Human Computer Interfaces

Comments

I’ve seen two interesting interface solutions in the past few weeks.

The first is Swype

Though not having used this myself, the videos look quite impressive. I imagine it would work quite well with the iPhone, if it makes it there.

Inputting text causes the biggest headaches through misspellings and the bizarre intelligent text on the iPhone as rather than selecting the suggested word, you have to delete the suggestion – I’m not a fan.

Getting touch screen interfaces to not only replicate data input but to make it faster than traditional handsets should be on all manufacturers road maps. Hopefully the ‘qwerty era’ is coming to an end.

The second is biometric, made by Hitachi

It’s fingerprint recognition that uses infrared to scan your veins and identify you. Check out the video, in which it’s used to buy a coke zero (ergh). The main benefits of authenticated data these days seems to be that we can tie our personal details to our unique selves.

Very ‘Minority Report’, but barring someone taking my eyes to pay for tube journeys, Vein ID authentication simply speeds things up. I’m looking forward to it replacing my Oyster card, and carrying some of that antiseptic soap stuff with me everywhere.