BERKSHIRE PUBLISHING GROUP

Berkshire
Encyclopedia of

HumanComputer
Interaction When science fiction
becomes science fact

William Sims Bainbridge

Edited by
National Science Foundation
Berkshire Encyclopedia of
Human-Computer
Interaction
Berkshire Encyclopedia of
Human-Computer
Interaction
VOLUME 1
William Sims Bainbridge
Editor

Great Barrington, Massachusetts U.S.A.

www.berkshirepublishing.com
Copyright 2004 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval sys-
tem, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover photo: Thad Starner sporting a wearable computer.

Photo courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology.
Cover background image: Courtesy of Getty Images.

For information:
Berkshire Publishing Group LLC
314 Main Street
Great Barrington, Massachusetts 01230
www.berkshirepublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publishing Data

Berkshire encyclopedia of human-computer interaction / William Sims Bainbridge, editor.
p. cm.
A Berkshire reference work.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-9743091-2-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Human-computer interaction--Encyclopedias. I. Bainbridge, William Sims. II. Title.

QA76.9.H85B46 2004
004'.01'9--dc22
2004017920
 BERKSHIRE PUBLISHING STAFF
Project Director
Karen Christensen

Project Coordinators
Courtney Linehan and George Woodward

Associate Editor
Marcy Ross

Copyeditors
Francesca Forrest, Mike Nichols, Carol Parikh, and Daniel Spinella

Information Management and Programming

Deborah Dillon and Trevor Young

Editorial Assistance
Emily Colangelo

Designer
Monica Cleveland

Production Coordinator
Janet Lowry

Composition Artists
Steve Tiano, Brad Walrod, and Linda Weidemann

Composition Assistance
Pam Glaven

Proofreaders
Mary Bagg, Sheila Bodell, Eileen Clawson, and Cassie Lynch

Production Consultant
Jeff Potter

Indexer
Peggy Holloway
 CONTENTS

List of Entries, ix
Readers Guide, xv
List of Sidebars, xix
Contributors, xxiii
Introduction, xxxiii
Publishers Note, xli
About the Editor, xliii

Entries
Volume I: AL
1440
Vol II: MW
441826
Appendix 1: Glossary, 827
Appendix 2: Master Bibliography of Human-Computer Interaction, 831
HCI in Popular Culture, 893
Index, 931

Index repeated in this volume, I-1

vii
 LIST OF ENTRIES

Adaptive Help Systems Animation Artificial Intelligence

Peter Brusilovsky Abdennour El Rhalibi Robert A. St. Amant
Yuanyuan Shen
Adaptive Interfaces Asian Script Input
Alfred Kobsa Anthropology and HCI William Sims Bainbridge
Allen W. Batteau Erika Bainbridge
Affective Computing
Ira Cohen Anthropometry Atanasoff-Berry Computer
Thomas S. Huang Victor L. Paquet John Gustafson
Lawrence S. Chen David Feathers
Attentive User Interface
Altair Application Use Strategies Ted Selker
William Sims Bainbridge Suresh K. Bhavnani
Augmented Cognition
Alto Arpanet Amy Kruse
William Sims Bainbridge Amy Kruse Dylan Schmorrow
Dylan Schmorrow
Allen J. Sears

ix
X BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Augmented Reality Compilers Digital Divide

Rajeev Sharma Woojin Paik Linda A. Jackson
Kuntal Sengupta
Computer-Supported Digital Government
Avatars Cooperative Work Jane E. Fountain
Jeremy Bailenson John M. Carroll Robin A. McKinnon
James J. Blascovich Mary Beth Rosson
Digital Libraries
Beta Testing Constraint Satisfaction Jose-Marie Griffiths
Gina Neff Berthe Y. Choueiry
Drawing and Design
Braille Converging Technologies Mark D. Gross
Oleg Tretiakoff William Sims Bainbridge
E-business
Brain-Computer Interfaces Cybercommunities Norhayati Zakaria
Melody M. Moore Lori Kendall
Adriane D. Davis Education in HCI
Brendan Z. Allison Cybersex Jan Stage
David L. Delmonico
Browsers Elizabeth Griffin Electronic Journals
Andy Cockburn Carol Tenopir
Cyborgs
Cathode Ray Tubes William Sims Bainbridge Electronic Paper Technology
Gregory P. Crawford Gregory P. Crawford
Data Mining
CAVE Mohammad Zaki Eliza
Thomas DeFanti William H. Sterner
Dan Sandin Data Visualization
Kwan-Liu Ma E-mail
Chatrooms Nathan Bos
Amanda B. Lenhart Deep Blue
Murray Campbell Embedded Systems
Children and the Web Ronald D. Williams
Dania Bilal Denial-of-Service Attack
Adrian Perrig ENIAC
Classrooms Abraham Yaar William Sims Bainbridge
Chris Quintana
Desktop Metaphor Ergonomics
Client-Server Architecture Jee-In Kim Ann M. Bisantz
Mark Laff
Dialog Systems Errors in Interactive Behavior
Cognitive Walkthrough Susan W. McRoy Wayne D. Gray
Marilyn Hughes Blackmon
Digital Cash Ethics
Collaboratories J. D. Tygar Helen Nissenbaum
Gary M. Olson
 LIST OF ENTRIES XI

Ethnography Handwriting Recognition and Information Theory

David Hakken Retrieval Ronald R. Kline
R. Manmatha
Evolutionary Engineering V. Govindaraju Instruction Manuals
William Sims Bainbridge David K. Farkas
Haptics
Expert Systems Ralph L. Hollis InternetWorldwide Diffusion
Jay E. Aronson Barry Wellman
History of Human-Computer Phuoc Tran
Eye Tracking Interaction Wenhong Chen
Andrew T. Duchowski Jonathan Grudin
Internet in Everyday Life
Facial Expressions Hollerith Card Barry Wellman
Irfan Essa William Sims Bainbridge Bernie Hogan

Fly-by-Wire Human-Robot Interaction Iterative Design

C. M. Krishna Erika Rogers Richard Baskerville
Jan Stage
Fonts Hypertext and Hypermedia
Thomas Detrie David K. Farkas Keyboard
Arnold Holland Alan Hedge
Icons
Games Stephanie Ludi Language Generation
Abdennour El Rhalibi Regina Barzilay
Identity Authentication
Gender and Computing Ashutosh P. Deshpande Laser Printer
Linda A. Jackson Parag Sewalkar Gary Starkweather

Geographic Information Systems Impacts Law and HCI

Michael F. Goodchild Chuck Huff Sonia E. Miller

Gesture Recognition Information Filtering Law Enforcement

Francis Quek Luz M. Quiroga Roslin V. Hauck
Martha E. Crosby
Graphical User Interface Lexicon Building
David England Information Organization Charles J. Fillmore
Dagobert Soergel
Grid Computing Liquid Crystal Displays
Cavinda T. Caldera Information Overload Gregory P. Crawford
Ruth Guthrie
Groupware Literary Representations
Timothy J. Hickey Information Retrieval William Sims Bainbridge
Alexander C. Feinman Dagobert Soergel
Machine Translation
Hackers Information Spaces Katrin Kirchhoff
Douglas Thomas Fionn Murtagh
XII BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Markup Languages
Hong-Gee Kim
Mobile Computing
Dharma P. Agrawal
Mosaic
William Sims Bainbridge
Motion Capture and Recognition
Jezekiel Ben-Arie
Mouse
Shumin Zhai
Movies
William Sims Bainbridge
MUDs
Richard Allan Bartle
Multiagent systems
Gal A. Kaminka
Multimodal Interfaces
Rajeev Sharma
Sanshzar Kettebekov
Guoray Cai
Multiuser Interfaces
Prasun Dewan
Musical Interaction
Christopher S. Raphael
Judy A. Franklin
Natural-Language Processing
James H. Martin
Navigation
John J. Rieser
N-grams
James H. Martin
Olfactory Interaction
Ricardo Gutierrez-Osuna
Online Education
Robert S. Stephenson
Glenn Collyer
Online Questionnaires
James Witte
Roy Pargas
Online Voting
R. Michael Alvarez
Thad E. Hall
Ontology
Christopher A. Welty
Open Source Software
Gregory R. Madey
Optical Character Recognition
V. Govindaraju
Swapnil Khedekar
Peer-to-Peer Architecture
Julita Vassileva
Pen and Stylus Input
Alan Hedge
Personality Capture
William Sims Bainbridge
Physiology
Jennifer Allanson
Planning
Sven Koenig
Michail G. Lagoudakis
Pocket Computer
William Sims Bainbridge
Political Science and HCI
James N. Danziger
Michael J. Jensen
Privacy
Jeffrey M. Stanton
Programming Languages
David MacQueen
Prototyping
Richard Baskerville
Jan Stage
Psychology and HCI
Judith S. Olson
Recommender and Reputation
Systems
Cliff Lampe
Paul Resnick
Repetitive Strain Injury
Jack Tigh Dennerlein
Scenario-Based Design
John M. Carroll
Search and Rescue
Howie Choset
Search Engines
Shannon Bradshaw
Security
Bhavani Thuraisingham
Semantic Web
Bhavani Thuraisingham
Smart Homes
Diane J. Cook
Michael Youngblood
Sociable Media
Judith Donath
Social Informatics
Howard Rosenbaum
Social Proxies
Thomas Erickson
Wendy A. Kellogg
 LIST OF ENTRIES XIII

Social Psychology and HCI Task Analysis Jenny Preece

Susan R. Fussell Erik Hollnagel Diane Maloney-Krichmar

Sociology and HCI Telecommuting Value Sensitive Design

William Sims Bainbridge Ralph David Westfall Batya Friedman

Socio-Technical System Design Telepresence Video

Walt Scacchi John V. Draper Immanuel Freedman

Software Cultures Text Summarization Video Summarization

Vaclav Rajlich Judith L. Klavans A. Murat Tekalp

Software Engineering Theory Virtual Reality

Richard Kazman Jon May Larry F. Hodges
Benjamin C. Lok
Sonification Three-Dimensional Graphics
David M. Lane Benjamin C. Lok Viruses
Aniko Sandor J. D. Tygar
S. Camille Peres Three-Dimensional Printing
William Sims Bainbridge Visual Programming
Spamming Margaret M. Burnett
J. D. Tygar Touchscreen Joseph R. Ruthruff
Andrew L. Sears
Speech Recognition Rich Goldman Wearable Computer
Mary P. Harper Thad Starner
V. Paul Harper Ubiquitous Computing Bradley Rhodes
Olufisayo Omojokun
Speech Synthesis Prasun Dewan Website Design
Jan P.H. van Santen Barbara S. Chaparro
Unicode Michael L. Bernard
Speechreading Unicode Editorial Committee
Marcus Hennecke Work
Universal Access Christine A. Halverson
Spell Checker Gregg Vanderheiden
Woojin Paik Workforce
Usability Evaluation Brandon DuPont
Sphinx Jean Scholtz Joshua L. Rosenbloom
Rita Singh
User Modeling World Wide Web
Statistical Analysis Support Richard C. Simpson Michael Wilson
Robert A. St. Amant
User Support WYSIWYG
Supercomputers Indira R. Guzman David M. Lane
Jack Dongarra
User-Centered Design
Tablet Computer Chadia Abras
William Sims Bainbridge
 READERS GUIDE

This list is provided to assist readers in locating en- Navigation

tries on related topics. It classifies articles into ten Online Education
general categories: Applications; Approaches; Online Voting
Breakthroughs; Challenges; Components; Disciplines; Planning
Historical Development; Interfaces; Methods; and Recommender and Reputation Systems
Social Implications. Some entries appear in more Search and Rescue
than one category. Statistical Analysis Support
Supercomputers
Applications Telecommuting
Classrooms Ubiquitous Computing
Digital Government Video
Digital Libraries
E-business Approaches
Games Application Use Strategies
Geographic Information Systems Beta Testing
Grid Computing Cognitive Walkthrough
Law Enforcement Constraint Satisfaction
Mobile Computing Ethics

xv
XVI BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Ethnography Components
Evolutionary Engineering Adaptive Help Systems
Information Theory Animation
Iterative Design Braille
Ontology Cathode Ray Tubes
Open Source Software Client-Server Architecture
Prototyping Desktop Metaphor
Scenario-Based Design Electronic Paper Technology
Social Informatics Fonts
Socio-Technical System Design Keyboard
Task Analysis Laser Printer
Theory Liquid Crystal Displays
Universal Access Mouse
Usability Evaluation N-grams
User Modeling Peer-to-Peer Architecture
User-Centered Design Social Proxies
Value Sensitive Design Spell Checker
Website Design Touchscreen
Unicode
Breakthroughs WYSIWYG
Altair
Alto Disciplines
Arpanet Anthropology and HCI
Atanasoff-Berry Computer Artificial Intelligence
CAVE Ergonomics
Converging Technologies Law and HCI
Deep Blue Political Science and HCI
Eliza Psychology and HCI
ENIAC Social Psychology and HCI
Hollerith Card Sociology and HCI
Mosaic
Sphinx Historical Development
Altair
Challenges Alto
Denial-of-Service Attack ENIAC
Digital Divide History of HCI
Errors in Interactive Behavior
Hackers Interfaces
Identity Authentication Adaptive Interfaces
Information Filtering Affective Computing
Information Overload Anthropometry
Privacy Asian Script Input
Repetitive Strain Injury Attentive User Interface
Security Augmented Cognition
Spamming Augmented Reality
Viruses Brain-Computer Interfaces
 READERS GUIDE XVII

Compilers Markup Languages

Data Visualization Motion Capture and Recognition
Dialog Systems Natural-Language Processing
Drawing and Design Optical Character Recognition
Eye Tracking Personality Capture
Facial Expressions Programming Languages
Fly-by-Wire Search Engines
Graphical User Interface Semantic Web
Haptics Software Engineering
Multimodal Interfaces Sonification
Multiuser Interfaces Speech Recognition
Musical Interaction Speech Synthesis
Olfactory Interaction Speechreading
Online Questionnaires Text Summarization
Pen and Stylus Input User Support
Physiology Video Summarization
Pocket Computer Visual Programming
Smart Homes World Wide Web
Tablet Computer Social Implications
Telepresence Chatrooms
Three-Dimensional Graphics Children and the Web
Three-Dimensional Printing Collaboratories
Virtual Reality Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
Wearable Computer Cybercommunities
Cybersex
Methods Cyborgs
Avatars Education in HCI
Browsers Electronic Journals
Data Mining E-mail
Digital Cash Gender and Computing
Embedded Systems Groupware
Expert Systems Human-Robot Interaction
Gesture Recognition Impacts
Handwriting Recognition and Retrieval InternetWorldwide Diffusion
Hypertext and Hypermedia Internet in Everyday Life
Icons Literary Representations
Information Organization Movies
Information Retrieval MUDs
Information Spaces Multiagent systems
Instruction Manuals Sociable Media
Language Generation Software Cultures
Lexicon Building Work
Machine Translation Workforce
 LIST OF SIDEBARS

Adaptive Help Systems Chatrooms

Farewell Clippy Life Online

Adaptive Interfaces Classrooms

Keeping Disabled People in the Technology Loop
Anthropology and HCI
Digital Technology Helps Preserve Tribal Language
Anthropology and HCI
Eastern vs. Western Cultural Values
History Comes Alive in Cyberspace
Learning through Multimedia
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
Internet Singing Lessons
Social Context in Computer-Supported
Cooperative Work

Augmented Cognition Cybercommunities

Putting Humans First in Systems Design Welcome to LamdaMOO

Braille Cybersex
Enhancing Access to Braille Instructional Materials Cybersex Addiction

xix
XX BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Digital Divide Internet in Everyday Life

HomeNetToo Tries to Bridge Digital Divide Finding Work Online
Information Technology and Competitive
Digital Libraries Academic Debate
Vannevar Bush on the Memex
Law Enforcement
Education in HCI Fighting Computer Crime
Bringing HCI Into the Real World
Literary Representations
Eliza Excerpt from Isaac Asimovs I, Robot
Talking with ELIZA Excerpt from The Sand-Man (1817) by
E. T. A. Hoffman
E-mail
The Generation Gap Machine Translation
Warren Weaver on Machine Translation
Errors in Interactive Behavior
To Err Is Technological Movies
HALs Birthday Celebration
Fonts
Our Most Memorable Nightmare MUDs
The Wide World of a MUD
Gender and Computing
Computer Girl Site Offers Support for Online Education
Young Women An Online Dig for Archeology Students
Narrowing the Gap Virtual Classes Help Rural Nurses

Geographic Information Systems Political Science and HCI

Geographic Information Systems Aid Land Washington Tales of the Internet
Conservation
Psychology and HCI
Groupware Human Factors Come into the Forefront
Away Messages Virtual Flight for White-Knuckled Travelers
The Wide World of Wikis
Repetitive Strain Injury
History of HCI The Complexities of Repetitive Strain
Highlights from My Forty Years of HCI History
Scenario-Based Design
Human-Robot Interaction The Value of a Devils Advocate
Carbo-Powered Robots
Social Psychology and HCI
Hypertext and Hypermedia Love and HCI
Ted Nelson on Hypertext and the Web
Sociology and HCI
Impacts Whos on First for the Twenty-First
Therac-25 Safety Is a System Property Century
 LIST OF SIDEBARS XXI

Spell Checker Work

Check the Spell Checker Software Prescribes Break Time for Enhanced
Productivity
Task Analysis
Excerpt from Cheaper by the Dozen Workforce
Cultural Differences
Unicode Employee Resistance to Technology
History and Development of Unicode
Relationship of the Unicode Standard to World Wide Web
ISO_IEC 10646 Inventing the World Wide Web
Tim Berners-Lee on the Web as Metaphor
Usability Evaluation
Global Usability WYSIWYG
Is Usability Still a Problem? The Future of HCI
 CONTRIBUTORS

Abras, Chadia Alvarez, R. Michael

Goucher College Caltech-MIT Voting Technology Project
User-Centered Design Online Voting

Agrawal, Dharma P. Aronson, Jay E.

University of Cincinnati University of Georgia
Mobile Computing Expert Systems

Allanson, Jennifer Bailenson, Jeremy

Lancaster University Stanford University
Physiology Avatars

Allison, Brendan Z. Bainbridge, Erika

Georgia State University Harvard University, Center for Hellenic Studies
Brain-Computer Interfaces Asian Script Input

xxiii
XXIV BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Bainbridge, William Sims Bilal, Dania

National Science Foundation University of Tennessee
Altair Children and the Web
Alto
Asian Script Input Bisantz, Ann M.
Converging Technologies State University of New York, Buffalo
Cyborgs Ergonomics
ENIAC
Evolutionary Engineering Blackmon, Marilyn Hughes
Hollerith Card University of Colorado, Boulder
Literary Representations Cognitive Walkthrough
Mosaic
Movies Blascovich, James J.
Personality Capture University of California, Santa Barbara
Pocket Computer Avatars
Sociology and HCI
Tablet Computer Bos, Nathan
Three-Dimensional Printing University of Michigan
E-mail
Bartle, Richard Allan
Multi-User Entertainment Limited Bradshaw, Shannon
MUDs University of Iowa
Search Engines
Barzilay, Regina
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Brusilovsky, Peter
Language Generation University of Pittsburgh
Adaptive Help Systems
Baskerville, Richard
Georgia State University Burnett, Margaret M.
Iterative Design Oregon State University
Prototyping Visual Programming

Batteau, Allen W. Cai, Guoray

Wayne State University Pennsylvania State University
Anthropology and HCI Multimodal Interfaces

Ben-Arie, Jezekiel Caldera, Cavinda T.

University of Illinois, Chicago Syracuse University
Motion Capture and Recognition Grid Computing

Bernard, Michael L. Campbell, Murray

Wichita State University IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Website Design Deep Blue

Bhavnani, Suresh K.
University of Michigan
Application Use Strategies
 CONTRIBUTORS XXV

Carroll, John M. Crosby, Martha E.

Pennsylvania State University University of Hawaii
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work Information Filtering
Scenario-Based Design
Danziger, James N.
Chaparro, Barbara S. University of California, Irvine
Wichita State University Political Science and HCI
Website Design
Davis, Adriane D.
Chen, Lawrence Georgia State University
Eastman Kodak Research Labs Brain-Computer Interfaces
Affective Computing
DeFanti, Thomas
Chen, Wenhong University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Toronto Cave
Internet Worldwide Diffusion
Delmonico, David L.
Choset, Howie Duquesne University
Carnegie Mellon University Cybersex
Search and Rescue
Dennerlien, Jack Tigh
Choueiry, Berthe Y. Harvard School of Public Health
University of Nebraska, Lincoln Repetitive Strain Injury
Constraint Satisfaction
Deshpande, Ashutosh P.
Cockburn, Andy Syracuse University
University of Canterbury Identity Authentication
Browsers
Detrie, Thomas
Cohen, Ira Arizona State University
Hewlett-Packard Research Labs, Fonts
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Affective Computing Dewan, Prasun
Microsoft Corporation
Collyer, Glenn Multiuser Interfaces
iDacta, Inc. Ubiquitous Computing
Online Education
Donath, Judith
Cook, Diane J. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Texas, Arlington Sociable Media
Smart Homes
Dongarra, Jack
Crawford, Gregory P. University of Tennessee
Brown University Supercomputers
Cathode Ray Tubes
Electronic Paper Technology
Liquid Crystal Displays
XXVI BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Draper, John V. Fountain, Jane E.

Raven Research Harvard University
Telepresence Digital Government

Duchowski, Andrew T. Franklin, Judy A.

Clemson University Smith College
Eye Tracking Musical Interaction

DuPont, Brandon Freedman, Immanuel

Policy Research Institute Dr. Immanuel Freedman, Inc.
Workforce Video

El Rhalibi, Abdennour Friedman, Batya

Liverpool John Moores University University of Washington
Animation Value Sensitive Design
Games
Fussell, Susan R.
England, David Carnegie Mellon University
Liverpool John Moores University Social Psychology and HCI
Graphical User Interface
Goldman, Rich
Erickson, Thomas University of Maryland, Baltimore
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center Touchscreen
Social Proxies
Goodchild, Michael F.
Essa, Irfan University of California, Santa Barbara
Georgia Institute of Technology Geographic Information Systems
Facial Expressions
Govindaraju, V.
Farkas, David K. University at Buffalo
University of Washington Handwriting Recognition and Retrieval
Hypertext and Hypermedia Optical Character Recognition
Instruction Manuals
Gray, Wayne D.
Feathers, David Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
State University of New York, Buffalo Errors in Interactive Behavior
Anthropometry
Griffin, Elizabeth J.
Feinman, Alexander C. Internet Behavior Consulting
Brandeis University Cybersex
Groupware
Griffiths, Jose-Marie
Fillmore, Charles J. University of Pittsburgh
International Computer Science Institute Digital Libraries
Lexicon Building
 CONTRIBUTORS XXVII

Gross, Mark D. Hauck, Roslin V.

University of Washington Illinois State University
Drawing and Design Law Enforcement

Grudin, Jonathan Hedge, Alan

Microsoft Research Cornell University
Computer Science Keyboard
History of HCI Pen and Stylus Input

Gustafson, John Hennecke, Marcus

Sun Microsystems TEMIC Telefunken Microelectronic GmbH
Atanasoff-Berry Computer Speechreading

Guthrie, Ruth Hickey, Timothy J.

California Polytechnic University of Pomona Brandeis University
Information Overload Groupware

Gutierrez-Osuna, Ricardo Hodges, Larry F.

Texas A&M University University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Olfactory Interaction Virtual Reality

Guzman, Indira R. Hogan, Bernie

Syracuse University University of Toronto
User Support Internet in Everyday Life

Hakken, David Holland, Arnold

State University of New York Institute of California State University, Fullerton
Technology Fonts
Ethnography
Hollis, Ralph L.
Hall, Thad E. Carnegie Mellon University
Century Foundation Haptics
Online Voting
Hollnagel, Erik
Halverson, Christine University of Linkping
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center Task Analysis
Work
Huang, Thomas S.
Harper, Mary P. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Purdue University Affective Computing
Speech Recognition
Huff, Chuck
Harper, V. Paul Saint Olaf College
United States Patent and Trademark Office Impacts
Speech Recognition
XXVIII BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Jackson, Linda A. Klavans, Judith L.

Michigan State University Columbia University
Digital Divide Text Summarization
Gender and Computing
Kline, Ronald R.
Jensen, Michael J. Cornell University
University of California, Irvine Information Theory
Political Science and HCI
Kobsa, Alfred
Kaminka, Gal University of California, Irvine
Bar Ilan University Adaptive Interfaces
Multiagent systems
Koenig, Sven
Kazman, Richard Georgia Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University Planning
Software Engineering
Krishna, C. M.
Kellogg, Wendy A. University of Massachusetts, Amherst
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center Fly-by-Wire
Social Proxies
Kruse, Amy
Kendall, Lori Strategic Analysis, Inc.
State University of New York, Purchase College Arpanet
Cybercommunities Augmented Cognition

Kettebekov, Sanshzar Laff, Mark

Oregon Health and Science University IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Multimodal Interfaces Client-Server Architecture

Khedekar, Swapnil Lagoudakis, Michail G.

University at Buffalo Georgia Institute of Technology
Optical Character Recognition Planning

Kim, Hong-Gee Lampe, Cliff

Dankook University University of Michigan
Markup Languages Recommender and Reputation Systems

Kim, Jee-In Lane, David M.

Konkuk University Rice University
Desktop Metaphor Sonification
WYSIWYG
Kirchhoff, Katrin
University of Washington Lenhart, Amanda B.
Machine Translation Pew Internet & American Life Project
Chatrooms
 CONTRIBUTORS XXIX

Lok, Benjamin C. Miller, Sonia E.

University of Florida S. E. Miller Law Firm
Three-Dimensional Graphics Law and HCI
Virtual Reality
Moore, Melody M.
Ludi, Stephanie Georgia State University
Rochester Institute of Technology Brain-Computer Interfaces
Icons
Murtagh, Fionn
Ma, Kwan-Liu Queens University, Belfast
University of California, Davis Information Spaces
Data Visualization
Neff, Gina
MacQueen, David University of California, Los Angeles
University of Chicago Beta Testing
Programming Languages
Nissenbaum, Helen
Madey, Gregory R. New York University
University of Notre Dame Ethics
Open Source Software
Olson, Gary M.
Maloney-Krichmar, Diane University of Michigan
Bowie State University Collaboratories
User-Centered Design
Olson, Judith S.
Manmatha, R. University of Michigan
University of Massachusetts, Amherst Psychology and HCI
Handwriting Recognition and Retrieval
Omojokun, Olufisayo
Martin, James H. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Colorado, Boulder Ubiquitous Computing
Natural-Language Processing
N-grams Paik, Woojin
University of Massachusetts, Boston
May, Jon Compilers
University of Sheffield Spell Checker
Theory
Paquet, Victor L.
McKinnon, Robin A. State University of New York, Buffalo
Harvard University Anthropometry
Digital Government
Pargas, Roy
McRoy, Susan W. Clemson University
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Online Questionnaires
Dialog Systems
XXX BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Peres, S. Camille Rogers, Erika

Rice University California Polytechnic State University
Sonification Human-Robot Interaction

Perrig, Adrian Rosenbaum, Howard

Carnegie Mellon University Indiana University
Denial-of-Service Attack Social Informatics

Preece, Jenny Rosenbloom, Joshua L.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County University of Kansas
User-Centered Design Workforce

Quek, Francis Rosson, Mary Beth

Wright State University Pennsylvania State University
Gesture Recognition Computer-Supported Cooperative Work

Quintana, Chris Ruthruff, Joseph R.

University of Michigan Oregon State University
Classrooms Visual Programming

Quiroga, Luz M. Sandin, Dan

University of Hawaii University of Illinois, Chicago
Information Filtering CAVE

Rajlich, Vaclav Sandor, Aniko

Wayne State University Rice University
Software Cultures Sonification

Raphael, Christopher S. Scacchi, Walt

University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of California, Irvine
Musical Interaction Socio-Technical System Design

Resnick, Paul Schmorrow, Dylan

University of Michigan Defense Advanced Projects Agency
Recommender and Reputation Systems Arpanet
Augmented Cognition
Rhodes, Bradley
Ricoh Innovations Scholtz, Jean
Wearable Computer National Institute of Standards and Technology
Usability Evaluation
Rieser, John J.
Vanderbilt University Sears, Andrew L.
Navigation University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Touchscreen
 CONTRIBUTORS XXXI

Sears, J. Allen Stage, Jan

Corporation for National Research Initiatives Aalborg University
Arpanet Education in HCI
Iterative Design
Selker, Ted Prototyping
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Attentive User Interface Stanton, Jeffrey M.
Syracuse University
Sewalkar, Parag Privacy
Syracuse University
Identity Authentication Starkweather, Gary
Microsoft Corporation
Sengupta, Kuntal Laser Printer
Advanced Interfaces
Augmented Reality Starner, Thad
Georgia Institute of Technology
Sharma, Rajeev Wearable Computers
Advanced Interfaces
Augmented Reality Stephenson, Robert S.
Multimodal Interfaces Wayne State University
Online Education
Shen, Yuan Yuan
Liverpool John Moores University Sterner, William H.
Animation University of Chicago
Eliza
Simpson, Richard C.
University of Pittsburgh Tekalp, A. Murat
User Modeling University of Rochester
Video Summarization
Singh, Rita
Carnegie Mellon University Tenopir, Carol
Sphinx University of Tennessee
Electronic Journals
Soergel, Dagobert
University of Maryland Thomas, Douglas
Information Organization University of Southern California
Information Retrieval Hackers

St. Amant, Robert A. Thuraisingham, Bhavani

North Carolina State University National Science Foundation
Artificial Intelligence Security
Statistical Analysis Support Semantic Web

Tran, Phuoc
University of Toronto
Internet Worldwide Diffusion
XXXII BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Tretiakoff, Oleg Westfall, Ralph David

C.A. Technology, Inc. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Braille Telecommuting

Tygar, J. D. Williams, Ronald D.

