Humanity at Heart: Looking at Our Relationship With Computers in the World of 2020

In 2007 Microsoft Research gathered together human-computer interaction (HCI) experts in Seville, Spain. The HCI 2020 forum set about debating the question "What will HCI look like in the year 2020?" and formulating an agenda for the next decade and beyond.

This event resulted in a new report that provides us with a tantalizing view of the world we might expect to see by 2020. Published on 2 April 2008, "Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020" explores the potential positive and negative impacts of new technologies on our behaviour and environments.

EMEA Press Centre talks to one of the report's editors, Richard Harper, on how we can set the human experience at the heart of progress and ensure that the computer's increasing influence in society is a positive one.

EPC: What is human-computer interaction?

Richard Harper: Human-computer interaction refers to the understanding and designing of different relationships between people and computers. Basically HCI is concerned with how people use and interact with technology — developing, designing and evaluating ways to ensure that technologies are easy to learn and use.

EPC: What are the technologies that will change our lives by 2020?

Harper: Today we usually know when we're using a computer because it sits in a box with a keyboard and mouse in front of it and a screen sitting on the top. But advances now and in the near future mean that the way we interact with them will change. We will be able to talk to computers in a more sophisticated way, manipulate screens through our movements, and utilise computers embedded in all kinds of fabrics including our clothes and in paper. This has already started to happen in the way of smart phones and other devices, but computers will stop looking like computers and we'll no longer have to sit at a desk to use one.

Computers will become ever better at understanding and taking decisions based on the world around them, and by 2020 we may be able to interrogate machines and they, in turn, will be able to anticipate what we want from them. Robots are already familiar to us, both as toys and as tools used in activities too dangerous or repetitive for humans, but this technology will expand the ways in which we can use them.

In addition, most people now have access to vast amounts of digital storage at very low cost. This has rapidly changed our behaviour as we take thousands of digital photos, blog, podcast and even release our own films. Technology is now allowing us to manipulate software and produce content in ways that were once the preserve of specialised developers and producers. We can now record and store much more of ourselves, and our ability to connect to each other, from almost anywhere in the world, means we are sharing much more of ourselves too.

EPC: This sounds like an exciting future; what has prompted you to redefine HCI?

Harper: We need to pause and reflect on emerging technology, and Microsoft has taken the opportunity to gather together leading thinkers to debate and discuss the impacts these and many other potential changes might bring. This technology is exciting, but it will only have a positive influence if we understand the impact it may have.

As computers become less recognisable, more intimate (carried on and possibly within our bodies) and yet increasingly omnipresent (spreading into our physical environment) we need to consider some critical questions:

• With the ability for personal and environmental computers to network, how do we ensure our most intimate information is not disseminated broadly and unwelcome mass information not channelled directly to us?
• Without the necessity for a desk or even an office how can we protect the line between our personal and professional lives?
• As computers take on more and more of our tasks, what skills will we lose, and how can we be sure that they are working properly?
• How do we know extensive information held about us is appropriate and protected?
• How do we avoid a world composed of digital haves and digital have-nots?

Without proper consideration and control it is possible that we — both individually and collectively — may no longer be in control of ourselves or the world around us. This potentially places the computer on a collision course with basic human values and concepts such as personal space, society, identity, independence, perception, intelligence and privacy. These are questions HCI needs to consider now and form part of the impetus behind this report.

Q: How are the HCI 2020 conference and "Being Human" report helping the HCI community address these questions?

Harper: The conference brought together some deep thinkers, including experts from Sony, Philips and Google; leading academic institutions in Europe, North America, Japan; and people from outside of computer science: management scientists, psychologists, sociologists and philosophers of science.

We wanted to stimulate thought and opinions on how we can recognise the importance of injecting human values in a digital age. By collating their opinions, we wanted the report, "Being Human," to act as an anchor for a new, invigorated discipline for the next ten years.

Q: So how will HCI ensure that we see the positives of technology, not the negatives?

Harper: As we approach 2020, HCI must evolve from simply designing better computer systems to ensuring that human values, morals and ethics form part of the basic brief. We're advocating a three-pronged approach.

First we are proposing a new stage of conceptual analysis into our HCI research model that builds in widespread understanding of human values. This is a complex undertaking as human values can change from culture to culture and even contradict each other.

Second, in recognising the complexity of embedding human values in design, HCI will need to invite other disciplines to marshal appropriate expertise. This might include fields as diverse as psychology, the arts, sociology and anthropology.

Third, HCI will need to work towards the creation of a common vocabulary made up of new metaphors, concepts and principles. This will help the many stakeholders involved with HCI to understand each other better, to talk about the emerging issues, and to explore how to steer them in more "human" directions.

In addition, we have made seven detailed recommendations that will truly embed the "human" at the heart of a new approach to HCI. From a personal perspective, I believe that the last of these encapsulates what we are ultimately trying to achieve: "By 2020, HCI will need to be able to design for and support differences in human value, irrespective of the economic means of those seeking those values." In this way, the future can be different and diverse because people want it to be.

EPC: Should we be optimistic about the world of 2020?

Harper: Certainly. Technology will transform the way we live and bring huge benefits to billions of people around the world. I'm optimistic because we are fortunate enough to be able to assemble minds to help alert other parts of society, including governments, businesses and individuals to address these issues. We haven't lost control of technology but are aware that we need to hold tightly onto the reins.