perconnectivity also has the power to mobilize us, as citizens and members of global communities; we are now in touch in more ways, and with more people, than ever. What these changes mean, how one designs for them, and how one judges value within the myriad forms of being in touch are all substantive issues for HCI.

Fourth, our heightened ability to be in touch is equalled by a passion to capture more and more information about people’s lives and actions— information that hitherto would have been discarded or forgotten. This trend is reflecting as well as driving the massive gains in computer networks’ capacity. What it means to record, why we record, and what we do with the collected material is changing hand-in-hand with the systems we use to capture, manage, share, and archive these burgeoning stores of personal data. Each of us is developing an ever-increasing “digital footprint”— sometimes in ways we desire, sometimes not, and often in ways we know little about—not only on a personal level but also within the databases of government agencies and other public, as well as private, institutions. We call this transformation the end of the ephemeral.

Finally, the proliferation of new kinds of digital tools (exemplified by Web 2.0) and their appropriation by people from all walks of life are enabling us to work, play, and express

ourselves in new ways. Computers were once limited to the automation and mechanization of routine aspects of work or problem-solving. Now, more than ever, they are also instruments for creativity. This trend is manifested not only in the explosion of computer tools for play and self-expression; it also propels more “serious” pursuits. For example, computational tools are enabling advances in the world of science and medicine as they assist researchers in discerning, analyzing, and solving problems. This fifth transformation—the growth of creative engagement—underscores the fact that flexible computer tools, which can be assembled and appropriated in new ways, allows us to see the world in wholly new ways too. Computer-enabled creativity means we can all become our own producers, programmers, and publishers, whether in our personal or professional lives, with potentially far-reaching consequences.

 

new Questions for a future-Looking hci The five transformations are provoking questions that HCI has not had to address before, as they concern issues that simply did not arise in a world where using a computer essentially meant a person sitting in front of a desktop machine doing email, writing a document, or working on a spread-sheet. Because our relationship with computing is now far more extensive

and complex, these new questions deal with how we design for the emerging interaction paradigms.

For example, the end of interface stability raises questions such as:

˲ What interaction techniques are appropriate if devices embedded within us have no explicit or recognizable “interface?”

˲Should new interaction techniques build on the skills we have already acquired for dealing with far less complicated systems? And if so, how?

˲ How do we enable people to understand the complexity of new ecosystems of technologies, and the results of interacting with them, so as to proceed most effectively?

Our growing dependency on computing provokes a different set of questions, including:

˲ How do we design computer systems to help people cope when infrastructures break down or when devices malfunction or are lost?

˲ What will be the taken-for-granted technologies of the future and how might they alter the skill sets of the people for whom we must design?

˲With computers becoming increasingly autonomous, seemingly able to make their own decisions, what will be an appropriate style of human-computer interaction?

The end of the ephemeral leads us to consider what is being recorded, stored, and analyzed regarding our beliefs, preferences, and everyday

Questions of Broader Impact

Computers will soon be able to monitor the bodily functions of people without requiring their awareness or necessarily seeking their permission.

Who should have the right to access and control information from embedded devices? it is obvious that such devices will alter the knowledge that medical professionals will have of a patient’s body, but less obvious is how this will alter their perception of the sanctity of the body. Similarly, the output of such devices will alter the conception that people have of themselves, but in what ways and to what end?

An increasingly complex set of computing devices will

pervade our homes.

Who is responsible for preventing breakdowns, fixing problems, and ensuring protection from unplanned and undesirable consequences? Users or householders will need to be accountable to some extent, but in other cases it may need to be the service provider or government. in addition, the identity of the user can be difficult to ascertain when venturing beyond the work setting. at home, are children to be held responsible for the consequences of their interactions with technology? or does responsibility rest on a child’s parents or legal custodians?

New technologies will

continue to shift the balance of labor between people and machines in ways that will change our skills, strengthening some and atrophying others.

the increased burdens taken on by machines may come at a cost, in terms of human skills, that is not so easy to see or understand. how do we examine and judge what is the best balance? human factors engineers sought to answer this question for the workplace, but what about social systems or households, for example? how does one analyze the relationship between loss of engagement in one area and the opening up of opportunities elsewhere if the activities involved

have to do with play rather than work, expressiveness rather than calculation, desire rather than labor?

Digital footprints are expanding in ways that we understand and are visible but also in ways that we don’t comprehend or see.

as an example, we place tagged photos of ourselves on photo-sharing sites only to find images of ourselves already there. Should we have the right to remove such pictures? What about other kinds of stored information about ourselves? Do we want to have a copyright on our own digital footprints? if this applies to the digital world, what does it imply for the physical world?