New directions in User-System Interaction: augmented reality, ubiquitous and mobile computing
Matthias Rauterberg · TU/e Research Portal · 1999
The embodiment of computers in the work place has had a tremendous impact on the field of user-system interaction. Mice and graphic displays are everywhere, the desktop workstations define the frontier between the computer world and the real world. We spend a lot of time and energy to transfer information between those two worlds. This could be reduced by better integrating the virtual world of the computer with the real world of the user. The most promising approach to this integration is Augmented Reality (AR) [29]. The expected success of this approach lies in its ability to build on fundamental human skills: namely, to interact with real world subjects and objects! We present a new interaction style, called Natural User Interface (NUI). Several prototypical applications already implement NUIs and demonstrate its technical feasibility. Today several dialogue techniques are developed and in usage. The following dialogue techniques and dialogue objects can be distinguished with regard to traditional user interfaces: command language, function key, menu selection, icon, and window [23]. These techniques can be summarized into three different interaction styles: • Command language: This interaction style (including action codes and softkeys) is one of the oldest way of interacting with a computer. Pros: In the command mode the user has a maximum of direct access to all available functions and operations. Cons: The user has no permanent feedback of all actual available function points.