University of California, Berkeley University of Virginia
Digital Cash Embedded Systems
Spamming
Viruses Wilson, Michael
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Unicode Editorial Committee World Wide Web
Unicode
Witte, James
van Santen, Jan P.H. Clemson University
Oregon Health and Science University Online Questionnaires
Speech Synthesis
Yaar, Abraham
Vanderheiden, Gregg Carnegie Mellon University
University of Wisconsin, Madison Denial of Service Attack
Universal Access
Youngblood, Michael
Vassileva, Julita University of Texas, Arlington
University of Saskatchewan Smart Homes
Peer-to-Peer Architecture
Zakaria, Norhayati
Wellman, Barry Syracuse University
University of Toronto E-business
Internet - Worldwide Diffusion
Internet in Everyday Life Zaki, Mohammad
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Welty, Christopher A. Data Mining
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Ontology Zhai, Shumin
IBM Almaden Research Center
Mouse

In hardly more than half a century, computers have
become integral parts of everyday life, at home,
work, and play. Today, computers affect almost
every aspect of modern life, in areas as diverse as
car design, filmmaking, disability services, and sex
education. Human-computer interaction (HCI) is
a vital new field that examines the ways in which
people communicate with computers, robots, in-
formation systems, and the Internet. It draws upon
several branches of social, behavioral, and infor-
mation science, as well as on computer science and
electrical engineering. The traditional heart of HCI
has been user interface design, but in recent
years the field has expanded to include any science
and technology related to the ways that humans
use or are affected by computing technology.
HCI brings to the fore social and ethical issues that
INTRODUCTION
By William Sims Bainbridge
hitherto existed only in the pages of science fic-
tion. For a sense of the wide reach of HCI, consider
the following vignettes:
Gloria, who owns a small fitness training busi-
ness, is currently trying out a new system in which
she and a client dance on sensor pads on the floor,
while the computer plays rhythms and scores
how quickly they are placing their feet on the
designated squares.
Elizabeth has made friends through chatrooms
connected to French and British music groups
that are not well known in the United States. She
occasionally shares music files with these friends
before buying CDs from foreign online distrib-
utors, and she has helped one of the French bands
translate its website into English.
xxxiii
XXXIV BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Carls work team develops drivers for new color
printers far more quickly and effectively than be-
fore, because the team comprises expert design-
ers and programmers who live in different
time zones around the world, from India to
California, collectively working 24 hours a day,
7 days a week, by means of an Internet-based col-
laboration system.
Bella is blind, but her wearable computer uses
Internet and the Global Positioning System not
only to find her way through the city safely but
also to find any product or service she needs at
the best price and to be constantly aware of her
surroundings.
Anderson, whose Internet moniker is Neo, dis-
covers that his entire life is an illusion, main-
tained by a vast computer plugged directly into
his nervous system.
The first three stories are real, although the names
are pseudonyms, and the scenarios are duplicated
millions of times in the modern world of personal
computers, office automation, and the World Wide
Web. The fourth example could be realized with to-
days technology, simply given a sufficient investment
in infrastructure. Not only would it revolutionize the
lives of blind people like Bella, it would benefit the
sighted public too, so we can predict that it will in
fact become true over the next decade or two. The
story about Mr. Anderson is pure fiction, no doubt
recognizable to many as the premise of the 1999 film
The Matrix. It is doubtful that HCI ever could (or
should) become indistinguishable from real life.
Background on HCI
In a brief history of HCI technology published in
1996, the computer scientist Brad Myers noted
that most computer interface technology began as
government-supported research projects in univer-
sities and only years later was developed by corpo-
rations and transformed into commercial products.
He then listed six up-and-coming research areas:
natural language and speech, computer-supported
cooperative work, virtual and augmented reality,
three-dimensional graphics, multimedia, and com-
puter recognition of pen or stylus movements on
tablet or pocket computers.
All of these have been very active areas of research
or development since he wrote, and several are fun-
damental to commercial products that have already
appeared. For example, many companies now use
speech recognition to automate their telephone in-
formation services, and hundreds of thousands of
people use stylus-controlled pocket computers every
day. Many articles in the encyclopedia describe
new approaches that may be of tremendous impor-
tance in the future.
Our entire perspective on HCI has been evolving
rapidly in recent years. In 1997, the National Research
Councila private, nonprofit institution that pro-
vides science, technology, and health policy advice
under a congressional charterissued a major re-
port, More Than Screen Deep, to evaluate and sug-
gest fruitful directions for progress in user interfaces
to computing and communications systems. This
high-level study, sponsored by the National Science
Foundation (NSF), concluded with three recom-
mendations to the federal government and univer-
sity researchers.
1. Break away from 1960s technologies and para-
digms. Major attempts should be made to find
new paradigms for human-machine interac-
tion that employ new modes and media for in-
p u t a n d o u t p u t a n d t h a t i nv o l v e n e w
conceptualizations of application interfaces.
(192)
2. Invest in the research required to provide the com-
ponent subsystems needed for every-citizen in-
terfaces. Research is needed that is aimed at both
making technological advances and gaining
understanding of the human and organizational
capabilities these advances would support. (195)
3. Encourage research on systems-level design and
development of human-machine interfaces that
support multiperson, multimachine groups
as well as individuals. (196)
In 2002, John M. Carroll looked back on the his-
tory of HCI and noted how difficult it was at first to
get computer science and engineering to pay atten-
tion to issues of hardware and software usability. He

argued that HCI was born as the fusion of four fields
(software engineering, software human factors, com-
puter graphics, and cognitive science) and that it con-
tinues to be an emerging area in computer science.
The field is expanding in both scope and importance.
For example, HCI incorporates more and more from
the social sciences as computing becomes increas-
ingly deeply rooted in cooperative work and human
communication.
Many universities now have research groups
and training programs in HCI. In addition to the de-
signers and engineers who create computer interfaces
and the researchers in industry and academia who are
developing the fundamental principles for success
in such work, a very large number of workers in many
industries contribute indirectly to progress in HCI.
The nature of computing is constantly changing. The
first digital electronic computers, such as ENIAC (com-
pleted in 1946), were built to solve military problems,
such as calculating ballistic trajectories. The 1950s and
1960s saw a great expansion in military uses and ex-
tensive application of digital computers in commerce
and industry. In the late 1970s, personal computers
entered the home, and in the 1980s they developed
more user-friendly interfaces. The 1990s saw the trans-
formation of Internet into a major medium of com-
munications, culminating in the expansion of the
World Wide Web to reach a billion people.
In the first decade of the twenty-first century,
two trends are rushing rapidly forward. One is the
extension of networking to mobile computers and
embedded devices literally everywhere. The other is
the convergence of all mass media with computing,
such that people listen to music, watch movies, take
pictures, make videos, carry on telephone conversa-
tions, and conduct many kinds of business on com-
puters or on networks of which computers are central
components. To people who are uncomfortable with
these trends, it may seem that cyberspace is swal-
lowing real life. To enthusiasts of the technology, it
seems that human consciousness is expanding to en-
compass everything.
The computer revolution is almost certainly
going to continue for decades, and specialists in
human-computer interaction will face many new
challenges in the years to come. At least one other
INTRODUCTION XXXV
technological revolution is likely to give computer
technology an additional powerful boost: nanotech-
nology. The word comes from a unit for measuring
tiny distances, the nanometer, which is one billionth
of a meter (one millionth of a millimeter, or one mil-
lionth the thickness of a U.S. dime). The very
largest single atoms are just under a nanometer in
size, and much of the action in chemistry (including
fundamental biological processes) occurs in the range
between 1 nanometer and 100200 nanometers. The
smallest transistors in experimental computer
chips are about 50 nanometers across.
Experts working at the interface between nano-
technology and computing believe that nanoelec-
tronics can support continued rapid improvements
in computer speed, memory, and cost for twenty
to thirty years, with the possibility of further progress
after then by means of integrated design approaches
and investment in information infrastructure. Two
decades of improvement in computer chips would
mean that a desktop personal computer bought in
2024 might have eight thousand times the power
of one bought in 2004 for the same priceor could
have the same power but cost only twenty cents and
fit inside a shirt button. Already, nanotechnology
is being used to create networks of sensors that can
detect and identify chemical pollutants or biologi-
cal agents almost instantly. While this technology
will first be applied to military defense, it can be
adapted to medical or personal uses in just a few years.
The average persons wristwatch in 2024 could
be their mobile computer, telling them everything
they might want to know about their environment
where the nearest Thai restaurant can be found, when
the next bus will arrive at the corner up the road,
whether there is anything in the air the person hap-
pens to be allergic to, and, of course, providing any
information from the worlds entire database that
the person might want to know. If advances in nat-
ural-language processing continue at the rate they
are progressing today, then the wristwatch could also
be a universal translator that allows the person to
speak with anyone in any language spoken on the
face of the planet. Of course, predictions are al-
ways perilous, and it may be that progress will slow
down. Progress does not simply happen of its own
XXXVI BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
accord, and the field of human-computer interac-
tion must continue to grow and flourish if comput-
ers are to bring the marvelous benefits to human life
that they have the potential to bring.
My Own Experience with Computers
Computer and information technologies have pro-
gressed amazingly over the past fifty years, and they
may continue to do so for the next half century. My first
computer, if it deserves that word, was a Geniac I re-
ceived for my sixteenth birthday in 1956. Costing only
$20, it consisted of masonite disks, wires, light bulbs
and a vast collection of nuts, bolts, and clips. From these
parts I could assemble six rotary switches that could be
programmed (by hardwiring them) to solve simple
logic problems such as playing tick-tack-toe. I devel-
oped a great affection for the Geniac, as I did for the
foot-long slide rule I lugged to my high school
classes, but each was a very far cry from the pocket com-
puter or even the programmable calculator my sixteen-
year-old daughter carries in her backpack today.
Geniac was not really an electronic computer be-
cause it lacked active componentswhich in 1956
meant relays or vacuum tubes, because transistors
were still very new and integrated circuits had not
yet been invented. The first real computer I saw, in
the early 1960s, was the massive machine used by my
fathers company, Equitable Life Insurance, to keep
its records. Only decades later did I learn that my
uncle, Angus McIntosh, had been part of a team in
World War II that seized the German computer that
was cracking Soviet codes, and that the secret Colossus
computer at Bletchley Park where he worked had
been cracking German codes. In the middle of the
twentieth century, computers were huge, rare, and
isolated from the general public, whereas at the be-
ginning of the twenty-first century they are essen-
tial parts of everyday life.
My first experience programming computers
came in 1974, when I was a graduate student in the
sociology department at Harvard University, and I
began using the machines for statistical analysis of
data. Starting the next year at the University of
Washington, where I was a beginning assistant
professor, I would sit for hours at a noisy keypunch
machine, making the punch cards to enter programs
and data. After a while I realized I was going deaf
from the noise and took to wearing earplugs. Later,
back at Harvard in a faculty position, I began writ-
ing my own statistical analysis programs for my first
personal computer, an Apple II. I remember that one
kind of analysis would take a 36 hours to run, with
the computer humming away in a corner as I went
about my daily life. For a decade beginning in 1983,
I programmed educational software packages in so-
ciology and psychology, and after a series of com-
puter-related projects found myself running the
sociology program at the National Science Founda-
tion and representing the social and behavioral
sciences on the major computing initiatives of
NSF and the federal government more generally.
After eight years of that experience, I moved to the
NSF Directorate for Computer and Information
Science and Engineering to run the NSFs programs
in human-computer interaction, universal access,
and artificial intelligence and cognitive science be-
fore becoming deputy director of the Division of
Information and Intelligent Systems, which contains
these programs.
My daughters, aged sixteen and thirteen, have
used their considerable computer expertise to cre-
ate the Center for Glitch Studies, a research project
to discover and analyze programming errors in com-
mercial video games. So far they have documented
on their website more than 230 programming errors
in popular video games. The hundreds of people who
visit the website are not a passive audience, but send
e-mail messages describing errors they themselves
discovered, and they link their own websites into a
growing network of knowledge and virtual social
relationships.
A Personal StoryNSFs FastLane
Computers have become vastly more important at
work over recent decades, and they have come to play
increasingly more complex roles. For example,
NSF has created an entire online system for re-
viewing grant proposals, called FastLane, and thou-
sands of scientists and educators have become
familiar with it through serving as reviewers or prin-
cipal investigators.

A researcher prepares a description of the proj-
ect he or she hopes to do and assembles ancillary
information such as a bibliography and brief biog-
raphies of the team members. The researcher sub-
mits this material, along with data such as the dollar
requests on the different lines of the formal budget.
The only software required is a word processor
and a web browser. As soon as the head of the in-
stitutions grants office clicks the submit button, the
full proposal appears at NSF, with the data already
arranged in the appropriate data fields, so nobody
has to key it in.
Peer review is the heart of the evaluation process.
As director of the HCI program, I categorize pro-
posals into review panels, then recruit panelists
who were experts in the field with specializations that
matched the scope of the proposals. Each panelist re-
views certain proposals and submits a written review
electronically.
Once the individual reviews have been submit-
ted, the panel meets face-to-face to discuss the
proposals and recommend funding for the best ones.
The panelists all have computers with Electronic
Panel System (EPS) groupware that provides easy ac-
cess to all the proposals and reviews associated with
the particular panel. During the discussion of a par-
ticular proposal, one panelist acts as scribe, keep-
ing a summary of what was said in the EPS. Other
panelists can read the summary, send written com-
ments to the scribe, and may be asked to approve the
final draft online.
Next the NSF program officer combines all the
evaluations and writes a recommendation in the elec-
tronic system, for approval by the director of the di-
vision in which the program is located. More often
than not, unfortunately, the decision is to decline to
fund the proposal. In that case, the program officer
and division director processes the action quickly on
their networked computers, and an electronic no-
tification goes immediately to the principal inves-
tigator, who can access FastLane to read the reviews
and summary of the panel discussion.
In those rarer and happier situations when a
grant is awarded, the principal investigator and pro-
gram officer negotiate the last details and craft an
abstract, describing the research. The instant the
award is made, the money goes electronically to
INTRODUCTION XXXVII
the institution, and the abstract is posted on the web
for anyone to see. Each year, the researcher submits
a report, electronically of course, and the full record
of the grant accumulates in the NSF computer sys-
tem until the work has been completed.
Electronic systems connect the people
researcher, program director, and reviewersinto a
system of information flow that is also a social sys-
tem in which each person plays a specific role. Be-
cause the system was designed over a number of years
to do a particular set of jobs, it works quite well, and
improvements are constantly being incorporated.
This is a prime example of Computer-Supported
Cooperative Work, one of the many HCI topics cov-
ered in this encyclopedia.
The Role of the Berkshire Encyclopedia
of Human-Computer Interaction
Because the field of HCI is new, the Berkshire
Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction breaks
new ground. It offers readers up-to-date information
about several key aspects of the technology and its
human dimensions, including
applicationsmajor tools that serve human
needs in particular ways, with distinctive usability
issues.
approachestechniques through which scien-
tists and engineers design and evaluate HCI.
breakthroughsparticular projects that marked
a turning point in the history of HCI.
challengesproblems and solutions, both tech-
nical and human, especially in controversial
areas.
componentskey parts of a software or hard-
ware system that are central to how people use it.
disciplinesthe contributions that various sci-
ences and academic fields make to HCI.
interfaceshardware or software systems that
mediate between people and machines.
methodsgeneral computer and information
science solutions to wide classes of technical
problems.
social implicationstechnological impacts on so-
ciety and policy issues, and the potential of multi-
user HCI systems to bring about social change.
XXXVIII BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
These categories are not mutually exclusive; many
articles fit in two or more of them. For example, the
short article on laser printers concerns an output in-
terface and explains how a laser printer puts words
and pictures on paper. But this article also concerns
a breakthrough, the actual invention of the laser
printer, and it was written by the inventor himself,
Gary Starkweather.
Contributors
The 175 contributors to the encyclopedia possess the
full range and depth of expertise covered by HCI,
and more. They include not only computer scien-
tists and electrical engineers, but also social and
behavioral scientists, plus practicing engineers, sci-
entists, scholars, and other experts in a wide range
of other fields. The oldest authors were born around
the time that the very first experimental digital elec-
tronic computer was built, and the entire history
of computing has taken place during their lives.
Among the influential and widely respected con-
tributors is Jose-Marie Griffiths, who contributed
the article on digital libraries. As a member of the
U.S. Presidents Information Technology Advisory
Committee, Griffiths understands the full scope and
social value of this new kind of public resource.
Contributors Judith S. Olson, Gary M. Olson, and
John M. Carroll are among the very few leaders who
have been elected to the Academy of the Special
Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction of
the Association for Computing Machinery (SIGCHI).
In 2003 Carroll received the organizations Life-
time Achievement Award for his extensive accomplish-
ments, including his contributions to the Blacksburg
Electronic Village, the most significant experiment
on community participation in computer-mediated
communication. Jack Dongarra, who wrote the con-
tribution on supercomputers, developed the
LINPACK Benchmark, which is used to test the speed
of these upper-end machines and which is the
basis of the annual list of the five hundred fastest
computers in the world.
Building the Encyclopedia:
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
The creation of this encyclopedia is an example of
computer-supported cooperative work, a main area
of HCI. I have written occasional encyclopedia arti-
cles since the early 1990s, when I was one of sev-
eral subject matter editors of The Encyclopedia of
Language and Linguistics. Often, an editor working
on a specialized encyclopedia for one publisher or
another would send me an e-mail message asking
if I would write a particular essay, and I would
send it in, also by e-mail. I had a very good experi-
ence contributing to the Encyclopedia of Community,
edited by Karen Christensen and David Levinson
of Berkshire Publishing. I suggested to Karen that
Berkshire might want to do an encyclopedia of
human-computer interaction and that I could re-
cruit excellent authors for such a project. Berkshire
has extensive experience developing high-quality ref-
erence works, both in partnership with other pub-
lishing houses and on its own.
Almost all the communication to create the
encyclopedia was carried out online. Although I know
many people in the field personally, it was a great
help to have access to the public databases placed on
the Web by NSF, including abstracts of all grants
made in the past fifteen years, and to the online pub-
lications of organizations such as the Association for
Computing Machinery and to the websites of all of
the authors, which often provide copies of their pub-
lications. Berkshire created a special password-
protected website with information for authors and
a section where I could review all the essays as they
were submitted.
For the Reader
There are many challenges ahead for HCI, and many
are described in this encyclopedia. Difficult prob-
lems tend to have both technical and human aspects.
For the benefit of the reader, the articles identify stan-
dard solutions and their ramifications, both positive
and negative, and may also cover social or political
controversies surrounding the problem and its pos-
sible solutions. Many of the articles describe how a
particular scientific discipline or branch of engi-
neering approaches HCI, and what it contributes to
the multidisciplinary understanding of and im-
provement in how computers, robots, and informa-
tion systems can serve human needs. Other articles
focus on a particular interface, modality, or medium
in which people receive information and control the

computer or system of which it is a part. These articles
explain the technical features of the hardware or soft-
ware; they also explain the way humans perceive,
learn, and behave in the particular context. Still other
articles concern how computer and information sci-
ence has developed to solve a wide class of problems,
using vivid examples to explain the philosophy of
the method, paying some attention as well to the hu-
man side of the equation.
Many articlessometimes as their central focus
and sometimes incidentallyexamine the social im-
plications of HCI, such as the impact of a particular
kind of technology, the way that the technology
fits into societal institutions, or a social issue involving
computing. The technology can strengthen either
cooperation or conflict between human beings, and
the mutual relations between technological change
and social change are often quite complex.
For information technology workers, this ency-
clopedia provides insight into specialties other than
the one they work in and offers useful perspectives on
the broad field. For policy makers, it provides a basis
for thinking about the decisions we face in exploit-
ing technological possibilities for maximum human
benefit. For students, this encyclopedia lays out how
to use the technology to make a better world and of-
fers a glimpse of the rapidly changing computer-as-
sisted human world in which they are living their lives.
To illuminate and expand on the articles them-
selves, the encyclopedia includes the following spe-
cial features:
Approximately eighty sidebars with key primary
text, glossary terms, quotes, and personal stories
about how HCI has had an impact on the work
and lives of professionals in the field.
INTRODUCTION XXXIX
Some seventy-five diverse illustrations, which range
from antique photos of the ENIAC computer (c.
1940s) to cutting-edge computerized images.
A bibliography of HCI books and journal
articles.
A popular culture appendix that includes more
than 300 annotated entries on books, plays,
movies, television shows, and songs that have
connections to HCI.
William Sims Bainbridge
The views expressed are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the position of the National Science
Foundation
FURTHER READING
Asher, R. E., & Simpson, J. M. Y. (Eds.). (1994). The encyclopedia of
language and linguistics. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
Bainbridge, W. S. (1989). Survey research: A computer-assisted intro-
duction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Bainbridge, W. S. (1992). Social research methods and statistics: A
computer-assisted introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Carroll, J. M. (Ed.). (2002). Human-computer interaction in the new
millennium. Boston: Addison-Wesley.
Christensen, K., & Levinson, D. (2003). Encyclopedia of community:
From the village to the virtual world. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Myers, B. A. (1996). A brief history of human computer interaction
technology. ACM Interactions, 5(2), 4454.
National Research Council. (1997). More than screen deep. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.
Roco, M. C., & Bainbridge, W. S. (2001). Societal implications of
nanoscience and nanotechnology. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Roco, M. C., & Bainbridge, W. S. (2003). Converging technologies for
improving human performance. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.

The Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer
Interaction (HCI) is our first independent title. Weve
done many other award-winning encyclopedias but
HCI will always have a unique place in our hearts
and in our history.
Even though most of our work has been in the
social sciences, when William Bainbridge at the
National Science Foundation wrote to suggest the
topic of HCI, I knew instantly that it was the right
topic for our knowledge and technology company.
I grew up with the computer industry. My father, a
computer engineer in the Silicon Valley, tried very
hard to explain the fundamentals of computing, and
even built a machine out of plywood and blinking
lights to show my sixth-grade class that information
can be captured and communicated with nothing
more than a combination of on-off switches. I was
a reader, much more interested in human stories and
PUBLISHERS NOTE
By Karen Christensen
relationships than in binary code; but it was books
and a career in publishingthat at last brought home
to me that computers can support and expand hu-
man connections and improve our lives in myriad
ways. Berkshire Publishing Group, based in a tiny
New England town, depends on human-computer
interaction to maintain working relationships, and
friendships too, with many thousands of experts
around the world. We are convinced, in fact, that this
topic is central to our development as a twenty-first
century publishing company,
The Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer
Interaction takes computing into new realms, intro-
ducing us to topics that are intriguing both in their
technical complexity and because they present us
human beingswith a set of challenging questions
about our relationship with thinkingmachines. There
are opportunities and risks in any new technology, and
xli
XLII BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
HCI has intrigued writers for many decades because
it leads us to a central philosophical, religious, and even
historical question: What does it mean to be human?
Well be exploring this topic and related ones in fur-
ther works about technology and society.
Bill Bainbridge was an exceptional editor: or-
ganized, focused, and responsive. Working with him
has been deeply rewarding, and its no surprise
that the hundreds of computer scientists and engi-
neers he helped us recruit to contribute to the en-
cyclopedia were similarly enthusiastic and gracious.
All these expertscomputer scientists and engineers
as well as people working in other aspects of HCI
truly wanted to work with us to ensure that their
work would be accessible and understandable.
To add even greater interest and richness to the
work, weve added dozens of photographs, personal
stories, glossary terms, and other sidebars. In addi-
tion to article bibliographies, there is a master bib-
liography at the end, containing all 2,590 entries in
the entire encyclopedia listed together for easy ref-
erence. And weve added a characteristic Berkshire
touch, an appendix designed to appeal to even the
most resolute Luddite: HCI in Popular Culture, a
database compilation listing with 300 sci-fi novels,
nonfiction titles, television programs and films from
The Six-Million Dollar Man to The Matrix (per-
haps the quintessential HCI story), and even a hand-
ful of plays and songs about computers and
technology.
The encyclopedia has enabled us to develop a
network of experts as well as a cutting-edge resource
that will help us to meet the needs of students,
professionals, and scholars in many disciplines. Many
articles will be of considerable interest and value to
librariansDigital Libraries, Information Filtering,
Information Retrieval, Lexicon Building, and much
moreand even to publishers. For example, we have
an article on Text Summarization written by Judith
Klavans, Director of Research at the Center for
Advanced Study of Language, University of
Maryland. Summarization is a technique for
identifying the key points of a document or set of
related documents, and presenting these selected
points as a brief, integrated independent represen-
tation and is essential to electronic publishing, a key
aspect of publishing today and in the future.
The Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer
Interaction provides us with an essential grounding
in the most relevant and intimate form of technol-
ogy, making scientific and technological research
available to a wide audience. This topic and other as-
pects of what Bill Bainbridge likes to refer to as con-
verging technologies will continue to be a core part
of our print and online publishing program. And, as
befits a project so closely tied to electronic tech-
n o l o g y, a n o n l i n e ve r s i o n o f t h e B e r k s h i re
Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction will be
available through xrefplus. For more information,
visit www.xreferplus.com.
Karen Christensen
CEO, Berkshire Publishing Group
karen@berkshirepublishing.com
Editors Acknowledgements
Karen Christensen, cofounder of the Berkshire
Publishing Group, deserves both thanks and
praise for recognizing that the time had come when
a comprehensive reference work about human re-
lations with computing systems was both possible
and sorely needed. Courtney Linehan at Berkshire
was both skilled and tireless in working with the au-
thors, editor, and copyeditors to complete a mar-
velous collection of articles that are technically
accurate while communicating clearly to a broad
public. At various stages in the process of develop-
ing the encyclopedia, Marcy Ross and George
Woodward at Berkshire made their own indispen-
sable contributions. Among the authors, Mary
Harper, Bhavani Thuraisingham, and Barry Wellman
were unstinting in their insightful advice. I would
particularly like to thank Michael Lesk who, as di-
rector of the Division of Information and Intelligent
Systems of the National Science Foundation, gave
me the opportunity to gain invaluable experience
managing the grant programs in Universal Access
and Human-Computer Interaction.
William Sims Bainbridge
Deputy Director,
Division of Information and Intelligent Systems
National Science Foundation

William Sims Bainbridge is deputy director of the
Division of Information and Intelligent Systems of
the National Science Foundation, after having di-
rected the divisions Human-Computer Interaction,
Universal Access, and Knowledge and Cognitive
Systems programs. He coedited Converging Tech-
nologies to Improve Human Performance, which
explores the combination of nanotechnology, bio-
technology, information technology, and cognitive
science (National Science Foundation, 2002;
www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies). He has rep-
ABOUT THE EDITOR
resented the social and behavioral sciences on five ad-
vanced technology initiatives: High Performance
Computing and Communications, Knowledge and
Distributed Intelligence, Digital Libraries, Information
Technology Research, and Nanotechnology.
Bill Bainbr idge is also the author of ten
books, four textbook-software packages, and some
150 shorter publications in information science,
social science of technology, and the sociology of
culture. He earned his doctorate from Harvard
University.
xliv

A
ADAPTIVE HELP
SYSTEMS
Adaptive help systems (AHSs; also called intelligent
help systems) are a specific kind of help system and a
recognized area of research in the fields of artificial in-
telligence and human-computer interaction. The goal
of an adaptive help system is to provide personalized
help to users working with complex interfaces, from
operating systems (such as UNIX) to popular appli-
cations (such as Microsoft Excel). Unlike traditional
static help systems that serve by request the same in-
formation to different users, AHSs attempt to adapt to
the knowledge and goals of individual users, offering
the most relevant information in the most relevant
way.
ADAPTIVE HELP SYSTEMS
ADAPTIVE INTERFACES
AFFECTIVE COMPUTING
ALTAIR
ALTO
ANIMATION
ANTHROPOLOGY AND HCI
ANTHROPOMETRY
APPLICATION USE STRATEGIES
ARPANET
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ASIAN SCRIPT INPUT
THE ATANASOFF-BERRY COMPUTER
ATTENTIVE USER INTERFACE
AUGMENTED COGNITION
AUGMENTED REALITY
AVATARS
The first wave of research on adaptive help emerged
in early 1980 when the UNIX systemdue to its low
cost and efficiencyreached many universities whose
users lacked the advanced technical training (such as
knowledge of complicated commands) needed to op-
erate UNIX. Early work on adaptive and intelligent
help systems focused almost exclusively on UNIX and
its utilities, such as text editors and e-mail. From 1980
to 1995 this research direction involved more than a
hundred researchers working on at least two-dozen
projects. The most representative projects of this gen-
eration were UNIX Consultant and EUROHELP. The
widespread use of graphical user interfaces (GUIs)
in early 1990 caused a pause in AHS research, because
GUIs resolved a number of the problems that the early
generation of AHS sought to address. In just a few years,
however, GUIs reached the level of complexity
where adaptive help again became important, giving
1
2 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
INTERFACE Interconnections between a device, program,
or person that facilitate interaction.
rise to a second wave of research on AHSs. Lumire,
the most well known project of this wave, intro-
duced the idea of intelligent help to millions of users
of Microsoft applications.
Active and Passive AHSs
Adaptive help systems are traditionally divided into
two classes: active and passive. In a passive AHS, the
user initiates the help session by asking for help. An
active help system initiates the help session itself. Both
kinds of AHSs have to solve three challenging prob-
lems: They must build a model of user goals and knowl-
edge, they must decide what to present in the next help
message, and they must decide how to present it. In
addition, active AHSs also need to decide when to
intervene with adaptive help.
User Modeling
To be useful, a help message has to present informa-
tion that is new to the user and relevant to the users
current goal. To determine what is new and relevant,
AHSs track the users goals and the users knowledge
about the interface and maintain a user model. Two
major approaches to user modeling in AHSs are ask
the user and observe the user. Most passive AHSs
have exploited the first of these approaches. UNIX
Consultant demonstrates that a passive AHS can be
fairly advanced: It involves users in a natural-language
dialogue to discover their goals and degree of knowl-
edge and then provides the most relevant information.
In contrast, active AHSs, introduced by the com-
puter scientist Gerhard Fischer in 1985, strive to de-
duce a users goals by observing the user at work; they
then strive to identify the lack of knowledge by de-
tecting errors and suboptimal behavior. EURO-
HELP provides a good example of an active help system
capable of identifying a knowledge gap and filling it
provocatively. In practical AHSs the two approaches
often coexist: The user model is initiated through a
short interview with the user and then kept updated
through observation.
Many AHSs use two classic approaches to model
the user. First, they track the users actions to under-
stand which commands and concepts the user
knows and which are not known, and second, they use
task models to deduce the users current goal and miss-
ing knowledge. The first technology is reasonably sim-
ple: The system just records all used commands and
parameters, assuming that if a command is used, it
must be known. The second is based on plan recog-
nition and advanced domain knowledge representa-
tion in such forms as a goal-plan-action tree. To identify
the current goal and missing pieces of knowledge, the
system first infers the users goal from an observed se-
Farewell Clippy
M
any PC users through the years quickly learned
how to turn off Clippy, the Microsoft Office
helper who appeared out of nowhere eagerly hop-
ing to offer advice to the baffled. The Microsoft press re-
lease below was Clippys swan song.
REDMOND, Wash., April 11, 2001Whether
you love him or you hate him, say farewell to
Clippy automatically popping up on your screen.
Clippy is the little paperclip with the soulful
eyes and the Groucho eyebrows. The electronic
ham who politely offers hints for using Microsoft
Office software.
But, after four years on-screen, Clippy will
lose his starring role when Microsoft Office XP
debuts on May 31. Clippy, the Office Assistant in-
troduced in Office 97, has been demoted in Office
XP. The wiry little assistant is turned off by de-
fault in Office XP, but diehard supporters can
turn Clippy back on if they miss him.
Office XP is so easy to use that Clippy is
no longer necessary, or useful, explained Lisa
Gurry, a Microsoft product manager. With new
features like smart tags and Task Panes, Office XP
enables people to get more out of the product
than ever before. These new simplicity and ease-
of-use improvements really make Clippy obso-
lete, she said.
Hes quite down in the dumps, Gurry joked.
He has even started his own campaign to try
to get his old job back, or find a new one.
Source: Microsoft. Retrieved March 10, 2004, from
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/apr01/04-11clippy.asp

quence of commands. It then tries to find a more ef-
ficient (or simply correct) sequence of commands to
achieve this goal. Next, it identifies the aspects of the
interface that the user needs to know to build this se-
quence. These aspects are suspected to be unknown
and become the candidates to be presented in help
messages.
Providing Adaptive Help:
Deciding What to Present and How
Deciding what should be the focus of the next help
message is the most challenging job of an adaptive help
system. A number of passive AHSs simply avoid this
problem, allowing the users to determine what they
need and focusing on adaptive presentation only.
Classic AHSs, which use plan recognition, can deter-
mine quite precisely what the user needs, but this func-
tionality requires elaborate knowledge representation.
To bypass the knowledge representation barrier, mod-
ern practical AHSs use a range of alternative
(though less precise) technologies that are either sta-
tistically or socially based. For example, Lumire used
a complex probabilistic network to connect ob-
served user actions with available help interventions,
while the system developed by MITRE researchers
Linton and Schaefer compared the skills of individual
users with a typical set of interface skills assembled by
observing multiple users.
As soon as the focus of the next help message is
determined, the AHS has to decide how to present the
target content. While some AHSs ignore this part and
focus solely on the selection part, it has been shown
that adaptive presentation of help information can in-
crease the users comprehension speed and decrease
errors. Most often the content presentation is adapted
to the users knowledge, with, for example, expert users
receiving more specific details and novice users re-
ceiving more explanations. To present the adaptive
content, classic AHSs that operated in a line-based
UNIX interface relied mostly on a natural language
generation approach. Modern AHSs operating in the
context of Graphical User Interfaces exploit adaptive
hypermedia techniques to present the content and links
to further information that is most suitable for the
given user.
Research into adaptive help systems has contributed
to progress in a number of subfields within artificial
ADAPTIVE INTERFACES 3
intelligence and HCI and has helped to establish re-
search on intelligent interfaces and user modeling. A
treasury of knowledge accumulated by various AHS
projects over the last thirty years is being used now
to develop practical adaptive help and adaptive per-
formance support systems.
Peter Brusilovsky
See also Artificial Intelligence; Task Analysis; User
Modeling
FURTHER READING
Brusilovsky, P., Kobsa, A., & Vassileva, J. (Eds.). (1998). Adaptive hy-
pertext and hypermedia. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Encarnao, L. M., & Stoev, S. L. (1999). An application-independent
intelligent user support system exploiting action-sequence based
user modeling. In J. Kay (Ed.), Proceedings of 7th International
Conference on User Modeling, UM99, June 2024, 1999 (pp.
245254). Vienna: Springer.
Fischer, G. (2001). User modeling in human-computer interaction.
User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 11(12), 6586.
Goodman, B. A., & Litman, D. J. (1992). On the interaction between
plan recognition and intelligent interfaces. User Modeling and User-
Adapted Interaction, 2(1), 83115.
Hegner, S. J., Mc Kevitt, P., Norvig, P., & Wilensky, R. L. (Eds.). (2001).
Intelligent help systems for UNIX. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Horvitz, E., Breese, J., Heckerman, D., Hovel, D., & Rommelse, K.
(1998). The Lumire project: Bayesian user modeling for inferring
the goals and needs of software users. In Proceedings of Fourteenth
Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (pp. 256265).
San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Linton, F., & Schaefer, H.-P. (2000). Recommender systems for learn-
ing: Building user and expert models through long-term obser-
vation of application use. User Modeling and User-Adapted
Interaction, 10(23), 181208.
Oppermann, R. (Ed.). (1994). Adaptive user support: Ergonomic de-
sign of manually and automatically adaptable software. Hillsdale,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Wilensky, R., Chin, D., Luria, M., Martin, J., Mayfield, J., & Wu, D.
(1988). The Berkeley UNIX Consultant project. Computational
Linguistics, 14(4), 3584.
Winkels, R. (1992). Explorations in intelligent tutoring systems and help.
Amsterdam: IOS Press.
ADAPTIVE INTERFACES
Computer interfaces are becoming ever richer in
functionality, software systems are becoming more
4 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
complex, and online information spaces are be-
coming larger in size. On the other hand, the num-
ber and diversity of people who use computer systems
are increasing as well. The vast majority of new users
are thereby not computer experts, but rather layper-
sons such as professionals in nontechnical areas, eld-
erly people, and children. These users vary with
respect not only to their computer skills, but also
to their fields of expertise, their tasks and goals, their
mood and motivation, and their intellectual and
physical capabilities.
The traditional strategy for enabling heteroge-
neous user groups to master the complexity and rich-
ness of computers was to render computer interaction
as simple as possible and thereby to cater to the low-
est common denominator of all users. Increasingly,
though, developers are creating computer applica-
tions that can be manually customized to users
needs by the users themselves or by an available ex-
pert. Other applications go beyond this capability.
They are able within certain limits to recognize
user needs and to cater to them automatically.
Following the terminology of Reinhard Oppermann,
we will use the term adaptable for the manual type
of application and adaptive for the automatic type.
Adaptable and Adaptive Systems
Adaptable systems are abundant. Most commercial
software allows users to modify system parameters
and to indicate individual preferences. Web portals
permit users to specify the information they want to
see (such as stock quotes or news types) and the form
in which it should be displayed by their web browsers.
Web shops can store basic information about their
customers, such as payment and shipping data, past
purchases, wish lists for future purchases, and birth-
dates of friends and family to facilitate transac-
tions online. In contrast, adaptive systems are still
quite rare. Some shopping websites give purchase
recommendations to customers that take into ac-
count what these customers bought in the past.
Commercial learning software for high school math-
ematics adapts its teaching strategies to the presumed
level of expertise of each student. Advertisements on
mobile devices are already being targeted to users in
certain geographical locations only or to users who
perform certain indicative actions (such as entering
certain keywords in search machines).
User adaptability and adaptivity recently gained
strong popularity on the World Wide Web under the
notion of personalization. This popularity is due
to the fact that the audiences of websites are often
even less homogeneous than the user populations of
commercial software. Moreover, personalization has
been recognized as an important instrument for on-
line customer relationship management.
Acquiring Information about Users
To acquire the information about users that is needed
to cater to them, people can use several methods. A
simple way is to ask users directly, usually through an
initial questionnaire. However, this questionnaire must
be kept extremely short (usually to less than five ques-
tions) because users are generally reluctant to spend
efforts on work that is not directly related to their cur-
rent tasks, even if this work would save them time in
the long run. In certain kinds of systems, specifically
tutoring systems, user interviews can be clad in the
form of quizzes or games. In the future, basic infor-
mation about users may be available on smartcards,
that is, machine-readable plastic cards that users swipe
through a reading device before the beginning of a
computer session or that can even be read from a dis-
tance as users approach a computer terminal.
Various methods draw assumptions about
users based on their interaction behavior. These
methods include simple rules that predict user
characteristics or assign users to predetermined
user groups with known characteristics when cer-
tain user actions are being observed (the latter
method is generally known as the stereotype
approach to user modeling). Probabilistic reason-
ing methods take uncertainty and evidences from
different sources into account. Plan recogni-
tion methods aim at linking individual actions of
users to presumable underlying plans and goals.
Machine-learning methods try to detect regu-
larities in users actions (and to use the learned
patterns as a basis for predicting future actions).
Clique-based (collaborative) filtering methods
determine those users who are closest to the cur-
rent user in an n-dimensional attribute space and

