A brief history of the interface: We become the ghosts in the machine.

We have undergone numerous stages of interaction between humans and computers - we are getting closer to actually "being inside the machine" as opposed to being on the outside looking in. 

The ways in which individuals interact with computers has changed dramatically.

·      Keyboard Interface – the initial means of interaction with machines was exclusively through keyboard commands (or via such keyboard secondary means as punched tape, cards, magnetic tapes). Computers at this time were expensive, and required extensive training and complex programming knowledge in order to interact with them.

·      Mouse Interface – at the beginning of the “personal computer” era, keyboard input was augmented with the now common “mouse”. This allowed individuals to interact with the machine in a more free form manner, and allowed the development of computer based analogs to the real world, such as “folders” and “files”. This input interface allowed the development of such disruptive technologies as Photoshop, 3D Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing as well as the commonly known word processors, spread sheets and other digital replacements for traditional business, engineering and creative systems.

·      Touch Input Interface – now very familiar to most, touch screens allow direct manipulation of the information within the computer via “touch, click, squeeze and drag” maneuvering. Generally, there is no mouse component to this interface, however the ability to use a digital keyboard is common. Recent innovations in this input method include “raised” interface and “touch screen modification”, where the touch screen changes physical characteristics (such as, becoming “rougher” or “dimpled” based upon the application’s requirements.

·      Post Touch Input Interface – this is the new horizon for machine interaction. Composed of both voice and gesture recognition, this emerging means of machine interaction allows the machine to recognize basic human communication efforts and respond to them. Voice recognition systems are part of this environs.

·      Wearable computation devices – although technically not a human interface method, the development of machines which monitor individual human performance telemetry (i.e. tools to measure a persons pace, their GPS coordinates, their heart rate, blood pressure, etc.) as well as their immediate environmental conditions, are already commonplace as add on apps within many smart phone systems. Utilization of Radio Frequency Identification Tags, Face recognition systems and crowd shared data (best friends, common interests, favorite restaurant, etc.) all add bulk to this “cloud” of data accumulated per person. Think of Charlie Browns cartoon character Pig Pen - the cloud that follows a modern human around is not of dust and dirt, but of personal data. A cloud following the individual around 24 hours a day, accessible instantaneously.

·      The Internet of Everything – in 2008 the number of “things” (devices, lights, heating systems, traffic systems, the list is inexhaustible) outnumbered the number of humans connected to the Internet. This vast and growing amount of data can be and is captured and included in the human – computer interface. 

·      Computer Augmented Human Systems – the sheer volume of human augmentation systems coming to the market is incredible. Brain implants designed to assist Alzheimer patients memory retention and implants designed to reduce or eliminate elliptic seizures, are here and being integrated into the human cranium. Computer assisted replacement limbs, optical sight enhancements and computer directed blood borne nano technology is no longer in the realm of science fiction, but science fact. To quote Arthur C. Clarke “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

·      Augmented Reality Interaction – combined with the Post Touch Input Interface means of interaction, wearable computation and the Internet of Everything (above), this interaction places the individual within the computing environment itself, Google Glass project and the Apple equivalent are charting this new territory. 

As we dive deeper into the bowls of the machine, the concept of “reality” will begin to blur. We will be looking at the universe from within the interior of the computer – and will being to have difficulty determining where “reality” ends and “augmented reality” begins. At this point, we truly become the Ghosts in the Machine.

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
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