Moving Beyond the Mouse: Connecting with Our Computers in the ...

We?ve already had a taste of mouse-free computing. Touchscreens on our smartphones and tablets allow us to search the Internet, compose email messages, send texts, and stream movies?all without using a mouse.

But what about the future? How will we interact with our computers in the coming decades? Once we ditch the mouse, what comes next?

Gesture sensing

Consumers who own Wii or PlayStation video games already have an idea. Both of these game systems offer users the chance to play games and explore the Web through wireless remotes that synch with body movements. Wii players can smack a tennis ball by swinging their hands when they hold a wireless remote. They can jog in place, climb a virtual mountain, or shoot menacing robots in the same way. This is known as gesture sensing. The tech isn?t quite ready for standard computing yet. However, it?s not difficult to imagine a future in which gesture sensing becomes one of the primary modes of interacting with our computers.

Multi-touch technology

But this is just one interaction innovation. There?s also multi-touch technology. Again, iPad and other tablet users are already familiar with this. By tapping icons on their screen, they can open apps and programs. By swiping their fingers across the screen, they can flip to a new page on a website. By pinching pages, they can zoom on an image to make it larger.

Voice recognition

Another likely tech jump involves voice recognition. Rather than clicking a mouse button to open a program, users can simply tell their computers to open a particular word file or close iTunes. Some of this already exists, most notably Siri, the personal assistant built into the iPhone 4S.

No matter what happens, though, the odds are that we?ll still rely at least somewhat on the humble mouse. After all, it?s served us well for many years.

Source: http://trinityww.com/archives/190

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