Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Impact of Google Glasses on Society, Economy and Culture




Google glasses are a good example of a development in HCI that can affect the world, this brings could be the start of a new era of advanced HCI, this type of HCI has been in the process for a long time however until technology advances it was only a theory, a theory of virtual reality. For a long time virtual reality wasn’t possible due to lack of hardware, however it is becoming a reality with the help of Google glasses. This new technology could revolutionaries the way we live our lives, there would be no need to carry a phone anymore as you could have a HUD (Heads up Display) that allows you to see life in a new way.



 


Society
This could affect society in many was, however the main way it could affect society would be through communication, the glasses have in built texting, video calling, GPS locations and various social networking sites on. This would be like having a smart phone in front of you.

On the other hand there are many complications to this device, like would you like to have data transmitting next to your brain 24/7? How can you focus on the glasses and in front of you at the same time, this could cause accidents.  



 


Economy
These Glasses would affect the economy in a few ways for example this technology would be sold for around $1500 not to mention extras you could buy for the device. The Glasses also have services installed that you can buy from, this would require the internet which would also need to be updated from 3G to 4G as it would require faster speeds to get data to the user.

Services such as Netflix, Google Movies, Love Film, 4oD and BBC-iplayer are slow and stream in low quality with 3G however if there was an update to 4G these services should be able to broadcast HD videos without any jittering. This is the process that takes place when new technology comes out, new software is also made to utilise the hardware.



 


Culture
The culture aspect of the glasses would be the ability for it to communicate with people all over the world with many different language types, the glasses could change the way in which we perceive glasses. Glasses are seen as a nuisance, this leads to some people getting surgery on their eyes, however if glasses were the norm then this wouldn't happen. Having glasses could improve lots of people’s visions as people might have poor vision without realising. 


The Impact of HCI on Culture

Culture

One of the main impacts that HCI has on Culture is how it de-skills work this is when a machine takes the role of a person this then in turn reduces the amount of people working and speeds up economy, however this might not be a bad thing as it reduces the amount of low skilled jobs and forces people to get better education to get better jobs.






HCI advancements are everywhere even in your house for example using a dust pan and brush to clean a floor was normal until some came up with a better idea that made it quicker and more efficient, the hover, this is an example of how HCI affects us every day, however with most things there is a price increase for product that performs better and quicker.
Mobile phones have been changed by HCI for culture as they are now compatible with many different languages as well as having in built translators so that you can understand people from other cultures.



The Impact of HCI on Economy


Economy

The impact that HCI has had on economy has changed the way we go about our lives, it has not only sped up the way we perform tasks but made them easier to achieve for example shopping has changed to a self-service that allows shops to sell faster which can increase their profits. However new products are coming out with even easier interfaces, this means that things such as gesture control can be used to buy things a future tech of this could be a smart room where you are in control of screens with your hands.























Within almost every business there is a computer that has a GUI interface; this is a HCI that has helped Economy a lot, as businesses can now do everything quicker and more efficiently, this can aid the economy. The Economy has changed a lot due to technology becoming popular, it has created work for people as well as giving people new things to do, such as photography and graphic drawings.


The Impact of HCI on Society


Tablet

Society


HCI has a big impact on the way in which we live our life as a society whether it’s using a computers GUI (Graphical User Interface) to read an Email to typing on a keyboard, with everything we use there is a process that products go through to make sure that they are suitable for the user.

Society has been affected by HCI in many ways such as the way we perform routine tasks from the moment you wake up to the moment you sleep HCI would have affected you in many different ways. Some examples of this are;

  •          Setting an alarm
  •          Buying food through self-scan
  •         Cooking food in an oven

There are many examples of HCI in our lives which are usually to help understand what we are using and how to use it more efficiently. For example an icon for applications look like the real life object e.g. a calendar application would look like physical calendar this is called skeuomorphism.

HCI has improved the usability of computers for example computers used to use CLI (Command Line Interface) which was a long and complicated process that required skill to use, this was the replaced with a GUI which now is built for ease and speed in mind, this is accomplished by using such things as shortcuts, icons, pictures and creating a familiar interface.

HCI has changed so that disabled people can still use computers the same as anyone else this is done through adapting to their needs, such as a mouse that can be controlled via mouth. 

HCI provides lots of changes in society and the was in which we can now perform tasks, such as allowing technology to take over, and put our lives in its hands, for example letting a plane fly on its own or letting a car drive. These are big changes in our everyday live.
Windows 8 GUI

The Impact of HCI on Society, Economy and Culture




What is Human Computer Interaction?



Human computer interaction is the study, planning and design of the interaction that users have with computers. Human computer interaction (HCI) incorporates the studies of humans and machines together and produces a function product that fits the users demand. On the machine side things like operating systems, program languages, computer graphics and development environments are all considered. On the human side things like graphics, design methods, human factors and computer user satisfaction are all relevant.