Transient Functionality and the “Input Device”.
May 8th, 2010Those involved in the world of Consumer Electronics design and product development will be familiar, if not all too familiar, with the idea of the “Input Device”.
These objects are were all around us. Where? Well there are those which probably spring to mind, computer peripherals like the keyboard or mouse, each of which input data in some way. Then there are those which are probably a little less obvious; remote controls, graphics tablets,…… All of these devices share a commonality, they send data to their parent device. Whether it’s co-ordinates for a cursor or binary data for text-strokes, the conversation is one way, and nobody likes a one way conversation.
Let us put it therefore, that the concept of an “input device” is out-moded. Advanced hardware to software interaction is no longer one-way. The most progressive peripherals are those which engage in two directions, devices which have conversations with their parent devices.
Why???
When we design for the interaction of people and devices, we are essentially designing how a person consumes, communicates or creates content. The more seamless this experience is, the closer a user gets to their content, the bit they really care about. One-way communication, “Input Devices”, act as a barrier to this seamless experience, playing a very static role in the entire interaction and degrading user experience. However, the effect of two-way communication is a blurring of the bridge between user and content. Think of physically touching the content you are interested in, progressive devices should bring us closer to this ideal.
ps: You could argue that Input Devices as an umbrella term should no longer even exist. After all, it is when there is no direct parent-child link between products that things become really interesting. Lets not get ahead of ourselves though….