Keeping Disabled People in the Technology Loop
AUSTIN, Texas (ANS)If communications technology is
fueling the economy and social culture of the 21st century,
why should 18 percent of the population be left behind?
Stephen Berger, a specialist in retrofitting the latest
computer and phone technology for the disabled, is
trying to make sure theyre not.
From an office in Austin, Berger works to make sure
that those with hearing and vision impairments or other
disabilities can benefit from the latest in Internet, cell
phone and other technologies.
As a project manager at Siemens Information and
Communication Mobile, where hes responsible for stan-
dards and regulatory management, Berger works to un-
ravel such problems as why those who use hearing aids
couldnt use many brands of cell phones.
Some new cell phones make a buzz in hearing aids,
Berger explained. The Federal Communications
Commission took note and said it needed to be resolved.
But what was needed was either better technology or
protocols that both the hearing impaired and the cell
phone companies could agree on. Berger helped deter-
mine what types of hearing aids work with certain
types of phones. The intelligence was passed around the
industry, and the problem is now minimal.
Berger is one of the many technology specialists in
huge communications companies whose niche has
use them as predictors for unknown attributes of
the current user. Clustering methods allow one to
generalize groups of users with similar behaviors
or characteristics and to generate user stereotypes.
Types of Information about the User
Researchers have considered numerous kinds of
user-related data for personalization purposes,
including the following:
Data about the user, such as demographic data,
and information or assumptions about the
users knowledge, skills, capabilities, interests,
preferences, goals, and plans
ADAPTIVE INTERFACES 5
been defined in recent years. While the proliferation of
computers, home gadgets and gizmos is on the rise, its
workers like Berger who make sure the disabled arent left
out of the loop.
Other workers in the field, according to Berger, are
coming from educational institutions. For example, Neil
Scott and Charlie Robinson, from Stanford University
and Louisiana Tech University respectively, are working
on the things the Hollywood movies are made of.
[]
Guys like this are breaking the barrier between the
blind and computers, he said.(The blind) will soon have
an interface with no visual, just audio computer controls
with no touch, just head position and voice controls.
Other devices, like the Home RF systemsthats home
radio frequencylink all the major appliances and
electronics of the home together. That means tele-
phone, Dolby sound, Internet, entertainment electronics
and other devices are all connected into one wireless net-
work with voice control for those who arent mobile.
Its microphones implanted in wallpaper, security
systems by voice, household appliances that work on a
vocal command, Berger said. Its what the movies are
made of and its here today.
Source: Innovations keep disabled in the technology loop. American
News Services, October 12, 2000.
Usage data, such as selections (e.g., of webpages
or help texts with certain content), temporal
viewing behavior (particularly skipping of
webpages or streaming media), user ratings (e.g.,
regarding the usefulness of products or the rel-
evance of information), purchases and related
actions (e.g., in shopping carts, wish lists), and
usage regularities (such as usage frequencies,
high correlations between situations and spe-
cific actions, and frequently occurring sequences
of actions)
Environmental data, such as data about the
users software and hardware environments and
information about the users current location
6 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
(where the granularity ranges from country level
to the precise coordinates) and personalization-
relevant data of this location.
Privacy
Storing information about users for personaliza-
tion is highly privacy relevant. Numerous con-
sumer surveys show consistently that users are
concerned about their privacy online, which also
affects personalized systems on the Web. Some
popular personalization methods also seem in con-
flict with privacy laws that protect the data of iden-
tified or identifiable individuals in more than thirty
countries. Such laws usually call for parsimony, pur-
pose specificity, and user awareness or even user con-
sent in the collecting and processing of personal data.
The privacy laws of many countries also restrict the
transborder flow of personal data or even extend their
coverage beyond the national boundaries. Such laws
then also affect personalized websites abroad that
serve users in these regulated countries, even if there
is no privacy law in place in the country where the
websites are located. Well-designed user interaction
will be needed in personalized systems to commu-
nicate to users at any point the prospective benefits
of personalization and the resulting privacy conse-
quences to enable users to make educated choices.
A flexible architecture, moreover, will be needed to
allow for optimal personalization within the con-
straints set by users privacy preferences and the le-
gal environment. Alternatively, anonymous yet
personalized interaction can be offered.
Empirical Evaluation
A number of empirical studies demonstrate in sev-
eral application areas that well-designed adaptive user
interfaces may give users considerable benefits. Boyle
and Encarnacion showed that the automatic ad-
justment of the wording of a hypertext document to
users presumed familiarity with technical vocabu-
lary improved text comprehension and search
times significantly in comparison with static hyper-
text. Conati and colleagues presented evidence that
adaptive prompts based on the student model ef-
fectively elicited self-explanations that improved stu-
dents learning (Conati et al. 2000, 404). Corbett and
Trask showed that a certain tutoring strategy (namely
subgoal scaffolding based on a continuous knowl-
edge trace of the user) decreases the average number
of problems required to reach cognitive mastery of
Lisp concepts. In studies reviewed by Specht and
Kobsa, students learning time and retention of learn-
ing material improved significantly if learners with
low prior knowledge received strict recommen-
dations on what to study next (which amounted to
the blocking of all other learning material), while stu-
dents with high prior knowledge received noncom-
pulsory recommendations only. Strachan and
colleagues found significantly higher user ratings for
the personalized version of a help system in a com-
mercial tax advisor system than for its nonperson-
alized version.
Personalization for e-commerce on the Web
has also been positively evaluated to some extent,
both from a business and a user point of view. Jupiter
Communications reports that personalization at
twenty-five consumer e-commerce sites boosted the
number of new customers by 47 percent and revenues
by 52 percent in the first year. Nielsen NetRatings re-
ports that registered visitors to portal sites (who
obtain the privilege of adapting the displayed in-
formation to their interests) spend more than three
times longer at their home portal than other users
and view three to four times more pages. Nielsen
NetRatings also reports that e-commerce sites offer-
ing personalized services convert approximately twice
as many visitors into buyers than do e-commerce sites
that do not offer personalized services. In design stud-
ies on beneficial personalized elements in a Web-based
procurement system, participants, however,expressed
their strong desire to have full and explicit control of
data and interaction and to readily be able to make
sense of site behavior, that is, to understand a sites
rationale for displaying particular content (Alpert
et al. 2003, 373).
User-adaptable and user-adaptive interfaces have
shown their promise in several application areas. The
increase in the number and variety of computer users
is likely to increase their promise in the future. The
observation of Browne still holds true, however:
Worthwhile adaptation is system specific. It is de-
pendent on the users of that system and requirements

to be met by that system (Browne 1993, 69). Careful
user studies with a focus on expected user benefits
through personalization are, therefore, indispensa-
ble for all practical deployments.
Alfred Kobsa
See also Artificial Intelligence and HCI; Privacy; User
Modeling
FURTHER READING
Alpert, S., Karat, J., Karat, C.-M., Brodie, C., & Vergo, J. G. (2003). User
attitudes regarding a user-adaptive e-commerce web site. User
Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 13(4), 373396.
Boyle, C., & Encarnacion, A. O. (1994). MetaDoc: An adaptive hy-
pertext reading system. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction,
4(1), 119.
Browne, D. (1993). Experiences from the AID Project. In M. Schneider-
Hufschmidt, T. Khme, & U. Malinowski (Eds.), Adaptive user
interfaces: Principles and practice (pp. 6978). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Carroll, J., & Rosson, M. B. (1989). The paradox of the active user. In
J. Carroll (Ed.), Interfacing thought: Cognitive aspects of human-
computer interaction (pp. 80111). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Conati, C., Gertner, A., & VanLehn, K. (2002). Using Bayesian networks
to manage uncertainty in student modeling. User Modeling and
User-Adapted Interaction, 12(4), 371417.
Corbett, A. T., & Trask, H. (2000). Instructional interventions in com-
puter-based tutoring: Differential impact on learning time and ac-
curacy. Proceedings of ACM CHI 2000 Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems (pp. 97104).
Hof, R., Green, H., & Himmelstein, L. (1998, October 5). Now its YOUR
WEB. Business Week (pp. 6875).
ICONOCAST. (1999). More concentrated than the leading brand.
Retrieved August 29, 2003, from http://www.iconocast.com/is-
sue/1999102102.html
Kobsa, A. (2002). Personalized hypermedia and international privacy.
Communications of the ACM, 45(5), 6467. Retrieved August 29,
2003, from http://www.ics.uci.edu/~kobsa/papers/2002-CACM-
kobsa.pdf
Kobsa, A., Koenemann, J., & Pohl, W. (2001). Personalized hyperme-
dia presentation techniques for improving customer relationships.
The Knowledge Engineering Review, 16(2), 111155. Retrieved August
29, 2003, from http://www.ics.uci.edu/~kobsa/papers/2001-KER-
kobsa.pdf
Kobsa, A., & Schreck, J. (2003). Privacy through pseudonymity in user-
adaptive systems. ACM Transactions on Internet Technology, 3(2),
149183. Retrieved August 29, 2003, from http://www.ics.uci.edu/
~kobsa/papers/2003-TOIT-kobsa.pdf
Oppermann, R. (Ed.). (1994). Adaptive user support: Ergonomic design
of manually and automatically adaptable software. Hillsdale, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Rich, E. (1979). User modeling via stereotypes. Cognitive Science, 3,
329354.
Rich, E. (1983). Users are individuals: Individualizing user models.
International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 18, 199214.
AFFECTIVE COMPUTING 7
Specht, M., & Kobsa, A. (1999). Interaction of domain expertise and inter-
face design in adaptive educational hypermedia. Retrieved March 24,
2004, from http://wwwis.win.tue.nl/asum99/specht/specht.html
Strachan, L., Anderson, J., Sneesby, M., & Evans, M. (2000). Minimalist
user modeling in a complex commercial software system. User
Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 10(23), 109146.
Teltzrow, M., & Kobsa, A. (2004). Impacts of user privacy preferences
on personalized systemsA comparative study. In C.-M. Karat,
J. Blom, & J. Karat (Eds.), Designing personalized user experiences
for e-commerce (pp. 315332). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer
Academic Publishers.
AFFECTIVE COMPUTING
Computations that machines make that relate to hu-
man emotions are called affective computations.
Such computations include but are not limited to
the recognition of human emotion, the expression
of emotions by machines, and direct manipulation
of the human users emotions. The motivation for
the development of affective computing is derived
from evidence showing that the ability of humans
to feel and display emotions is an integral part of hu-
man intelligence. Emotions help humans in areas
such as decisionmaking and human-to-human com-
munications. Therefore, it is argued that in order
to create intelligent machines that can interact ef-
fectively with humans, one must give the machines
affective capabilities.
Although humans interact mainly through
speech, we also use body gestures to emphasize
certain parts of the speech and as one way to display
emotions. Scientific evidence shows that emo-
tional skills are part of what is called intelligence.
A simple example is the ability to know when some-
thing a person says to another is annoying or
pleasing to the other, and be able to adapt accord-
ingly. Emotional skills also help in learning to dis-
tinguish between important and unimportant things,
an integral part of intelligent decision-making. For
computers to be able to interact intelligently with
humans, they will need to have such emotional skills
as the ability to display emotions (for example,
through animated agents) and the ability to recog-
nize the users emotions. The ability to recognize
emotions would be useful in day-to-day interaction,
for example, when the user is Web browsing or
8 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
FUNCTIONALITY The capabilities of a given program or
parts of a program.
searching: If the computer can recognize emo-
tions, it will know if the user is bored or dissatis-
fied with the search results. Affective skills might also
be used in education: A computer acting as a virtual
tutor would be more effective if it could tell by stu-
dents emotional responses that they were having dif-
ficulties or were boredor pleased.
It would not, however, be necessary for com-
puters to recognize emotions in every application.
Airplane control and banking systems, for example,
do not require any affective skills. However, in ap-
plications in which computers take on a social role
(as a tutor, assistant, or even companion), it may en-
hance their functionality if they can recognize users
emotions. Computer agents could learn users
preferences through the users emotions. Computers
with affective capabilities could also help human
users monitor their stress levels. In clinical set-
tings, recognizing a persons inability to interpret
certain facial expressions may help diagnose early
psychological disorders. In addition to recognizing
emotions, the affective computer would also have
the ability to display emotions. For example, syn-
thetic speech with emotions in the voice would sound
more pleasing than a monotonous voice and
would enhance communication between the user
and the computer. For computers to be affective, they
must recognize emotions, be capable of measuring
signals that represent emotions, and be able to
synthesize emotions.
General Description of Emotions
Human beings possess and express emotions in every-
day interactions with others. Emotions are often
reflected on the face, in hand and body gestures, and
in the voice. The fact that humans understand
emotions and know how to react to other peoples
expressions greatly enriches human interaction.
There is no clear definition of emotions. One way
to handle emotions is to give them discrete labels, such
as joy, fear, love, surprise, sadness, and so on. One prob-
lem with this approach is that the humans often feel
blended emotions. In addition, the choice of words
may be too restrictive or culturally dependent. Another
way to describe emotions is to have multiple dimen-
sions or scales. Instead of choosing discrete labels, emo-
tions are describe on several continuous scales, for
example from pleasant to unpleasant or from simple
to complicated. Two common scales are valence and
arousal.Valence describes the pleasantness of the stim-
uli, with positive (or pleasant) on one end and nega-
tive (or unpleasant) on the other. For example,
happiness has a positive valence, while disgust has a
negative valence. The other dimension is arousal, or
activation, which describes the degree to which the
emotion stimulates the person experiencing it. For ex-
ample, sadness has low arousal, whereas surprise has
high arousal. The different emotional labels could be
plotted at various positions on a two-dimensional plane
spanned by these two axes to construct a two-di-
mensional emotion model. In 1954 the psychologist
Harold Schlosberg suggested a three-dimensional
model in which he added an axis for attention-rejec-
tion to the above two. This was reflected by facial ex-
pressions as the degree of attention given to a person
or object. For example, attention is expressed by
wide open eyes and an open mouth. Rejection shows
contraction of eyes, lips, and nostrils.
Although psychologists and others argue about
what exactly emotions are and how to describe them,
everyone agrees that a lack of emotions or the
presence of emotional disorders can be so dis-
abling that people affected are no longer able to lead
normal lives or make rational decisions.
Technology for Recognizing Emotions
Technologies for recognizing human emotions be-
gan to develop in the early 1990s. Three main modal-
ities have been targeted as being relevant for this task:
visual, auditory, and physiological signals. The vi-
sual modality includes both static images and videos
containing information such as facial expressions
and body motion. The audio modality uses prima-
rily human voice signal as input, while the physio-
logical signals measure changes in the human body,
such as changes in temperature, blood pressure, heart
rate, and skin conductivity.

Facial Expressions
One of the most common ways for humans to display
emotions is through facial expressions. The best-known
study of facial expressions was done by the psychol-
ogist Paul Ekman and his colleagues. Since the
1970s, Ekman has argued that emotions are manifested
directly in facial expressions, and that there are six ba-
sic universal facial expressions corresponding to
happiness, surprise, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust.
Ekman and his collaborator, the researcher Wallace
Friesen, designed a model linking facial motions to ex-
pression of emotions; this model is known as the Facial
Action Coding System (FACS). The facial action
coding system codes facial expressions as a combina-
tion of facial movements known as action units. The
action units have some relation to facial muscular mo-
tion and were defined based on anatomical knowledge
and by studying videotapes of how the face changes
its appearance.
Ekmans work inspired many other researchers to
analyze facial expressions by means of image and video
processing. Although the FACS is designed to be
performed by human observers viewing a video frame
by frame, there have been attempts to automate it in
some fashion, using the notion that a change in fa-
cial appearance can be described in terms of a set of
facial expressions that are linked to certain emo-
tions. Work on automatic facial-expression recogni-
tion started in the early 1990s. In all the research, some
method to extract measurements of the facial features
from facial images or videos was used and a classifier
was constructed to categorize the facial expressions.
Comparison of facial expression recognition methods
shows that recognition rates can, on limited data sets
and applications, be very high. The generality of these
results has yet to be determined.
Voice
Quantitative studies of emotions expressed in the
voice have had a longer history than quantitative
studies of facial expressions, starting in the 1930s.
Studies of the emotional content of speech have
examined the pitch, duration, and intensity of the
utterance. Automatic recognition systems of emo-
tions from voice have so far not achieved high ac-
curacy. In addition, there is no agreed-upon theory
AFFECTIVE COMPUTING 9
of the universality of how emotions are expressed
vocally, unlike the case for facial expressions. Research
that began in the late 1990s concentrated on com-
bining voice and video to enhance the recognition
capabilities of voice-only systems.
Multimodal Input
Many researchers believe that combining different
modalities enables more accurate recognition of a
users emotion than relying on any single modality
alone. Combining different modalities presents both
technological and conceptual challenges, however.
On the technological side, the different signals
have different sampling rates (that is, it may take
longer to register signals in one modality than in an-
other), and the existence of one signal can reduce the
reliability of another (for example, when a person is
speaking, facial expression recognition is not as re-
liable). On the conceptual side, emotions are not al-
ways aligned in time for different signals. For
example, happiness might be evident visually before
it became evident physiologically.
Computers Displaying Emotions
For affective computing, it is as important that com-
puters display emotions as it is that they recognize them.
There are a number of potential ways in which com-
puters could evince an emotion.A computer might de-
pend on facial expressions of animated agents or on
synthesized speech, or emotion could be conveyed to
a user through wearable devices and text messages. The
method would be determined by the application do-
main and preset goals. For example, interaction in an
office environment requires emotion to be expressed
differently from the way it would be expressed during
pursuit of leisure activities, such as video games; sim-
ilarly, in computer-assisted tutoring, the computers
goal is to teach the human user a concept, and the
display of emotions facilitates this goal, while in a game
of poker, the computers goal is to hide its intention and
deceive its human adversary.
A computer could also synthesize emotions in
order to make intelligent decisions with regard to prob-
lems whose attributes cannot all be quantified ex-
actly, or when the search space for the best solution is
10 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
large. By assigning valence to different choices based
on different emotional criteria, many choices in a large
space can be eliminated quickly, resulting in a quick
and good decision.
Research Directions
Affective computing is still in its infancy. Some com-
puter systems can perform limited recognition of hu-
man emotion with limited responses in limited
application domains. As the demand for intelligent
computing systems increases, however, so does the need
for affective computing.
Various moral issues have been brought up as
relevant in the design of affective computers. Among
them are privacy issues: If a computer can recognize
human emotions, a user may want assurances that
information on his or her emotional state will not be
abused. There are also issues related to computers ma-
nipulation of peoples emotions: Users should have as-
surance that computers will not physically or
emotionally harm them. There are also questions re-
garding who will have responsibility for computer
actions. As affective technology advances, these issues
will have increasing relevance.
Ira Cohen, Thomas S. Huang, Lawrence S. Chen
FURTHER READING
Darwin, C. (1890). The expression of the emotions in man and animals
(2nd ed.). London: John Murray.
Ekman, P. (Ed.). (1982). Emotion in the human face (2nd ed.). New
York: Cambridge University Press.
Ekman, P., & Friesen,W.V. (1978). Facial action coding system: Investigators
guide. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology. New York: Henry Holt.
Jenkins, J. M., Oatley, K., and Stein, N. L. (Eds.). (1998). Human emotions:
A reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Lang, P. (1995). The emotion probe: Studies of motivation and attention.
American Psychologist, 50(5), 372385.
Pantic, M., & Rothkrantz, L. J. M. (2000). Automatic analysis of facial ex-
pressions: The state of the art. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis
and Machine Intelligence, 22(12), 14241445.
Picard, R. W. (1997). Affective computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Picard, R. W., Vyzas, E., & Healey, J. (2001). Toward machine emotional
intelligence: Analysis of affective physiological state. IEEE Transactions
Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 23(10), 11751191.
Schlosberg, H. (1954). Three dimensions of emotion. Psychological Review,
61(2), 8188.
ALTAIR
People have called the legendary Altair the first true
personal computer. However, although it played
an important role in the development of per-
sonal computers, we would be more correct to say
that Altair was the last hobby computer that set
many of the ambitions for the social movement
that produced real personal computers during the
1970s. Thus, from the standpoint of human-com-
puter interaction, Altair is worth remembering be-
cause it marked a crucial transition between two
eras of amateur computing: an experimental era
lasting from about 1950 until the mid-1970s, when
home computers were among the more esoteric
projects attempted by electronics hobbyists, and
the true personal computer era, beginning with
such computers as the Apple II in 1977.
Altair was announced to the world late in 1974
in the issue of Popular Electronics magazine
dated January 1975. Some controversy exists about
how active a role the magazine played in launch-
ing Altair, but clearly Altair was actually designed
and manufactured by the small company Micro
Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS)
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, headed by H. Edward
Ed Roberts. Altair was a kit, costing $397, that
required much skill from the builder and did not
include sufficient memory or input-output devices
to perform any real tasks. The central processing
unit was the new Intel 8080 microprocessor chip.
Altair came with only 256 bytes of memory, and
a notoriously unreliable 4-kilobyte memory ex-
pansion board kit cost an additional $264. After
a while MITS offered data input and output by
means of an audio cassette recorder, but initially
only a dedicated amateur was in a practical posi-
tion to add a keyboard (perhaps a used teletype
machine) or punched paper tape reader. Input-
output for the original computer was accomplished
by switches and lights on the front of the cabinet.
Popular Electronics hyped the Altair as if it were
a fully developed minicomputer and suggested
some excessively demanding applications: an au-
topilot for airplanes or boats, a high-speed in-
put-output device for a mainframe computer, a

brain for a robot, an automatic controller for an
air-conditioning system, and a text-to-Braille con-
verter to allow blind people to read ordinary
printed matter. Altair rescued MITS from the verge
of bankruptcy, but the company could never
fully deliver on the promise of the computer and
was absorbed by another company in 1977.
Hundreds of amateurs built Altairs on the way to
careers in the future personal computer industry,
its subcomponent interface bus became the widely
used S100 standard, and the computer contributed
greatly to the revolution in human-computer in-
teraction that occurred during its decade. Notably,
the mighty Microsoft corporation began life as a
tiny partner of MITS, producing a BASIC inter-
preter for programming the Altair.
Altair was far from being the first hobby
computer, however. That honor probably be-
longs to Edmund C. Berkeleys Simon relay-
based computer produced in 1950 and publicized
among hobbyists in the pages of Radio-Electronics
magazine. The most widely owned hobby digital
computer before Altair was probably Berkeleys
GENIAC (Genius Almost-Automatic Computer),
which cost less than twenty dollars in 1955. Lacking
vacuum tubes, relays, or transistors, this assem-
bly of Masonite board, rotary switches, lights, and
wires instructed students in the rudiments of logic
programming (programming the steps of logical
deductions). Immediately prior to Altair, two less
influential hobby computers were also based on
Intel chips: the Scelbi 8H and the Titus Mark-8.
The difference is that Altair was expandable and
intended to evolve into a full-featured personal
computer.
The 1970s marked a turning point in the his-
tory of hobby electronics, and innovative proj-
ects such as Altair could be seen as desperate
measures in the attempt to keep the field alive.
Today some enthusiasts build electronic equipment
from kits or from scratch, just as others build their
own harpsichords, but they no longer have the same
relationship to the electronics industry that they
enjoyed during the middle decades of the twenti-
eth century. Prior to the development of integrated
circuits, factories constructed radios, televisions,
and audio amplifiers largely by hand, laboriously
ALTAIR 11
Personal computers are notorious for having a half-life
of about two years. In scientific terms, this means that
two years after you buy the computer, half of your friends
will sneer at you for having an outdated machine.
Peter H. Lewis
soldering each wire, capacitor, and resistor into
place manually. Any of these parts might burn out
in use, so repair shops flourished, and companies
such as Allied Radio and Lafayette Electronics sold
individual parts to hobbyists and to anyone else
who was willing to buy. For the novice, these dis-
tributors sold kits that provided all the parts needed
to build a project, and more advanced amateurs
followed instructions in a number of magazines to
build projects from parts they bought separately
from distributors.
In purely financial terms building a stereo sys-
tem from a kit during the 1960s, as tens of thou-
sands of people did, made little sense, but the result
was fully as good as the best ready-made system
that could be bought in stores, and in some cases
the designs were identical. The introduction of in-
tegrated circuits gradually reduced the role of re-
pairpersons, and by the dawn of the twenty-first
century much electronic equipment really could
not be repaired effectively and was simply replaced
when it broke down. Already by the late 1970s
the electronics hobby was in decline, and the home-
built computer craze during that decade was prac-
tically a last fling.
For a decade after the introduction of Altair,
a vibrant software hobbyist subculture prevailed
as people manually copied programs from a host
of amateur computer magazines, and many peo-
ple brewed their own personally designed word
processors and fantasy games. This subculture de-
clined after the introduction of complicated graph-
ical user interface operating systems by Apple and
Microsoft, but it revived during the mid-1990s as
vast numbers of people created their own web-
sites in the initially simple HTML (hypertext
markup language). During its heyday this sub-
culture was a great training ground of personnel
12 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
for the electronics and computer industries because
amateurs worked with the same technology that pro-
fessionals worked with. Altair was a watershed per-
sonal computer in the sense that amateurs assembled
it personally and that it transformed them person-
ally into computer professionals.
William Sims Bainbridge
See also Alto
FURTHER READING
Freiberger, P., & Swaine, M. (1999). Fire in the valley: The making of the
personal computer (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Roberts, H. E., & Yates, W. (1975). Altair minicomputer. Popular
Electronics, 7(1), 3338.
Roberts, H. E., & Yates, W. (1975). Altair minicomputer. Popular
Electronics, 7(2), 5658.
Mims, F. M. (1985, January). The tenth anniversary of the Altair 8800.
Computers & Electronics, 23(1), 5860, 8182.
ALTO
The Alto computer, developed at the Xerox
Corporations Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox
PARC) in the 1970s, was the prototype of the late
twentieth-century personal computer. Input was by
means of both keyboard and mouse; the display
screen integrated text and graphics in a system of win-
dows, and each computer could communicate with
others over a local area network (LAN). The Alto was
significant for human-computer interaction (HCI)
in at least three ways. First, it established a new dom-
inant framework for how humans would interact with
computers. Second, it underscored the importance
of theory and research in HCI. Third, the failure of
Xerox to exploit Alto technology by gaining a dom-
inant position in the personal computer industry is
a classic case study of the relationship between in-
novators and the technology they create.
During the late 1960s the Xerox Corporation was
aware that it might gradually lose its dominant posi-
tion in the office copier business, so it sought ways of
expanding into computers. In 1969 it paid $920 mil-
lion to buy a computer company named Scientific
Data Systems (SDS), and it established Xerox PARC
near Stanford University in the area that would soon
be nicknamed Silicon Valley. Xerox proclaimed the
grand goal of developing the general architecture of
information rather than merely producing a num-
ber of unconnected, small-scale inventions.
The Alto was part of a larger system of software
and hardware incorporating such innovations as ob-
ject-oriented programming, which assembles pro-
grams from many separately created, reusable
objects, the ethernet LAN, and laser printers. At the
time computers were large and expensive, and a com-
mon framework for human-computer interaction
was time sharing: Several users would log onto a
mainframe or minicomputer simultaneously from
dumb terminals, and it would juggle the work from
all of the users simultaneously. Time sharing was
an innovation because it allowed users to interact
with the computer in real time; however, because the
computer was handling many users it could not de-
vote resources to the HCI experience of each user. In
contrast, Alto emphasized the interface between the
user and the machine, giving each user his or her own
computer.
In April 1973 the first test demonstration of an
Alto showed how different using it would be from us-
ing the text-only computer terminals that people were
used to when it began by painting on its screen a pic-
ture of the Cookie Monster from the television
program Sesame Street. The Altos display em-
ployed bitmapping (controlling each pixel on the
screen separately) to draw any kind of diagram,
picture, or text font, including animation and pull-
down menus. This capability was a great leap forward
for displaying information to human beings, but it
required substantial hardware resources, both in terms
of memory size and processing speed, as well as rad-
ically new software approaches.
During the 1970s the typical computer display
consisted of letters, numbers, and common punctu-
ation marks in a single crude font displayed on a black
background in one color: white or green or amber.
In contrast, the default Alto display was black on
white, like printed paper. As originally designed,
the screen was 606 pixels wide by 808 pixels high, and
each of those 489,648 pixels could be separately con-
trolled. The Xerox PARC researchers developed sys-

tems for managing many font sizes and styles si-
multaneously and for ensuring that the display screen
and a paper document printed from it could look
the same. All this performance placed a heavy bur-
den on the computers electronics, so an Alto often
ran painfully slow and, had it been commercialized,
would have cost on the order of $15,000 each.
People have described the Alto as a time ma-
chine, a computer that transported the user into
the office of the future, but it might have been too
costly or too slow to be a viable personal com-
puter for the average office or home user of the
period in which it was developed. Human-computer
interaction research of the early twenty-first cen-
tury sometimes studies users who are living in the
future. This means going to great effort to create an
innovation, such as a computer system or an envi-
ronment such as a smart home (a computer-con-
trolled living environment) or a multimedia
classroom, that would not be practical outside the
laboratory. The innovation then becomes a test bed
for developing future systems that will be practical,
either because the research itself will overcome some
of the technical hurdles or because the inexorable
progress in microelectronics will bring the costs
down substantially in just a few years.
Alto was a remarkable case study in HCI with
respect to not only its potential users but also its cre-
ators. For example, the object-oriented program-
ming pioneered at Xerox PARC on the Alto and
other projects changed significantly the work of pro-
grammers. Such programming facilitated the sepa-
ration between two professions: software engineering
(which designs the large-scale structure and func-
tioning of software) and programming (which writes
the detailed code), and it increased the feasibility of
dividing the work of creating complex software
among many individuals and teams.
People often have presented Alto as a case study
of how short sighted management of a major cor-
poration can fail to develop valuable new technol-
ogy. On the other hand, Alto may have been both
too premature and too ambitious. When Xerox fi-
nally marketed the Alto-based Star in 1981, it was a
system of many small but expensive computers, con-
nected to each other and to shared resources such
as laser printersa model of distributed personal
ANIMATION 13
computing. In contrast, the model that flourished
during the 1980s was autonomous personal com-
puting based on stand-alone computers such as the
Apple II and original IBM PC, with networking de-
veloping fully only later. The slow speed and lim-
ited capacity of the Alto-like Lisa and original
128-kilobyte Macintosh computers introduced by
Apple in 1983 and 1984 suggest that Alto would re-
ally not have been commercially viable until 1985,
a dozen years after it was first built.
One lesson that we can draw from Altos history
is that corporate-funded research can play a deci-
sive role in technological progress but that it can-
not effectively look very far into the future. That role
may better be played by university-based labora-
tories that get their primary funding from govern-
ment agencies free from the need to show immediate
profits. On the other hand, Xerox PARC was so spec-
tacularly innovative that we can draw the opposite
lessonthat revolutions in human-computer in-
teraction can indeed occur inside the research lab-
oratories of huge corporations, given the right
personnel and historical circumstances.
William Sims Bainbridge
See also Altair; Graphical User Interface
FURTHER READING
Hiltzik, M. (1999). Dealers of lightning: Xerox PARC and the dawn of
the computer age. New York: HarperBusiness.
Lavendel, G. (1980). A decade of research: Xerox Palo Alto Research
Center. New York: Bowker.
Smith, D. C., & Alexander, R. C. (1988). Fumbling the future: How
Xerox invented, then ignored the first personal computer. New
York: William Morrow.
Waldrop, M. M. (2001). The dream machine: J. C. R. Licklider and the
revolution that made computing personal. New York: Viking.
ANIMATION
Animation, the creation of simulated images in mo-
tion, is commonly linked with the creation of car-
toons, where drawn characters are brought into play
14 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
to entertain. More recently, it has also become a
significant addition to the rich multimedia mate-
rial that is found in modern software applications
such as the Web, computer games, and electronic
encyclopedias.
Brief History
Animations are formed by showing a series of still pic-
tures rapidly (at least twelve images per second) so that
the eye is tricked into viewing them as a continuous
motion. The sequence of still images is perceived as
motion because of two phenomena, one optical
(persistence of vision) and one psychological (phi prin-
ciple). Persistence of vision can be explained as the pre-
disposition of the brain and eye to keep on seeing a
picture even after it has moved out of the field of vi-
sion. In 1824 British scientist, physician, and lexicog-
rapher Peter Mark Roget (17791869) explained this
phenomenon as the ability of the retina to retain the
image of an object for 1/20 to 1/5 second after its re-
moval; it was demonstrated two years later using a
thaumatrope, which is a disk with images drawn on
both sides that, when twirled rapidly, gives the illusion
that the two images are combined together to form
one image.
The other principle is the phi phenomenon or stro-
boscopic effect. It was first studied by German psy-
chologist Max Wertheimer (18801943) and
German-American psycho-physiologist Hugo
Munsterberg (18631916) during the period from 1912
to 1916. They demonstrated that film or animation
watchers form a mental connection that completes the
action frame-to-frame, allowing them to perceive a se-
quence of motionless images as an uninterrupted
movement. This mental bridging means that even if
there are small discontinuities in the series of
frames, the brain is able to interpolate the missing de-
tails and thus allow a viewer to see a steady movement.
In the nineteenth century, many animation de-
vices, such as the zoetrope invented by William George
Horner (17861837), the phenakistiscope (1832), the
praxinoscope (1877), the flipbook, and the thaumatrope
were direct applications of the persistence of vision.
For example, the zoetrope is a cylindrical device
through which one can see an image in action. The ro-
tating barrel has evenly spaced peepholes on the out-
side and a cycle of still images on the inside that
show an image in graduating stages of motion.
Whenever the barrel spins rapidly, the dark frames
of the still pictures disappear and the picture appears
to move. Another, even simpler example is the flipbook,
a tablet of paper with a single drawing on each page.
When the book is flicked through rapidly, the draw-
ings appear to move.
Once the basic principles of animation were dis-
covered, a large number of applications and techniques
emerged. The invention of these simple animation de-
vices had a significant influence on the development
of films, cartoons, computer-generated motion graph-
ics and pictures, and more recently, of multimedia.
Walt Disney and Traditional
Animation Techniques
During the early to mid-1930s, animators at
Walt Disney Studios created the twelve animation
principles that became the basics of hand-drawn car-
toon character animation. While some of these prin-
ciples are limited to the hand-drawn cartoon animation
genre, many can be adapted for computer animation
production techniques. Here are the twelve principles:
1. Squash and stretchUse shape distortion to em-
phasize movement.
2. AnticipationApply reverse movement to pre-
pare for and bring out a forward movement.
3. StagingUse the camera viewpoint that best
shows an action.
4. Straight-ahead vs. pose-to-pose actionApply
the right procedure.
5. Follow-through and overlapping actionAvoid
stopping movement abruptly.
6. Slow-in and slow-outAllow smooth starts and
stops by spacing frames appropriately.
7. ArcsAllow curved motion in paths of action.
8. Secondary actionsAnimate secondary actions
to bring out even more life.
9. TimingApply time relations within actions
to create the illusion of movement.
10. ExaggerationApply caricature to actions and
timing.
11. Solid drawingLearn and use good drawing
techniques.

