Natural human-computer interaction applied on desktop applications using multimodal input devices.

Abstract

Human-Computer Interaction as a term that exists from the early 80s. It is an evolutional term which has its root from the term Man-Machine Interaction. Man-Machine Interaction as an idea came out of studies in the 1940s. Researchers from that period tried to understand how human interacts with any kind of machine and they wanted to realize how this interaction could be better and more efficient from the user experience perspective. A lot of years have passed since the user was interacting with computers through difficult and not user-friendly interfaces like a command console for example. Today HCI is accomplished by as simple and user friendly interfaces as possible. User is in the center of this process and combination of knowledge in computer science, behavioral sciences, design, media studies, and several other fields is considered in order to make HCI a better user experience. If we take a look at today’s HCI we can say that the way that human interacts with computer has become more natural. Computer is treated like a human and the means of interaction are more physical (speech, gestures or touch). This thesis will be a proof of concept to claim that it is actually feasible to create an interface through which the user can interact with computer by a more natural and multimodal way. The implementation part will be a game that the user will interact with though natural means. This game will be an open source project which will be adapted in the terms of Natural HCI and multimodality. The way in which this will be accomplished is through the use of multimodal input devices. The first MID that will be used is the Microsoft Kinect and the second is the Leap. These two devices will be the main controllers of the game. Of course each of these devices will be analyzed how they work and it will be a guide of how they can be configured for further usage. Finally the purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how HCI is changed through years and how is being experienced today through an open source game. Machines plays a key role in human’s life so it is very important for all of us to understand how humans interact with them in order to make our lives more easy and delectable. This thesis is a serious effort to accomplish this goal.

Η αλληλεπίδραση ανθρώπου - υπολογιστή είναι ένας όρος που υπάρχει από τη δεκαετία του 80. Αυτή η διπλωματική είναι μία απόδειξη της συλλογιστικής ότι είναι εφικτό η δημιουργία μιας διεπαφής μέσω της οποίας ο άνθρωπος θα μπορεί να αλληλεπιδρά με φυσικό τρόπο απέναντι στον υπολογιστή. Τέλος είναι μία απόδειξη ότι η αλληλεπίδραση ανθρώπου υπολογιστή έχει αλλάξει τα τελευταία χρόνια με σκοπό την ευχρηστία και την καλύτερη εμπειρία του χρήστη. Η απόδειξη των παραπάνω συλλογισμών είναι ο στόχος αυτής της διπλωματικής, μέσω της θεωρητικής ανάλυσης και της ανάπτυξης μιας εφαρμογής που στηρίζεται σε αυτή.