The Future of Interaction Design

I found this interesting website; 
http://worrydream.com/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign/




It is written by a man who was once involved in the design and testing of interfaces for the future. 

He used these 2 diagrams and states that good tools converts what we can do into what we want to do. 

The writer says that human needs and technology are two very throughly explored concepts. But what is lacking attention is human capabilities. The design visions of the future with glass interfaces thin as paper and applied to everything rely primarily and often singularly on tapping and swiping of fingers. 

Hands are capable of doing two main things;
1. Feel 
2. Manipulate

The pictures he used (below) are very effective ways in showing how natural human movement have been transferred to a glass interface. However, the purpose of these pictures for the writer, was to suggest that the sliding finger often used on touch screen devices, is a very unnatural thing for a human to do, and is rarely used in any real situation (these 2 images show the only situations he could think of). But I think the images he chose were quite compelling in convincing of it actually being a "natural movement". It appears to be an instinctive kind of action. Even though the particular movement is not necessarily encouraged or supposed to be done, it seems to be something that people can't help themselves from doing. In both situations, it is a natural and intuitive thing to do. 

The author does have a very interesting side of an argument, where he encourages readers to challenge the future of touch glass interfaces. As the future of this ignores human capabilities and the two things that hands are made to do. There are other possibilities into the future that involve more interactive and communicative forms and technology. 

he finishes his "rant" with; 

"The next time you make breakfast, pay attention to the exquisitely intricate choreography of opening cupboards and pouring the milk — notice how your limbs move in space, how effortlessly you use your weight and balance. The only reason your mind doesn't explode every morning from the sheer awesomeness of your balletic achievement is that everyone else in the world can do this as well.

With an entire body at your command, do you seriously think the Future Of Interaction should be a single finger?"