12. AppealCreate and animate appealing
characters.
Traditional animation techniques use cel anima-
tion in which images are painted on clear acetate sheets
called cels. Animation cels commonly use a layering
technique to produce a particular animation frame.
The frame background layer is drawn in a separate
cel, and there is a cel for each character or object that
moves separately over the background. Layering
enables the animator to isolate and redraw only the
parts of the image that change between consecutive
frames. There is usually a chief animator who
draws the key-frames, the ultimate moments in the
series of images, while in-between frames are drawn
by others, the in-betweeners. Many of the processes
and lingo of traditional cel-based animation, such as
layering, key-frames, and tweening (generating im-
mediate frames between two images to give the ap-
pearance that the first image evolves smoothly into
the next), have carried over into two-dimensional
and three-dimensional computer animation.
Two-Dimensional
Computer Animation
In recent years, computer programs have been de-
veloped to automate the drawing of individual
frames, the process of tweening frames between key-
frames, and also the animation of a series of frames.
Some animation techniques commonly used in two-
dimensional (2D) computer animation are either
frame-based or sprite-based.
Frame-based animation is the simplest type of
animation. It is based on the same principle as the
flipbook, where a collection of graphic files, each con-
taining a single image, is displayed in sequence and
performs like a flipbook. Here again, to produce
the illusion of motion, graphic images, with each im-
age slightly different from the one before it in the se-
quence, are displayed at a high frame-rate (the number
of frames of an animation displayed every second).
Sprite-based animation uses a technique that is
similar to the traditional animation technique in
which an object is animated on top of a static graphic
background. A sprite is any element of an animation
that moves independently, such as a bouncing ball
ANIMATION 15
or a running character. In sprite-based animation, a
single image or sequence of images can be at-
tached to a sprite. The sprite can animate in one place
or move along a path. Many techniquesfor exam-
ple, tiling, scrolling, and parallax have been devel-
oped to process the background layer more efficiently
and to animate it as well. Sometimes sprite-based
animation is called path-based animation. In path-
based animation, a sprite is affixed to a curve drawn
through the positions of the sprite in consecutive
frames, called a motion path. The sprite follows
this curve during the course of the animation. The
sprite can be a single rigid bitmap (an array of pix-
els, in a data file or structure, which correspond bit
for bit with an image) that does not change or a se-
ries of bitmaps that form an animation loop. The
animation techniques used by computers can be
frame-by-frame, where each frame is individually cre-
ated, or real-time, where the animator produces
the key-frames and the computer generates the
frames in between when the animation is dis-
played at run time.
Two-dimensional computer animation tech-
niques are widely used in modern software and
can be seen in arcade games, on the Web, and even
in word processors. The software used to design two-
dimensional animations are animation studios
that allow animators to draw and paint cels, provide
key-frames with moving backgrounds, use multiple
layers for layering, support linking to fast video disk
recorders for storage and playback, and allow scans
to be imported directly. Examples of this software
include Adobe Photoshop (to create animated GIFs),
Macromedia Director (multimedia authoring tool
that includes sophisticated functions for animation),
Macromedia Flash (vector-based authoring tool to
produce real-time animation for the Web). Even some
programming languages such as Java are used to pro-
duce good quality animation (frame-by-frame and
real-time) for the Web.
Three-Dimensional
Computer Animation
Three-dimensional computer animations are based
on a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system,
which is a mathematical system for describing
16 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
three-dimensional space. Space is measured along
three coordinates, the X direction, Y direction, and
Z direction. These coordinates correspond to the
width, length, and depth of objects or space. The
X, Y, Z coordinates of points in space are used to de-
fine polygons, and collections of polygons make
up the definition of three-dimensional objects.
The process of 3D animation involves at least the
following stages: modeling, rendering, and anima-
tion. Modeling is the process of creating 3D ob-
jects from simple 2D objects by lofting (the process
of transforming a two-dimensional cross section ob-
ject into a complete three-dimensional object) or
from other simple 3D objects called primitives
(spheres, cubes, cylinders, and so on). Primitives can
be combined using a variety of Boolean operations
(union, subtraction, intersection, and so on). They
can also be distorted in different ways. The resulting
model is called a mesh, which is a collection of
faces that represent an object. Rendering is used to
create an image from data that represents objects
as meshes, and to apply colors, shading, textures, and
lights to them. In its simplest form, the process of
three-dimensional computer animation is very sim-
ilar to the two-dimensional process of key-frames
and tweening. The main differences are that three-
dimensional animations are always vector-based and
real-time.
Spline-Based Animation
Motion paths are more believable if they are curved,
so animation programs enable designers to create
spline-based motion paths. (Splines are algebraic
representations of a family of curves.) To define
spline-based curves, a series of control points is de-
fined and then the spline is passed through the con-
trol points. The control points define the beginning
and end points of different parts of the curve. Each
point has control handles that enable designers to
change the shape of the curve between two control
points. The curves and the control points are de-
fined in 3D space. Most computer animation sys-
tems enable users to change the rate of motion along
a path. Some systems also provide very sophisti-
cated control of the velocity of an object along
paths.
Skeletal Structure Animation
Skeletal structures are bones-based. Widely used to
control three-dimensional creatures, they appear in
practically all modern three-dimensional model-
ing software studios. They enable the artist to preset
and control the rotation points of a three-dimen-
sional creature, facilitating its animation. The ani-
mator can then model a geometric skin (representing
how the creature would appear) and link it to the
bones structure. Skeletal structures software with
graphical and powerful interfaces provide rich en-
vironments in which artists can control the complex
algorithms involved in creating animated three-
dimensional creatures (human, animal, or imaginary).
The availability of a skeletal animation environment
characteristically brings another advantagethe
exploitation of inverse kinematics (IK) to bring a char-
acter to life.
Inverse Kinematics
IK is a common technique for positioning multi-
linked objects, such as virtual creatures. When using
an animation system capable of IK, a designer can
position a hand in space by grabbing the hand and
leading it to a position in that space. The con-
nected joints rotate and remain connected so that,
for example, the body parts all stay connected. IK
provides a goal-directed method for animating a 3D
creature. It allows the animator to control a three-
dimensional creatures limbs by treating them as a
kinematics chains. The points of control are attached
to the ends of these chains and provide a single han-
dle that can be used to control a complete chain.
IK enables the animator to design a skeleton system
that can also be controlled from data sets gener-
ated by a motion capture application.
Motion Capture
Motion capture is the digital recording of a creatures
movement for immediate or postponed analysis and
playback. Motion capture for computer character an-
imation involves the mapping of human action onto
the motion of a computer character. The digital data
recorded can be as simple as the position and ori-
entation of the body in space, or as intricate as the
deformations of the expression of the visage.

Advances in
Three-Dimensional Animation
With the support of powerful computers, three-
dimensional animation allows the production and
rendering of a photo-realistic animated virtual world.
Three-dimensional scenes are complex virtual envi-
ronments composed of many elements and effects,
such as cameras, lights, textures, shading, and envi-
ronment effects, and all these elements can be ani-
mated. Although cel animation is traditionally
two-dimensional, advances in three-dimensional
rendering techniques and in camera animation have
made it possible to apply three-dimensional tech-
niques to make two-dimensional painted images ap-
pear visually three-dimensional. The 3D animation
techniques described in this section are supported
by modern 3D animation studios that are software
programs such as Maya (alias|wavefront), Softimage
(Softimage), 3D Studio Max (Discreet), or Rhino3D
(Robert McNeel & Associates).
Examples of environment effects include rain,
fire, fog, or dying stars. A technique widely used in
real-time applications involving an environmental
effect is called a particle system. A particle system is
a method of graphically producing the appearance
of amorphous substances, such as clouds, smoke,
fire, or sparkles. The substance is described as a col-
lection of particles that can be manipulated dy-
namically for animation effects. Some even more
recent techniques include physics-based behavior such
as a realistic animation of cloth, hair, or grass affected
by the wind.
Endless Possibilities
Animation has become an ubiquitous component
of human-computer interfaces. It has evolved
from prehistoric paintings in Altamira caves to re-
alistic virtual worlds in sophisticated multimedia
computers. The technologies supporting animation
are still emerging and will soon support even more
complex worlds, more realistic character animation,
considerably easier 3D animation development, bet-
ter quality animations on the Web, and better inter-
actions with virtual reality interfaces. The current
ANTHROPOLOGY AND HCI 17
work in animation lies in physic-based modeling in
which objects or natural phenomena are animated
according to their real physical properties, in real-
time motion capture, and in goal-orientated ani-
mation. Considering the numerous applications of
animation, from multimedia to archeology and
chemistry, the future possibilities seem endless.
Abdennour El Rhalibi and Yuanyuan Shen
See also Data Visualization; Graphic Display;
Graphical User Interface
FURTHER READINGS
CoCo, D. (1995). Real-time 3D games take off. Computer Graphics
World, 8(12), 2233.
Corra, W. T., Jensen, R. J., Thayer, C. E., & Finkelstein, A. (1998).
Texture mapping for cel animation. In Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 98,
Computer Graphics Proceedings, Annual Conference Series (pp. 435446).
Kerlow, I. V. (2000). The art of 3-D computer animation and imaging
(2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Lassiter, J. (1987). Principles of traditional animation applied to 3D
computer animation. SIGGRAPH 87 (pp. 3544).
Maltin, L. (1987). Of mice and magicA history of American animated
cartoons. New York: Penguin Books.
ORourke, M. (1995). Principles of three-dimensional computer ani-
mation. New York: W. W. Norton.
Parent, R. (2001). Computer animation: Algorithms and techniques.
San Francisco: Morgan-Kaufmann.
Potter, C. D. (1995). Anatomy of an animation. Computer Graphics
World, 18(3). 3643.
Solomon, C. (1994). The history of animation: Enchanted drawings.
New York: Wings Books.
Thomas, F., & Johnson, O. (1981). The illusion of life. New York:
Abbeville Press.
Watt, A., & Policarpo, F. (2001). 3D gamesreal-time rendering and
software technology. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Watt, A. H., & Watt, M. (1992). Advanced animation and rendering.
New York: Addison-Wesley.
Williams, R. (2001). The animators survival kit. New York: Faber &
Faber.
ANTHROPOLOGY AND HCI
As a social science that brings together social anthro-
pology, linguistics, archaeology, and human biology,
anthropology clearly has a major contribution to
make to the study of human-computer interaction
18 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
(HCI). However, bringing that contribution into fo-
cus is at times a challenge, not only because of the
extreme interdisciplinarity but also because of collab-
orations between anthropologists and computer sci-
entists and the sometimes-blurred boundaries
between anthropology and related disciplines, includ-
ing sociology and psychology. Despite these challenges,
anthropology has created distinctive methods and a
distinctive epistemology, and has offered new insights
for understanding human-computer interaction.
Anthropology also poses three profound questions.
Methods
Anthropologys development of ethnographic meth-
ods is a notable contribution to research in HCI. More
than simple naturalistic observation, ethnography is
a structured process informed by theoretical models
through which researchers attempt to elucidate the co-
herence of a context. For example, anthropologist
Bonnie Nardi, in her study of end-user computing used
concepts of formalisms and communication to inter-
pret how users developed their own programs; an-
thropologist Lucy Suchman used a mechanistic concept
of cognition as a foil to understand how users inter-
acted with an expert-system-based help facility em-
bedded in a copying machine. In both these cases
researchers combined intensive naturalistic observa-
tion with conceptual insights to develop new HCI
models.
A frequently employed variation on ethnographic
methods is called ethnomethodology. As originally
developed by sociologist Harold Garfinkel, eth-
nomethodology stipulates that individuals make
sense out of a context in an ad hoc, almost indeter-
minate manner. In place of social order, the actors
in a given context are synthesizing what appears to
be order, accepting or rejecting information as it fits
with their synthesis. The mutual intelligibility of
an interaction is thus an ongoing achievement be-
tween the actors, a result rather than a starting point.
Thus, two users can construct two quite different
meanings out of similar interactions with comput-
ers, depending on the experiences they bring to the
interaction. This suggests some obvious limita-
tions on the abilities of computers to constrain or
reproduce human actions.
A third concept, actually a method, employed by
anthropologists in the study of HCI is actor-network
theory. This theory views artifacts and social roles as
coevolving nodes in a common network. Insofar as
each node encodes information about the entire net-
work (for example, in any country, electrical appli-
ances are tailored to the specific power system of the
country and the expectations of the users) and is ca-
pable of state changes based on network inputs, both
artifacts and social roles can be considered to have
agency within the network. This concept, originally
developed by the sociologist Michel Callon, in his study
of the French governments involvement in techno-
logical projects, and elaborated by the sociologist John
Law in a study of Portuguese sailing vessels in the
sixteenth century, is very pertinent to rapidly chang-
ing technologies such as computers. Indeed, observ-
ing the shifting topology of the Internet and Internet
computing makes it clear that user roles are anticipated
and complemented by machine behavior (for instance,
collaborative filtering), and machine states enable or
constrain users agency within the network (for ex-
ample, the structures of search engines). Although sil-
icon and carbon units are distinct, for now, the
image of the cyborg (cybernetic organism), and the
emergence of integrated biological/computational sys-
tems, suggests other possibilities.
This hints at the final, and perhaps most impor-
tant anthropological contribution to HCI, the evolu-
tionary perspective. All branches of anthropology have
been concerned with the evolution of human societies,
languages, and even genotypes. Although there is room
for debate over the telos or chaos of evolutionary
processes, understanding humans and their artifacts
as goal-seeking objects who learn is fundamental to
any anthropological viewpoint. Using the archaeo-
logical record and anthropological knowledge of so-
cieties with simpler toolkits, the anthropologist David
Hakken has questioned the extent to which the
widespread use of computers in society justifies being
called a revolution; he concludes that due to their
failure to transform the character of labor, computers
are just one more technology in the implementation
of an automated, massified Fordist model of pro-
ductiona model inspired by Henry Ford in which
large quantities of products are produced through the
repetitive motions of unskilled workers.
 ANTHROPOLOGY AND HCI 19

Epistemology of passage for most anthropologists. When re-

What distinguishes anthropology from other disciplines
such as psychology and sociology that use similar
methods is in many ways a matter of epistemology
that is, the stance it takes toward the subject mat-
ter. Central to this stance is the orthogonal view, that
is, the ability to analyze a situation from a fresh
and original yet plausible perspective. It is the or-
thogonal view that enables anthropologist Constance
Perin to see office automation as a panopticon,
that suggests to linguistic anthropologist Charlotte
Linde that failed communication can improve per-
formance, or that led Edwin Hutchins, a cognitive
anthropologist, to understand a cockpit as a cogni-
tive device. Orthogonal viewpoints originate from
the experience of fieldwork, or rather, field immer-
sion, preferably in a remote setting, which is the rite
searchers have lived for an extended period of time
in an unfamiliar village, cut off from their normal
social moorings, when cultural disorientation be-
comes embedded in their daily routine, they acquire
a profound conviction that all social forms are
conventional, that otherness is not alien, and that
belonging and familiarity are rare and fragile flow-
ers. It is this experience and this conviction more
than any methodological or conceptual apparatus
that defines anthropology and that enables the or-
thogonal view.
It is this implicitly critical stance that has con-
strained anthropologys contribution to the study
of automation human factors. Human factors is
an engineering discipline using engineering meth-
ods of analytic decomposition to solve engineering

A Personal StoryEastern vs. Western Cultural Values

My understanding of human communication using mediated technologies is primarily based on cultural assumptions.
Cultural values could influence the way a human chooses its medium of communication. On the other hand, with the
advancement of computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies (e.g., e-mail, e-commerce sites, weblogs, bul-
letin boards, newsgroups) people could also change their communication patterns to suit the different forms of a medium.
Whichever way, apparently, people will not adopt CMC unless and until it fits with their cultural values. Based on my in-
terviews with a number of informants from different cultural backgrounds, I have observed some disparate yet interesting
views on communication patterns and preferences, i.e., why and when people use CMC. Let me briefly illustrate one case
of contrasting communication preferences and patterns.
When I asked the informants from Eastern cultures why they would use CMC, one of the key responses was that they
can express themselves better over mediated technologies than to voice their opinions in face-to-face. Public self-expres-
sion is avoided due to the value of saving face. Also, using asynchronous medium such as e-mail, does not require
spontaneous response. People could first think, reflect, and then express. On the contrary, the informants from Western
cultures felt that using e-mail is best for complex and detailed information, as they require very explicit forms of instruc-
tions. Additionally, people send messages via CMC in order to get quick response so that tasks can get completed. Also,
based on a written format, the text becomes an evidence or proof of say for a job accomplished. Getting a job or as-
signment done is perceived as a priority and building a relationship is thus secondary.
Cultural values could present a new lens to understand why and how certain a communication medium offers differ-
ent functions or purposes. What is more important is the uniqueness of human beings with a set of cultural assump-
tions and values, and not the technological features. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall postulates that communication is
culture and culture is communication. Hence, organizations need to understand fully the myriad cultural preferences be-
fore making a substantial investment in CMC technology. Without such understanding, technology will simply be another
gadget that gets rusty and dusty!
Norhayati Zakaria
20 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Digital Technology Helps Preserve Tribal Language
(ANS)The American Indian language of Comanche
was once taught through conversationa vocabulary
passed on and polished as it moved from one genera-
tion to the next. But as fluency among Comanches de-
clines, the tribe has turned to cutting-edge technology to
preserve this indigenous language. By next winter, mem-
bers hope to produce an interactive CD-ROM that will
create a digital record of the language and help tribe mem-
bers learn it.
You cant say youre Comanche without knowing
your own language. Thats the way I feel, said Billie Kreger
of Cache, Okla., vice president of the Comanche Language
and Cultural Preservation Committee. Kreger, 47, did-
nt learn much Comanche as a child but has begun study-
ing it in the past few years.
Of the 10,000 Comanches that still remain in the
United States, roughly 200 are fluent, according to Karen
Buller, president and chief executive officer of the Santa
Fe, N.M.-based organization that is paying for the CD-
ROM project, the first of its kind in the United States.
Tribe members are anxious to record the language
while the fluent speakers, who are in their 70s and 80s,
are still living, she said.
Bullers group, the National Indian Telecom-
munications Institute, is paying for the project with
$15,000 in grant money from the Fund for the Four
Directions.
The CD-ROM will teach about 1,500 vocabulary
words. Students will see Comanche elders pronouncing
the words and hear the words used in conversations.
Bullers group is recording conversations on videotape.
Other indigenous language revitalization efforts are
under way around the country, too, including language
immersion programs in Alaskan and Hawaiian schools.
The institute provided teacher training for those projects.
All the tribes are saying, Weve got to save the lan-
guage, said Leonard Bruguier, who heads the Institute
of American Indian Studies at the University of South
Dakota in Vermillion. Students at that university, located
in the midst of a large Sioux community, are increasingly
interested in learning indigenous languages, he said.
Under a federal policy of discouraging use of American
Indian languages by allowing only English to be spoken
by American Indian children at schools run by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Comanche began faltering about 50
years ago.
Without preservation efforts, researchers predict that
90 percent of the worlds languages, including those of
the 554 American Indian tribes, will disappear in the next
century, said Peg Thomas, executive director of The Grotto
Foundation, a nonprofit organization in St. Paul,
Minn., that provides funding to American Indian organ-
izations. Each year about five languages fall into ex-
tinction, meaning that they have no youthful speakers,
she said.
According to some estimates, between 300 and 400
American Indian languages have become extinct since
European settlers first arrived in North America.
The point of preserving the languages is partly to
maintain a connection to the past and learn the history
of a culture, said Buller. Students of the Comanche lan-
guage discover, for instance, that the words for food prepa-
ration are based on the root word for meatbecause
meat was a key part of the Comanche diet. She and oth-
ers say that American Indian children who learn indige-
nous languages in addition to English appear to perform
better in school.
But language programs are targeting adults, too.
Kreger, of the Comanche Language and Cultural
Preservation Committee, says she is looking forward to
using the CD-ROM for her own language studies. I
can hardly wait, she said.
Nicole Cusano
Source: Digital technology helps preserve tribal language. American
News Service, June 15, 2000.

problemsin other words, the improved perform-
ance of artifacts according to some preestablished
set of specifications. Anthropology, by contrast,
would begin by questioning the specifications, adopt-
ing a holistic point of view toward the entire proj-
ect. Holism is the intellectual strategy of grasping
the entire configuration rather than breaking it down
into separate elements. From an anthropological
viewpoint, specifications are not a given, but open
to interrogation. A holistic viewpoint requires
that the researcher adopt multiple disciplinary tools,
including (but certainly not limited to) direct ob-
servation, interviewing, conversation analysis, en-
gineering description, survey research, documentary
study, and focus groups. For many, anthropology is
highly interdisciplinary, assembling research tools
as the contextualized problem requires.
How far the anthropologist is permitted to go
with this approach is one of the dilemmas of an-
thropologists working in software design. The emerg-
ing fields of design ethnography and user-centered online, they learn integrity and morality only in-
design have employed ethnographers to better
understand users requirements, and to elicit expert
knowledge in the construction of expert systems.
However, these efforts are at times compromised by
a substantial disconnect between the anthropolo-
gists understanding of requirements and knowledge,
and the eng ineers understanding of them.
Anthropologists see human needs (that is, require-
ments) as emergent rather than given, and knowl-
edge (even expert knowledge) as embedded in a
culturally contingent body of assumptions called
common sense. Many systems designers, as the late
medical anthropologist Diana Forsythe put it, view
common sense as unproblematic and universal. This
assumption and others will be discussed below.
Insights
The most important anthropological insight to HCI
is the emphasis on context for understanding hu-
man behavior, including human interaction with cy-
bernetic devices. The human organism is unique
in its ability to integrate information from a vari-
ety of sensory inputs and to formulate an infinite ar-
ray of potential behavioral responses to these inputs.
These arrays of inputs and responses constitute
ANTHROPOLOGY AND HCI 21
that is, constructthe context of information, a
structure of irreducible complexity. The context is
far more than simply a compilation of information.
Computers and other information technologies,
by contrast, focus on the processing of information,
stripping information of its contextual properties
and thus of the attributes that humans use to turn
information into (warranted, usable, and meaning-
ful) knowledge.
John Seely Brown, the former director of Xerox
Palo Alto Research Center, and researcher Paul
Duguid, for example, describe the importance of
context for using information. The news, for in-
stance, is not simply unfiltered information from a
distant place; it is information that has been selected,
aggregated, evaluated, interpreted, and warranted by
human journalists, trained in face-to-face classrooms
or mentored by over-the-shoulder coaches.
Physicality is an important component of these re-
lationships: Although people can learn technical skills
terpersonally. Making a convincing case for the crit-
icality of context for human users, Brown and
Duguid describe six of the context-stripping
mechanisms that are supposedly inherent in infor-
mation technologies: demassification, decentraliza-
tion, denationalization, despacialization,
disintermediation, and disaggregation. These are
said to represent forces that, unleashed by infor-
mation technology, will break society down into its
fundamental constituents, primarily individuals and
information (Brown and Duguid 2000, 22). The
sum of their argument is that such 6D thinking
is both unrealized and unrealizable. Information
technology does not so much eliminate the social
context of information, for this is either pointless or
impossible, as it displaces and decomposes that con-
text, thus posing new difficulties for users who need
to turn information into knowledge.
Contexts can be high (rich, detailed, and full of
social cues) or low (impoverished and monochro-
matic), they can be familiar or unfamiliar, and they
can include information channels that are broadband
(a face-to-face conversation) or narrowband (read-
ing tea leaves, for example). From a human perspec-
tive, all computer interaction, even the most
multimedia-rich, is narrowband: Sitting where I am,
22 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
my computer screen and keyboard occupy no more
than 25 percent of my field of vision, until I turn my
head. Looking around, the percentage shrinks to un-
der 5 percent. The other 95 percent is filled with other
work and information storage devices (bookshelves
and filing cabinets), task aids (charts on the wall),
and reminders of relationships: a social context. As a
low-context device, the computer must be supple-
mented by these other more social artifacts if it is
to have human usefulnessthat is, if it is to be
used for knowledge work rather than mere infor-
mation processing.
Applying the concept of context to a specific tech-
nological problem, the design of intelligent systems,
Suchman developed a concept of situated action as
an alternative explanation for the rationality of
human action. In place of seeing activity as the ex-
ecution of a plan (or program), or inversely, seeing
a plan as a retrospective rationalization of activity,
Suchmans concept of situated action sees plans as
only one of several resources for making sense out
of the ongoing flow of activity.
Human action, or more accurately interaction (for
all action is by definition social, even if only one ac-
tor is physically present), is an ongoing flow of mes-
sage input and output. Traditionally social studies have
assumed that actors have a scheme or mental program
which they are enacting: a plan. In contrast to this,
Suchman demonstrates that the rationality of an ac-
tion is an ongoing construction among those involved
in the action. The default state of this rationality is a
transparent spontaneity in which the participants act
rather than think. Only when the ongoing flow breaks
down does it become necessary to construct a rep-
resentation (that is, a plan or image) of what is hap-
pening. (Breakdowns, while frequent, are usually easily
repaired.) Language, due to its ability to classify, is a
powerful resource for constructing such representa-
tions, although it is only one of several channels
that humans use for communication. Using language,
the participants in an action understand what they
are doing. Rationality (understanding what they are
doing) is the achievement rather than the configu-
ration state of interaction.
The implications of this for constructing intelli-
gent devices (such as expert systems) are profound. In
order for an intelligent device to reproduce intelligi-
ble human action, according to Suchman, it must not
attempt to anticipate every user state and response (for
it cannot). Alternatively, a strategy of real-time user
modeling that incorporates (a) continually updated
models of user behavior, (b) detection (and adapta-
tion to) diagnostic inconsistencies, (c) sensitivity to
local conditions, and (d) learning from fault states
(such as false alarms and misleading instructions) sug-
gests a better approximation of situated action than
preconceived user models.
Suchmans findings are based on the concept
of distributed cognition originally developed by
Edwin Hutchins. Instead of understanding cogni-
tion as information processing (searching, aggre-
gating, parsing, and so on), Hutchins saw mental
activity as contextually emergent, using contextual
resources (including language and artifacts) as
part of an interactive process.
These insights are derived from efforts to use an-
thropological methods in the development of expert
systems and other artificial intelligence devices.
Expert systems hold out the hope that in class-
room instruction, in routine bureaucratic problem
solving, in medical diagnosis, and in other fields, cer-
tain low-level mental tasks could be accomplished
by computers, in much the same manner as repeti-
tive manual tasks have been automated. Building
these systems requires a process of knowledge ac-
quisition that is viewed as linear and unproblem-
atic. An alternative view, suggested by anthropologist
Jean Lave and computer scientist Etienne Wenger, is
that learning is embedded in (and a byproduct of)
social relationships and identity formation, and that
people learn by becoming a member of a commu-
nity of practice.
The concept of community of practice is fur-
ther developed by Wenger to describe how experts
acquire, share, and use their expertise. Communities
of practice are groups that share relationships, mean-
ing, and identity around the performance of some
set of tasks, whether processing insurance claims
or delivering emergency medicine. The knowledge
that they share is embedded in these relationships
and identities, not something that can be abstracted
and stored in a database (or knowledge base).
Anthropologist Marietta Baba has applied these
concepts along with the concept of sociotechnical

