Impact of HCI on Society

Human Computer Interface is making our life much easier. In today’s world, we can purchase variety of products by go into e-commerce website such as Tesco, eBay, Dell, Amazon etc. You can then buy anything you want without wasting your petrol but just a few click of your mouse. The following are variety of electronic devices that I considered impact the society. 

 

Mobile phones

Mobile phone is a very popular portable electronic device that has become a major source of communication for most of people from around the world. People only use it for making a phone call in the past but nowadays, it can be used in variety of ways such as taking pictures/video, internet, email, alarm clock etc.

This portable device has a huge impact on society as it changes the way we communicate. It has made communicating much easier because nowadays the ways we communicate is no longer limited to letters or face to face. Another positive impact of mobile phone is that it can become very useful in emergency positions such as fire or medical emergency. However, I also think that mobile phone can sometimes be very distracting especially to a student. There are many times I see student text each other during class, taking pictures/video, using internet not to mention cheating. Another negative impact of mobile phone on society is that most of people are using mobile phone when they are driving which definitely increases chance of car accident.

Games Controllers

Game controller is a device used to control a character/object in a video or computer game. Examples of game controllers are Joy stick, Trackball, Gamepad, Keyboard, Mouse etc.

Games controller enabled the user to interact with the game as well as other player. There is several different design, some even allow disabled gamers to enjoy playing their favourite games. Game controllers have an impacted on society because it increased popularity in gaming. Some people start playing games just because they are interested and fascinated by the game controller. Nowadays, the user can even use different parts of their body as a controller as Xbox has invented a new motion-sensing game controller like ‘Kinect’ as well as the steering wheel which added that realistic feeling to the game.

Changing rooms

Example of dressing room technology is Tweet Mirror. Tweet mirror enabled the user to take a snapshot of themselves in variety fashion products and compare it so they can see what suit them the best. If you still don’t know which one is the best, you can send those pictures to your friends via Email, MMS, Facebook or twitter so they can share their opinion with you. This allows us to interact and keep in touch with our friends. Therefore, if your friend is busy and can’t go shopping with you, you can always ask for their opinion of you in different outfits just like they are next to you.

Also, this technology is another good way of advertising the business because as the customers send their snapshot to their friends, the company logo will be in the snapshot.
 

Flexible phones

Flexible phone is a new innovation project which being explored by Nokia Research Centre in collaboration with the Cambridge Nano Science Centre in the United Kingdom. This device will enable flexible and transparent material. Therefore, we will no longer have to worry about dropping or sitting on our phone.  Flexible Phone could have a huge impact on society as it could replace several ‘fragile devices’ such as camera, video camera, watches/clock (as you can carry it on your wrist) , voice recorder etc. It could even help us save the electricity by its built-in solar absorption that can charge the device without the need of electric charger.

User friendliness/Improved usability

User friendliness and improved usability is the ability to try to make everything as easy as possible for the user. Examples of user friendly devices are touch screen and motion-sensing controller.  User friendliness and improved usability has impacted society because if the devices are easy to use, people in the society will become more effective with different kinds of electronic devices, even if they are not a computer expert. This could also impact disabled people as it enabled them to use variety of technology tools.

Touch screens

A touch screen is an electronic visual display. It allows us to interact directly with the display. Therefore, devices (that needs to be held) such as mouse, touchpad or keyboard are not needed.

A touch screen has a huge impact on society for the last 40 years from the first Elograph to today’s iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. Most of people believe that touchscreen is the easiest PC interface to use. Therefore, this could link to improved usability and user friendliness. "If the devices are easy to use, people will become more effective". Touch screen interface has also being used in developing Human Computer Interaction and other applications such as gaming, multimedia software, scientific applications etc.

Input/output devices

Examples of Input/output devices are printer, mouse, keyboard, microphone, speaker, monitors, external hard drive etc. We can now back-up, transfer and share data effectively using external hard drive or a flash drive.

Voice Input device such as microphone also impact society as we can use it with software such as Skype to call someone on a mobile phone as well as allow people with disability to interact with the computer as they can use microphone with voice output software that converts from speech into text.

Domestic appliance displays 

Examples of appliances with digital displays are microwave, dishwasher, washing machine etc. It usually contain a digital display which will convert data to be processed in the form that humans can easily understand/use. These data can be display in various display devices and may be in the form of letters, pictures or graphs. Domestic appliance display has impacted on society because it made it easier for us human to learn and interact with different types of electronic devices that could save up a lot of our time. Domestic displays also allow people with disabilities to use different types of appliance more efficiently and be able to help themselves and as they are able to help themselves without much help from anyone, it could give them the confident and make them feel more independent which could improve their productivity.

Remote Control

Remote control allows the user to operate a variety of electronic devices such as a stereo, TV or even control aeroplanes like drones from the distance which means there is less danger to the pilot. This type of remote control device impacted on the society because it gives people with disabilities an opportunity to apply as a pilot and control the aeroplane from thousands of miles away. Therefore, disabled people will no longer feel like they are being left behind from the society. Also, it is cheaper and more effective to make and run drones without the pilot.

Data logging

A data logger or data recorder is an electronic device that has the ability to collect and store data over time or in relation to location and the environment around it by its built-in sensor. Not only that you can use data logger for collect and store data but it can also be used to send data via cable or wireless. Data logging has enormous impact on the society as we often use it to record/store important data such as weather data (e.g. temperature, wind speed, solar radiation etc.), hydrographic data (e.g. water level, water depth etc.) and gas pressure.

Fly by wire

Fly by wire is a system used to control aeroplane which allows the aircraft to perform function without the pilot’s input. This technology is another technology which allows people with disability to fly the aeroplane, so even if the pilot is blind, he can still fly the plane safely using this electronic interface.  This would also give the public more confident about flying which leads to people not being afraid to learn how to fly an aeroplane or getting on an aeroplane.

Virtual reality

This technology is currently being developed and there is a high possibility that it could become reality. Virtual reality is an environment simulated by computer and is often provide a visual experience. Therefore, 3D movies are also counted as a virtual reality. Virtual reality has a huge impact on society as artificial environment can be very similar to the real world that some places even use it in simulations for pilot or combat training as it does not cost a lot and there is no danger. I believe that this technology will become even more powerful over time that we can use it for education and researching purpose.

Head up display

Head up display are commonly used in aeroplane but nowadays it has also been increasingly used in cars. Head up display is a transparent display that offers information to the user without them have to look away from their original view. So basically, the drivers will no longer need to look away from the road to get the information from the car dashboard display as every information they need (such as speed, speed limiter, petrol usage etc.) will be right in front of them (without cover up view from the front window, obviously).  If more and more people start to use head up display in their car, I personally think that it will have a huge impact on society because driving will become much safer as it helps the driver to focusing on what they are doing and be aware of the speed limit. Therefore, there is a possibility of reduced car accident death. In fact, head up display has already been built into mobile phone (such as iPhone and Android) to make it much more portable. However, relying on this type of technology too much might cause danger as the information might not always be correct.