Computer Interfaces

I really only realized today how far we've come in the last decade. For the entire 20th century, humans were forced to conform to computers' and machines' interfaces. We had to use unnatural plastic pads to play games, wrap our hands around handlebars on bikes and adjust the seat for our legs, and spend oodles of time understanding QWERTY keyboards (or as I remember from typing class, A-S-D-F . . . . . . carriage return!). Look what we've seen since 2001:

• The Nintendo Wii introduced a form of gameplay requiring almost no ramp-up time. Take a Wii controller and wave it around, and you're in the game. The computer responds to your hand gestures. (and with the Wii Fit, your lower body as well!)
  
• The Segway HT, while not near a tipping point in popularity or cost, provides an alternative method for urban dwellers to get around town without even thinking about it. The computer responds to their body movements.
• The iPhone throws away the hard-coded interface of keypads and allows the application to have whatever interface it wants with the most intuitive input system ever seen (in my opinion).
  

What will the next generation hold? I'm hoping for a Nintendo similar to what was shown briefly in The Island (I have a big crush on Scarlett Johansson... and Jessica Biel while we're at it), where full body movements are tracked with laser-precision accuracy and amazing workouts and entertainment is achieved as a result. Segway, well, hopefully the price will drop and people will start using them -- I still think it's a great idea! And the iPhone -- hell, a few years from now most computer systems will probably have interfaces like those on Star Trek. Only programmers will need the ultra speed of a keyboard. I would imagine my car navigation system, my home security system, and any form of public terminal will have multi-touch as the norm.

It's going to be great! I love human-computer interfaces!