Volume 23, Issue 2 - Special Issue: The Future of Human Computer Interaction

Today, user experience (UX) is an essential aspect of the design of digital, interactive products. Thirty years ago, however, things looked different. The focus was not on the experience but on the metaphor of the tool or medium. But how will the design of digital, interactive products develop over the next 30 years? How will the design of products and services change, and how will this influence the UX profession? One possibility is highlighted in particular: focussing on the relationship between the user and the product with elements such as emotional connections. Through relationships, the roles of artificial intelligence, humanity and ethics in the design process and the importance of sustainability and adaptation to changing working and learning environments become particularly relevant. In the future, designers must assume even greater responsibility for users, society and the environment.

Information Radiators (IRs) provide context-specific pieces of information in a semi-public place where a group of people can see it while working or passing-by. They can simplify information sharing “out-of-the-box”, foster awareness and socialization, create serendipity and enhance collaboration. Recent sociotechnical developments such as the establishment of permanent hybrid work settings as well as advances in the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) such as the emergence of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are likely to impact how IRs are being used – or even challenge their usefulness. In this article we discuss those developments and their possible implications for the design and use of IRs in the context of knowledge work in the next decades. We argue that IRs will probably remain an important part of future office environments providing awareness, supporting serendipity and building a situated social place for matchmaking as well as informal communication. Using new display and interaction technologies (such as AR) they might even grow in importance by enabling fluid work scenarios.

Modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been used in safety-critical situations for over twenty years. Rooted in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and related disciplines, the field of crisis informatics made considerable efforts to investigate social media use and role patterns in crises, facilitate the collection, processing and refinement of social media data, design and evaluate supportive ICT, and provide cumulative and longitudinal research. This narrative review examines contemporary challenges of human-centred crisis informatics and envision trends for the following decade, including (I) a broadening scope of crisis informatics, (II) the professionalisation of cross-platform collaboration of citizen communities and emergency services, (III) expert interfaces for explainable and multimodal artificial intelligence for user-generated content assessment, (IV) internet of things and mobile apps for bidirectional communication and warnings in disruption-tolerant networks, as well as (V) digital twins and virtual reality for the effective training of multi-agency collaboration in hybrid hazards.

People are increasingly eager to know more about themselves through technology. To date, technology has primarily provided information on our physiology. Yet, with advances in wearable technology and artificial intelligence, the current advent of consumer neurotechnology will enable users to measure their cognitive activity. We see an opportunity for research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the development of these devices. Neurotechnology offers new insights into user experiences and facilitates the development of novel methods in HCI. Researchers will be able to create innovative interactive systems based on the ability to measure cognitive activity at scale in real-world settings. In this paper, we contribute a vision of how neurotechnology will transform HCI research and practice. We discuss how neurotechnology prompts a discussion about ethics, privacy, and trust. This trend highlights HCI’s crucial role in ensuring that neurotechnology is developed and utilised in ways that truly benefit people.

Interaction-free usage (IfU) will be one of the quantitatively dominant forms of computer use in the future. In qualitative terms, this form of use will cover a wide range of applications, also software that supports communication and cooperation. Digital twins for cooperation and communication will be employed by individual users to maintain a variety of social networking activities. Generative AI will play a decisive role in this development, autonomously identifying user needs, replacing the predominant form of use through prompting with question-and-answer dialogs. These dialogs will also be used to preconfigure systems for IfU phases. The counterpart to IfU, which will become ever less-frequent, is intervening interaction, when users intervene to explore and adjust the performance of AI-based systems in exceptional situations or to optimize them for future task handling.

Location-based games are a highly technology-dependent game genre that has witnessed an exponential increase in popularity with the democratisation of smartphones as well as ubiquitous mobile data and access to satellite navigation. Moving forward into the future, location-based games can be expected to evolve as the technologies underlying the genre improve. In this conceptual work, we review the current state of the art in location-based games, and identify key trajectories and trends. We discovered 12 trends, based on which we jump ten years into the future and evaluate how current technology trends may end up influencing location-based gaming. For example, we propose that in the year 2035 through improvements in map data services and sensor data coverage, we will see locative games that are increasingly connected to elements in the physical world. We also expect to see gameplay that moves away from solely taking place on a smartphone screen to the adoption of multiple forms of interactions with location-based game worlds, especially as head-mounted displays and other wearables become more commonplace.

This work introduces Augmented Total Theatre (ATT), a new theatrical form that combines Total Theatre with Augmented Reality (AR) to transform theatrical experiences. We first explore ATT features, highlighting its capabilities in creating theatrical representations that surpass traditional theatre. We also examine current technological limitations that hinder the deployment of ATT potential. We venture then into a journey into the future, particularly focusing on the next decade. We try to envisage the evolution of AR and assess whether future advancements will yield a form of AR capable of creating digital worlds that can deceive human senses. Additionally, we explore the role of Generative AI systems in addressing the problems that hold back the current ATT. Specifically, we probe the feasibility of a cost-effective, autonomous, and highly efficient generative AI system to reshape and empower ATT, making it capable of real-time production of (theatrical and non-theatrical) representations of many events in the world. Finally, we try to imagine the ATT of the future: a sophisticated device that integrates cutting-edge AR technology with a super-performing generative AI system. This ATT, transcending its theatrical origins, emerges as a powerful tool for augmenting our sensory experiences and enriching our perception of reality.

We are currently in a period of upheaval, as many new technologies are emerging that open up new possibilities to shape our everyday lives. Particularly, within the field of Personalized Human-Computer Interaction we observe high potential, but also challenges. In this article, we explore how an increasing amount of online services and tools not only further facilitates our lives, but also shapes our lives and how we perceive our environments. For this purpose, we adopt the metaphor of personalized ‘online layers’ and show how these layers are and will be interwoven with the lives that we live in the ‘human layer’ of the real world.

