Marjory S. Blumenthal
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
National Research Council
Marjory S. Blumenthal, Executive Director
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
National Research Council - HA 560
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20418
Phone: 202/334-2605
Fax: 202/334-2318
Email:
mblument@nas.edu
(
cstb@nas.edu
for general inquiries)
Adaptive Human Interfaces
universal; speech; agent; adaptive; flexible; user-centered; requirements; language; virtual reality; information infrastructure; iterative design; disability access; collaboration; evaluation
Improving interfaces to the national information infrastructure (NII) in ways that make the NII more usable to more people in more contexts requires progress on many fronts. CSTBs Every-Citizen Interface (ECI) project engaged the perspectives of multiple disciplines at several levels: the members of the responsible steering committee (see below), the participants in an August 1996 workshop, and other contributors (e.g., paper authors and report reviewers). The resulting report, More Than Screen Deep, describes the landscape of ECI challenges: the range of NII user needs, the range of relevant input and output technologies and their prospects, how people interact with computing and communications and implications for the design of usable and useful systems, and the range of intra-and interdisciplinary research that can help to realize the ECI promise.
As background, the report acknowledges that todays challenges and opportunities are predicated on success to date, which has broadened the market and experience base. The broader the possible user community--and the NII concept suggests universal coverage--the greater the need to accommodate different kinds of people operating under different kinds of constraints for different kinds of ends. People with different physical, cognitive, and economic capacities are obvious targets for improvements, and specific requirements are discussed in the report. Because a more pervasive NII means that anyone can face almost any kind of constraint depending on circumstances, the report emphasizes the broad value of a range of possible improvements: no single ECI is envisioned, rather multiple choices for multiple needs. Research to understand the needs and behavior of people can complement and inform technology research. The report emphasizes this linkage and discusses the benefits of iterative design and design that combines social and computer science perspectives. Ancillary considerations outside the scope of the report are noted, ranging from the many determinants of what is affordable (e.g., regulation) to those affecting what kinds of information, service, or activity available through the NII are useful and appealing to people.
The reports recommendations are intended to expand the set of available technologies, building not only toward better visual interfaces but also better interfaces that involve speech and other modes of communication, natural language processing, collaboration support, and agent technology. It acknowledges the controversies within the research community surrounding some of these areas and documents recent progress in them; it points to the need for research across a broad spectrum including theory, architecture, and a strong experimental thread. The recommendations begin with a call for new paradigms for human-machine interaction. The second recommendation area addresses opportunities relating to specific component subsystems, the value of modality- and medium-independence, and the need for studies of human and organizational behavior. The third recommendation area addresses the higher, integrated systems level (building from the technologies in the second recommendation area). It speaks to the emerging alternatives for people to engage with systems or with other people through systems for collaboration, problem solving, or more purely social interaction.
The ECI report, More Than Screen Deep, has been briefed to members of the Human-Centered Systems Working Group and to representatives of the Washington, DC-area computing and communications community. Its contents are organized to frame the problem of setting an appropriate research agenda, examine trends and issues (noting that so many areas are involved that it may be hard for people in one subdiscipline to be up to date in all), and present synthesis recommendations for research. Complementary position papers are appended that elaborate on the main report; additional position papers whose essential message is captured in the main report are published with the Web version.
This project owes its scope and intellectual integration to a cross-disciplinary steering committee:
Alan W. Biermann, Duke University, Chair
Tora Bikson, Rand Corporation
Thomas A. DeFanti, University of Illinois - Chicago
Gerhard Fischer, University of Colorado
Barbara J. Grosz, Harvard University
Thomas Landauer, University of Colorado
John Makhoul, BBN Corporation
Bruce Tognazzini, Healtheon Corporation
Gregg Vanderheiden, University of Wisconsin
Stephen Weinstein, NEC America Inc.
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board. 1997. More Than Screen Deep: Toward Every-Citizen Interfaces to the Nations Information Infrastructure. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. (in press; includes extensive bibliography)
The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board's charter is a broad one: to ensure that the United States makes every effort to develop and use the major national resources represented in computer science, computer technology, and telecommunications. CSTB considers technical and policy issues pertaining to computer science, telecommunications, and associated technologies. The functions of the Board include: Monitor and promote the health of the computer science, computing technology, and telecommunications fields, including attention as appropriate to the issues of human resources and information infrastructure; Initiate studies involving computer science, computing technology, and telecommunications as critical resources and sources of national economic strength; Respond to requests from the government, non-profit organizations, and private industry for expert input on computer science, computing technology, and telecommunications issues; and to requests from the government for expert input on computer and telecommunications systems planning, utilization, and modernization.
CSTB actively disseminates the results of its completed projects to those in a position to help implement their recommendations or otherwise use their insights. It provides a forum for the exchange of information on computer science, computing technology, and telecommunications.
It has published reports on the development and use of information infrastructure, the nature and evolution of a wide range of application areas for computing and communications (e.g., scientific and engineering research, service industries and activities, manufacturing industries and activities, telecommuting and distributed work), and directions for computer science and engineering research.
Usability and User-Centered Design
Intelligent Interactive Systems for Persons with Disabilities
Speech and Natural Language Understanding
Other Communications Modalities
Virtual Environments
Building on CSTBs broad agenda, potential projects could include:
1) Exploring the usability aspects of information technology support for crisis management, which would draw on all of the program areas. See CSTBs Computing and Communications in the Extreme.
2) Exploring design and usability aspects to support applications in health care delivery, which address the full range of people and a combination of extreme and routine circumstances. See CSTBs For the Record: Protecting Electronic Health Information.
3) Exploring the intersection of usability and nomadicity to further illuminate common problems and objectives (e.g., re adaptability) that may increase the appeal and utility of new technologies.
4) Exploring the cost-performance tradeoffs and other elements of the overall costs of enhancing interface and other usability technologies to determine how to promote better (incuding iterative) design and evaluation.
5) Cross-disciplinary assessment of virtual environments in various contexts. The popularization of avatars, virtual-reality elements in games, and so on herald a broadening of applications for virtual environments, assuming the availability of suitable technology at affordable costs. Expanding consideration of the social and economic aspects in conjunction with the technical would provide timely input into the further development and ultimate commercialization of relevant technologies.
Address questions/comments to cstb@nas.edu
Last Updated on 03/13/97