Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020

Microsoft Research thinks that we'll be closely integrated with machines in the future (= cyborg!).

From BBC News:
"A Microsoft-backed report that draws from discussions with 45 academics from computing, science, sociology, and psychology predicts that by 2020 fundamental changes in the field of human-computer interaction will increasingly integrate humans with machines, and machines will be able to anticipate what we want from them. The keyboard, mouse, and monitor will be replaced by more intuitive forms of interaction and display such as tablet computers, speech recognition, and touch-operated surfaces. Devices will be embedded in everyday objects, clothing, and our bodies. Our digital footprint will increase as we share more and more aspects of our lives through digital photography, podcasting, blogging, and video, raising questions about how much information we should share and store about ourselves. An always-on network will channel mass-market information directly to us while analyzing our personal information. The report calls this the era of hyper-connectivity and predicts that it will lead to a growth in "techno-dependency." The report compares the widespread introduction of the calculator, widely blamed for a fall in mental arithmetic abilities, with what may happen as computers become more intelligent and take on new responsibilities. "Without proper consideration and control it is possible that we---both individually and collectively--may no longer be in control of ourselves or the world around us," the report warns. The report, "Being Human: Human Computer Interaction in the Year 2020," is available at http://research.microsoft.com/hci2020/download.html."

Hybridity and cyborgs hit Hollywood

Two themes from my dissertation are used in this article about James Cameron's new film. (And how fitting that the director of Terminator should be doing this.) Titanic-esque in scale, this new film will seamlessly mix together live actors with computer-generated ones.

James Cameron, the director whose “Titanic” set a record for ticket sales around the world, will join 20th Century Fox in tackling a similarly ambitious and costly film, “Avatar,” which will test new technologies on a scale unseen before in Hollywood, the studio and the filmmaker said on Monday.

The film, with a budget of about $200 million, is an original science fiction story that will be shown in 3D even in conventional theaters. The plot pits a human army against an alien army on a distant planet, bringing live actors and digital technology together to make a large cast of virtual creatures who convey emotion as authentically as humans.

...

“There’s this sense of bifurcation, that really true artistic, cutting-edge filmmakers make these indie pictures, and that CG films are these clanking machines,” he observed. “I’ve tried to fight to inhabit both spaces. There’s a way to take all these technical tools and have them come from a place where the artist is still running the film. It’s not easy.”

Computer join actors in hybrids on screen