The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into

the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.

Mark Weiser, 1991

At the moment, we interface with computers usually by using a mouse and a keyboard – unnatural ways of interacting with the world.

Personal Computers do not “disappear into the fabric of everyday life”, they shape it!

Using the Wii remote & nunchuk, you use “real” body movement to control the games.

This new interface has made the Wii one of the most successful games consoles in history.

The iPhone is another example of a leap ahead in interface design.

Using only a finger to touch the screen, and by tilting the iPhone, you can browse the web, play games and make phone calls.

Talk in your group about why we are still using a mouse and keyboard with a PC.

Think about how we use PCs compared to the iPhone/Wii, and any other concerns you think a school would have.

Watch the video from Minority Report (2002), making notes about how Tom Cruise’s character controlled the system he was using.

Think about what hardware you saw, and how he used it.

Some designers are creating concept ideas such as this “window” that overlays relevant information you want on top of the object, person or place you are looking at.

Now I’d like to see your ideas for exciting, useful, innovative ideas for new technology that can be used to interface with the world.

The rules: You are creating something with at least the

same uses as a PC - not a car, fridge or jet pack. Remember that it is information technology!

You aren’t bound by “we can’t do that”, but your concept should be within the realms of possibility.

You will deliver a presentation in your groups, using the skills you have learnt in our lessons so far. You will be using: Microsoft Word for any promotional posters. Microsoft PowerPoint for your presentation. Any promotional materials (adverts, flyers, etc)

can be created using any of the Adobe CS programs.

Your designs can be hand drawn, or created using graphics software on the computer. They should be as detailed as possible.