Human Computer Interaction

Lecture 4

The Computer
 The Computer
a computer system is made up of various elements

each of these elements affects the interaction

– input devices – text entry and pointing
– output devices – screen (small&large), digital paper
– virtual reality – special interaction and display devices
– physical interaction – e.g. sound, haptic, bio-sensing
– paper – as output (print) and input (scan)
– memory – RAM & permanent media, capacity & access
– processing – speed of processing, networks
 Interacting with computers

to understand human–computer interaction

… need to understand computers!

what goes in and out

devices, paper,
sensors, etc.

what can it do?

memory, processing,
networks
 A ‘typical’ Computer System
• screen, or monitor, on which there is an operating system
• keyboard window 1
• mouse/trackpad
window 2

• variations
– desktop
– laptop
– PDA 12-37pm

the devices dictate the styles of interaction that the system supports.
 Interactivity
Long ago in a galaxy far away … batch processing
– punched card stacks or large data files prepared
– long wait ….

Now most computing is interactive

– rapid feedback
– the user in control (most of the time)
Richer interaction

sensors
and devices
everywhere
 Text Entry Devices
keyboards (QWERTY et al.)
chord keyboards, phone pads
handwriting, speech
 Keyboards
• Most common text input device
• Allows rapid entry of text by experienced users

• Keypress closes connection, causing a character code

to be sent
• Usually connected by cable, but can be wireless
 Layout – QWERTY
• Standardised layout
but …
– non-alphanumeric keys are placed differently
– accented symbols needed for different scripts
– minor differences between UK and USA keyboards

• QWERTY arrangement not optimal for typing

– layout to prevent typewriters jamming!
• Alternative designs allow faster typing but large social
base of QWERTY typists produces reluctance to change.
 QWERTY (ctd)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M , .
SPACE
 Alternative Keyboard Layouts
Alphabetic
– keys arranged in alphabetic order
– not faster for trained typists
– not faster for beginners either!
Dvorak
– common letters under dominant fingers
– biased towards right hand
– common combinations of letters alternate between hands
– 10-15% improvement in speed and reduction in fatigue
– But - large social base of QWERTY typists produce market pressures not
to change
 Special Keyboards
• Designed to reduce fatigue for RSI (Repetitive
Strain Injury)
• For one handed use
e.g. the Maltron left-handed keyboard
 Chord keyboards

Only a few keys - four or 5

Letters typed as combination of keypresses

compact size:
– ideal for portable applications
short learning time:
– keypresses reflect letter shape
Fast:
– once you have trained

BUT - social resistance, plus fatigue after extended use

 Phone Pad and T9 entry
• Use numeric keys with
multiple presses
2–abc 6-mno
3-def 7-pqrs
4-ghi 8-tuv
5-jkl 9-wxyz
hello = 4433555[pause]555666
surprisingly fast!
• T9 predictive entry
– type as if single key for each letter
– use dictionary to ‘guess’ the right word
– hello = 43556 …
– but 26 -> menu ‘am’ or ‘an’
 Handwriting recognition
• Text can be input into the computer, using a pen and a
digesting tablet
– natural interaction

• 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

• Used in PDAs, and tablet computers …

… leave the keyboard on the desk!
 Speech Recognition
• Improving rapidly

• Most successful when:

– single user – initial training required
– limited vocabulary systems

• Problems with
– external noise interfering
– imprecision of pronunciation
– large vocabularies
– different speakers
 Numeric keypads

• For entering numbers quickly:

– calculator, PC keyboard
• For telephones
1 2 3 7 8 9

4 5 6 4 5 6
not the same!!
7 8 9 1 2 3

0 # 0 . =
ATM like phone *
telephone calculator
Positioning, Pointing and Drawing

mouse, touchpad
trackballs, joysticks etc.
touch screens, tablets
eyegaze, cursors
 The Mouse
• Handheld pointing device
– very common
– easy to use

• Two characteristics
– planar movement
– buttons
(usually from 1 to 3 buttons on top, used for making a
selection, indicating an option, or to initiate drawing etc.)
 The Mouse (ctd)
Mouse located on desktop
– requires physical space
– no arm fatigue

Relative movement only is detectable.

Movement of mouse moves screen cursor.
Screen cursor oriented in (x, y) plane,
mouse movement in (x, z) plane …
… an indirect manipulation device.
– device itself doesn’t obscure screen, is accurate and fast.
– hand-eye coordination problems for novice users
 How does it work?
Two methods for detecting motion

• Mechanical
– Ball on underside of mouse turns as mouse is moved
– 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 exposed to dust and dirt
– detects fluctuating alterations in reflected light intensity to calculate
relative motion in (x, z) plane
 Even by foot …?
• Some experiments with the footmouse
– controlling mouse movement with feet …
– not very common :-)

• But foot controls are common elsewhere:

– car pedals
– sewing machine speed control
 Touchpad
• Small touch sensitive tablets
• ‘Stroke’ to move mouse pointer
• Used mainly in laptop computers

• Good ‘acceleration’ settings important

– Fast stroke
• lots of pixels per inch moved
• initial movement to the target
– Slow stroke
• less pixels per inch
• for accurate positioning
 Trackball and Thumbwheels
Trackball
– ball is rotated inside static housing
• like an upside down mouse!
– relative motion moves cursor
– indirect device, fairly accurate
– separate buttons for picking
– very fast for gaming
– used in some portable and notebook computers.

Thumbwheels …
– for accurate CAD(computer-aided design) – two dials for X-Y cursor
position
– for fast scrolling – single dial on mouse
 Joystick and keyboard nipple
Joystick
– indirect
pressure of stick = velocity of movement
– buttons for selection
on top or on front like a trigger
– often used for computer games
aircraft controls and 3D navigation

Keyboard nipple
– for laptop computers
– miniature joystick in the middle of the keyboard
 Touch-sensitive screen
• Detect the presence of finger or stylus on the screen.
– works by interrupting matrix of light beams, capacitance changes or
ultrasonic reflections
– direct pointing device

• Advantages:
– fast, and requires no specialised pointer
– good for menu selection
– suitable for use in hostile environment: clean and safe from damage.

• Disadvantages:
– finger can mark screen
– imprecise (finger is a fairly blunt instrument!)
• difficult to select small regions or perform accurate drawing
– lifting arm can be tiring
 Stylus and Light Pen
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
– now rarely used
– uses light from screen to detect location

BOTH …
– very direct and obvious to use
– but can obscure screen
 Eyegaze
• control interface by eye gaze direction
– e.g. look at a menu item to select it
• uses laser beam reflected off retina
– … a very low power laser!
• mainly used for evaluation (ch 11)
• potential for hands-free control
• high accuracy requires headset
• cheaper and lower accuracy devices available
sit under the screen like a small webcam
 Cursor Keys
• Four keys (up, down, left, right) on keyboard.
• Very, very cheap, but slow.
• Useful for not much more than basic motion for text-editing tasks.
• No standardised layout, but inverted “T”, most common
 Discrete positioning controls
• In phones, TV controls etc.
– cursor pads or mini-joysticks
– discrete left-right, up-down
– mainly for menu selection