Think back to how much text messaging changed our form of communication. Soon after touch screens fully revolutionized the way UI was designed and developed for interaction on mobile devices. We are now looking at the future of how we interact with technology.
Looking at the first video for Project Soli, was both impressive and exciting. The Soli Sensor is a tiny radar chip created by Google that uses sensor technology to track touchless interactions on a sub-millimeter level. Google plans to scale the chip down small enough to fit inside wearable devices. The goal is to remove actual touch gestures on a small screen associated with wearable and other devices from the equation; replacing them with fine gesture recognition.
Even more fascinating Emotiv’s EPOC / EPOC+ a revolutionary wearable technology that uses electroencephalography (EEG) to read and record your brain waves and converts it into usable data. “You think, therefore you can” is the concept behind EPOC. This is a whole different level of interaction that is capable of gathering research data using Emotiv’s APIs and libraries that can detect facial expressions, performance and emotional metrics, as well as mental commands.
Both these technologies are not “a look into the future” type of product. They currently exist!
As a someone who is both creative and scientific this is fascinating because both products do not use any current forms of UI. If devices do not require touch interaction or data input because they can simply read a user’s mind or register their gestures; where does that leave traditional touch screen apps? or screens? Could user telepathy replace user interaction?
As a designer is your brain churning on the way you would creatively use either of these products? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
My guess is no, new ways to interact with HW and/or SW will not make UI irrelevant in any sense, because of 2 points: 1) we already had “not touching techs” (for instance, voice commands) working *with* UI, and 2) we, humans, are extremely visual creatures, that is, it’s very unlikely that new techs will diminish the impact of a well crafted and useful interface.