systems developed by the Tavistock Institute to ex-
amine the response of work groups to the introduc-
tion of office automation and engineering systems. At
major corporations she found that efforts to intro-
duce new automated systems frequently failed because
they were disruptive of the work processes, social
relationships, identities, and values of the work group,
considered as a community of practice.
Understanding cognitive activity as distributed
among multiple agents is closely related to the is-
sue of man/machine boundaries, an issue clearly
of interest to anthropologists. Cyborg anthropol-
ogy has been an ongoing professional interest at
least since the 1991 publication of anthropologist
Donna Haraways Simians, Cyborgs, and Women.
Although most cyborg anthropology has focused on
medical technology (such as imaging systems and
artificial organs) rather than on computational tech-
nology, the basic conceptof human bodies and
lives becoming increasingly embedded within auto-
mated information (control) circuitswill have in-
creasing relevance for understanding the adaptation
of humans to advanced information technology: As
more and more human faculties, such as memory,
skilled manipulation, and interpersonal sensitivity,
are minimalized, disaggregated, and shifted away
from the individual organism to automated devices,
the dependence of carbon-based humans on their
artifactual prostheses will increase.
Communities also form around technologies.
Technology writer Howard Rheingold has described
participation in a San Francisco-based usenet as a
form of community building. Hakken describes the
influence of class on the experiences of users with
computing in Sheffield, England. Sociolologist Sherry
Turkle describes the identity experimentation con-
ducted by users of multiuser domains. Anthro-
pologist Jon Anderson has examined how Middle
Eastern countries have used and adapted the Internet
with unique methods for unique social goals. These
include the maintenance of diaspora relationships
with countrymen scattered around the globe. Online
communities quickly evolve (actually adapt from
surrounding norms) distinctive norms, including
styles of communication and categories of iden-
tity. Although such collections of norms and val-
ues fall short of full-fledged human cultures, they
ANTHROPOLOGY AND HCI 23
are indicative of a propensity to create normative
closure within any ongoing collectivity.
Both these concepts, of work group cultures and
online communities, point up the importance of
culture for computing. As anthropologys signature
concept, culture has an important (if sometimes un-
stated) place in anthropological thinking about hu-
man-computer interaction.
Culture
For anthropologists, culture is more profound
than simply the attitudes and values shared by a popu-
lation. As a system of shared understandings, culture
represents the accumulated learning of a people (or a
group), rooted in their history, their identity, and their
relationship with other groups. Cultures evolve as
shared projects with other groups. Although they are
invented and imagined, cultures cannot be conjured
up at will, as much of the recent management lit-
erature on corporate culture seems to suggest.
This is significant, because much of computing
use is in a corporate or organizational context (even
if the organization is virtual). From an anthropo-
logical perspective, it is highly important to note that
much of human-computer interaction is influenced
either directly, by the regimes of instrumental ra-
tionality in which it takes place, or indirectly, by
the fact that it follows protocols established by in-
fluential corporations. Several ethnographies of high-
tech companies suggest that computerization and
the high-tech expectations associated with it are cre-
ating new corporate cultures: sociologist Gideon
Kunda and anthropologist Kathleen Gregory-
Huddleston have described the working atmosphere
of two high-tech corporations, noting that despite a
technological aura and emancipatory rhetoric, their
corporate cultures are still mechanisms of control.
It should be noted that high tech is less an engineering
concept for explaining functionality or performance
than it is an aesthetic conceit for creating auras of
power and authority.
Others have taken note of the fact that com-
puters create new forms of culture and identity
and have described numerous microcultures that
have sprung up around such systems as textual data-
banks, engineering design, and online instruction.
24 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
The culture of systems developers, as described by
Diana Forsythe is particularly notable. Insofar as de-
velopers and users have separate and distinctive cul-
tural outlooks, there will be a mismatch between
their tacit understandings of system functionality
and system performance. The frequent experience
of systems not living up to expectations when de-
ployed in the field is less a consequence of poor
engineering than of the fundamental cultural rela-
tionships (or disconnects) between developers and
users.
Finally, anthropologys original interest in the re-
mote and exotic has often taken its attention away
from the laboratories and highly engineered envi-
ronments in which the most advanced informa-
tion technologies are found. In 2001 Allen Batteau,
an industrial anthropologist, observed that many
factories and field installations usually lack the re-
liable infrastructure of universities or development
laboratories. As a consequence, computationally in-
tensive applications that work so well in the labo-
ratory (or in the movies) crash and burn in the field.
This lack, however, is not simply a matter of these
production environments needing to catch up to the
laboratories: Moores Law for nearly forty years
has accurately predicted a doubling of computational
capability every eighteen months, a geometric growth
that outstrips the arithmetic pace of technological
diffusion. The dark side of Moores Law is that the
gap between the technological capabilities of the
most advanced regions and those of the remote cor-
ners of the human community will continue to grow.
In 1995 Conrad Kottak, an anthropologist, observed
that High technology has the capacity to tear all
of us apart, as it brings some of us closer together
(NSF 1996, 29).
Many of these observations grew out of a work-
shop organized by the American Anthropological
Association and the Computing Research Association
called Culture, Society, and Advanced Information
Technology. Held (serendipitously) at the time of the
first deployment of graphical Web browsers (an event
that as much as any could mark the beginning of the
popular information revolution), this workshop iden-
tified seven areas of interest for social research in ad-
vanced information technology: (1) the nature of
privacy, identity, and social roles in the new infor-
mation society; (2) family, work groups, and personal
relationships; (3) public institutions and private cor-
porations; (4) communities, both virtual and real;
(5) public policy and decision-making; (6) the chang-
ing shapes of knowledge and culture; and (7) the glob-
alization of the information infrastructure (NSF
1996). In many ways this workshop both captured
and projected forward the anthropological research
agenda for understanding the changing social face of
advanced information technology.
Questions
Anthropologys orthogonal viewpoint proposes sev-
eral unique questions. Perhaps the first of these is
the question of control versus freedom. On the
one hand, cybernetic devices exist to create and in-
tegrate hierarchies of control, and the fifty-year his-
tor y of the development of automation has
demonstrated the effectiveness of this strategy. On
the other hand, this poses the question of the proper
role of a unique node in the control loop, the human
user: How many degrees of freedom should the user
be allowed? The designers answer, No more than
necessary, can be unsatisfying: Systems that con-
strain the behavior of all their elements limit the
users learning potential.
The related concepts of system learning and evo-
lution raise the second outstanding question, which
has to do with the nature of life. Should systems that
can evolve, learn from, and reproduce themselves
within changing environments be considered liv-
ing systems? Studies of artificial life suggest that
they should. The possibility of a self-organizing sys-
tem that can replicate itself within a changing en-
vironment has been demonstrated by anthropologist
Chris Langston, enlarging our perspective beyond
the carbon-based navet that saw only biological or-
ganisms as living.
The final question that this raises, which is the ulti-
mate anthropological question, is about the nature
or meaning of humanity. Etymologically, anthro-
pology is the science of man, a collective term that
embraces both genders, and possibly more. Anthro-
pologists always anchor their inquiries on the ques-
tion of What does it mean to be human? Otherwise,
their endeavors are difficult to distinguish from com-

parative psychology, or comparative linguistics, or
comparative sociology. However, the rise of infor-
mation technology has fundamentally challenged some
received answers to the question of what it means to
be human. What are the human capabilities that
computers will never mimic? As Pulitzer-prize-win-
ning writer Tracy Kidder asked, Do computers have
souls? Will there ever be a computer that meets the
Turing testthat is, a computer that is indistin-
guishable from a fully social human individual? More
specifically, how many generations are required to
evolve a cluster of computers that will (unaided by
human tenders) form alliances, reproduce, wor-
ship a deity, create great works of art, fall into petty
bickering, and threaten to destroy the planet? As the
abilities of silicon-based artifacts to think, feel, learn,
adapt, and reproduce themselves continue to de-
velop, the question of the meaning of humanity will
probably become the most challenging scientific and
philosophical question of the information age.
Allen W. Batteau
See also Ethnography; Sociology and HCI; Social
Psychology and HCI
FURTHER READING
Anderson, J. (1998). Arabizing the Internet. Emirates Occasional Papers
# 30. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Emirates Center for
Strategic Studies and Research.
Anderson, J., & Eikelman, D. (Eds.). (2003). New media in the Muslim
world: The emerging public sphere (Indiana Series in Middle East
Studies). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Baba, M. L. (1995). The cultural ecology of the corporation: Explaining
diversity in work group responses to organizational transforma-
tion. (1995). Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 31(2), 202233.
Baba, M. L. (1999). Dangerous liaisons: Trust, distrust, and infor-
mation technology in American work organizations. Human
Organization, 58(3), 331346.
Batteau, A. (2000). Negations and ambiguities in the cultures of or-
ganization. American Anthropologist, 102(4), 726740.
Batteau, A. (2001). A report from the Internet2 Sociotechnical Summit.
Social Science Computing Review, 19(1), 100105.
Borofsky, R. (1994). Introduction. In R. Borofsky (Ed.), Assessing cul-
tural anthropology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (2000). The social life of information. Boston:
Harvard Business School Press.
Callon, M. (1980). The state and technical innovation: A case study
of the electrical vehicle in France. Research Policy, 9, 358376.
ANTHROPOLOGY AND HCI 25
Deal, T., & Kennedy, A. (1999). The new corporate cultures. Reading,
MA: Perseus Books.
Emery, F., & Trist, E. (1965). The causal texture of organizational
environments. Human Relations, 18, 2131.
Forsythe, D. (2001). Studying those who study us: An anthropologist in the
world of artificial intelligence. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Gregory-Huddleston, K. (1994). Culture conflict with growth:
Cases from Silicon Valley. In T. Hamada & W. Sibley (Eds.),
Anthropological Perspectives on Organizational Culture. Washington,
DC: University Press of America.
Hakken, D. (1999). Cyborgs@Cyberspace: An ethnographer looks to the
future. New York: Routledge.
Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, cyborgs, and womenThe reinvention of
nature. London: Free Association Books.
Hutchins, E. (1994). How a cockpit remembers its speeds. Cognitive
Science, 19, 265288.
Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kidder, T. (1981). The soul of a new machine. Boston: Little, Brown.
Kunda, G. (1992). Engineering culture: Control and commitment in a
high-tech corporation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Langston, C. G. (Ed.). (1989). Artificial life (Santa Fe Institute Studies
in the Sciences of Complexity, Proceedings, Volume 6).
Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral
participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Law, J. (1987). Technology and heterogeneous engineering: The case
of Portuguese expansion. In W. E. Bijker, T. P. Hughes, &
T. Pinch (Eds.), The social construction of technological systems.
(pp. 111134). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Linde, C. (1988). The quantitative study of communicative success:
Politeness and accidents in aviation discourse. Language in Society,
17, 375399.
Moore, G. (1965, April 19). Cramming more components onto in-
tegrated circuits. Electronics.
Nardi, B. A. (1993). A small matter of programming: Perspectives on end
user computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
National Science Foundation. (1996). Culture, society, and advanced
information technology (Report of a workshop held on June 12,
1995). Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office.
Perin, C. (1991). Electronic social fields in bureaucracies.
Communications of the ACM, 34(12), 7482.
Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the
electronic frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Star, S. L. (Ed.). (1995). The cultures of computing. Oxford, UK:
Blackwell Publishers.
Stone, A. R. (1995). The war of desire and technology at the close of
the mechanical age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Suchman, L. (1987). Plans and situated actions: The problem of human-
machine communication. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press.
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and
identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
26 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
ANTHROPOMETRY
The word anthropometry, which means the meas-
urement of the physical characteristics and physical
abilities of people, is derived from the Greek words
anthropo meaning human being and metry mean-
ing measure. Physical characteristics, also called
structural dimensions, include such aspects as
heights, widths, depths, and body segment circum-
ferences. Physical abilities, also called functional di-
mensions, include such aspects as grip, push and
pull strength, reaching capabilities, fields of vision,
and functional task performance.
Anthropologists, clinicians, and engineers use
anthropometric information in a variety of ways.
For engineers, in particular, anthropometry provides
information that can be used for the design of oc-
cupational, pubic, and residential environments. The
information can also be used for the design of tools,
protective head gear, clothing, and workstation equip-
ment. Doorway widths, tool handle lengths and cir-
cumferences, ranges of clothing sizes, and the location
of displays and controls on workstations are some
of the design applications. Anthropometry also pro-
vides information about body segment center of mass
and joint center of rotation characteristics that is
used for biomechanical modeling (the study of joint
forces and torques on the body).
A Brief History
Although anthropometry was applied when Greek
and Egyptian artists created standards (canons)
for the human form centuries ago, not until the
nineteenth century were thought and dialogue on
anthropometry organized. Early work in anthro-
pometry focused on the human anatomy, racial char-
acteristics, skeletal remains, and human growth.
Among the noteworthy work documented by phys-
ical anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka was that of French
anthropologist Paul Pierre Broca and the Belgian sci-
entist Adolphe Quetelet. During the mid-eighteenth
century Quetelet used statistics to describe anthro-
pometric information. Shortly after the Franco-
Prussian War of 1870, a growing emphasis on
individualism was evident in the proposals of the
German scholar Rodolpho von Ihering. These pro-
posals called upon German anatomists and anthro-
pologists to reinvestigate craniometric (relating to
measurement of the skull) and anthropometric meas-
urement methods. The German Anthropological
Society convened in Munich and Berlin during the
1870s and early 1880s to establish what anthro-
pometrist J. G. Garson and others have called the
Frankfort Agreement of 1882. This agreement in-
troduced craniometric methods distinct from the
predominant French methods and established a new
nomenclature and measurement methods. The ex-
istence of the French and German schools only
further cemented the belief that international con-
sensus on methods, nomenclature, and measure-
ments was needed.
During the early twentieth century people at-
tempted to develop an international consensus on
the nomenclature of body dimensions and meas-
urement methods. In 1906, at the Thirteenth
International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology
and Archaeology in Monaco, an international agree-
ment of anthropometry took form. This congress
and the Fourteenth International Congress in
Geneva, Switzerland, in 1912 began to formalize the
body of anthropometric work. The foundations of
a normative framework and a standardization of an-
thropometric measurement had been laid and trans-
lated into French, German, and English by 1912. This
framework standardized anthropometric measure-
ments on both skeletal and living human subjects.
Since 1912 several works by Hrdlicka, Rudolf
Marting, and James Gaven have increased the aware-
ness of anthropometry and its uses and added to
its scientific rigor.
After the initial congresses, people attempted
to establish consensus throughout the twentieth cen-
tury. Congresses meeting under the name of Hrdlicka
convened on the topic of anthropometry and meas-
urement methods. Other congresses aimed to create
standards and databases for general use. During the
late twentieth century authors such as Bruce
Bradtmiller and K. H. E. Kroemer chronicled these
congresses and offered unique ways to manage
anthropometric data. During recent years the
International Standardization Organization (ISO)
technical committee on ergonomics published ISO

7250: Basic Human Body Measurements for Technical
Design (1996) to standardize the language and meas-
urement methods used in anthropometry and ISO
15535: General Requirements for Establishing an
Anthropometric Database (2003) to standardize the
variables and reporting methods of anthropometric
studies.
Structural Anthropometric
Measurement Methods
Structural anthropometric measurement methods
require a person to be measured while standing or
sitting. Anatomical landmarksobservable body
features such as the tip of the finger, the corner of
the eye, or the bony protrusion of the shoulder
known as the acromion processstandardize photograph.
the locations on the body from which measurements
are made. The desire to achieve consistent measure-
ments has led to the use of standardized measure-
ment postures held by people who are being
measured. The anthropometric standing posture re-
quires the person to hold the ankles close together,
standing erect, arms relaxed and palms facing me-
dially (lying or extending toward the median axis of
the body) or anteriorly (situated before or toward
the front), the head erect and the corners of the eyes
aligned horizontally with the ears. The anthropo-
metric seated posture requires the person to be seated
erect on a standard seating surface. The elbows
and knees are flexed 90 degrees. The palms face me-
dially with the thumb superior (situated above or
anterior or dorsal to another and especially a cor-
responding part) to the other digits.
Structural dimensions include the distances be-
tween anatomical landmarks, the vertical distance
from a body landmark to the floor, and the cir-
cumferences of body segments and are measured
with a variety of instruments. Among the most com-
mon instruments is the anthropometer, which is
a rod and sliding perpendicular arm used to meas-
ure heights, widths, and depths. A spreading caliper
having two curved arms that are hinged together is
sometimes used to measure segment widths and
depths defined by the distance between the tips of
the arms. Graduated cones are used to measure grip
ANTHROPOMETRY 27
circumferences, and tape measures are used to meas-
ure other circumferences such as the distance
around the waist. Scales are used to measure body
weight. Photographs and video are used to meas-
ure body dimensions in two dimensions. One
method uses grids that are attached behind and
to the side of the person measured. Photographs
are then taken perpendicular to the grids, and the
space covered by the person in front of the grids
can be used to estimate body segment heights,
widths, and depths. A variant of this method uses
digital photography for which an anthropometric
measurement is obtained by comparing the num-
ber of pixels (small discrete elements that together
constitute an image, as in a television or com-
puter screen) for a dimension to the number of pix-
els of a reference object also located in the digital
Attempts to develop three-dimensional com-
puter human models with conventional anthropo-
metric data reveal that limitations exist, such as the
uncertainty about three-dimensional definition of
key points on the body surface, locations of cir-
cumferences, and posture. These limitations have re-
sulted in the development of more sophisticated
three-dimensional anthropometric measurement
methods.
Digital anthropometry is the use of digital and
computerized technology in the collection of infor-
mation about body size and physical ability. In this
use, computers are responsible for the actual collec-
tion of anthropometric data and are not relegated
solely to data analysis or storage. Digital anthro-
pometry varies greatly from conventional anthro-
pometry. This variation has changed the nature of
anthropometry itself for both the anthropometrist
and the experimental context in which measurements
are taken. Human factors engineer Matthew Reed
and colleagues have identified some of the potential
benefits of digital anthropometry:
The capacity to assemble more accurate mod-
els of human form, dimensions, and postures
The capacity to evaluate multiple body dimen-
sions simultaneously
The capacity to measure the human and the en-
vironment together
28 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
The improved description of joint centers of ro-
tation and movement in three dimensions
The capacity to make corrections to dimensions
or create new dimensions after measurements
have been recorded
Laser scanning is often used in digital anthro-
pometry because it allows excellent resolution of
the morphological (relating to the form and structure
of an organism or any of its parts) features of the hu-
man body and can be completed rapidly. Laser
scanning produces accurate three-dimensional rep-
resentations of the complex body surfaces, and
most protocols (detailed plans of a scientific or med-
ical experiment, treatment or procedure) require
the placement of surface markers on the body to
ensure the proper location of bony protrusions that
are used as measurement landmarks beneath the sur-
face of the skin. Other protocols using laser scans have
morphological extraction algorithms (procedures for
solving a mathematical problem in a finite number of
steps that frequently involve repetition of an opera-
tion) to estimate landmark locations based on mor-
phological features.
Potentiometry can also be used to collect digital
anthropometric measurements. Electromechanical
potentiometric systems allow the measurer to man-
ually digitize points in three-dimensional space. The
measurer guides a probe tip manually to render dis-
crete points or body surface contours.
Functional Performance
Measurements
Conventional functional performance measurements
include grip, push, and pull strength, and reaching
abilities. For grip strength measurement, an indi-
vidual is required to squeeze for several seconds at
maximum effort a hand dynamometer (a force meas-
urement device) set at one or more grip circumfer-
ences. For the measurement of push and pull
strength, an individual usually holds a static (un-
changing) posture while either pushing on or pulling
against a force gauge at a maximum effort over
several seconds. An individuals reaching abilities can
be evaluated with a number of methods, including
those that employ photography and potentiometry
as described above, or methods that require an in-
dividual to mark with a hand-held pen or pencil the
maximum or comfortable reach locations on a
vertical or horizontal grid.
Electromagnetic and video-based motion analy-
sis systems provide new measures of physical abili-
ties related to the way people move (kinematics) and
can be used with other types of instrumentation,
such as force plates (hardware that measure the force
applied to it), to provide biomechanical (the me-
chanics of biological and especially muscular ac-
tivity) information or measures of balance. These
systems allow positions of body landmarks to be
tracked over time during a physical activity. The data
can be evaluated statistically or can serve as an ex-
ample of a human task simulation. Such methods of
data collection allow more lifelike dynamic digital
human models that can be used to evaluate human
performance in virtual environments. However, use
of these methods is expensive and time consuming.
Measurement Consistency
and Variation
Anthropometric measurements are recordings of
body dimensions and physical abilities that are sub-
ject to variability. No correct measurement exists
because a measurement is simply an observation
or recording of an attribute that is the cumulative
contribution of many factors.
Anthropometric studies have investigated the
topic of measurement consistency in relation to
intrinsic qualities of variability within a given meas-
urement. J. A. Gavan (1950) graded anthropome-
try dimensions in terms of consistencies seen through
expert anthropometrists and concluded that con-
sistency increased as: the number of technicians de-
creased, the amount of subcutaneous [under the
skin] tissue decreased, the experience of the tech-
nician increased, and as the landmarks were more
clearly defined (Gavan 1950, 425). Claire C. Gordon
and Bruce Bradtmiller (1992), Charles Clauser and
associates (1998), Gordon and associates (1989), and
others have also studied intra- and interobserver er-
ror contributions in anthropometric measurements,

including the contributions of different measure-
ment instruments and the effects of breathing cy-
c l e s . O t h e r re s e a rch e r s , s u ch a s Ka t h e r i n e
Brooke-Wavell and colleagues (1994), have evalu-
ated the reliability of digital anthropometric meas-
urement systems. These evaluations have brought
about an awareness of anthropometric reliability and
error as well as acceptable levels of reliability.
Anthropometric data typically are collected for
large samples of populations to capture distribu-
tional characteristics of a dimension so that it is rep-
resentative of a target population. Many sources of
anthropometric variability exist within populations.
Men and women differ greatly in terms of structural
and functional anthropometric dimensions.
Additionally, the anthropometric dimensions of peo-
ple have changed systematically through time. Todays
people are generally taller and heavier than those
of previous generations, perhaps because of improved
availability and nutrition of food in developed coun-
tries. Of course, a persons body size also changes
through time, even throughout the course of
adulthood. As a person ages, for example, his or
her height decreases. Other sources of anthropo-
metric variability include ethnicity, geography, and
occupational status.
The distribution characteristics of an anthropo-
metric dimension are often reported for different
categories of age and gender, and sometime for
different ethnicities or countries. Because the vari-
ability of anthropometric dimensional values within
such subgroups often takes the shape of a Gausian
(bell-shaped) distribution, the mean deviation and
standard deviation of the sample data are often used
to describe the distributional characteristics of a di-
mension. The percentile valuethe value of a di-
mension that is greater than or equal to a certain
percentage of a distributionalso provides useful
information. For example, the fifth and ninety-fifth
percentiles of a dimensional value define the outer
boundaries of the 90 percent midrange of a popu-
lation distribution that might enable a designer to
develop an adjustable consumer product or envi-
ronment feature that can accommodate 90 percent
or more of the target population.
Multivariate data analysis includes the use of cor-
relation and regression analyses, as well as human
ANTHROPOMETRY 29
modeling methods. The correlation between two di-
mensions provides a measure of how strongly two
dimensions covary linearly. When two measurements
are highly correlated the values of one measurement
can be used to predict the values of another in a
regression analysis, therefore reducing the total num-
ber of measurements needed to construct a com-
prehensive set of anthropometric tables and human
models based on partially extrapolated data. When
combinations of anthropometric dimensions are
considered simultaneously in the evaluation of a
product or environment, mockups and task trialing
involving people or simulation approaches using dig-
ital human modeling of people are required.
Important Data Sources
The most comprehensive anthropometric studies
have focused on military personnel, at least in part
due to the need for the military to have information
to provide well-designed uniforms, equipment, land
vehicles, and aircraft. Perhaps one of the most
comprehensive studies was the 1988 U.S. Army
Anthropometric Survey (ANSUR), which summa-
rized 132 dimensions of approximately nine thou-
sand army personnel.
One of the most inclusive sources of civilian an-
thropometric data is a U.S. National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) technical report pro-
duced by the staff of the Anthropology Research
Project in 1978. This report contains anthropo-
metric data across a variety of civilian and military
populations for a large number of anthropometric
variables, including information about the mass dis-
tribution of body segments.
More recently, the Civilian American and
European Surface Anthropometry Resource (CAE-
SAR) project used laser scanning to collect the body
surface contours and sizes of approximately twenty-
four hundred North American and two thousand
European civilians from 1998 to 2000. Measurements
were recorded with people in standing, standardized
seated, and relaxed seated postures. Thousands of
points that define the location of the bodys sur-
face were collected with each scan, providing ex-
tremely accurate three-dimensional representations
of the body surface contours for individual human
30 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
models that can be used to evaluate the fit of a prod-
uct or of the person in an environment. Because
markers are also placed over key body landmarks,
conventional descriptive analysis of dimensions has
also been performed. CAESAR is the largest and most
valuable anthropometric data source of its kind.
Using Anthropometric Data in Design
Conventional use of anthropometric data in de-
sign requires determining (1) the population for
which a design in intended, known as the target
population, (2) the critical dimension or dimen-
sions of the design, (3) appropriate anthropometric
data source, (4) the percentage of the population
to be accommodated by the design, (5) the portion
of the distribution that will be excluded, usually the
largest and/or smallest values of the distribution, and
(6) the appropriate design values through the use of
univariate or bivariate statistical methods.
Conventional application of anthropometric
data, however, is not able to address the design prob-
lems that require the evaluation of many design char-
acteristics simultaneously. Multivariate analysis using
mockups and task trialing requires recruiting peo-
ple with the desired range of body size and ability
and assessing human performance during the sim-
ulation, such as judging whether people can reach
a control or easily see a display for a particular de-
sign. Static and dynamic digital human modeling
approaches require manipulating models of various
sizes in virtual environments to assess the person-
design fit. Analysis methods for dynamic digital hu-
man modeling approaches are still in their infancy
due to the limited amount of studies recording the
needed information and the complicated nature of
the data.
A variety of fields uses anthropometric data, in-
cluding anthropology, comparative morphology, hu-
man factors engineering and ergonomics, medicine,
and architectural design. Additionally, digital an-
thropometry has been used outside of scientific and
research endeavors, as seen in the application of a
new suit-making technology for Brooks Brothers
(known as digital tailoring).
The International Organization for Stan-
dardization has published numerous publications
that apply anthropometric data to the development
of design guidelines. These publications include ISO
14738 Safety of MachineryAnthropometric
Requirements for the Design of Workstations at
Machinery (2002), ISO 15534 Ergonomic Design for
the Safety of Machinery (2000), and ISO 9241
Documents on the Ergonomic Requirements for Office
Work with Visual Display Terminals (19922001).
The latter publications were developed to improve
the fit between people and their computers at work.
Future Research
A major challenge of future research is how to sum-
marize and interpret the information-rich but com-
plex three-dimensional data that accompany the new
methods of measurement described here. New meth-
ods of three-dimensional measurement of body
dimensions such as whole-body scanning provide
new opportunities to move conventional univariate
anthropometric applications to complete three-di-
mensional static human models that can be used
to evaluate design in new ways. Motion analysis
methods in dynamic human modeling also pro-
vide a powerful tool to improve our understanding
of the functional abilities of people. The reliability,
accuracy, and applications of many of these anthro-
pometric measurement methods, however, have yet
to be fully explored.
Perhaps what is most needed is simply more in-
formation about the physical dimensions and abili-
t i e s i n m o r e d i ve r s e u s e r g r o u p s . L a c k o f
anthropometric information severely limits the use
of anthropometry in the design of living and work-
ing spaces that can be used by diverse populations.
U.S. government agencies, particularly the U.S.
Architectur al and Tr anspor tation Bar r iers
Compliance Board (Access Board) and the U.S.
Department of Educations National Institute on
Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), re-
cently have started to address the information gap
by studying the physical abilities of people with dis-
abilities, such as people who use wheelchairs.
However, much work remains to be done. In par-
ticular, the need for anthropometric data to in-
form the design of occupational, public, and
residential environments of the elderly is expected
 ANTHROPOMETRY 31

to increase substantially as the proportion of the eld- display terminals (VDTs), (ISO Standard 9241). Geneva, Switzerland:
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Standardization.
International Organization for Standardization. (Ed.). (2002).
Safety of machineryAnthropometric requirements for the design
FURTHER READING of workstations at machinery (ISO Standard 14738). Geneva,
Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization.
International Organization for Standardization. (Ed.). (2003). General
Annis, J. F. (1989). An automated device used to develop a new 3-D
requirements for establishing an anthropometric database (ISO
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Standard 15535). Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization
Advances in industrial ergonomics and safety (pp. 181188). London:
for Standardization.
Taylor & Francis.
Kroemer, K. H. E., Kroemer, H. J., & Kroemer-Elbert, K. E. (1997).
Annis, J. F., Case, H. W., Clauser, C. E., & Bradtmiller, B. (1991).
Engineering anthropometry. In K. H. E. Kroemer (Ed.), Engineering
Anthropometry of an aging work force. Experimental Aging
physiology (pp. 160). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Research, 17, 157176.
Marras, W., & Kim, J. (1993). Anthropometry of industrial popula-
Brooke-Wavell, K., Jones, P. R. M., & West, G. M. (1994). Reliability
tions. Ergonomics, 36(4), 371377.
and repeatability of 3-D body scanner (LASS) measurements com-
Molenbroek, J. (1987) Anthropometry of elderly people in the
pared to anthropometry. Annals of Human Biology, 21, 571577.
Netherlands: Research and applications. Applied Ergonomics, 18,
Clauser, C., Tebbetts, I., Bradtmiller, B., McConville, J., & Gordon,
187194.
C. (1998). Measurers handbook: U.S. Army anthropometric sur-
Paquet, V. (Ed.). (2004). Anthropometry and disability [Special issue].
vey (Technical Report No. TR-88/043). Natick, MA: U.S. Army
International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 33(3).
Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center.
Paquette, S., Case, H., Annis, J., Mayfield, T., Kristensen, S., & Mountjoy,
Damon, A., & Stout, H. (1963). The functional anthropometry of old
D. N. (1999). The effects of multilayered military clothing ensembles
men. Human Factors, 5, 485491.
on body size: A pilot study. Natick, MA: U.S. Soldier and Biological
Dempster, W. T., Gabel, W. C., & Felts, W. J. L. (1959). The anthro-
Chemical Command Soldier Systems Center.
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Reed, M., Manary, M., Flannagan, C., & Schneider, L. (2000). Effects
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of vehicle interior geometry and anthropometric variables on auto-
Eastman Kodak Company. (2003). Ergonomic design for people at work
mobile driving posture. Human Factors, 42, 541552.
(2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Reed, M., Manary, M., & Schneider, L. (1999). Methods for measur-
Garson, J. (1885). The Frankfort Craniometric Agreement, with
ing and representing automobile occupant posture (SAE Technical
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Paper No. 1999-01-0959). Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive
Great Britain and Ireland, 14, 6483.
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Society 42nd annual meeting (pp. 719721). Santa Monica, CA:
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Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
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Robinette, K. (2000). CAESAR measures up. Ergonomics in Design,
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8(3), 1723.
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Roebuck, J., Kroemer, K. H. E., & Thomson, W. (1975). Engineering
vey of U.S. Army personnel: Methods and summary statistics
anthropometry methods. New York: Wiley.
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Research, Development and Engineering Center.
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Ulijaszek, S., & Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N. (Eds.). (1994). Anthropometry:
Hobson, D., & Molenbroek, J. (1990). Anthropometry and design for
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(19922003). Ergonomics requirements for office work with visual
32 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
APPLICATION USE
STRATEGIES
Strategies for using complex computer applications
such as word-processing programs and computer-
aided drafting (CAD) systems are general and goal-
directed methods for performing tasks. These
strategies are important to identify and learn be-
cause they can make users more efficient and effec-
tive in completing their tasks, and they are often
difficult to acquire just by knowing commands on
an interface.
To understand strategies for using computer ap-
plications, consider the task of drawing three iden-
tical arched windows in a CAD system. As shown in
Figure 1A, one way to perform the task is to draw all
the arcs across the windows, followed by drawing all
the vertical lines, followed by drawing all the hori-
zontal lines. Another way to perform the same task
(Figure 1B) is to draw all the elements of the first
window, group the elements and then make three
copies of the grouped elements.
The first method is called sequence-by-operation
because it organizes the drawing task by performing
one set of identical operations (in this case draw arc),
followed by performing the next set of similar op-
erations (in this case draw line). The second method
is called detail-aggregate-manipulate because it or-
ganizes the task by first detailing all the elements
of the first object (in this case drawing the parts of
the first window), aggregating the elements of the
first object (in this case grouping all the parts of
the first window), and then manipulating that ag-
gregate (in this case making two copies of the
grouped elements of the first window). Both the
methods are strategies because they are general
and goal-directed. For example, the detail-aggregate-
manipulate strategy is general because it can be used
to create multiple copies of sets of objects in a
wide range of applications. The above example
was for a CAD application, but the same strategy
could be used to create many identical paragraphs
for address labels in a word-processing appli-
cation, such as Microsoft Word. The detail-aggregate-
manipulate strategy is also goal-directed because it
can be used to complete the task of drawing three
arched windows.
The definition of a strategy given above subsumes
more limited strategy definitions used in fields as di-
verse as business management and cognitive psy-
chology. These definitions may be stated in terms of
time (they may define strategy as a long-term plan
for achieving a goal), the existence of alternate meth-
ods (they may consider a strateg y to be any
method that is nonobligatory), or performance out-
comes (they may define a strategy as a method that
results in a competitive advantage). However, ex-
cluding these particulars (time, existence of alter-
nate methods, and performance outcomes) from the
definition of strategy enables us to describe strate-
gies in a more encompassing way, irrespective of
whether they are short term or long term, unique or
one of many, or efficient or inefficient.
The Costs and Benets
of Using Strategies
Although the two strategies shown in Figure 1 achieve
the same goal, different costs and benefits are asso-
ciated with each ones use. By drawing all the arcs
before the lines, the sequence-by-operation strategy
reduces the cost of switching between the draw arc,
and the draw line commands. Furthermore, the strat-
egy uses simple commands that are useful for per-
forming a large set of tasks. Therefore, the short-term
learning cost of using this strategy is small. However,
because the user is constructing every element in the
drawing, the performance cost (measured in terms
of time and effort) can become large when draw-
ing repeated elements across many tasks, especially
in the long term. In contrast, the detail-aggregate-
manipulate strategy requires the user to draw the el-
ements of only one window, and makes the computer
construct the rest of the windows using the group,
and copy commands. For a novice CAD user, the
short-term learning cost for the detail-aggregate-
manipulate strategy involves learning the group and
copy commands and how to sequence them.
However, as is common in the use of any new tool,

this short-term learning cost is amortized over the
long term because of the efficiency gained over many
invocations of the strategy. This amortization there-
fore lowers the overall performance cost.
Research has shown that strategies like detail-ag-
gregate-manipulate can save users between 40 per-
cent and 70 percent of the time to perform typical
drawing tasks, in addition to reducing errors.
Furthermore, with properly designed strategy-based
training, such strategies can be taught to novice com-
puter users in a short amount of time. For users who
care about saving time and producing accurate draw-
ings, learning such strategies can therefore make them
more efficient (save time) and more effective (reduce
errors) with relatively short training.
A Framework That Organizes
Strategies for Using Complex
Computer Applications
Given the important role that strategies can play in
improving overall productivity, researchers have at-
tempted to identify and organize strategies for com-
puter application use, such as authoring and
information retrieval applications. Frameworks to
organize strategies have suggested the design of:
(1) training that teaches the strategies in a system-
atic way, (2) new systems that provide effective and
efficient strategies to users with little experience, and
(3) evaluation methods to ensure that designers con-
sistently offer the commands for using efficient and
effective strategies.
One useful way to organize strategies is based on
the general capabilities of computer applications that
the strategies exploit. For example, the detail-aggre-
gate-manipulate strategy described in Figure 1 ex-
ploits the iterative power of computers; it makes the
computer (instead of the user) perform the repeti-
tious task of copying the elements multiple times.
Strategies have also been identified that exploit other
powers of computers, such as the powers of propa-
gation, organization, and visualization.
Another way to organize strategies is by the scope
of their use. For example, some strategies are
APPLICATION USE STRATEGIES 33
A. Sequence-by-Operation Strategy
1.Draw arcs. 2. Draw vertical 3. Draw horizontal
lines. lines.
B. Detail-Aggregate-Manipulate Strategy
1.Draw arc. 2.Draw lines. 3. Group lines. 4. Copy group.
detail aggregate manipulate
Source: Bhavnani, S. K., John, B. E. (1996). Exploring the unrealized potential of computer-aided drafting.
Proceedings of CHI96, 337. Copyright 1996 ACM, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
FIGURE 1. Two strategies to perform the 3-window
drawing task.
broad in scope because the powers they exploit are
offered by a large range of computer applications
such as authoring and information retrieval appli-
cations. Other strategies are narrower in scope and
applicable to a smaller range of computer applica-
tions such as only to word processors.
[Large-Scope Strategies
Given the ubiquity of graphical user interfaces (GUIs)
across computer applications, most useful computer
applications require some interaction with a visual
interface. Such computer applications offer the power
of visualization, that is, the power to selectively view
information on the screen. For example, a common
word-processing task is to compare information from
one part of a document with information in another
part of the document. When these two parts of the
document cannot fit simultaneously on the screen,
the user can perform the comparison task in several
ways. One way is to scroll back and forth between
the relevant parts of the document. This method is
time-consuming and error-prone because it requires
the user to remember the information that is not vis-
ible. Another way to perform the same compari-
son task is to first bring together on the computer
screen the two relevant parts of the document, before
34 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Large Scope Computer Applications

