A few months ago, an item floated down the news stream about Japanese researchers creating an iPod control for one’s teeth. Since then, news other non-traditional inputs have followed. Gesture-based interfaces leverage intuitive actions already in use by a person to manipulate tools of interest, and designers will be well advised to explore the user reactions to such devices.
Building sustainability through design
Sustainability is a hot topic. Partial credit goes to Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that preceded the movie. In the world of human-computer interaction, designers are now thinking deeply about the consequences of their creations. Last spring, IU School of Informatics professor Eli Blevis presented his research paper—”Sustainable Interaction Design: Invention & Disposal, Renewal & Reuse“— to the international CHI community in San Jose, California. This seminal work jump-started formal research about how design and sustainability are related.