Accessibility research has matured over the last three decades and developed a better understanding of accessibility technologies, design and evaluation methods, systems and tools as well as empirical studies in accessibility. We envision how progress in new contexts over the next decade can be made to develop stronger links to other areas in Human-Centered Computing and address the research communities. A human-centered perspective on disability needs to develop from a medical model to a social model. New methods will utilize generative AI in design and development processes that address accessibility from the start of system design. We build on AI embedded into future design processes to address participation of small numbers of users better, and new technologies to allow for personalization of multi-modal interaction to improve verbal and non-verbal communication, making body-centric computing and natural interaction truly accessible.

Over the last 50 years education has been transformed by digital technologies. Many efforts have been made to create and apply “digital” teaching and learning methods, tools and platforms. The last 25 years of computer-based education can be characterized by the availability of digital information sources and the implementation and operation of digital learning management platforms based on the Internet. The question about further meaningful and effective progress in the next decades is openly discussed. Many expect strong influences and changes from artificial intelligence systems that generate contextualized information from various sources. Some see interactive virtual worlds expanding and partially replacing the physical world. Many believe in the further development of learning management and communication platforms. Others do not expect much valuable change at all due to the slow pace of complex educational systems with recent studies even showing a decline in the quality of educational outcomes during the last five years as a result of even too much digitalization in education. This paper discusses these positions with an emphasis on the roles of humans and computers and their interfaces, i.e. Human-Computer Interaction, for future learning and teaching with rapidly changing information technologies in the next 25 and 50 years.

The evolution of AI is set to profoundly reshape the future. The European Union, recognizing this impending prominence, has enacted the AI Act, regulating market access for AI-based systems. A salient feature of the Act is to guard democratic and humanistic values by focusing regulation on transparency, explainability, and the human ability to understand and control AI systems. Hereby, the EU AI Act does not merely specify technological requirements for AI systems. The EU issues a democratic call for human-centered AI systems and, in turn, an interdisciplinary research agenda for human-centered innovation in AI development. Without robust methods to assess AI systems and their effect on individuals and society, the EU AI Act may lead to repeating the mistakes of the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU and to rushed, chaotic, ad-hoc, and ambiguous implementation, causing more confusion than lending guidance. Moreover, determined research activities in Human-AI interaction will be pivotal for both regulatory compliance and the advancement of AI in a manner that is both ethical and effective. Such an approach will ensure that AI development aligns with human values and needs, fostering a technology landscape that is innovative, responsible, and an integral part of our society.

This paper explores the evolving landscape of User-Centric Artificial Intelligence, particularly in light of the challenges posed by systems that are powerful but not fully transparent or comprehensible to their users. Despite advances in AI, significant gaps remain in aligning system actions with user understanding, prompting a reevaluation of what “user-centric” really means. We argue that current XAI efforts are often too much focused on system developers rather than end users, and fail to address the comprehensibility of the explanations provided. Instead, we propose a broader, more dynamic conceptualization of human-AI interaction that emphasizes the need for AI not only to explain, but also to co-create and cognitively resonate with users. We examine the evolution of a communication-centric paradigm of human-AI interaction, underscoring the need for AI systems to enhance rather than mimic human interactions. We argue for a shift toward more meaningful and adaptive exchanges in which AI’s role is understood as facilitative rather than autonomous. Finally, we outline how future UCAI may leverage AI’s growing capabilities to foster a genuine co-evolution of human and machine intelligence, while ensuring that such interactions remain grounded in ethical and user-centered principles.

Human-computer interaction as a coordinating element between human and machine is used in many different ways. Due to their digital processes, countless industries are dependent on an effective intermeshing of humans and machines. This often involves preparatory work or sub-processes being carried out by machines, which humans initiate, take up, continue, finalise or check. Tasks are broken down into sub-steps and completed by humans or machines. Aggregated cooperation conceals the numerous challenges of hybrid cooperation in which communication and coordination must be mastered in favour of joint decision-making. However, research into human-computer interaction can also be thought of differently than a mere aggregation of humans and machines. We want to propose a nature-inspired possibility that has been successfully practising the complex challenges of joint decision-making as proof of successful communication and coordination for millions of years. Collective intelligence and the processes of self-organisation offer biomimetic concepts that can be used to rethink socio-technical systems as a symbiosis in the form of a human-computer organism. For example, the effects of self-organisation such as emergence could be used to exceed the result of an aggregation of humans and machines as a future social anthropology 4.0 many times over.

This article explores the theme of human-machine convergence as portrayed in modern science fiction movies and TV/streaming series and compares them to real-world advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR). It examines how science fiction often depicts humanoid robots and AI with human-like emotions and intentions, contrasting with the actual technological challenges and ethical considerations in developing intelligent machines. The text discusses the evolution of humanoid robots from fictional portrayals to real-life examples like Boston Dynamics’ Atlas and Tesla’s Optimus. The paper also explores the reverse interaction, where humans become avatars in virtual worlds, and briefly discusses the ethical implications of simulating deceased individuals in digital form. Through this examination, the paper emphasizes the complexity of human-machine convergence and the importance of considering social, ethical, and emotional aspects in technological progress. It concludes by suggesting that while science fiction provides insights into societal fears and hopes regarding technology and thus into ethical and regulative necessities, the real trajectory of human-machine convergence cannot be predicted through film but will be determined by ongoing and after all incidental developments in the real world.