Visualization Strategies

Other computer
Medium Scope Authoring Applications
applications (e.g.
Iteration Strategies information retrieval )
Propagation Strategies

Word Processors Spreadsheets Drawing Systems Other authoring

applications (e.g.
Small Scope Small Scope Small Scope Web authoring)
Text Transformation Formula Decomposition Graphic Precision
Strategies Strategies Strategies

F I G U R E 2 . Strategies have been identified to exploit different powers of computers at different scopes levels. Large
scope strategies are useful to many classes of computer applications, such as authoring and information retrieval
applications. Medium scope strategies apply to a single class of computer applications, such as authoring appli-
cations. Small scope strategies apply to a single sub-class of applications, such as only to word processors. The
dotted lines represent how future strategies can be included in the framework.

comparing them. The information can be brought
together on the screen by different commands, such
as by opening two windows of the same document
scrolled to the relevant parts of the document, or by
using the split window command in Microsoft Word
to view two parts of the document simultaneously.
In addition to being useful for word-process-
ing tasks, this visualization strategy is also useful
when one is drawing a complex building in a CAD
system, or when one is comparing information from
two different webpages when retrieving information
on the Web. Hence strategies that exploit the
power of visualization have wide scope, spanning
many different classes of computer applications.
Medium-Scope Strategies
While visualization strategies have the widest use
across classes of computer applications, there are
three sets of strategies that are limited in scope to
only one class of computer applications:
First, there are strategies that exploit the itera-
tive power of computers, such as the detail-aggre-
gate-manipulate strategy discussed earlier. These are
useful mainly for authoring applications such as
drawing systems and word processors.
Second, there are strategies that exploit the power
of propagation provided by authoring applications.
The power of propagation enables users to set up de-
pendencies between objects, such that modifications
automatically ripple through to the dependent ob-
jects. For example, often users have to change the
font and size of headings in a document to conform
to different publication requirements. One way to
perform this task is to make the changes manually.
This is time-consuming, especially when the docu-
ment is long, and error-prone, because certain head-
ings may be missed or incorrectly modified. A more
efficient and effective method of performing the same
task is to first make the headings in a document
dependent on a style definition in Microsoft Word.
When this style definition is modified, all depend-
ent headings are automatically changed. This strat-
egy is useful across such applications as spreadsheets
(where different results can be generated by altering
a variable such as an interest rate), and CAD systems
(where it can be used to generate variations on a re-
peated window design in a building faade).
Third, there are strategies that exploit the power
of organization provided by authoring applications.
The power of organization enables users to explic-

itly structure information in representations (such
as in a table). These explicit representations enable
users to make rapid changes to the content with-
out having to manually update the structure of the
representation. For example, one way to represent
tabular information in a word-processing applica-
tion is by using tabs between the words or numbers.
However, because tabs do not convey to the com-
puter an explicit tabular representation consisting
of rows and columns, the tabular structure may
not be maintained when changes are made to the
content. A more efficient and effective way to per-
form this task is to first make the table explicit to the
computer by using the command insert table, and
then to add content to the table. Because the com-
puter has an internal data structure for representing
a table, the tabular representation will be maintained
during modifications (such as adding more content
to a cell in the table). Organization strategies are also
useful in other authoring applications. For example,
information can be stored using a set-subset repre-
sentation in a spreadsheet (as when different
sheets are used to organize sets of numbers) and in
a CAD system (as when different layers are used to
organize different types of graphic information).
As discussed above, strategies that exploit the
powers of iteration, propagation, and organization
are useful mainly for authoring applications.
However, it is important to note that the powers of
iteration, propagation, and organization can also be
offered by other classes of computer applications,
such as information retrieval applications. For ex-
ample, many Web browsers offer users ways to or-
ganize the addresses of different retrieved webpages.
(The organizing features provided by the favorites
command in Internet Explorer is one example.)
However, while powers provided by authoring ap-
plications can be provided in other classes of com-
puter applications, the strategies that they exploit
will tend to be the same.
Small-Scope Strategies
Small-scope strategies exploit powers provided by
particular subclasses of applications. For example,
the power of graphic precision is offered mainly by
drawing systems, such as CAD systems. Strategies
that exploit graphic precision enable users to cre-
APPLICATION USE STRATEGIES 35
ate and manipulate precise graphic objects. For ex-
ample, a common precision drawing task is to cre-
ate a line that is precisely tangent and touching the
end of an arc (as shown in the arched windows in
Figure 1). One way to perform this task is to visually
locate, and then click the end of the arc when draw-
ing the line. This is error-prone because the user re-
lies on visual feedback to detect the precise location
of the end of the arc. Another way is to use the snap-
to-object command, which enables the user to click
a point that is only approximately at the end of the
arc. The computer responds by automatically locat-
ing the precise end of the arc, and therefore en-
ables the user to draw a line that is precisely tangent
to the end of the arc.
Similar small-scope strategies have been iden-
tified for word-processing applications (such as those
that assist in transforming text to generate summaries
or translations) and for spreadsheets (such as
those that decompose formulas into subformulas to
enable quick debugging).
Future Extensions of the
Strategy Framework
The strategy framework described above focuses on
authoring applications. However, the framework can
also be extended to organize the large number of
search strategies that have been identified for use
with information retrieval applications such as gen-
eral-purpose search engines like Google. In contrast
to computer powers that are useful in organizing
strategies for use with authoring applications, strate-
gies for use with information retrieval systems ap-
pear to be driven by attributes of how information
sources are structured. For example, a large portion
of the Web comprises densely connected webpages
referred to as the core of the Web. The densely
connected structure of information sources in the
core suggests the importance of using a variety of
browsing strategies (that rely on using hyperlinks to
move from one page to another) to locate relevant
sources. There is also a large portion of the Web that
consists of new pages that are not linked to many
other pages. Strategies to find these pages therefore
require the use of different query-based search en-
gines, given that no single search engine indexes all
webpages.
36 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
While there has been much research on
strategies for finding relevant sources of informa-
tion, one set of strategies works by selecting and or-
dering relevant sources of information based on
the way information is distributed across sources.
For example, health care information is typically
scattered across different health care portals. In this
situation a useful strategy is to visit specific kinds
of portals in a particular order to enable compre-
hensive accumulation of the relevant information.
Such strategies become critical when incomplete
information can have dangerous consequences (as
is the case with incomplete information on health
issues).
An important difference between strategies for
using authoring applications and strategies for us-
ing information retrieval systems is that search strate-
gies are fundamentally heuristicthat is, they are
rules of thumb that do not guarantee successful task
completion. This is in part because users evaluation
of what is relevant changes based on what is being
learned during the search process.
How the Identication of
Strategies Can Improve
Human-Computer Interaction
The identification and analysis of application use
strategies suggests three practical developments: strat-
egy-based instruction, new search systems, and an
analysis method to ensure consistency in capabili-
ties across applications.
Strategy-Based Instruction
Strategies for using authoring applications have
led to the design of strategy-based instruction.
Strategy-based instruction teaches commands in
combination with the authoring strategies that make
use of authoring applications powers of iteration,
propagation, and organization. Research has shown
that students who took the strategy-based training
acquired more efficient and effective strategies and
demonstrated a greater ability to transfer that knowl-
edge across applications than did students who were
taught only commands.
New Search Systems
The identification of search strategies to deal with
the scatter of information across the Web has led
to the design of a new kind of domain portal
called a Strategy Hub. This type of domain portal
implements the heuristic search strategy of visiting
sources of information in a particular order. Recent
studies show that such a system enables users to find
more comprehensive information on specific topics
when compared to the information retrieved by users
of other search systems.
An Analysis Method To Ensure Consistency in
Capabilities across Applications
To enable the widest use of strategies across com-
puter applications, designers must provide a con-
sistent set of commands. Therefore, a method called
designs conducive to the use of efficient strategies
(Design-CUES) has been developed that enables de-
signers to systematically check if their designs pro-
vide the commands necessary for users to implement
efficient and effective strategies.
Looking Forward
Many years of research has shown that merely learn-
ing commands does not make for the best use of
complex computer applications. The effective and
efficient use of computer applications often requires
the use of strategies in addition to commands. An
important research goal has therefore been to
identify strategies for using a wide range of computer
applications. The strategies that have been identified
to date have benefited users through strategy-
based instruction, new forms of search systems, and
new design methods. As research on strategy iden-
tification continues, we can expect more develop-
ments along those lines, all with the ultimate goal of
making users more effective and efficient in the
use of complex computer applications.
Suresh K. Bhavnani

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ODay, V., & Jeffries, R. (1993). Orienteering in an information
landscape: How information seekers get from here to there. In
Proceedings of CHI 93 (pp. 438445). New York: ACM Press.
Shute, S., & Smith, P. (1993). Knowledge-based search tactics. Infor-
mation Processing & Management, 29(1), 2945.
Siegler, R. S., & Jenkins, E. (1989). How children discover new strate-
gies. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Singley, M., & Anderson, J. (1989). The transfer of cognitive skill.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
ARPANET
The Arpanet, the forerunner of the Internet, was devel-
oped by the U.S. Department of Defenses Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the early 1960s.
ARPA was created in 1958 by President Dwight D.
Eisenhower to serve as a quick-response research and
development agency for the Department of Defense,
specifically in response to the launch of the Soviet
satellite Sputnik. The agency, now the Defense
ARPANET 37
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
funded some of the most important research of
the twentieth century.
The Arpanet Concept
The Arpanet long-distance computer network was
a collection of ideas, breakthroughs, and people.
The roots of the Arpanet can be traced to one of
ARPAs most famous managers, J. C. R. Licklider.
In 1962 Licklider was recruited to work at ARPA,
then housed in the Pentagon, to start a behavioral
sciences program. Although a psychologist by train-
ing, Licklider had a passion for the emergent field of
computers and was adamant that the future of com-
puting resided in the interactions between humans
and computers. In his seminal work, a paper enti-
tled Man-Computer Symbiosis written in 1960,
Licklider predicted that computers would not be
merely tools for people to use but also extensions of
people, forming a symbiotic relationship that would
revolutionize the way people interact with the world.
Through ARPA Licklider began to interact with
the brightest minds in computingscientists at
Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, MIT, and a handful of com-
panies that made up what Licklider considered to be
his intergalactic computer network. Of course, this
network existed only in theory because people had
no way to bring these resources together other than
telephone or face-to-face meetings. However, Licklider
had the vision of gathering these people and resources,
making the intergalactic network a physical network
through an integrated network of computers.
Although originally brought on board to work on be-
havioral science issues in command-and-control
systems, Licklider was directly responsible for trans-
forming his command-and-control research office
into the Information Processing Techniques Office
(IPTO), which would be responsible for critical ad-
vanced computing achievements for decades to come.
Although Licklider left ARPA in 1964, he had a last-
ing effect on the field of computing and the devel-
opment of the Arpanet.
In 1966 another computer visionary, Bob Taylor,
became director of IPTO and immediately began
to address the computer networking problem. The
38 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
We were just rank amateurs, and we were expecting that
some authority would finally come along and say,Heres
how we are going to do it. And nobody ever came along.
Vint Cerf on the design of Arpanet
computing field at that time suffered from duplica-
tion of research efforts, no electronic links between
computers, little opportunity for advanced graph-
ics development, and a lack of sharing of valuable
computing resources. Taylor asked the director of
ARPA, Charles Herzfeld, to fund a program to create
a test network of computers to solve these problems.
Herzfeld granted Taylors request, and Taylors office
received more than one million dollars to address the
problems. Thus, the Arpanet project was born.
Taylor needed a program manager for the
Arpanet project. He recruited Larry Roberts from
MITs Lincoln Labs. Roberts, twenty-nine years old,
arrived at the Pentagon in 1966 and was ready to ad-
dress head on the problem of communications be-
tween computers.
Fundamental Issues in Networking
Several fundamental issues existed in the network-
ing of computers. Networking had been conceived
of to solve the problem of resource sharing between
computers. During the 1960s computers were ex-
tremely large, expensive, and time consuming to op-
erate. ARPA had already invested in computing
resources at several computing centers across the
country, but these centers had no way to communi-
cate among one another or to share resources. At the
same time, Cold War concerns were causing U.S. sci-
entists to take a hard look at military communica-
tions networks across the country and to evaluate
the networks survivability in case of a nuclear strike.
In the United Kingdom scientists were looking at
networks for purely communications use and were
evaluating digital communication methods to work
around the inefficiency of the analogue telephone
system. Both U.S. and United Kingdom scientists
were researching distributed networks (digital data
communication networks that extend across multi-
ple locations), packet switching, dynamic routing al-
gorithms (computational means of directing data
flows), and network survivability/redundancy. Packet
switching would be a critical element of network de-
sign because it would allow information to be bro-
ken down into pieces or packets that would be sent
over the network and reassembled at their final des-
tination. This design was a much more efficient mes-
saging design, particularly when contrasted to
analogue phone lines. Additionally, the distributed
network design would be more efficient and robust.
Without central nodes (locations that contain all the
resources and then distribute them to the rest of the
system), the system could survive a loss of one or
more nodes and still route data traffic. This design
also would allow more efficient data trafficking when
coupled with an adaptive networking algorithm ca-
pable of determining the most efficient path for any
packet to travel.
Researchers addressed these issues prior to the
Arpanet project. RANDs Paul Baran recommended a
distributed switching network to the U.S. Air Force in
1965 for the communications network of the Strategic
Air Command, but the network was not developed. In
the United Kingdom Don Davies was working on
packet switching and adaptive networking for the
Ministry of Defense. The two men independently came
up with many of the same answers that would even-
tually be incorporated into the Arpanet.
The Arpanet Experiment
Larry Roberts arrived at ARPA in 1966 with the
charge to solve the computer networking problem.
At an ARPA investigators meeting in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, Roberts proposed a networking experi-
ment that would become the Arpanet. He proposed
that all of the ARPA time-sharing computers at var-
ious sites across the country be connected over dial-
up telephone lines. The time-sharing (or host)
computers would serve double dutyboth as re-
sources and routers. Meeting participants met
Robertss proposal with a great deal of skepticism.
Why would people want to spend valuable comput-
ing resources to communicate between computers
when people already had all the computing they
needed at their site? At the time, sharing between

computing centers was a goal of ARPA and not nec-
essarily of the scientific community itself. In addi-
tion, researchers would be reluctant to give up
valuable computing power just so they could share
with other researchers. However, a researcher at
the meeting, Wes Clark, struck upon a solution
that would allow the experiment to be carried out.
Clark recommended keeping the host computers out
of the networking duties. Instead, he suggested us-
ing a subnetwork of intermediary computers to han-
dle packet switching and data trafficking. This
subnetwork would reduce the computing demand
on the host computers, and the use of a subnetwork
of specialized computers would provide uniformity
and control. This suggestion solved many problems,
both technical and administrative, and would allow
ARPA to control the subnetwork. The computers
used at the subnetwork level were called interface
message processors (IMPs). In addition to design-
ing IMPs, researchers would have to develop pro-
tocols for how the IMPs would communicate with
host computers and create the network.
ARPA issued a request for proposals (RFP) in
1968, because the specifications for the network had
become so detailed. These specifications included:
Transfer of digital bits from source to specified
location should be reliable.
Transit time through the subnetwork should
be one-half second or less.
The subnetwork had to operate autonomously.
The subnetwork had to function even when IMP
nodes went down.
The ARPA RFP was issued to determine which
company could build the Arpanet to these specifi-
cations. After much debate, the contract was awarded
in 1969 to the Bolt, Baranek, and Newman company
(BBN), which had assembled an amazing team of
scientists to transform this vision into reality. The
choice of BBN was a surprise to many people be-
cause BBN was considered to be a consulting firm,
not a computing heavy hitter. However, its proposal
was so detailed and exacting that it could begin work
immediately upon awarding of the contract. BBN
had only twelve months to do the work.
In their 1996 book, Where Wizards Stay Up Late,
Katie Hafner, co-author of Cyberpunk, and Matthew
ARPANET 39
Lyon, assistant to the president of the University of
Texas, unveil the Sputnik-era beginnings of the
Internet, the groundbreaking scientific work that cre-
ated it, and the often eccentric, brilliant scientists and
engineers responsible. The team, led by Frank
Heart, was dedicated to building the Arpanet on time
and to specifications and had only nine months to de-
liver the first IMP. Despite hardware setbacks, the team
delivered the first IMP to UCLA early. UCLA was also
the site of the network management center, the test
track for the Arpanet. The team was charged with
testing the networks limits and exposing bugs, flaws,
and oddities. The initial Arpanet experiment consisted
of four nodes, with an IMP at UCLA, Stanford
Research Institute (SRI), University of Utah, and
University of California at Santa Barbara. BBN also
was responsible for two critical elements: the IMPs
themselves (including IMP-to-IMP communications)
and the specifications for the IMP-to-host commu-
nications. The specifications for the IMP-to-host com-
munications were drafted by Bob Kahn, who became
the intermediary between the Arpanet research com-
munity and BBN. Graduate students of the host in-
stitutions digested those specifications and developed
the code that would serve as the interface between host
and IMP. They formed the Network Working
Group to hammer out the details of protocols, shared
resources, and data transfer. They created file trans-
fer protocols (which layout the rules for how all com-
puters handle the transfer of files) that became the
backbone of the Arpanet and made it functional. This
experiment was so successful that the Arpanet was ex-
panded to include other research sites across the coun-
try until it grew to twenty-nine nodes. In 1972 the
Arpanet made its public debut at the International
Conference on Computer Communication. It was an
unequivocal hit, and the computer networking con-
cept was validated in the public arena.
The Arpanet Evolves
As members of a user community, the researchers
involved in the Arpanet were always adding, creat-
ing, experimenting. The Arpanet became a bargain-
ing tool in the recruiting of computer science faculty
and an impromptu communication tool for net-
work mail or electronic mail (e-mail). In 1973 an
40 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
ARPA study showed that 75 percent of all traffic
on the Arpanet was e-mail. Researchers eventually
wrote dedicated software to handle this side use of
the Arpanet.
In 1972 Bob Kahn left BBN and went to work at
ARPA with Larry Roberts. Kahn was now in charge
of the network that he had helped create. He formed
a fruitful collaboration with Vint Cerf of Stanford
( w h o w a s a g r a d u a te s t u d e n t o n t h e U C L A
Arpanet project) that led to the next evolution of
networking. Together they tackled the problem of
packet switching in internetworking, which would
eventually become the Internet. In 1975 Vint Cerf
went to DARPA to take charge of all of the ARPA
Internet programs, and the Arpanet itself was trans-
ferred to the Defense Communication Agency, a
transfer that upset some people in the non-bu-
reaucratic computing research community. The
Internet was created by the merging of the Arpanet,
SATNET (Atlantic Packet Satellite Network), and a
packet radio networkall based on the transmis-
sion-control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP)
standard that Cerf and Kahn createdand then more
and more networks were created and connected un-
til the Internet was born. The Arpanet eventually
burgeoned to 113 nodes before it adopted the new
TCP/IP standard and was split into MILNET and
Arpanet in 1983. In 1989 the Arpanet was officially
powered down, and all of the original nodes
were transferred to the Internet.
The Internet and Beyond
The creation of the Arpanetand then the Internet
was the work of many researchers. Only with diffi-
culty can we imagine our modern society without the
interconnectedness that we now share. The
Arpanet was a testament to the ingenuity of the hu-
man mind and peoples perhaps evolutionary de-
sire to be connected to one another. The Arpanet not
only brought us closer together but also brought us
one step closer to J. C. R. Lickliders vision of human-
computer interaction more than four decades ago.
Amy Kruse, Dylan Schmorrow, and J. Allen Sears
See also InternetWorldwide Diffusion
FURTHER READING
Adam, J. (1996, November). Geek gods: How cybergeniuses Bob Kahn
and Vint Cerf turned a Pentagon project into the Internet and con-
nected the world. Washingtonian Magazine, 66.
Baranek, B., & Newman. (1981, April). A history of the ARPANET: The
first decade. NTIS No. AD A 115440). Retrieved March 23, 2004,
from http://www.ntis.gov
Evenson, L. (1997, March 16). Present at the creation of the
Internet: Now that were all linked up and sitting quietly, Vint Cerf,
one of its architects, describes how the Internet came into being.
San Francisco Chronicle (p. 3ff).
Hafner, K., & Lyon, M. (1996). Where wizards stay up late: The origins
of the Internet. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Hughes, T. J. (1998). Rescuing Prometheus. New York: Pantheon Books.
Norberg, A., & ONeill, J. (1997). Transforming computer technology.
Ann Arbor: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan
Library.
Salus, P. (1995). Casting the Net. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
Most research in mainstream artificial intelligence
(AI) is directed toward understanding how people
(or even animals or societies) can solve problems ef-
fectively. These problems are much more general
than mathematical or logical puzzles; AI researchers
are interested in how artificial systems can perceive
and reason about the world, plan and act to meet
goals, communicate, learn, and apply knowledge such
that they can behave intelligently.
In the context of human-computer interaction
(HCI), research in AI has focused on three general
questions:
How can the process of designing and imple-
menting interactive systems be improved?
How can an interactive system decide which
problems need to be solved and how they should
be solved?
How can an interactive system communicate
most effectively with the user about the prob-
lems that need to be solved?
The first question deals with the development
process in HCI, the others with user interaction,

specifically the issues of control and communica-
tion. These questions have been a central concern in
HCI for the past thirty years and remain critical
today. AI has been able to provide useful insights into
how these questions can be answered. In sum,
what AI brings to HCI development is the possi-
bility of a more systematic exploration and evalua-
tion of interface designs, based on automated
reasoning about a given application domain, the
characteristics of human problem solving, and gen-
eral interaction principles. The AI approach can ben-
efit end users because it encourages tailoring the
behavior of an interactive system more closely to
users needs.
The Concept of Search
Almost all techniques for problem solving in AI
are based on the fundamental concept of search. One
way to understand search is by analogy to naviga-
tion on the World Wide Web. Imagine that my goal
is to reach a specific webpage starting from my home-
page, and that I have no access to automated facili-
ties such as search engines. I proceed by clicking
on the navigation links on my current page. For each
new page that comes up, I decide whether I have
reached my goal. If not, then I evaluate the new page,
comparing it with the other pages that I have en-
countered, to see whether I am moving closer to my
goal or farther away. Based on my evaluation, I
may continue forward or go back to an earlier, more
promising point to take a different path.
An automated search process works in the same
way. Pages correspond to states in a search space,
or relevant information about the environment; nav-
igation actions are operators, which transform one
state into another; an evaluation function assesses
information about the state to guide the selection of
operators for further transformations.
A large number of AI techniques have been de-
veloped to address specific classes of search prob-
lems, representing the problems in different ways.
For example, planning systems search for sequences
of interdependent operators to reach a set of goals;
these systems can deal with complex tasks ranging
from planning space missions to helping robots nav-
igate over unfamiliar terrain. Expert systems, whether
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 41
acting as automated tax advisors, automobile repair
advisors, or medical consultants, search oppor-
tunistically for combinations of if-then rules that de-
rive plausible conclusions from input data and
existing knowledge. Machine learning systems, in-
cluding neutral networks, incrementally refine an
internal representation of their environment, in a
search for improved performance on given tasks.
Natural language understanding systems search
for correct interpretations through a space of am-
biguous word meanings, grammatical constructs,
and pragmatic goals. These brief descriptions are
only approximate, but they help us understand how
a system can represent and deal with some of the
problems that arise in interacting with users or in-
terface developers in an intelligent way.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) The subfield of computer
science that is concerned with symbolic reasoning and
problem solving.
AI and the Development
of User Interfaces
Considerable attention in AI has focused on the
process of developing user interfaces. Experienced
developers generally have a working knowledge of
software engineering practice, interface architectures,
graphic design, and related areas, plus information
about the purpose for which the interface is to be
used. If this knowledge can be captured in compu-
tational form, an intelligent development environ-
ment can aid developers by testing and validating
design specifications, by producing alternative de-
signs for a given specification, by generating po-
tential improvements to a design, and by automating
some of the more common implementation tasks.
The motivation for a search-based approach can
be seen most clearly in the problem of layout design.
If an experienced designer were asked to organize
ten loosely related items of information (represented
in text, pictures, and buttons) on a companys top-
level webpage, the final product might be the re-
sult of comparing several alternatives, perhaps a few
42 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
dozen at most. The number of all possible layouts of
ten items, however, runs into the millions and higher;
this is much more than a designer can humanly con-
sider. Most of these layouts will be unacceptable (for
example, all possible orderings of items diagonally
across the page), but there may be many effective de-
signs that are missed simply because the number
of possibilities is so enormous. A system that can
search through different spatial relationships and
evaluate the results, even without perfect accuracy,
can give designers a more comprehensive view of the
problem and its solutions.
Automated layout design is just one aspect of in-
terface design. Research in the general area of model-
based interface design aims to support developers in
all stages of the design process. In MOBI-D and
Mastermind, which are user interface generation tools,
developers build and evaluate abstract models of com-
puter applications (such as word processing appli-
cations, spreadsheet applications, or photographic
design applications), interaction tasks and actions,
presentations, even users and workplaces. The goal
is to give developers decision-making tools that al-
low them to apply their design skills but do not overly
restrict their choices. These tools test constraints, eval-
uate design implications, present suggestions, track
changes, and so forth, facilitating the eventual con-
struction of the actual interface. For example, if a de-
veloper specifies that the user must enter a number
at some point, MOBI-D can present different inter-
face alternatives, such as a slider (the software equiv-
alent of a linear volume control) or a text box that
the user can type into directly, for the developer to
choose from. In Mastermind, the developer can switch
between a number of visual formats, avoiding ones
that are cumbersome. Current research in this area
is helping to improve webpage design and build in-
terfaces that meet the constraints of the next gener-
ation of interactive devices, including cell phones and
handheld computers.
AI research is also helping software companies
with product evaluation. Partially automated testing
of noninteractive software is now commonplace, but
conventional techniques are not well suited to test-
ing user interfaces. Software companies usually rely
on limited user studies in the laboratory, plus a large
population of alpha and beta testers (people who test
the product in real-world situations). Thanks to AI
research, however, it is becoming possible to build ar-
tificial software agents that can stand in for real users.
It is common to think about user interaction with
the software in problem-solving terms, as goal-oriented
behavior. For example, if my goal is to send an e-mail
message, I divide this into subgoals: entering the re-
cipient information and subject line information, writ-
ing a short paragraph of text, and attaching a picture.
My paragraph subgoal breaks down further into writ-
ing individual sentences, with the decomposition
continuing to the point of mouse movements and key
presses. In AI terms, these decompositions can be rep-
resented by plans to be constructed and executed au-
tomatically. The PATHS system, a system designed to
help automate the testing of graphical user interfaces,
lets developers specify a beginning state, an end state,
and a set of goals to be accomplished using the inter-
face. PATHS then creates a comprehensive set of plans
to achieve the goals. For example, given the goal of mod-
ifying a document, the planner will generate sequences
of actions for opening the document, adding and delet-
ing text, and saving the results, accounting for all the dif-
ferent ways that each action can be carried out. If a given
sequence is found not to be supported when it should
be, PATHS will record this as an error in the application.
Similar work is carried out in the related field of
cognitive modeling, which shares many concepts
with AI. Cognitive modelers build computational
models of human cognitive processingperception,
attention, memory, motor action, and so forthin
order to gain insight into human behavior. To make
valid comparisons between a models performance
and human performance, a common experimental
ground is needed. User interfaces provide that com-
mon ground. Cognitive models comparable to plan-
ning systems have been developed for evaluating user
interfaces, and they have the added benefit of giving
developers information about the human side of in-
teraction as well as the application side.
Interaction
The metaphor of tool use has come to dominate the
way we understand human interaction with com-
puters, especially with regard to graphical user inter-
faces. Just as a carpenter keeps specialized sets of tools
 ARTIFICIAL INTELLEGENCE 43

A Personal StoryPutting Humans First in Systems Design

The field of augmented cognition is pushing the integration of human systems and information technology to the fore-
front, while also attempting to maximize human potential. My current (and anticipated future) experience with using an
ever-increasing number of technologies during my everyday life compels me (propels me!) to help design a new class of
systems for the user to interact with. Practitioners of traditional human-systems integration research and design have stead-
fastly urged that the human must be considered when designing systems for human use.
An emerging concept is that not only are human beings the weak link in current human-systems relationships, but also
that the number of systems that a single human interacts with is growing so rapidly that the human is no longer capable
of using these technologies in truly meaningful ways. This specifically motivates me to develop augmented cognition tech-
nologies at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (where I am a program manager). I want to decrease the num-
ber of system interfaces that we need to interact with, and increase the number of advanced systems that individuals are
capable of using simultaneously. On any given day, I typically wear (carry) five computers: my wristwatch, cell phone, two-
way pager with e-mailing capability, a personal digital assistant, and a laptop. I find these systems intrusive and the asso-
ciated demands on my time to be unacceptable. My home is inundated with appliances that are evolving into computer
devicesthese systems have advanced features that require significant attention in order to use them optimally. Even
with the worlds greatest human factors interface, I would never have time to interact with all of these systems that I use
on a daily basis.
Having said all of this, I need the systems that support me to exhibit some intelligence; I need them to be able to per-
ceive and understand what is going on around and inside of me. I do not have time to overtly direct them. Ideally they
will support me by sensing my limitations (and my capabilities) and determining how best to communicate with me if
absolutely necessary. Augmented cognition technology will imbue into these systems the ability to interact with me. Indeed,
augmented cognition is about maximizing human potential. If we humans are the weak link, it is because our current
advanced computer systems are actually limiting our performance. In the future, we must have transparent technologies
addressing our needs, or we will be overwhelmed by meaningless interactions.
Dylan Schmorrow

for framing a house or building fine furniture, an expe-
rienced computer user has a variety of software tools
for word processing, analyzing data with spread-
sheets, or creating graphics and illustrations. User inter-
faces are often thought of as tool-using environments,
which has important implications for the involve-
ment of AI in user interaction. Let us extend the car-
penter analogy. If I am intent on hammering a
nail, I am not constantly reconsidering and recali-
brating the relationship between the hammer and
my hand, or the head of the hammer and the nail.
Instead, after an initial adjustment, the hammer
effectively becomes an extension of my arm, so
that I can use it without thinking about it. Similarly,
for a tool-based software environment, selecting in-
dividual tools should be intuitive, and applying a tool
should quickly become second nature.
The principles of direct manipulation provide a
foundation for tool-based environments. Direct-ma-
nipulation interfaces, as defined by Ben Shneiderman,
the founding director of the Human-Computer
Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland,
provide a visual representation of objects, allow rapid
operations with visible feedback, and rely mainly on
physical actions (such as selecting and dragging or
pressing buttons) to initiate actions. Modern graph-
ical user interfaces can trace much of their power to
direct-manipulation principles. Nevertheless, as pow-
erful as direct-manipulation interfaces can be, they
are not appropriate in all situations. For example,
sometimes in using a piece of software I know what
needs to be doneI can even describe in words what
I would like to dobut I do not know exactly how to
accomplish my task given the tools at hand.
44 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
These potential limitations, among others, have
led AI researchers to consider alternatives to a strict
tool-based approach. First, it is possible to build in-
telligent environments that take a more active role in
assisting the userfor example, by automatically
adapting their behavior to the users goals. Second,
intelligent behavior can be encapsulated within a soft-
ware agent that can take responsibility for different
tasks in the environment, reducing the burden on the
user. Third, these agents and environments can com-
municate with the user, rather than passively being
acted upon by the user, as tools are.
Intelligent Environments
Some intelligent environments work by integrating
AI search into an otherwise conventional interface.
One recently developed technique, human-guided
simple search, is intended to solve computationally
intensive problems such as the traveling salesman
problem. This problem involves a salesman who must
visit a number of cities while keeping the distance
traveled as small as possible. Finding the optimal
route for even a small number of locations is beyond
what can be done with pencil and paper; for ten
locations there are over three million possible routes.
Large problems are challenging even for the most
sophisticated computer programs.
The user works with the human-guided search
(HUGSS) tool kit through a graphical display of
routes that the system has found. By pressing a
button, the user activates a search process that com-
putes the best route it can find within a fixed period
of time. The user examines the solution and modi-
fies it by selecting parts of the route that need fur-
ther refinement or identifying those parts that already
have a reasonable solution. The user brings human
perception and reasoning to bear on the problem by
constraining the space that the search process con-
siders (for example, by temporarily focusing the
search on routes between five specific locations, rather
than the entire set). Problem-solving responsibility
is explicitly shared between the user and the system,
with the amount and timing of the systems effort
always under the users control. HUGSS works faster
than the best fully automated systems currently in
use, and it produces results of equal quality.
Other approaches to building intelligent envi-
ronments, such as programming by example (PBE),
involve more significant changes to user interaction.
PBE systems watch the user perform a procedure a
number of times and then automatically general-
ize from these examples to create a fully functional
program that can execute the repetitive actions so
the user does not have to.
The SMARTedit system is an example of a ma-
chine-learning approach to PBE, in the context of
a text-editing application. Suppose that the user
moves the cursor to the beginning of the word ap-
ple, erases the lowercase a, and types an uppercase
A. There are several ways that those actions could be
interpreted. Perhaps, for example, the user wanted
to move the cursor forward n characters and replace
the arbitrary character at that location with A, or
perhaps the user wanted to move to the next oc-
currence of the letter a and capitalize it, or to correct
the capitalization of the first word in a sentence, or
some other possibility. Each of these interpretations
is a different hypothesis maintained by SMARTedit
about the users intentions. As the user takes further
actions, repeating similar sequences on different text,
ambiguity is reduced. Some hypotheses become more
plausible while others are pruned away because they
predict actions inconsistent with the users behav-
ior. At any point, the user can direct SMARTedit to
take over the editing process and watch the system
apply its most hig hly ranked hy pothesis. If
SMARTedit carries out a sequence incorrectly, the
user can interrupt and correct the mistake, with
the system learning from the feedback.
Adaptive user interfaces are another type of in-
telligent environment. Their development is moti-
vated by the observation that while the ideal software
system is tailored to an individual user, for economic
reasons a single system must be designed and released
to thousands or even millions of users, who differ
widely from one another in expertise, interests, needs,
and so forth. The solution is a system that can
adapt to its users when in use. A simple example is
adaptive menus. A system can record how often the
user selects different menu options, and modify the
menu structure so that more frequently chosen op-
tions can be reached more efficiently. This basic idea

