faces upwards and is rotated inside a static
housing, the motion being detected in the same way as for a
mechanical mouse.
 compact device.
 They are also heavily used in video games where their highly
responsive behavior.

 Thumbwheel
 for accurate CAD – two dials for X-Y cursor position
 for fast scrolling – single dial on mouse

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Joystick
 joystick is an indirect input device, taking up very little space.
 the joystick is a simple device with which movements of the
stick cause a corresponding movement of the screen cursor.
 pressure of stick = velocity of movement
 often used for computer games aircraft controls and 3D
navigation
 keyboard nipple
 for laptop computers
 miniature joystick in the middle of the keyboard

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Touch-sensitive screens (touchscreens)
 they are much more direct than the mouse, as they detect
the presence of the user’s finger, or a stylus, on the screen
itself
 They work, by the finger (or stylus) interrupting a matrix of
light beams, or by capacitance changes on a grid overlaying
the screen, or by ultrasonic reflections.
 The touchscreen is very fast, and requires no specialized
pointing device.
 It is especially good for selecting items from menus displayed
on the screen.
 Because the screen acts as an input device as well as an
output device

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Stylus
 small pen-like pointer to draw directly on screen
 may use touch sensitive surface or magnetic detection
 used in PDA, tablets PCs and drawing tables
 light pen
 uses light from screen to detect location

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Digitizing tablet

 It is used by the graphics designers and the illustrators.

 The tablet provides positional information by measuring the position
of some device on a special pad

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Eyegaze
 Eyegaze systems allow you to control the computer by
simply looking at it.
 low-power laser is shone into the eye and is reflected off
the retina.
 The reflection changes as the angle of the eye alters, and by
tracking the reflected beam the eyegaze system can
determine the direction in which the eye is looking.
 It is fine for selection but not for drawing since the eye does
not move in smooth lines.
 Also in real applications it can be difficult to distinguish
deliberately gazing at something and accidentally glancing at
it.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Cursor keys
 Four keys (up, down, left, right) on keyboard.
 cheap, but slow.
 Useful for not much more than basic motion for text-editing
tasks.
 No standardized layout, but inverted “T”, most common
 Discrete positioning
 in phones, TV controls etc.
 cursor pads or mini-joysticks
 discrete left-right, up-down (dedicated to a particular
function such as volume, or for use as general menu
selection.)

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Display devices
 Bitmap displays – resolution and color
 the display is made of vast numbers of colored dots or pixels in
a rectangular grid.
 These pixels may be limited to black and white (For example,
display screens in ac remote control), in grayscale, or full color.
 One bit per pixel can store on/off information, and hence only
black and white (the term ‘bitmap’ dates from such displays).
 More bits per pixel give rise to more color or intensity
possibilities.
 For example, 8 bits/pixel give rise to 28 = 256 possible colors
at any one time.
 Set of colors make up a colormap

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 the total number of pixels: in standard computer displays
this is always in a 4:3 ratio, perhaps 1024 x 768, or 1600 ×
1200.
 the density of pixels: this is measured in pixels per inch.
 Jaggies
 diagonal lines that have discontinuities in due to horizontal
raster scan process.
 Anti-aliasing
 softens edges by using shades of line colour
 also used for text

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Cathode ray tube
 A stream of electrons is emitted from an electron gun,
which is then focussed and directed by magnetic fields.
 As the beam hits the phosphor-coated screen, the
phosphor is excited by the electrons and glows.
 Most people who habitually use computers are aware
that screens can often cause eyestrain and fatigue; this is
usually due to flicker, poor legibility or low contrast

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Liquid crystal display
 displays utilize liquid crystal technology and are smaller, lighter
and consume far less power than CRT.
 Found on PDAs, portables and notebooks, … and increasingly
on desktop and even for home TV
 also used in dedicated displays: digital watches, mobile phones,
HiFi controls
 How it works …
 Top plate transparent and polarised, bottom plate reflecting.
 Light passes through top plate and crystal, and reflects back to eye.
 Voltage applied to crystal changes polarisation and hence colour
 N.B. light reflected not emitted => less eye strain

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Special displays
 gas plasma display
 Random Scan (Directed-beam refresh, vector display)
 draw the lines to be displayed directly
 no jaggies
 lines need to be constantly redrawn
 rarely used except in special instruments

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Large displays and situated displays
 slides are projected from a computer onto a large screen. In
shops and garages large screen adverts assault us from all
sides.
 used for meetings, lectures, etc.
 technology
 plasma - usually wide screen
 video walls - lots of small screens together

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 disadvantage of projected displays is that the presenter’s
shadow can often fall across the screen.
 Sometimes this is avoided in fixed lecture halls by using
back projection.
 for lectures and meetings, display screens can be used in
various public places to offer information, link spaces or
act as message areas.
 These are often called situated displays as they take their
meaning from the location in which they are situated.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Hermes a situated display

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Digital Paper
 thin flexible sheets
 updated electronically
 but retain display

