How can we make our computer interaction more natural? (Part 2)

This is the second post in a series that aims to explore the potential for making our computer interactions a little less “digital” and a little more “humanized”. Specifically, I’m discussing ways to improve upon our usage of the mouse and keyboard to make them truly “human interface devices“. The first part explored our everyday usage of the computer mouse, what improvements can be made to make it more usable, and concluded by suggesting that mouse gestures can greatly aid in both making this device more usable and closer to our hearts and minds, that is, more natural!

In this part, we’ll turn our attention to the computer keyboard. This mildly sophisticated device has received the least amount of innovation in the brief history of the computing era. This is understandable, given the simple purpose of this device which is either typing or sending commands. In the typing department, one of the most notable innovations, in my opinion, was the introduction of the natural keyboard layout in 1992 by Apple and then later in 1994 by Microsoft. The latter has gained wide popularity and adoption which proved that overall people were concerned about the ergonomics and fitness of their computer usage experience. For me, I never really bought into this layout, I guess because it kind of broke my natural typing orientation.

But what I really want to bring to your attention today is a key innovation regarding the second purpose which is sending commands. Historically, most of the improvements in this area have been on fitting bunch of extra keys around the keyboard to act as shortcuts for commonly used commands. This is great! But the genius guys at Humanized have gone a step ahead and crafted a wonderful and versatile software that is way ahead of its league. What this software can do is something I’ve never seen before, and I’ve seen a lot on similar grounds. So read on to find out how this software promises to revamp your whole computing experience for good!

Hi, my name is ENSO

They called it ENSO, a Japanese word meaning “circle”. It is drawn in circle (duh!) that symbolizes enlightenment, strength, and the universe. The reason it’s a partially open circle is to also symbolize that it is not separate, but is part of something greater.And it’s certainly is. ENSO does not replace anything in your desktop. It just sits quietly in the back waiting to be summoned to perform wonderful things for you. What kind of things? Glad you asked! Let’s run through some of the cool features ENSO gives you out of the box.

I can start your favourite applications, files and even websites

ENSO Launcher is the part that can do all that and then some. While there are numerous so-called “application launchers” out there, this one does it differently, and does it with a style!

The idea here is that if you’re the type of person who relies heavily on using the keyboard or if you’re typing something and don’t want to switch over to the mouse, you can fire up quick commands in a human-natural form to open your favourite applications. Wherever you are, it goes like this:

1. You hold down the Caps Lock key
2. Meanwhile, you type “open …” followed by the name of the application.
3. Just release the Caps Lock and there you go!

While this may seem like a lengthy process, it happens really quickly. This is because the ENSO is very smart in the sense that:

1. You don’t have to type the full name of the application because ENSO filters the available results as you type more characters.
2. You can press TAB to auto-finish the command

“C” is highlighted because it’s the only character I’ve typed after the “open”. That’s all I need!

The rest of the choices, shown above, are ones you can also choose by navigating down the list with the Down arrow key.

Now, what if the thing you want to start isn’t an application but rather a file, folder or a favourite website. Well, why not teach ENSO about so that next time you’ll be able to start it just like we did above. Let me show you how that is done:

1. Navigate to the file, folder or website of your choice.
2. Highlight the address (usually up there on the address bar in Windows Explorer or your browser).
3. Issue the “learn as open …” command.

 

Next time, it doesn’t matter which application I’m in, all I need is “open r” to start my news reader

I don’t know about you, but for me that’s a brilliant simple way to teach a software something. It’s also natural to think about it. “Learn” or “Open” are all words used by humans and now my computer understands them, now that’s what “humanized” is all about!

There are host of other commands (as of the current version) that you can also play with:

• go {window name}
• close
• maximize
• unmaximize
• minimize
• open with {program}
• quit
• undo unlearn
• unlearn open {command name}

Wait, I can also help you with your writing

This is yet another part of ENSO that can do wonders for you. Ever needed to run a spell check on something you wrote on a website or some application but the functionality just wasn’t there. Perhaps you wanted to do simple calculation on the spot without having to break your concentration by opening external application? Well that’s what ENSO Words is all about.

The way it works is very similar to the Launcher. You select the text and issue the desired command. If it’s a spell check or calculation commands, ENSO Words will replace your text in-place. If the text isn’t replaceable, as if you’re reading off a webpage, ENSO will remember the result and let you put anywhere else where there’s an editable area.

In addition, it can do any of the following things (as of the current version):

1. Define any word you select or give you synonyms for it.
2. Calculate any four-function mathematical formula you have at hand.
3. Count the number of words or characters.
4. Transfer your text into upper or lower case.

Conclusion

While I didn’t cover every command in detail, I hope this quick run-through gave you a good idea of the capabilities of this innovative software. It goes without exaggeration that once you try ENSO and get a good grip of it, you’ll learn to appreciate it so much that it would feel awkward if you have to do the simple things it lets you do without it. For me, I was addicted from day one and now consider it an essential part of my productive computing arsenal.

1. Would you spend money on utility software? What about ENSO? says:

   March 10, 2007 at 10:42 PM

   [...] spellchecker/dictionary. Actually each one of those is sold separately. I gave quite a detailed overview of ENSO in a previous post, so read that if you want to find out what’s quite different and [...]
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   [...] Launcher (read my review and here is why I bought [...]
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