CAREER: Human-Computer Integration: Designing the Next Interface Paradigm

在计算的早期，用户和设备相距很远，通常位于不同的房间。然后个人电脑“进入”了用户的生活，最终移动设备将计算搬进了用户的口袋。最近，可穿戴设备将计算与用户的皮肤进行持续的物理接触，这使得这些设备能够更多地感知用户，并以更个性化的方式行事。推动这个项目的主要问题是：取代可穿戴设备的下一个界面范式是什么？为了研究下一代人机交互，这项研究将创造新的设备，刺激广泛的身体感官，如嗅觉、温度和皮肤感觉，为我们未来将用于相互交流和数据交流的技术工程提供信息。虽然有人认为下一步将是将接口植入我们的身体，就像已经在心脏起搏器和胰岛素泵上做的那样，但这个项目的重点是如何将新设备与用户的生物感官和执行器集成在一起。这种身体-设备集成方法将允许交互设备的工程设计，有意地“借用”身体的某些部分进行输入和输出，而不是在身体上添加更多的技术（例如，基于电肌肉刺激的交互系统，能够使用计算机控制的电脉冲移动用户的肌肉，从而实现触觉设备的功能，如外骨骼，而不需要笨重的马达）。特别是，这项工作将开发用于嗅觉、温度和触觉的新硬件，并将测试在可访问性（为嗅觉受损的个人）和技能获取方面的应用。这项工作将利用与神经科学的合作，通过创造更现实和自然的互动，确保项目成果最终产生广泛的影响，这对虚拟和增强现实的成功尤其重要。为此，必须解决三类挑战。(1)硬件层：输出到人体的设备将需要比可穿戴设备更小的新型执行器，该项目将通过分别利用用户的感官和执行器进行输入和输出来实现这一点。(2)用户层：影响用户生物学的设备提供了好处（例如，它们可以加速用户的反应时间），但也减少了用户的代理感，因此该项目将开发交互技术，优先考虑用户的代理感，同时保留使用交互设备的好处。(3)应用层：任何新的接口范例要想成功，都需要确定它在哪些应用领域表现良好，以及为什么表现良好。将特别注意调查新技术对无障碍的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In the early days of computing user and device were distant, often located in separate rooms. Then personal computers "moved in" with users, and eventually mobile devices moved computing into users' pockets. More recently, wearable devices have brought computing into constant physical contact with the user's skin, which allows these devices to sense more of the user and act in a more personal manner. The main question that drives this project is: what is the next interface paradigm that supersedes wearable devices? To study the next generation of human-computer interaction, this research will create new devices that stimulate a wide range of bodily senses, such as smell, temperature, and skin sensations, to inform the engineering of the technology we will use in the future to communicate with each other and with data. While some posit that the next step will be to implant the interface within our bodies, much like what is already being done with pacemakers and insulin pumps, this project instead focuses on how new devices will integrate with the user's biological senses and actuators. This body-device integration approach will allow the engineering of interactive devices that intentionally "borrow" parts of the body for input and output, rather than adding more technology to the body (for example, interactive systems based on electrical muscle stimulation that are able to move the user's muscles using computer-controlled electrical impulses and thereby to achieve the functionality of haptic devices such as exoskeletons without the bulky motors). In particular, the work will develop new hardware for the senses of smell, temperature and touch, and will test applications in accessibility (for smell-impaired individuals) and skill-acquisition. The work will leverage collaborations with neuroscience to ensure that project outcomes ultimately have broad impact by enabling the creation of more realistic and natural interactions, which are especially important for the success of virtual and augmented reality.To these ends, three classes of challenges must be tackled. (1) Hardware layer: devices that output to the body will require new types of actuators smaller than those found in wearables, and the project will realize this by leveraging the user's senses and actuators, respectively, for input and output. (2) User layer: devices that influence the user's biology provide benefits (for instance, they can accelerate the user's reaction time) but also reduce the user's sense of agency, so the project will develop interaction techniques that prioritize the user's sense of agency while retaining the benefits of using the interactive device. (3) Application layer: for any new interface paradigm to succeed requires determining in which application areas it performs well and why. Special attention will be paid to investigating the effects of the new technology on accessibility.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.