Nowadays the technology grows faster and faster. The applications that we see every day may still seem to be limited to 3D movies or some technologically advanced phones and gadgets, but the research is light years beyond us.
The HIT Lab is one of the best examples. It stands for Human Interface Technology and it is the science of the future. But what is it exactly?
Today we interact with computers using input devices such as keyboards and mouses. ‘HIT’ refers to humanistic ways to interact with digital devices as well as with other people who may be on the other side of the world using human senses and gestures.
The most famous and impressing field of this study is Virtual Reality which is basically an immersive 3D environment in which human people can interact. The applications of the VR -Virtual Reality- are endless and totally different from the classic video games in which a different reality is created. It can recreate an environment similar to the real world and be used to do training simulations for pilots or soldiers. Let’s imagine you have to train a man to pilot a big and modern plane; you cannot just give him a real plane and ask him to pilot it for the first time. The risks are too high and he could do lots of damage; possibly even kill himself. What you want is to train him in the most practical way, without all these risks. Here VR comes into practice. You can create the same plane in a 3D environment where the pilot can try many times without causing any real damage. The environment is still realistic so that it effectively prepares him.
The same idea can be used in industry. If we consider car prototypes it is easy to see that building many cars in order to find the best one can waste lots of material and time. Using a virtual reality the designer can work directly with his customer changing all the features of the car just moving his hands whenever the customer suggests something.
Examples of human interface technology include the mixed reality where 3D computer generated objects interact with real-world objects. It could be applied in a health care context, the hands of the doctors could move robots’ one which would operate in their place being more accurate and hygienic, an idea not too far away from the machines seen in AVATAR
Other examples could be Augmented Reality, Magic Book Technology or Virtual Retinal display. The applications of Human interface technologies are almost unlimited, they have many current and future applications in many fields that require a sensorial experience without being in the real situation; fields such as interactive entertainment, films, simulation training, health care, pain abatement and architecture projects.
Despite people’s opinions about virtual realities and worries about the real contact with the world, advanced human-computer interface technologies can make the most of human intelligence, improving the quality of life and connecting people.
Lots of people have probably sighed watching movies such as AVATAR, wishing they had the same magical technology. Well they will be pleased to know that their dream is real or, at least, virtually real.
Maria Perotto (4C)