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Devices for virtual reality and 3D interaction
 These require you to navigate and interact in a three-
dimensional space.
 Sometimes these use the ordinary controls and displays
of a desktop computer system, but there are also special
devices used both to move and interact with 3D objects
and to enable you to see a 3D environment.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Positioning in 3D space
 Presents a 3D virtual world
 when you grab an object in real space, you don’t simply move it
around, but also twist and turn it, for example when opening a
door.
 Mouse requires 2 degree of freedom, 3D positioning requires 6
degree of freedom.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Cockpit and virtual controls

• Helicopter and aircraft pilots already have to navigate in real

space
• people can not only use such systems but also rapidly become
proficient.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 The 3D mouse
 variety of devices that act as 3D versions of a mouse
 Rather than just moving the mouse on a tabletop, you can
pick it up, move it in three dimensions
 has a full six degrees of freedom as its position can be
tracked (three degrees), and also its up/down angle (called
pitch), its left/right orientation (called yaw) and the
amount it is twisted about its own axis (called roll)
 sensors are used to track the mouse position and
orientation

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Dataglove
 the dataglove is a 3D input
device.
 glove with optical fibers laid
along the fingers, it detects the
joint angles of the fingers and
thumb
 Attached to the top of the glove
are two sensors that use
ultrasound to determine 3D
positional information as well as
the angle of roll, that is the
degree of wrist rotation.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Virtual reality helmets
 helmets or goggles worn in some VR systems have two
purposes:
 (i) they display the 3D world to each eye and
 (ii) they allow the user’s head position to be tracked.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Whole-body tracking
 VR systems aim to be immersive, that is to make
the users feel as if they are really in the virtual
world
 Some VR systems therefore attempt to track
different kinds of body movement.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 3D displays
 Desktop VR is delivered using a standard computer
screen and a 3D impression is produced by using effects
such as shadows, occlusion (where one object covers
another) and perspective.
 virtual reality markup language (3D images in web
browser)
 Seeing in 3D
 Effect used is stereoscopic effect - generation of images from
different perspectives
 working out the right positions and angles corresponding to
the typical distance between eyes on a human face

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 VR motion sickness
 VR systems produce the same effect by using sensors in the
goggles or helmet and then using the position of the head to
determine the right image to show
 time delay - conflict: head movement vs. eyes
 conflicting cues => sickness
 Simulators and VR caves
 virtual reality systems work by putting the user within an
environment where the virtual world is displayed upon it.
 scenes projected on walls
 realistic environment

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
VR caves

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Physical controls, sensors and special
displays
 special displays – making use of sound, touch, smell
 visual displays - may have dedicated controls and may
sense the environment or your own bio-signs.
 Special displays
 analogue representations
 Dials, gauges etc
 digital displays
 small LCD screens, LED lights, etc.
 head-up displays

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Sound output
 used for error indications
 confirmation of actions e.g. keyclick
 Touch, feel and smell
 touch and feeling important
 in games … vibration, force feedback
 in simulation … feel of surgical instruments
 called haptic devices
 texture, smell, taste
 current technology very limited

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Physical controls
 specialist controls needed …
 industrial controls, consumer products, etc.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Environment and bio-sensing
 sensors all around us
 car courtesy light – small switch on door
 ultrasound detectors – security, washbasins
 RFID security tags in shops
 temperature, weight, location
 and even our own bodies …
 iris scanners, body temperature, heart rate, galvanic skin
response, blink rate

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Paper: Printing and Scanning
 Printing
 image made from small dots
 allows any character set or graphic to be printed
 Features – resolution, speed, cost
 Types
 dot-matrix printers
 ink-jet and bubble-jet printers
 laser printer
 Examples
 Shop tills – dot printers, same print head used for several
paper rolls
 thermal printers - special heat-sensitive paper

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Scanners
 Take paper and convert it into a bitmap
 Two sorts of scanner
 flat-bed: paper placed on a glass plate, whole page converted
into bitmap
 hand-held: scanner passed over paper, digitising strip typically 3-
4” wide
 Shines light at paper and note intensity of reflection
 colour or greyscale
 Typical resolutions from 600–2400 dpi

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
Worked exercise
 What input and output devices would you use for the following
systems?
 portable word processor
 tourist information system
 tractor-mounted crop-spraying controller

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Portable word processor (determine factors like size,
weight and battery power)
 LCD screen – low-power requirement
 trackball or stylus for pointing
 Real (foldable keyboard)/virtual keyboard
 small, low-power bubble-jet printer
 Tourist information system (likely to be in a public place)
 touchscreen only
 tractor-mounted crop-spraying controller (A hostile
environment with plenty of mud and chemicals. Requires
numerical input for flow rates, etc., but probably no text)
 touch-sensitive keypad
 small dedicated LED display

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
References
 A Dix, Janet Finlay, G D Abowd, R Beale., Human-
Computer Interaction, 3rd Edition, Pearson
Publishers,2008.

J. Dheeba/SCOPE
 Thank you

J. Dheeba/SCOPE