ABSTRACT
During the last 10 years, the Internet’s growth and the decreasing cost of hardware and software has enabled a wider range of people to use and own personal computers and computercontrolled devices. Well and less well-educated, young and old, males and females, and people who are physically challenged in various ways now have access to computers at home, at work, and in public places. This need to cater for a broad range of users, coupled with the low cost of processing power, has encouraged designers to create a wide spectrum of products for a huge range of tasks. In turn, these trends have led to the development of a variety of interaction styles. For example, there are hand-held devices that users interact with via touchscreens, a stylus, keys or buttons, or that have to be directed at sensors, or that respond to sound or voice input. It is also becoming increasing common for sensors linked to computing devices to be embedded in clothing (i.e., wearables) or placed in human bodies to help monitor and control vital organs. We are seeing the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of the 1990s with WIMPstyle interaction (i.e., windows, icons, menus, and pointing) being supplemented with a greater range of multimodal forms of interaction.
