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Here is a link to an online project developing simulations of the computer in the original Star Trek TV series.

Here is an image from the Rand Corporation of a vision of the future of home computing.

Here is an excerpt from a book called Earth (1990) by the author David Brin that describes the use of sensors attached to the head and throat to input thoughts to a computer:

She took a
subvocal input device from its rack and placed the attached sensors on
her throat, jaw, and temples. A faint glitter in the display screens
meant the machine was already tracking her eyes, noting by curvature of
lens and angle of pupil the exact spot on which she focused at any
moment.

She didn’t have to speak aloud, only intend
to. The subvocal read nerve signals, letting her enter words by just
beginning to will them. It was much faster than any normal speech input
device… and more cantankerous as well. Jen adjusted the sensitivity
level so it wouldn’t pick up each tiny tremor – a growing problem as
her once athletic body turned wiry and inexact with age. Still, she
vowed to hold onto this rare skill as long as possible.

Here is an excerpt from a book by  John Varley called Steel Beach (1984) that describes computer input using direct brain connection.

Looking
around me, I saw that all my colleagues were busy at the same task.
Eyes were rolled up, mouths hung open, here and there a finger
twitched. It had to be either a day trip from the Catatonic Academy, or
the modern press at work.

Okay, so I lied about the open mouths. Not all D.I. Users look like retarded zombies when they interface…

Here is a real world devlopment of similar technology being developed by the Laboratory of Computational Engineering. So far this looks very primordial but none-the-less an interesting concept.

There are a number of companies selling alternative keyboard designs and input devices for computer interaction. The main focus of these devices tends to be targeting users with physical and or cognitive disabilities or people who have or want to avoid getting upper limb disorder AKA RSI.

There is a lot of research published into better ergonomic design of keyboards. There is not a lot of research into alternatives to the keyboard. Computer voice recognition as a method of inputting data is an interesting concept but is not generally popular with users. An interesting point in one research paper suggests that it can be used effectively as a method of reviewing or editing typed texts.

It has been mentioned to me that the use of a mechanical device between the computer and the user (the keyboard), allows time to think about what is being written before it appears on the page. This is an interesting thought but during normal conversation there is no intermediary.

There seems to be little research into alternatives to the ‘bog-standard’ keyboard as a method of inputting data into a computer even though there are a number of websites that reflect on the use of the QWERTY keyboard in terms of its historical background i.e. developed to slow typists down.

I was thinking this morning that keyboarding is actually counter intuitive as a method of communication. When humans speak, think or read they don’t  do so one letter at a time. The keyboard is in may respects a barrier to composition as it causes the writer to think about a mechanical process before setting the words down. Its probable that this leads to some communication problems in written texts.

Using a pen or pencil i.e. a stylus type device seems much more natural in terms of the flow of thoughts. There does seem to be a  lack of imagination when it comes to designing a replacement for the computer keyboard. I’ll look at some science fiction films and see what the future holds…

My initial idea for an area to inviestigate is computer input devices including keypads, mouses, touchscreens, pen input devices, trackballs etc. etc. It struck me the other day that there is nothing innovative about the computer keyboard. Where the desktop PC has been developed incrementally over the past twenty years but input devices are fundamentally the same.

What is wrong with the keyboard? Well, it is a device that has been copied from the typewriter, itself a machine that was invented about 150 years ago. The key layout is the same as some early mechanical typeriters. The original QWERTY layout was designed to slow typists down but by the time the technology had improved the keyboard layout had been adopted by those trained and in training as typists.

So, we have PC’s that have increased and are increasing in speed year on year and a keyboard designed to slow input down.

Over the past few years there have been some alternative designs but none have been particularly successful in terms of wide adoption by the general user. There have also been some developments in terms of designing keyboards for people with limited use of hands or upper limbs and other  disabilities.

I would like to investigate the range of input devices and see if it is possible to make a paradigm change in the way that data is input to a computer.

Project ideas 

• Electronic glove map
• Electronic fibre knitted clothing
• Packaging
      
• Bag for supermarket
• Reusable match
• Electronic paper products
• Newspaper waste and recycling
• Bags
• Tin can lid design