also works in more sophisticated adaptive systems,
many of which compile detailed models of users and
their particular tasks and adapt accordingly. Adaptive
systems have become especially relevant in efforts to
personalize the World Wide Web as well as in research
on intelligent tutoring systems and other applications
of AI to education.
Intelligent Agents
The engineer Michael Huhns and the computer sci-
entist Munindar Singh define intelligent agents as
active, persistent (software) components that per-
ceive, reason, act, and communicate (Huhns and
Singh 1997, 1). For our purposes, the most impor-
tant characteristic of an agent is its autonomyits
ability to carry out activities without the constant,
direct supervision of a human being. Agents in use
at present include animated characters or believ-
able agents, autonomous agents such as softbots
(software agents that perform tasks on the Internet)
and physical robots, and mobile agents whose pro-
cessing is not limited to a single computer platform.
Agents are also used in multi-agent systems, which
may involve mixed teams of humans and agents.
Most relevant to HCI are interface agents, which act
as intelligent assistants within a user interface, some-
times carrying out tasks on their own but also able
to take instructions and guidance from the user.
Letizia is an interface agent that assists users in
browsing the World Wide Web. Letizia operates in
conjunction with a standard Web browser, main-
taining two open windows for its own use. As the
user navigates through the Web, Letizia records the
information on each page that the user visits and
performs an independent search of nearby pages that
the user may not have seen. Letizias evaluation func-
tion compares the information on the pages that it
visits with the information that the user has seen up
to the current point. In this way Letizia can make
suggestions about what the user might be interested
in seeing next. As Letizia visits pages, it displays the
most promising ones for a short time in one win-
dow and the overall winner it has encountered in the
other window. The user can watch what Letizia is
doing and take control at will.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLEGENCE 45
Information retrieval is just one area in which
agents have become popular. Agents have also ap-
peared in help systems, planning and scheduling aids,
scripting systems, intelligent tutoring systems, col-
laborative filtering applications, matchmaking ap-
plications, and electronic auctions. Work on agents
is one of the fastest-growing areas of AI.
An important topic within research on agents is
how to make agents interact most effectively with users.
Who should take the initiativethe user or the agent?
And when? Should one ever interrupt the other? These
are questions of mixed-initiative interaction. Some
work on these questions is carried out in the area of
rational decision making, wherein rationality is in-
terpreted in an economic sense. If an agent has knowl-
edge of the users preferences and can reason about
the users goals, then it can, for example, determine
that the value of the information it can contribute
at some point will offset the cost of the user having to
deal with an interruption. A different direction is taken
by projects that are influenced by the ways that peo-
ple interact with one another, especially in dialogue.
TRIPS (The Rochester Interactive Planning System)
is a mixed-initiative planning and scheduling assis-
tant that collaborates with a human user to solve prob-
lems in crisis situations, such as planning and
managing an evacuation. The COLLAGEN (from
COLLaborative AGENt) system is a collaboration sys-
tem that can be incorporated into agents to give them
sophisticated collaboration capabilities across a range
of application domains. TRIPS and COLLAGEN
agents can interact with users via everyday natural
language as well as through multimedia presentations,
which leads to the topic of communication.
Communication
Some agents communicate by conventional means
in a graphical user interface, for example by raising
dialog windows and accepting typed input and but-
ton presses for responses. A common and reason-
able expectation, however, is that if a system is
intelligent, we should be able to talk with it as we
would with other people, using natural language.
(Natural language refers to the languages that peo-
ple commonly use, such as English or French, in con-
trast to programming languages.) Unfortunately,
46 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
even a brief treatment of natural-language under-
standing and generation, not to mention voice recog-
nition and speech output, is beyond the scope of this
article. An example, however, may give some idea of
the issues involved. Consider three remarks from the
users side of a dialogue with a natural-language sys-
tem (the bracketed text is not spoken by the user):
User (1): Show me document.txt.
User (2): Whats the last modification date [on
the file document.txt]?
User (3): Okay, print it [i.e., document.txt].
To respond correctly, the system must be able
to reason that modification dates are associated with
files and that files rather than dates are usually printed
(it could grammatically refer to either.) Reading
this dialogue, English-speaking humans make these
inferences automatically, without effort or even aware-
ness. It is only recently that computer systems have
been able to match even a fraction of our abilities.
The QuickSet communication system combines
natural language and other methods of interaction
for use in military scenarios. Shown a map on a tablet
PC, the user can say, Jeep 23, follow this evacuation
route, while drawing a path on the display. The sys-
tem responds with the requested action. This in-
teraction is striking for its efficiency: the user has two
simultaneous modes of input, voice and pen-aided
gesture, and the ambiguities in one channel (in
this example, the interpretation of the phrase this
route) are compensated for by information in the
other channel (the drawn path). In general, voice and
natural language can support a more engaging, nat-
ural style of interaction with the interface than ap-
proaches that use a single vector of communication.
Embodied conversational agents take work in nat-
ural language a step further. When people speak with
one another, communication is not limited to the
words that are spoken. Gestures, expressions, and other
factors can modify or even contradict the literal mean-
ing of spoken words. Embodied conversational agents
attempt to recognize and produce these broader cues
in communication. REA, a simulated real estate agent
research prototype developed at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, is represented by a full body
figure on a large-scale display. REA shows users around
a house, making appropriate use of eye gaze, body
posture, hand gestures, and facial expressions to en-
hance its spoken conversation. Users can communi-
cate via speech or gesture, even by simply looking at
particular objects, nonverbal behavior that is sensed
by cameras. Systems like REA aim to make the com-
puter side of face-to-face human-computer commu-
nication as rich and nuanced as the human side.
Future Directions
This article has introduced the reader to AI approaches
to HCI rather than give a taxonomy of AI systems;
many of the systems touched upon are much broader
in scope than can be conveyed through a category
assignment and a few sentences. Developments that
do not fit neatly within the categories discussed are
listed below.
Smart Rooms and Intelligent Classrooms
Much of what makes a software environment intelli-
gent can be generalized to the physical domain. Smart
rooms and intelligent classrooms rely on the same
kind of technology as an embodied conversational
agent; they register users gestures and spoken com-
mands and adjust thermostats, change lighting, run
presentations and the like, accordingly.
Games and Virtual Environments
Intelligent agents have begun to enrich games and
virtual environments, acting as teammates or oppo-
nents. Extending this line of research, the Mimesis
system imposes a nonscripted, dynamic narrative
structure onto a virtual gaming environment, so that
external goals (for example, education on a histor-
ical period) can be met without compromising the
users direct control over the environment.
Human-Robot Interaction
Robots are appearing outside the laboratory, in our
workplaces and homes. Human-robot interaction
examines issues of interaction with physical agents
in real-world environments, even in social situations.
Robots can be used to explore otherwise inaccessi-
ble environments and in search-and-rescue missions.
It should be clear from this discussion that the
most interesting problems in HCI are no longer
found in software technology, at the level of the
visible components of the interface. Effective AI

approaches to HCI focus on issues at deeper levels,
probing the structure of problems that need to be
solved, the capabilities and requirements of users,
and new ways of integrating human reasoning with
automated processing.
Robert St. Amant
FURTHER READING
Anderson, D., Anderson, E., Lesh, N., Marks, J., Mirtich, B., Ratajczak,
D., et al. (2000). Human-guided simple search. In Proceedings of
the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) (pp.
209216). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Cassell, J. (Ed.). (2000). Embodied conversational agents. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Cassell, J., Bickmore, T., Billinghurst, M., Campbell, L., Chang, K.,
Vilhjlmsson, H., et al. (1999). Embodiment in conversational in-
terfaces: REA. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) (pp. 520527). New York:
ACM Press.
Cypher, A., (Ed.). (1993). Watch what I do: Programming by demon-
stration. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Huhns, M. N., & Singh, M. P. (Eds.). (1997). Readings in agents. San
Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Kobsa, A. (Ed.). (2001). Ten year anniversary issue. User Modeling and
User-Adapted Interaction, 11(12).
Lester, J. (Ed.). (1999). Special issue on intelligent user interfaces. AI
Magazine, 22(4).
Lieberman, H. (1995). Letizia: An agent that assists Web browsing. In
Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Artificial
Intelligence (IJCAI) (pp. 924929). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Lieberman, H. (Ed.). (2001). Your wish is my command. San Francisco:
Morgan Kaufmann.
Lok, S., & Feiner, S. (2001). A survey of automated layout tech-
niques for information presentations. In Proceedings of the First
International Symposium on Smart Graphics (pp. 6168). New York:
ACM Press.
Maybury, M. T., & Wahlster, W. (Eds.). (1998). Readings in intelli-
gent user interfaces. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Memon, A. M., Pollack, M. E., Soffa, M. L. (2001). Hierarchical GUI
test case generation using automated planning. IEEE Transactions
on Software Engineering, 27(2), 144155.
Newell, A., & Simon, H. (1972). Human problem solving. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Oviatt, S. L., Cohen, P. R., Wu, L., Vergo, J., Duncan, L., Suhm, B., et
al. (2002). Designing the user interface for multimodal speech and
gesture applications: State-of-the-art systems and research di-
rections. In J. Carroll (Ed.), Human-computer interaction in the
new millennium (pp. 419456). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Puerta, A.R. (1997). A model-based interface development environ-
ment. IEEE Software, 14(4), 4147.
Ritter, F. E., & Young, R. M. (Eds.). (2001). Special issue on cognitive
modeling for human-computer interaction. International Journal
of Human-Computer Studies, 55(1).
Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (1995). Artificial intelligence: A modern ap-
proach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
ASIAN SCRIPT INPUT 47
Shneiderman, B. (1998). Designing the user interface: Strategies for
effective human-computer interaction. Boston: Addison-Wesley.
Shneiderman, B., & Maes, P. (1997). Debate: Direct manipulation
vs. interface agents. Interactions, 4(6), 4261.
Sullivan, J. W., & Tyler, S. W. (Eds.). (1991). Intelligent user inter-
faces. New York: ACM Press.
St. Amant, R., & Healey, C. G. (2001). Usability guidelines for inter-
active search in direct manipulation systems. In Proceedings of the
International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) (pp.
11791184). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman.
Szekely, P., Sukaviriya, P., Castells, P., Muthukumarasamy, J., & Salcher,
E. (1996). Declarative interface models for user interface construc-
tion tools: The Mastermind approach. In L. Bass & C. Unger (Eds.),
Engineering for human-computer interaction (pp. 120150). London
and New York: Chapman & Hall.
Wolfman, S. A., Lau, T. A., Domingos, P., & Weld, D. S. (2001).
Mixed initiative interfaces for learning tasks: SMARTedit talks back.
In Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent User
Interfaces (pp. 67174). New York: ACM Press.
ASIAN SCRIPT INPUT
The Asian languages that employ the Chinese alphabet
in their writing systems present difficult challenges
for entering text into computers and word proces-
sors. Many Asian languages, such as Korean and Thai,
have their own alphabets, and the Devanagari al-
phabet is used to write Sanskrit, Hindi, and some
other languages of India. Designing keyboards and
fonts for alphabets of languagessuch as Hebrew,
Greek, Russian, and Arabicthat do not employ the
Roman alphabet used by English and other west-
ern European languages is relatively simple. The chal-
lenge with Chinese, simply put, is that a standard
national database contains 6,763 symbols (called
characters rather than letters), and a keyboard
with so many keys would be completely unwieldy.
As was the case with ancient Egyptian hiero-
glyphics and Mesopotamian cuneiform, Chinese writ-
ing began as pictographs that represented particular
things. Evolving through time and modified for grace-
ful drawing with an ink brush, these pictographs be-
came the current system of characters representing
concepts and sounds in a complex interplay of func-
tions. A person fully literate in Chinese today uses
3,000 to 4,000 characters; newspapers have 6,000 to
7,000 available, but some dictionaries list as many as
50,000. In 1958 a standardized phonetic system based
48 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
on the Roman alphabet and called pinyin was in-
troduced, but it has not replaced the traditional
system of writing. Japanese employs two phonetic al-
phabets called kana, as well as Chinese characters
called kanji. In 1983 the Japan Industrial Standard
listed 2,963 commonly used characters plus an-
other 3,384 that appear only rarely. Korean also makes
some use of Chinese characters, but the chief form
of writing is with an alphabet historically based on
Chinese but phonetically representing the sounds of
spoken Korean.
Because Japan has been a leader in developing com-
puter technology for decades, its language is the best
example. Around 1915 Japan began experimenting
with typewriters, but they were cumbersome and rare.
Typewriters could be made simply for the kana, a cen-
turies-old phonetic system for writing Japanese syl-
lables, either in the traditional hiragana form or in the
equivalent katakana form used for writing foreign
words or telegrams. Occasionally reformers have sug-
gested that Chinese characters should be abandoned
in favor of the kana or the Roman alphabet, but this
reform has not happened. Thus, newspapers employed
vast collections of Chinese type, and careful hand-
writing was used in business, schools, and forms of
printing such as photocopying that could duplicate
handwriting. During the 1980s word processors
were introduced that were capable of producing the
traditional mixture of kanji, hiragana, and katakana,
along with occasional words in Roman script and other
Western symbols. The Macintosh, which was the
first commercially successful computer with bitmapped
(relating to a digital image for which an array of bi-
nary data specifies the value of each pixel) screen
and printing, became popular in Japan because it could
handle the language, but all Windows-based comput-
ers can now as well, as, of course, can indigenous
Japanese word processors.
Kana computer keyboards exist in Japan, but the
most common input method for Chinese characters
in both China and Japan requires the user to enter text
into a Western keyboard, romanizing the words.
Suppose that someone is using Microsoft Word in
Japanese and wants to type the word meaning com-
ment. The writer would press the Western keys that
phonetically spell the Japanese word kannsou. If the
word processor is set to do so, it will automatically dis-
play the equivalent hiragana characters instead of
Western letters on the screen.
Many Meanings
The writer probably does not want the hiragana but
rather the kanji, but many Japanese words can be ro-
manized kannsou. Asian languages have many
homonyms (words that sound similar but have dif-
ferent meanings), and Chinese characters must rep-
resent the one intended meaning. The standard way
in which word processors handle this awkward fact, in
Chinese as well as Japanese, is to open a selection win-
dow containing the alternatives. For example, lets say
the user typed kannsou, then hit the spacebar (which
is not otherwise used in ordinary Japanese) to open
the selection window with the first choice highlighted.
The user can select the second choice, which is the cor-
rect Chinese characters for the Japanese word mean-
ing a comment (ones thoughts and impressions
about something). If the user wanted kannsou to mean
not comment, but rather dry, he or she would se-
lect the third choice. The fourth through ninth choices
mean welcome and farewell,a musical interlude,
completion, as of a race,meditate,hay(dry grass),
and telling peoples fortunes by examining their faces.
Good Asian-language word processing software
presents the choices in descending order of likelihood,
and if a person selects a particular choice repeatedly it
will appear on the top of the list. The word processor
can be set so that the first kanji choice, instead of the
hiragana, appears in the text being written. Pressing
the spacebar once would transform it to the second
choice, and pressing again could select the next choice
and open the selection window. The choices may in-
clude a katakana choice as well. Many choices exist,
and some Chinese word processors often fill the se-
lection window four times over. Thus, research on the
frequency of usage of various Chinese words is im-
portant in establishing their most efficient ordering in
the selection window. Human-computer interaction
(HCI) research has explored other ways of making the
word selection, including eye tracking to select the al-
ternative that the users eyes focus upon.
The chief substitutes for keyboard text input are
speech recognition and handwriting recognition.
Speech recognition systems developed for English are

unsuitable for Asian languages. Notably, spoken
Chinese is a tonal language in which each syllable
has a characteristic pitch pattern, an important feature
absent from English. Experts have done a good deal of
research on computer recognition of Japanese and
Chinese, but speech input introduces errors while
requiring the same selection among choices, as does
keyboard input. Handwriting recognition avoids the
problem of alternative ways of writing homonyms, but
despite much research it remains excessively error
prone. Three approaches are being tried with Chinese:
recognizing (1) the whole word, (2) the individual
characters, or (3) parts of characters, called radicals,
that may appear in many characters. All three ap-
proaches have high error rates because many charac-
ters are graphically complex, and people vary
considerably in how they draw them. Thus, key-
board input remains by far the most popular method.
East and West
China, Japan, and Korea have from time to time
considered abandoning the traditional Chinese
characters, with Korea coming the closest to actually
doing so. A phonetic writing system is easier to
learn, thus giving students more time to study other
things. The traditional Chinese system supported an
entrenched intellectual elite, who feared that a sim-
ple alphabet might democratize writing. On the other
hand, one advantage of the traditional system is that
a vast region of the world speaking many dialects
and languages could be united by a single writing sys-
tem, and even today a Chinese person can commu-
nicate to some extent with a Japanese personeven
though neither knows the others spoken lan-
guageby drawing the characters. Fluent bilingual
readers of an Asian language and a Western language
sometimes say they can read Chinese characters more
quickly because the characters directly represent con-
cepts, whereas Western letters represent sounds and
thus only indirectly relate to concepts. Some writers
have conjectured that dyslexia should be rare in
Chinese, if difficulties in learning to read are an in-
ability to connect letters with sounds. However, dyslexia
seems to exist in every language, although its causes
and characteristics might be somewhat different in
Asian languages than in English.
ASIAN SCRIPT INPUT 49
Modern word processors may change the balance
of forces working for or against change in the tradi-
tional Asian scripts. They may degrade peoples Chinese
character handwriting skills, but they may simultane-
ously help people employ more obscure characters. In
the psychology of memory people have the ability to
recognize things they would not have spontaneously
produced. Chinese-language and Japanese-language
word processors often include character palettes (com-
parable ranges, qualities, or uses of available elements),
allowing users to select even obscure characters with
a single click of the mouse, thereby perhaps encour-
aging them to do so. Computer and information sci-
entists and engineers are rapidly producing search
engines and a whole host of other tools that are giving
the ancient Asian scripts a new life on the Internet and
the World Wide Web.
William Sims Bainbridge and Erika Bainbridge
See also Handwriting Recognition and Retrieval;
Keyboard
FURTHER READING
Apple Computer Company. (1993). Macintosh Japanese input method
guide. Cupertino, CA: Apple.
Asher, R. E., & Simpson, J. M. Y. (Eds.). (1994). The encyclopedia of lan-
guage and linguistics. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
Fujii, H., & Croft, W. B. (1993). A comparison of indexing techniques
for Japanese text retrieval. In Proceedings of the 16th annual ACM
SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information
Retrieval (pp. 237246). New York: ACM Press.
Ho, F.-C. (2002). An analysis of reading errors in Chinese language. In
L. Jeffrey (Comp.), AARE 2002 conference papers (n.p.).
Melbourne, Australia: Australian Association for Research in
Education.
Li,Y., Ding, X., & Tan, C. L. (2002). Combining character-based bigrams
with word-based bigrams in contextual postprocessing for Chinese
script recognition, ACM Transactions on Asian Language Information
Processing, 1(4), 297309.
Shi, D., Damper, R. I., & Gunn, S. R. (2003). Offline handwritten Chinese
character recognition by radical decomposition. ACM Transactions
on Asian Language Information Processing, 2(1), 2748.
Wang, J. (2003). Human-computer interaction research and practice
in China. ACM Interactions, 10(2), 8896.
Wang, J., Zhai, S., & Su, H. (2001). Chinese input with keyboard and eye-
tracking. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems (pp. 349356). New York: ACM Press.
50 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
THE ATANASOFF-BERRY
COMPUTER
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the
first electronic digital computer and the inspiration
for the better-publicized 1946 ENIAC. It was con-
ceived in late 1938, prototyped in 1939 at Iowa State
College (now Iowa State University) in Ames,
Iowa, and made usable for production computing
by 1941. John Atanasoff, a professor of mathemat-
ics and physics, collaborated with Clifford Berry, a
graduate student, to develop the system.
Physical Description
In contrast to the computers that followed in the
1940s, the ABC was compact, movable, and easily
operated by a single user. The original system no
longer exists except for a logic module and a mem-
ory drum, but a functioning replica was constructed
in the late 1990s.
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer
The ABC weighed about 750 pounds. It had the
weight and maneuverability of an upright piano and
could roll on four heavy-duty casters. The total power
it drew was less than a kilowatt, and the heat gen-
erated by its vacuum tubes was low enough to dis-
sipate without requiring fan-forced air. The ABC
used ordinary 117-volt line power. An electric mo-
tor synchronized to standard 60-hertz line voltage
served as the system clock. The electromechanical
parts of the ABC, like those of a modern com-
puter, were for purposes other than calculation;
the computing itself was completely electronic. The
arithmetic modules were identical and could easily
be interchanged, removed, and repaired.
Intended Applications
and Production Use
The ABC was intended to solve dense systems of
up to thirty simultaneous linear equations with
15-decimal precision. Atanasoff targeted a workload
like that of current scientific computers: curve-fit-
ting, circuit analysis, structural analysis, quantum
physics, and problems in mechanics and astronomy.
The desktop calculators of the era were not up to the
equation-solving task, and Atanasoff identified their
limits as a common bottleneck in scientific research.
His conception of a high-speed solution made sev-
eral unprecedented leaps: binary internal arithmetic
(with automatic binary-decimal conversion), all-
electronic operation using logic gates, dynamically-
refreshed memory separated from the arithmetic
units, parallel operation of up to thirty simultane-
ous arithmetic units, and a synchronous system clock.
The ABC achieved practical success at the curve-
fitting application. Atanasoff collaborated with a stat-
istician colleague at Iowa State, George Snedecor,
who supplied a steady stream of small linear-system
problems to the ABC. Snedecors secretary was given
the task of checking the results by desk calculation,
which was simpler than solving the equations and
could be performed manually.
Human Interface
Compared to modern interfaces, the ABC interface
resembled that of an industrial manufacturing
machine. The user controlled the system with throw
switches and card readers (decimal for input and bi-
nary for intermediate results). The user was also
responsible for moving a jumper from one pair of
contacts to another to indicate a particular vari-
able in the system of equations. The ABC commu-
nicated to the user through a few incandescent lamp
indicators, an ohmmeter to indicate correct work-
ing voltages, a binary punch card output, and a cylin-
drical readout for decimal numbers that resembled
a car odometer.
The inventors clearly designed the machine for
operation by themselves, not general users. None of
the switches or lamps was labeled; it was up to the
user to remember what each switch did and what
each lamp meant. One switch instructed the ABC to
read a base-10 punch card, convert it to binary,
and store it in the dynamic memory, for example.
Furthermore, the open design of the ABC pro-
vided far less protection from electric shock than a
modern appliance does. Exposed surfaces only a few

centimeters apart could deliver a 120-volt shock to
the unwary.
A user entered the coefficients of the equations on
standard punch cards, using an IBM card punch. Each
coefficient required up to fifteen decimals and a
sign, so five numbers fit onto a single eighty-column
card. It was in the users best interest to scale up the
values to use all fifteen decimals, since the arithmetic
was fixed-point and accumulated rounding error.
Because the ABC could hold only two rows of
coefficients in its memory at once, it relied on a mass
storage medium to record scratch results for later use.
(The solution of two equations in two unknowns
did not require scratch memory.) Since magnetic stor-
age was still in its infancy, Atanasoff and Berry devel-
oped a method of writing binary numbers using
high-voltage arcs through a paper card. The pres-
ence of a hole, representing a 1, was then readable with
lower voltage electrodes. Both reading and writing took
place at 1,500 bits per second, which was a remarkable
speed for input/output in 1940. However, the reliabil-
ity of this system was such that a 1-bit error would oc-
cur every 10,000 to 100,000 bits, and this hindered the
ability to use the ABC for production computing be-
yond five equations in five unknowns.
To obtain human-readable results, the ABC con-
verted the 50-bit binary values stored in the memory
to decimals on the odometer readout. The total process
of converting a single 15-decimal number and mov-
ing the output dials could take anywhere from 1 sec-
ond to 150 seconds depending on the value of the
number. Atanasoff envisioned automating the man-
ual steps needed for operation, but enhancement of
the ABC was interrupted by World War II and never
resumed.
The ABC was a landmark in human-computer in-
teraction by virtue of being the first electronic com-
puter. Its use of punch cards for the input of
high-accuracy decimal data, binary internal represen-
tation, operator console, and the management of mass
storage and volatile storage were major advancements
for the late 1930s when Atanasoff and Berry conceived
and developed it.
John Gustafson
See also ENIAC
ATTENTIVE USER INTERFACE 51
FURTHER READING
Atanasoff, J. V. (1984). Advent of electronic digital computing. Annals
of the History of Computing, 6(3), 229282.
Burks, A. R. (2003). Who invented the computer? The legal battle that
changed computing history. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Burks, A. R., & Burks, A. W. (1989). The first electronic computer: The
Atanasoff story. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Gustafson, J. (2000). Reconstruction of the Atanasoff-Berry com-
puter. In R. Rojas & U. Hashagen (Eds.), The first computers:
History and architectures (91106). Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Mackintosh, A. R. (1988, August). Dr. Atanasoff s computer. Scientific
American (pp. 7278).
Mollenhoff, C. R. (1988). Atanasoff: Forgotten father of the computer.
Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Randell, R. (Ed.). (1982). The or ig ins of dig ital computers
(pp. 305325). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Reconstruction of the Atanasoff-Berr y Computer. (n.d.).
Retrieved on January 27, 2004, from http://www.scl.ameslab
.gov/ABC
Sendov, B. (2003). John Atanasoff: The electronic Prometheus. Sofia,
Bulgaria: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press.
Silag, W. (1984). The invention of the electronic digital computer at
Iowa State College, 19301942. The Palimpsest, 65(5), 150177.
ATTENTIVE USER
INTERFACE
An attentive user interface is a context-aware hu-
man-computer interface that uses a persons at-
tention as its primary input to determine and act
upon a persons intent. Although we can read a
persons attention in her every word and action
(even the way a person moves a cursor on a com-
puter interface shows what she is attending to), we
usually read attention in what and how people look
at things.
Visual attentive user interfaces concentrate on
the autonomic (involuntary) and social responses
that eyes communicate and read such eye move-
ments as a lingering stare, a roving gaze, and a nerv-
ous blink in a language of ocular attention. Such
interfaces also monitor the order in which people
visually scan objects.
52 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Eye Tracking
Eye tracking is a technique that monitors a persons
eye movements to determine where she is looking.
Eye tracking has long held promise as the ultimate hu-
man-computer interface, although eye tracking prod-
ucts have not been a commercial success. Original eye
tracking approaches used mechanical/optical instru-
ments that tracked mirrored contact lens reflections
or even instruments that measured eye muscle ten-
sion. Newer approaches illuminate the eye with in-
frared light and watch reflections with a camera.
Researchers can indirectly determine where a persons
eye is focusing by noting that an electroencephalo-
gram (EEG) signal is dominated by an ocular stim-
ulus. Four or five video strobe rates on different parts
of a display can be distinguished in an EEG. When a
person attends to one of them, his EEG pulses at the
video strobe rate. Codings of attention on a screen
can be identified with an EEG frequency counter.
Attention Can Be Detected
Whereas the advertising and psychology fields
have long used eye movement to understand what a
person is looking at, the human-computer interface
field has struggled to use the eye as a controller. How-
ever, the breakthrough in visual attentive user inter-
faces is in observing what the eye does, not in giving
it a tracking task. Interest Tracker is a system that
monitors the time that a person spends gazing
over a title area instead of the time that the person
spends gazing at a specific character to determine se-
lection. For example, the title of an article is pre-
sented at the bottom of a computer screen. A user
might glance down to read the title; if his glance plays
over the title for more than .3 seconds a window
opens on the computer screen with the full article.
That .3 seconds of dwell time is less than the typi-
cal 1 second that is required for a computer user to
select something on a screen by using a pointing de-
vice. Interest Tracker registers whether a person is
paying attention to, for example, news feeds, stock
prices, or help information and learns what titles
to audition at the bottom of the screen.
MAGIC (Manual and Gaze Input Cascaded)
pointing is a technique that lets a computer mouse
manipulate what a users eyes look at on a screen. An
Researcher Mike Li demonstrates the technology used
in the Invision eye-tracking experiment. The balls on
the screen have names of companies that move around
as he looks at them. The object under the screen is
the eye tracker. Photo courtesy of Ted Selker.
eye tracker enables the users gaze to roughly posi-
tion the cursor, which the mouse can then manip-
ulate. If the user wants to change the application
window he is working with, he stares at the applica-
tion window that he wants to work in; this stare
warps the cursor to that application window.
MAGIC pointing speeds up context changes on
the screen.
The Path of Attention Can
Demonstrate Intention
During the late 1960s it was shown that the way that
a persons eyes move while scanning a picture de-
scribes aspects of what she is thinking. When re-
searchers asked viewers seven questions about a
painting entitled The Unexpected Visitor, seven iden-
tifiable eye-scan patterns were recognizable. The or-
der in which a person looks at things also is a key to
what that person is thinking. Research on an ex-
periment called Invision uses this fact in a user in-
terface to prioritize activities. Invisions grouping of
things by the way a person looks improves eye track-
ing and uses gaze to group things of interest.
Knowing that an eye moves between staring fixa-
tions can help find those fixations. By analyzing the

