According to Wikipedia, a Natural User Interface is when a UI is
effectively invisible, or rather becomes invisible with successive
learned interactions. These interactions are intended to feel natural as
users operate the user interface design. Natural User Interface
represent the third major paradigm in user interface design. The first
user interface designs featured Command Line Interfaces which are
codified and strictly text-based UIs typified by operating systems such
as MS-DOS. Today Command Line Interfaces have mostly given way to
Graphical User Interfaces but can still be accessed for scripting or
other advanced purposes. Graphical User Interfaces use visual indicators
as metaphors rather than text lines and are the way we interact with
most modern operating systems today. Graphical User Interfaces allowed
users to access computing without the steep learning curve of Command
Line Interfaces as users could explore through trial and error. With
Natural User Interfaces the learnability of a user interface design is
further enhanced by using a UI in ways that feel natural. In the rest of
this article I shall talk about the frontiers of Natural User Interface
design.
Using Touch/ Gestures to Control a User Interface Design
The iPhone is perhaps the best proponent of using our sense of touch
to control a user interface design. Unlike the indirect touch of a mouse
using our own fingers in gestures was one of the standout features of
the iPhone when it debuted. Pinch-to-zoom and swiping have now become
such a common way to manipulate the user interface design of touchscreen
devices that it is hard to imagine they didn't exist before the very
first iPhone. Using touch to control user interface designs has even
graduated from smartphones and tablets to desktop operating systems such
as the latest OS X, which implements iOS gestures via a trackpad. The Microsoft Surface is effectively a table-sized tablet that follows the same paradigm.
Using Audio to Control a User Interface Design
Using audio as a way of controlling a user interface design
is nothing new. For example, the aforementioned iPhone has a voice
control option for accessibility purposes. The Dragon speech recognition
software package is perhaps the vanguard of using audio to control user
interface designs by allowing users to transcribe speech into text,
search or input commands into a user interface design. With the use of
audio Dragon software features minimalistic user interface designs as
less actual text is needed to express the range of options available to
users. The main challenge with audio as a frontier in Natural User
Interface design is not the recording of the audio but in making sense
of the audio so that users can speak as if they were talking to another
person. This is still a very big challenge for NUIs.
Using Visual & Location Information to Control a User Interface Design
Using visual input is another way of creating Natural User Interface
designs. Google Goggles is a great example of this whereby users can use
a picture as a search entry. Wondering what the fancy building is? Much
easier to take a picture and hit search rather than muddling through
with various text inputs. Augmented reality apps also make use of all
the visual information available around us to provide contextual information. Thanks to GPS technology this can be further enhanced by incorporating
location. An upcoming standard feature of the upcoming iOS is the
Reminders app which allows users to set reminders not only in a
chronological concept but also in terms of location. This means that a
reminder can fire off when a user arrives someplace, such as being
reminded to go shopping as you leave work.
Natural User Interface designs are here to stay. Using a combination
of the aforementioned input types has already bred success in the gaming
industry. The Nintendo Wii sold
like hot cakes by inviting users to play games using real-life gestures
such as swinging a racket or slashing a sword. Microsoft's Kinect took
this concept even further by incorporating visual and audio input. The
Kinect effectively turns the human body into a controller as users can
shout commands and gesture around. Due to its direct and intuitive input
nature it is indicative of what can be achieved with Natural User
Interfaces. The changes from Command Line Interfaces to Natural User
Interfaces represent a shift from us having to be aware of the nature of
computers to our computers being more aware of us.
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