CS133 Input and output devices

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CS133 Input and output devices
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Whats available for input

• touch - fingers, feet, breath
• sound - voice, other sounds
• gesture
• gaze
• brainwaves

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and output

• textual information
• visual images - photos, diagrams, icons
• moving images
• sounds - music, soundfx, voice
• tactile sensation
• force feedback
• texture feedback
• smells

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What do we need to input?

• Pointing
• Depressing/releasing a switch - clicking
• Dragging
• Text input
• (Can we reduce this range to "Point and click?"
  Or simply a click or on-off switch?)

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Jim Lubin operates his machine by using a
sip-and-puff device to enter Morse code patterns
that input keyboard keys and mouse functions.
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The current norm for desktop systems
Input via keyboard and mouse Output via text,
pictures, movement, sound
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Finger-on computing
Bill Buxton once remarked that if human society
were destroyed apart from a computer shop,
visiting Martian archeologists would determine
that humans were monocular and had one hand with
29 digits on it. All the remaining body senses
and capabilities are irrelevant to the computer
interface.
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Keyboards

• QWERTY - Christopher Latham Sholes, 1870's.
  Designed to "slow down" typing, to prevent the
  types from jamming.

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Dvorak keyboard

• August Dvorak 1936. Increased accuracy in typing
  by almost 50 and speed by 15-20

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Comparison
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Ergonomic keyboard design
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Ergonomic keyboards
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Ergonomic keyboards
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Chord keyboards
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Pointing devices - direct

• Touchscreens

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Touchscreens

• Often used for applications with occasional use,
  for example
• Bank ATMs, Information Kiosks, etc.
• No extra hardware - used for input and for output
• Can be precise to 1 pixel
• Good for menu choice - not so good for other
  functions
• Intuitive to use

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Touchscreens

• BUT
• Tiring if at wrong angle (needs to be 30-45 from
  horizontal)
• Get greasy, jammy
• Finger can obscure screen
• Alternative - use stylus to touch screen, or
  lightpen

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Indirect Pointing Devices

• Need more cognitive processing than direct
  methods, but can be more efficient
• mouse
• tracker ball
• trackpoint
• touchpad

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Indirect pointing devices - mouse

• Mouse
• Invented by Doug Englebart, Xerox PARC, in 1966
• "Mouse arm" - RSI injury
• Range of technologies, including wireless mice -
  for home entertainment, lectures, etc

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Indirect pointing devices - other

• Trackerball, trackpad, trackpoint
• Less space on desktop
• Good in moving environments, e.g. car, train

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Indirect pointing devices - other

• Joystick
• Some with force feedback for haptic experience

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Indirect pointing devices - other

• Footmouse
• Equivalent to conventional mouse but no RSI

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Indirect pointing devices - other

• Graphics tablet
• Large touch sensitive surface operated via
  stylus, pencil,
• Can be larger than screen, for precise pointing
  and accurate control
• Pressure and angle sensitive

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A new ideaInteractive music via joysticks
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Criteria of interest for HCI

• Speed of motion for short and long distances
• Accuracy of positioning
• Error rate
• Ease of learning
• Support for (complex) tasks

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• Cost
• Durability
• Weight
• Space requirements
• Will it get lost?
• LH vs. RH
• Likelihood of RSI

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Choosing devices

• Match physiological psychological
  characteristics
• Appropriate for task
• Suitable for the work environment
• Left and/or right handed
• Designed by men, used by women?
• All kinds of special needs, from slight long
  sight to severe motor/visual/ cognitive
  disability

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Alternatives

• Speech (also for text input)

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Alternatives

• Gaze input - via reflections of laser beam aimed
  at retina. Here with pointing via data glove

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Alternatives

• Brain activity input - this neural network system
  distinguishes 5 brain patterns - for up, down, L,
  R click

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The challenge of interactivity for everyone,
everywhere

• Interactive TV
• Household devices, e.g. curtains, garage door,
  central heating
• Mobiles, palm tops, badge computers, toys,
  interactive clothing