How can we make our computer interaction more natural? (Part 1)
Let’s think for a moment about the ways in which we interact with our computers in our present time. Without a doubt, the most dominating input devices are the mouse and the keyboard, right? People primarily rely on these input mechanisms as formal means to issue commands and type text. However, people vary according to their preference: geeks and IT professionals rely more heavily on the keyboard while beginners and computer naives learn to operate the mouse first and they stick to it.
Still, other people, especially in the publishing industry, use voice, or spoken words, as a means to dictate text as well as to tell the computer what to do. Voice recognition, as a technology, has evolved rapidly in the last decade that it’s now considered a very productive and feasible way for interacting and typing text given the right circumstances. Obviously, using voice is the most natural way for us to interact.
But what about the other popular mechanisms, namely the mouse and the keyboard? The question that inspired this post is: has these two mechanisms reached a point where it seems “natural” for us, as humans, to use them to interact with our computers? If no, then can we add a “human” touch to these devices to make them easier and more natural to use?
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