eye-travel vectors between fixation vertices, Invision
gains a much more accurate idea of what a person
is trying to look at than by analyzing that persons
dwell time on a particular item.
Attending to the order in which people look at
things provides a powerful interface tool. Invision
demonstrates that an attentive user interface can be
driven from insights about where people look.
Scenarios are created in which the attentive pattern
of the eye gaze can be understood by a com-
puter. By watching the vertices of a persons eye mov-
ing through a visual field of company names, the
system notices which ones interest the person.
The company names aggregate themselves into clus-
ters on the screen based on the persons scanning
patterns.
A similar approach uses an ecological interface
that is an image of a kitchen with several problems.
On the counter is a dish with some food on it; the
oven door is slightly ajar, as are the dishwasher
and refrigerator doors. The manner in which a per-
sons eyes move around the kitchen image allows the
interface to understand whether the person is hun-
gry, thinking of taking care of problems, or think-
ing about something else in the kitchen. The
interface uses the order in which the person views
things in the image to bring up a menu and so forth.
This approach aggregates eye motions into a
story of what the person wants to do. The attention
model drives the interface. The vertices of change
in direction of eye movements easily give focus lo-
cations that have eluded most eye tracking research.
Ocular Attention
without Eye Tracking
EyeaRe is an ocular attention system that is based
on the fact that many of the social cues that are made
by an eye do not depend on where the eye is look-
ing. In fact, EyeaRe has no eye tracking system. It
simply measures reflected infrared (IR) from the
sclera (the opaque white outer coat enclosing the
eyeball except the part covered by the cornea) and
pupil to a photo diode. The system uses this reflected
infrared to determine whether the eye is open, closed,
blinking, winking, or staring. Without a camera such
ATTENTIVE USER INTERFACE 53
a sensor can recognize many aspects of attention.
EyeaRe consists of a Microchip PIC microprocessor
that records and runs the system, an LED and a
photo diode looking at the eye, and another
LED/photo diode pair that measures whether it is
in front of other EyeaRe devices and communicates
information. An IR channel communicates to a
video base station or a pair of glasses.
If an EyeaRe user is staring, the IR reflection off
his eye does not change. Staring at a video base sta-
tion starts a video; glancing away stops it. The video
image can detect whether a user is paying attention
to it; if the user doesnt like it and blinks her eyes
in frustration, the system puts up a more pleasing
image.
When two people stare at each other, EyeaRe
uses the IR communication channel to exchange in-
formation. When one person stares at another per-
son, the person being stared at receives the contact
information of the person who is staring.
People tend to move their eyes until they have
to look 15 degrees to the side; EyeaRe has an 18-
degree horizontal field of view. Thus, gaze and blink
detection occurs when a person looks at the EyeaRe
base station or glasses. EyeaRe demonstrates that a
system that doesnt even track the eye can under-
stand the intentions of attention.
A Simple Attentive
Eye-Gesture Language
To take eye communication one step further, the Eye
Bed interface uses an eye-gesture language to perform
tasks that are helpful to a person lying in bed. The Eye
Bed demonstrates that computers can be attentive to
peoples need to be horizontal eight hours a day. The
Eye Bed interface uses eye tracking housed in a con-
verted lamp hanging over the head of the person in
bed. This interface easily distinguishes between star-
ing at an object on the ceiling and glancing around in-
differently. A language of attentional eye gestures drives
the scenario. Glancing around shows lack of attention,
whereas staring demonstrates attention. Blinking a
long wink-like blink means selection. Blinking rapidly
means dislike. Closing the eyes could mean that the
user is going to sleep; thus, a sunset and a nighttime
54 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
scenario begin. Opening the eyes makes a morning
and wakeup scenario begin. Intelligent systems ana-
lyze a persons reactions to media on music and video
jukeboxes. The media offerings are auditioned to de-
tect the attention shown them. Blinking when one
doesnt like the media makes the system know that
it should choose other music or video to show the per-
son. Winking or closing the eyes turns off the system.
The reading of eye gestures becomes an attentive user
interface.
Understanding attention requires a model of what
eye movement means. Researchers can make a com-
plexity of interfaces from some simple observations
of eye behavior. As an output device the eye is a
simpler user interface tool than is normally described.
The eye can easily be used with a language of closing,
opening, blinking, winking, making nervous move-
ments, glancing around, and staring. This language
can be sensed with eye-tracking cameras or with a
simple reflected LED, as the EyeaRe system demon-
strates.
Promises of the Future
Attentive user interfaces hold great promise. People
are now in a position to implement and extend such
interfaces. The hardware to create and test them is eas-
ily accessible. With the use of the eye as a secondary
indicator of intention, researchers can make robust
and computationally simple visual interfaces.
Models of human intention and attention are be-
coming part of all human-computer interfaces. The
context of where we are and what we are doing can
accomplish more than automatically opening the gro-
cery store door. Many interfaces can be driven com-
pletely by noticing a persons attention.
Sensors in a given context can detect many things
about human attention. For example, a sensor pad in
front of an office door can detect if a person has ar-
rived to visit. Many biometrics (relating to the sta-
tistical analysis of biological observations and
phenomena) such as EEG changes, sweat responses,
and heart rate variability are candidates for attentive
user interfaces.
People want to focus on what they are doing
and on the people they are with. Attentive user in-
terfaces can detect peoples intentions without taking
their attentioneven encouraging their ocular focus
to be on what they want to do. Attentive user inter-
faces allow peoples attention to make things happen.
Ted Selker
See also Eye Tracking
FURTHER READING
Bolt, R. A. (1985). Conversing with computers. Technology Review, 88(2),
3443.
Gregory, R. L. (1997). Eye and brain: The psychology of seeing. Oxford,
UK: Oxford University Press.
Guo, X. (1999). Eye contactTalking about non-verbal communica-
tion: A corpus study. Retrieved April 29, 2004, from http://www.lan-
guagemagazine.com/internetedition/ma99/sprpt35.html
Maglio, P. P., Barrett, R., Campbell, C. S., & Selker, T. (2000). SUITOR:
An attentive information system. New York: ACM Press.
Morimoto, D., & Flickner, M. (2000). Pupil detection using multiple light
sources. Image and Vision Computing, 18, 331335.
Nervous TV newscasters blink more. (1999). Retrieved April 29, 2004,
from http://www.doctorbob.com/news/7_24nervous.html
Rice, R., & Love, G. (1987). Electronic emotion: Socioemotional content
in a computer-mediated communication. Communication Research,
14(1), 85108.
Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (1995). Artificial intelligence: A modern approach.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Selker, T., & Burleson, W. (2000). Context-aware design and interaction
in computer systems. IBM Systems Journal, 39(34), 880891.
Shepard, R. N. (1967). Recognition memory for words, sentences and
pictures. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 6, 156163.
AUGMENTED
COGNITION
Augmented cognition is a field of research that seeks
to extend a computer users abilities via technologies
that address information-processing bottlenecks in-
herent in human-computer interaction (HCI). These
bottlenecks include limitations in attention, mem-
ory, learning, comprehension, visualization abilities,
and decision-making. Limitations in human cogni-
tion (the act or process of knowing) are due to in-
trinsic restrictions in the number of mental tasks
that a person can execute at one time, and these re-
strictions may fluctuate from moment to moment

depending on a host of factors, including mental fa-
tigue, novelty, boredom, and stress.
As computational interfaces have become more
prevalent in society and increasingly complex with
regard to the volume and type of information pre-
sented, researchers have investigated novel ways to
detect these bottlenecks and have devised strategies
to aid users and improve their performance via tech-
nologies that assess users cognitive status in real time.
A computational interaction monitors the state of a
user through behavioral, psychophysiological, and/or
neurophysiological data and adapts or augments the
computational interface to significantly improve users
performance on the task at hand.
Emergence of
Augmented Cognition
The cognitive science and HCI communities have
researched augmented cognition for several decades.
Scientific papers in this field increased markedly dur-
ing the late 1990s and addressed efforts to build and
use models of attention in information display and
notification systems. However, the phrase aug-
mented cognition associated with this research did
not find widespread use until the year 2000, when
a U.S. Defense Department Defense Advanced
Research Project Agency (DARPA) Information
Science and Technology (ISAT) group study and a
workshop on the field at the National Academy of
Sciences were held. During the year 2002 the num-
ber of papers about augmented cognition increased
again. This increase was due, in part, to the start of
a DARPA research program in augmented cognition
in 2001 with a focus on challenges and opportuni-
ties with the real-time monitoring of cognitive states
with physiological sensors. This substantial invest-
ment in these developing technologies helped bring
together a research community and stimulated a set
of thematically related projects on addressing cog-
nitive bottlenecks via the monitoring of cognitive
states. By 2003 the augmented cognition field ex-
tended well beyond the boundaries of those specific
Defense Department research projects, but that ini-
tial investment provided impetus for the infant field
to begin to mature.
AUGMENTED COGNITION 55
Early Investments in Related Work
Augmented cognition does not draw from just one
scientific fieldit draws from fields such as neuro-
science, biopsychology, cognitive psychology, human
factors, information technology, and computer
science. Each of these fields has itself undergone a
substantial revolution during the past forty years that
has allowed the challenges raised by researchers to
begin to be investigated. Although many individ-
ual research projects contributed to the general de-
velopment and direction of augmented cognition,
several multimillion-dollar projects helped shape the
foundation on which the field is built.
Since the invention of the electronic computer,
scientists and engineers have speculated about the
unique relationship between humans and comput-
ers. Unlike mechanized tools, which are primarily
devices for extending human force and action, the
computer became an entity with which humans
forged an interactive relationship, particularly as
computers came to permeate everyday life. In 1960
one of the great visionaries of intelligent comput-
ing, J. C. R. Licklider, wrote a paper entitled Man-
Computer Symbiosis. Licklider was director of the
Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO)
at the Defense Departments Advanced Research
Projects Agency (ARPA) during the 1960s. In his pa-
per he stated, The hope is that, in not too many
years, human brains and computing machines will
be coupled together very tightly, and that the resulting
partnership will think as no human brain has ever
thought and process data in a way not approached
by the information-handling machines we know to-
day (Licklider 1960, 4). Almost prophetic, this de-
scription of the symbiotic relationship between
humans and computers is one of the first descrip-
tions of what could be considered an augmented cog-
nition computational system. Although research on
this topic was not conducted during his tenure at
ARPA during the 1960s, Licklider championed the
research that developed into the now-burgeoning
field of computer science, including creation of the
Arpanet computer network (forerunner of the
Internet). His research, vision, and direction had a
significant impact on both computer science and in-
formation technology and set the stage for the
field of augmented cognition.
56 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
During the early 1960s researchers speculated
that electrical signals emanating from a human brain
in the form of electroencephalographic (EEG)
recordings could be used as indicators of specific
events in human cognitive processing. Several
Department of Defense investigations into detect-
ing these signals and other measurements oc-
curred through the biocybernetics and learning
strategies programs sponsored by ARPA during
the 1970s and 1980s. The earliest program was
biocybernetics, which tested the hypothesis that EEG
activity might be able to control military devices and
serve as indicators of user performance. In this pro-
gram biocybernetics was defined as a real-time con-
nection between the operator and computational
system via physiological signals recorded during spe-
cific tasks. Both the biocybernetics and learning
strategies programs centered around the creation of
closed-loop feedback systems (the relationship be-
tween user and computational system, where changes
in the computational interface are driven by detected
changes in the users physiological status, which in
turn change as a result of the new format of the in-
terface) between operator and computer for the
selection and training of personnel, display/con-
trol design, and online monitoring of operator sta-
tus (although with slightly different military
application domains between the two programs).
In both programs researchers saw the real-time
identification of cognitive events as critical to un-
derstanding the best methods for aiding military
users in a rapid and contextually appropriate way.
However, when this research was begun, both
computational systems and neuroscience were in
their infancy, and the results of this research were
not incorporated into production military sys-
tems. Augmented cognition can be viewed as a de-
scendant of these early programs.
Another investigation in this field was the Pilots
Associate (PA) program sponsored by DARPA dur-
ing the 1980s and early 1990s. Pilots Associate was
an integrated system of five components that in-
corporated AI (artificial intelligence) techniques and
cognitive modeling to aid pilots in carrying out their
missions with increased situational awareness and
enhanced decision-making. Unlike biocybernetics,
PA utilized cognitive modeling alone and did not in-
corporate any physiological monitoring. Cognitive
modeling was the cornerstone of the pilot-vehicle in-
terface (PVI), which had the critical task of manag-
ing all pilot interactions with the system by inferring
the pilots intentions and communicating these in-
tentions to the other components of the PA system.
The PVI was also responsible for modeling pilot work-
load to adapt and configure the information displays
in the cockpit, conveying workload information to
the other subsystems, and compensating for pilot be-
havior that might result in an error. An example of
this work was a PA program at NASA-Ames Research
Center that explored the use of probabilistic mod-
els of a pilots goals and workload over time, based
on multiple inputs and the use of models to con-
trol the content and complexity of displays. Such
models did not employ physiological measures of a
pilots cognitive status.
Other research occurred in the academic and pri-
vate sectors, including the attentional user interface
(AUI) project at Microsoft Research during the
late 1990s, which provided conceptual support to ef-
forts in augmented cognition. Researchers developed
methods for building statistical models of attention
and workload from data. Researchers built archi-
tectures to demonstrate how cognitive models could
be integrated with real-time information from mul-
tiple sensors (including acoustical sensing, gaze and
head tracking, and events representing interaction
with computing systems) to control the timing
and communication medium of incoming notifica-
tions. AUI work that included psychological studies
complemented the systems and architectures work.
Foundations of Augmented Cognition
In light of these earlier research efforts, the logical
question arises: What sets augmented cognition apart
from what has already been done? As mentioned,
augmented cognition relies on many fields whose
maturity is critical for its success. Although programs
such as biocybernetics during the 1970s had similar
goals, they did not have access to the advanced com-
putational power necessary to process brain sig-
nals in real time, nor did researchers know enough
about those signals to use them to control displays
or machines. Likewise, the Pilots Associate program

during the 1980s shared many aspirations of todays
augmented cognition, namely to develop adaptive
interfaces to reduce pilot workload. However, PA
could assess the status of a pilot from inferences and
models based only on the pilots overt behavior and
the status of the aircraft. What distinguishes aug-
mented cognition is its capitalization on advances
in two fields: behavioral/neural science and com-
puter science.
At the start of the twenty-first century researchers
have an unparalleled understanding of human brain
functioning. The depth of this understanding is due to
the development of neuroscientific techniques funded
by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and
other agencies during the 1990s, a period now referred
to as the Decade of the Brain. The billion-dollar fund-
ing of the fields of neuroscience, cognitive science, and
biopsychology resulted in some of the greatest advances
in our understanding of the human biological system
in the twentieth century. For example, using techniques
such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
scientists were able to identify discrete three-dimen-
sional regions of the human brain active during spe-
cific mental tasks. This identification opened up the
field of cognitive psychology substantially (into the
new field of cognitive neuroscience) and enabled re-
searchers to test their theories of the human mind and
associate previously observed human thoughts and
behaviors with neural activity in specific brain regions.
Additional investment from the Department of Defense
and other agencies during the twenty-first century has
allowed researchers to develop even more advanced
sensors that will eventually be used in augmented cog-
nition systems. Novel types of neurophysiological sig-
nals that are measurable noninvasively include electrical
signalsusing electroencephalography and event-re-
lated potentials (identifiable patterns of activity within
the EEG that occur either before specific behaviors are
carried out, or after specific stimuli are encountered)
and local cortical changes in blood oxygenation
(BOLD), blood volume, and changes in the scattering
of light directly due to neuronal firing (using near
infrared [NIR] light). Most of these signals, unlike
fMRI, can be collected from portable measurement
systems in real time, making them potentially avail-
able for everyday use. All augmented cognition systems
do not necessarily contain advanced neurophysiolog-
AUGMENTED COGNITION 57
INTELLIGENT AGENT Software program that actively lo-
cates information for you based on parameters you set.
Unlike a search engine or information filter, it actively
seeks specific information while you are doing
other things.
ical sensors, but the field of augmented cognition is
broadened even further by their inclusion.
As a result of the Decade of the Brain, research-
ers have an increased knowledge of the cognitive lim-
itations that humans face. The HCI field focuses on
the design, implementation, and evaluation of in-
teractive systems in the context of a users work.
However, researchers in this field can work only
with the data and observations easily accessible to
them, that is, how people overtly behave while using
interfaces. Through efforts in neuroscience, biopsy-
chology, and cognitive neuroscience we can locate and
measure activity from the brain regions that are ac-
tively involved in day-to-day information-processing
tasks. Researchers will have a greater understanding
of the cognitive resources that humans possess and
how many of these resources are available during a
computationally based task, whether or not the com-
putational systems will include advanced sensors. After
these cognitive resources are identified and their ac-
tivity (or load) measured, designers of computational
interfaces can begin to account for these limitations
(and perhaps adapt to their status) in the design of
new HCI systems.
Finally, without advances in computer science
and engineering, none of the neuroscientific devel-
opments listed here would be possible, and the field
of augmented cognition would certainly not be fea-
sible. During the past forty years society has experi-
enced leaps in computational prowess and the
sophistication of mathematical algorithms. These
leaps have been due in part to the miniaturization of
transistors and other silicon-based components so
that more computational power is available per square
inch of hardware. This miniaturization has allowed
computers to shrink in size until they have perme-
ated the very fabrics that people wear and even
their environments. Computer code itself has become
smaller and more flexible, with the emergence of
58 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
agent-based computing (the instantiation of active,
persistent software components that perceive, rea-
son, act, and communicate in software code), JAVA,
and Internet services. Thus, augmented cognition has
benefited from two computing advancesimprove-
ments in raw computational resources (CPUs, phys-
ical memory) and improvements in the languages
and algorithms that make adaptive interfaces possi-
ble. Many other fields have benefited from these
advances as well and in turn have fed into the aug-
mented cognition community. These fields include
user modeling, speech recognition, computer vision,
graphical user interfaces, multimodal interfaces, and
computer learning/artificial intelligence.
Components of an
Augmented Cognition System
At the most general level, augmented cognition har-
nesses computation and knowledge about human
limitations to open bottlenecks and address the bi-
ases and deficits in human cognition. It seeks to
accomplish these goals through continual back-
ground sensing, learning, and inferences to under-
stand trends, patterns, and situations relevant to a
users context and goals. At its most general level, an
augmented cognition system should contain at least
four componentssensors for determining user
state, an inference engine or classifier to evaluate in-
coming sensor information, an adaptive user in-
terface, and an underlying computational architecture
to integrate the other three components. In reality a
fully functioning system would have many more
components, but these are the most critical.
Independently, each of these components is fairly
straightforward. Much augmented cognition research
focuses on integrating these components to close
the loop and create computational systems that
adapt to their users.
Thus, the primary challenge with augmented cog-
nition systems is not the sensors component (although
researchers are using increasingly complex sensors).
The primary challenge is accurately predicting/as-
sessing, from incoming sensor information, the cor-
rect state of the user and having the computer select
an appropriate strategy to assist the user at that
time. As discussed, humans have limitations in at-
tention, memory, learning, comprehension, sensory
processing, visualization abilities, qualitative judg-
ments, serial processing, and decision-making. For an
augmented cognition system to be successful it
must identify at least one of these bottlenecks in real
time and alleviate it through a performance-enhanc-
ing mitigation strategy. Such mitigation strategies are
conveyed to the user through the adaptive interface
and might involve modality switching (between
visual, auditory, and haptic [touch]), intelligent in-
terruption, task negotiation and scheduling, and as-
sisted context retrieval via book marking. When a
user state is correctly sensed, an appropriate strat-
egy is chosen to alleviate the bottleneck, the inter-
face is adapted to carry out the strategy, and the
resulting sensor information indicates that the aiding
has workedonly then has a system closed the loop
and successfully augmented the users cognition.
Applications of Augmented Cognition
The applications of augmented cognition are nu-
merous, and although initial investments in systems
that monitor cognitive state have been sponsored by
military and defense agencies, the commercial sec-
tor has shown interest in developing augmented cog-
nition systems for nonmilitary applications. As
mentioned, closely related work on methods and ar-
chitectures for detecting and reasoning about a users
workload (based on such information as activity with
computing systems and gaze) have been studied
for nonmilitary applications such as commercial no-
tification systems and communication. Agencies such
as NASA also have shown interest in the use of meth-
ods to limit workload and manage information over-
load. Hardware and software manufacturers are
always eager to include technologies that make their
systems easier to use, and augmented cognition sys-
tems would likely result in an increase in worker pro-
ductivity with a savings of both time and money
to companies that purchased these systems. In more
specific cases, stressful jobs that involve constant in-
formation overload from computational sources,
such as air traffic control, would also benefit from
such technology. Finally, the fields of education and
training are the next likely targets for augmented
cognition technology after it reaches commercial vi-

ability. Education and training are moving toward
an increasingly computational medium. With dis-
tance learning in high demand, educational systems
will need to adapt to this new nonhuman teaching
interaction while ensuring quality of education.
Augmented cognition technologies could be applied
to educational settings and guarantee students a
teaching strategy that is adapted to their style of learn-
ing. This application of augmented cognition could
have the biggest impact on society at large.
Dylan Schmorrow and Amy Kruse
See also Augmented Reality; Brain-Computer
Interfaces; Information Overload
FURTHER READING
Cabeza, R., & Nyberg, L. (2000). Imaging cognition II: An empirical
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AUGMENTED REALITY
Augmented reality is a new field of research that con-
centrates on integrating virtual objects into the
real world. These virtual objects are computer graph-
ics displayed so that they merge with the real world.
Although in its infancy, augmented reality holds out
the promise of enhancing peoples ability to perform
certain tasks. As sensing and computing technolo-
gies advance, augmented reality is likely to come to
play a significant role in peoples daily lives.
Augmented Reality
and Virtual Reality
An augmented-reality system merges the real scene
viewed by the user with computer-generated virtual
objects to generate a composite view for the user.
The virtual objects supplement the real scene with
additional and useful information. Sounds may be
added through the use of special headphones that
allow the user to hear both real sounds and syn-
thesized sounds. There are also special gloves that
a user can wear that provide tactile sensation such
as hardness or smoothness. A user wearing such
gloves could feel virtual furniture in a real room.
In an augmented-reality system, users can walk
around a real room, hear the echo of their footsteps,
and feel the breeze from an air conditioning unit,
while at the same time they can see computer-gen-
erated images of furniture or paintings.
One of the requirements of an augmented-real-
ity system is that it needs to be interactive in real
time. Animation, sound, and textures are added in
real time so that what the user sees, hears, and feels
reflects the true status of the real world. The most
important characteristic of augmented reality is the
ability to render objects in three-dimensional space,
60 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
which makes them much more realistic in the eyes
of the user. Virtual objects are drawn in relationship
to the real objects around them, both in terms of po-
sition and size. If a virtual object is situated partially
behind a real object (or vice versa) then the user
should not see part of the obscured object. Occlusion
of objects is the largest contributor to human depth
perception.
The major difference between augmented reality
and virtual reality is that in virtual reality everything
that is sensed by the user is computer generated.
Therefore the virtual objects must be rendered as
photorealistically as possible in order to achieve the
feeling of immersion. Augmented reality uses both
real and synthetic sights, sounds, and touches to con-
vey the desired scene, so virtual objects do not bear
the entire burden of persuading the user that the scene
is real, and therefore they do not need to be so pho-
torealistic. Augmented reality lies in the middle of the
continuum between absolute reality (in which every-
thing sensed is real) and virtual reality (in which
everything that is sensed is created).
Different Types of Displays
for Augmented Reality
Most people depend on vision as their primary sen-
sory input, so here we will discuss several types of
visual displays that can be used with augmented
reality, each with its own advantages and disadvan-
tages. Visual displays include head-mounted displays
(HMDs), monitor-based displays, projected images,
and heads-up displays (HUDs).
Head-Mounted Displays
HMDs are headsets that a user wears. HMDs can
either be see-through or closed view. The see-through
HMD works as its name implies: The user looks
through lenses to see the real world, but the lenses
are actually display screens that can have graphics
projected onto them. The biggest advantage of the
see-through HMD mechanism is that it is simple
to implement because the real world does not have
to be processed and manipulated; the mechanisms
only task is to integrate the visual augmentations.
This reduces the safety risk, since the user can see the
real world in real time. If there is a power failure, the
user will still be able to see as well as he or she would
when wearing dark sunglasses. If there is some kind
of hazard moving through the areaa forklift, for
examplethe wearer does not have to wait for the sys-
tem to process the image of the forklift and display
it; the wearer simply sees the forklift as he or she
would when not wearing the HMD. One disadvan-
tage is that the virtual objects may appear to lag
behind the real objects; this happens because the
virtual objects must be processed, whereas real objects
do not need to be. In addition, some users are reluc-
tant to wear the equipment for fear of harming their
vision, although there is no actual risk, and other users
dislike the equipments cumbersome nature. A new
version of the see-through HMD is being developed
to resemble a pair of eyeglasses, which would make
it less cumbersome.
Closed-view HMDs cannot be seen through.
They typically comprise an opaque screen in front
of the wearers eyes that totally blocks all sight of the
real world. This mechanism is also used for tradi-
tional virtual reality. A camera takes an image of the
real world, merges it with virtual objects, and
presents a composite image to the user. The advan-
tage the closed-view has over the see-through ver-
sion of the HMD is that there is no lag time for
the virtual objects; they are merged with the real
scene before being presented to the user. The dis-
advantage is that there is a lag in the view of the real
world because the composite image must be
processed before being displayed. There are two
safety hazards associated with closed-view HMD.
First, if the power supply is interrupted, the user is
essentially blind to the world around him. Second,
the user does not have a current view of the real
world. Users have the same concerns and inhibitions
regarding closed-view HMD as they do regarding
see-through HMD.
Monitor-Based Displays
Monitor-based displays present information to the
user for configuring an augmented-reality system
this way. First, because a monitor is a separate dis-
play device, more information can be presented to

the user. Second, the user does not have to wear
(or carry around) heavy equipment. Third, graphi-
cal lag time can be eliminated because the real world
and virtual objects are merged in the same way they
are for closed-view HMDs. The safety risk is avoided
because the user can see the real world in true real
time.
There are also some drawbacks to using moni-
tor-based displays instead of HMDs. First, the user
must frequently look away from the workspace in
order to look at the display. This can cause a slow-
down in productivity. Another problem is that the
user can see both the real world andon the
monitorthe lagging images of the real world. In
a worse case situation in which things in the scene
are moving rapidly, the user could potentially see a
virtual object attached to a real object that is no
longer in the scene.
Projected-Image Displays
Projected-image displays project the graphics and
annotations of the augmented-reality system onto
the workspace. This method eliminates the need for
extra equipment and also prevents the user from hav-
ing to look away from the work area to check the
monitor-based display. The biggest disadvantage is
that the user can easily occlude the graphics and an-
notations by moving between the projector and
the workspace. Users also can put their hands and
arms through the projected display, reducing their
sense of the reality of the display.
Heads-Up Displays
Heads-up displays are very similar to see-through
HMDs. They do not require the user to wear special
headgear, but instead display the data on a see-through
screen in front of the user. As in seethrough HMDs,
these systems are easy to implement, however, there
may be a lag time in rendering the virtual object.
Challenges in Augmented Reality
A majority of the challenges facing augmented real-
ity concern the virtual objects that are added to the
real world. These challenges can be divided into two
areas: registration and appearance. Registration
AUGMENTED REALITY 61
involves placing the virtual objects in the proper lo-
cations in the real world. This is an important ele-
ment of augmented reality and includes sensing,
calibration, and tracking. Appearance concerns what
the virtual objects look like. In order to achieve seam-
less merging of real and virtual objects, the virtual
objects must be created with realistic color and
texture.
In virtual-reality systems, tracking the relative
position and motion of the user is an important
research topic. Active sensors are widely used to track
position and orientation of points in space. The
tracking information thus obtained is fed into the
computer graphics system for appropriate render-
ing. In virtual reality, small errors in tracking can be
tolerated, as the user can easily overlook those errors
in the entirely computer-generated scene. In aug-
mented-reality systems, by contrast, the registration
is performed in the visual field of the user. The
type of display used in the system usually determines
the accuracy needed for registration.
One popular registration technique is vision-
based tracking. Many times, there are fiducials
(reference marks) marked out in the scene in which
the virtual objects need to be placed. The system rec-
ognizes these fiducials automatically and determines
the pose of the virtual object with respect to the scene
before it is merged. There are also techniques that
use more sophisticated vision algorithms to deter-
mine the pose without the use of fiducials. The mo-
tion of the user and the structure of the scene are
computed using projective-geometry formulation.
(Projective geometry is the branch of geometry that
deals with projecting a geometric figure from one
plane onto another plane; the ability to project points
from one plane to another is essentially what is
needed to track motion through space.)
For a seamless augmented-reality system, it is
important to determine the geometry of the vir-
tual object with respect to the real scene, so that
occlusion can be rendered appropriately. Stereo-based
depth estimation and the z-buffer algorithm (an al-
gorithm that makes possible the representation of
objects that occlude each other) can be used for
blending real and virtual objects. Also, using research
results in radiosity (a technique for realistically
62 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
simulating how light reflects off objects), it is possi-
ble to shade the virtual object appropriately so that
it blends properly with the background scene.
Applications
Augmented reality has applications in many fields.
In medicine, augmented reality is being researched
as a tool that can project the output of magnetic res-
onance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT)
scans, and ultrasound imaging onto a patient to
aid in diagnosis and planning of surgical operations.
Augmented reality can be used to predict more ac-
curately where to perform a biopsy for a tiny tumor:
All the information gathered from traditional meth-
ods such as MRIs can be projected onto the patient
to reveal the exact location of the tumor. This en-
ables a surgeon to make precise incisions, reducing
the stress of the surgery and decreasing the trauma
to the patient.
In architecture and urban planning, annotation
and visualization techniques can be used to show
how the addition of a building will affect the sur-
rounding landscape. Actually seeing the future build-
ing life sized, in the location it will occupy, gives a
more accurate sense of the project than can be
conveyed from a model. Augmented-reality simula-
tions also make it easier to recognize potential prob-
lems, such as insufficient natural lighting for a
building.
Augmented reality also has the potential to let
developers, utility companies, and home owners see
where water pipes, gas lines, and electrical wires
are run through walls, which is an aid when it comes
to maintenance or construction work. In order for
this technique to be implemented, the data must
be stored in a format the augmented-reality system
can use. Simply having a system that can project the
images of electrical wiring on a wall would not be
sufficient; the system first must know where all the
wires are located.
Augmented reality has the potential to make a
big impact on the entertainment industry. A sim-
ple example is the glowing puck that is now used
in many televised hockey games. In this application,
the hockey puck is tracked and a brightly colored dot
is placed on top of it on the television video to make
it easier for those watching the game on television
to follow the rapid motion of the puck. Augmented
reality could also make possible a type of virtual set,
very similar to the blue-screen sets that are used
today to film special effects. Augmented-reality
sets would be interactive, would take up less space,
and would potentially be simpler to build than tra-
ditional sets. This would decrease the overall cost of
production. Another example, already developed is
the game AR2 Hockey, in which the paddles and field
(a table, as in air hockey) are real but the puck is vir-
tual. The computer provides visual tracking of the
virtual puck and generates appropriate sound effects
when the paddles connect with the puck or when the
puck hits the table bumpers.
One military application is to use the technol-
ogy to aim weapons based on the movement of the
pilots head. Graphics of targets can be superimposed
on a heads-up display to improve weapons accuracy
by rendering a clearer picture of the target, which
will be hard to miss.
Many examples of assembly augmented-real-
ity systems have been developed since the 1990s.
One of the best known is the Boeing wire-bundling
project, which was started in 1990. Although well
known, this project has not yet been implemented
in a factory as part of everyday use. The goal is
relatively straightforward: Use augmented reality to
aid in the assembly of wire bundles used in Boeings
747 aircraft.
For this project, the designers decided to use a
see-through HMD with a wearable PC to allow work-
ers the freedom of movement needed to assemble
the bundles, which were up to 19 meters long. The
subjects in the pilot study were both computer sci-
ence graduate students who volunteered and Boeing
employees who were asked to participate.
The developers ran into both permanent and
temporary problems. One temporary problem, for
example, was that the workers who participated in
the pilot program were typically tired because
the factory was running the pilot study at one of
the busier times in its production cycle. Workers
first completed their normal shift before working
on the pilot project. Another temporary problem

was the curiosity factor: Employees who were
not involved with the project often came over to
chat and check out what was going on and how the
equipment worked. More permanent problems
were the employees difficulties in tracing the wires
across complex subassemblies and their hesi-
tance to wear the headsets because of fear of the
lasers located close to their eyes and dislike of the
helmet head effect that came from wearing the
equipment.
One of the strongest success points for this pilot
study was that the bundles created using the aug-
mented-reality system met Boeings quality assur-
ance standards. Another good thing was that the
general background noise level of the factory did not
interfere with the acoustic tracker. In the pilot study,
augmented reality offered no improvement in pro-
ductivity and the only cost savings came from no
longer needing to store the various assembly boards.
(This can be, however, a significant savings.) The de-
velopers concluded that the reason there was no sig-
nificant improvement in assembly time was because
they still had some difficulty using the systems in-
terface to find specific wires. The developers are work-
ing on a new interface that should help to solve
this problem.
Augmented reality has also been used in BMW
automobile manufacture. The application was de-
signed to demonstrate the assembly of a door lock
for a car door, and the system was used as a feasi-
bility study. The annotations and graphics were taken
from a CAD (computer-aided design) system that
was used to construct the actual physical parts for
the lock and the door. In this case, the augmented-
reality system uses a see-through HMD and a voice-
activated computerin part because the assembly
process requires that the user have both hands free
for the assembly process. Because this augmented-
reality system mimicked an existing virtual-reality
version of assembly planning for the door lock as-
sembly, much of the required data was already avail-
able in an easily retrievable format, which simplified
the development of the augmented-reality system.
The developers had to overcome certain prob-
lems with the system in order to make the pilot work.
The first was the issue of calibration. There is an ini-
AUGMENTED REALITY 63
tial calibration that must be performed as part of the
start-up process. The calibration is then per-
formed periodically when the system becomes con-
fused or the error rate increases past a certain
threshold. Users seemed to have difficulty keeping
their heads still enough for the sensitive calibra-
tion process, so a headrest had to be built. Another
problem was that the magnetic tracking devices did
not work well because there were so many metal parts
in the assembly. In addition, the speech recogni-
tion part of the system turned out to be too sensi-
tive to background noise, so it was turned off.
The pilot study for this project was used as a
demonstration at a trade show in Germany in 1998.
The program ran for one week without difficulty.
Due to time considerations, the system was not cal-
ibrated for each user, so some people were not as
impressed as the developers had hoped. Also,
even with the headrest, some users never stayed still
long enough for a proper calibration to be per-
formed. Their reactions showed researchers that av-
erage users require some degree of training if
they are to use this sort of equipment success-
fully. Despite setbacks, the developers considered
the pilot a success because it brought the technol-
ogy to a new group of potential users and it gener-
ated several possible follow-up ideas relating to the
door lock assembly.
The Future
Augmented reality promises to help humans in
many of their tasks by displaying the right infor-
mation at the right time and place. There are many
technical challenges to be overcome before such
interfaces are widely deployed, but driven by com-
pelling potential applications in surgery, the mili-
tary, manufacturing, and entertainment, progress
continues to be made in this promising form of
human-computer interaction.
Rajeev Sharma and Kuntal Sengupta
See also Augmented Cognition; Virtual Reality
64 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

FURTHER READING AVATARS

Aliaga, D. G. (1997). Virtual objects in the real world. Communi- Avatar derives from the Sanskrit word avatarah,
cations of the ACM, 40(3), 4954.
Azuma, R. (1997). A survey of augmented reality. Presence:
meaning descent and refers to the incarnation
Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 6(3), 355385. the descent into this worldof a Hindu god. A Hindu
Bajura, M., Fuchs, H., & Ohbuchi, R. (1992). Merging virtual objects deity embodied its spiritual being when interacting
with the real world: Seeing Ultrasound imagery within the with humans by appearing in either human or ani-
patient. Computer Graphics (Proceedings of SIGGRAPH92),
26(2), 203210. mal form. In the late twentieth century, the term
Das, H. (Ed.). (1994). Proceedings of the SPIEThe International avatar was adopted as a label for digital represen-
Society for Optical Engineering. Bellingham, WA: International tations of humans in online or virtual environments.
Society for Optical Engineering.
Elvins, T. T. (1998, February). Augmented reality: The futures so
Although many credit Neal Stephenson with being
bright I gotta wear (see-through) shades. Computer Graphics, the first to use avatar in this new sense in his semi-
32(1), 1113. nal science fiction novel Snow Crash (1992), the term
Ikeuchi, K., Sato, T., Nishino, K., & Sato, I. (1999). Appearance mod- and concept actually appeared as early as 1984 in on-
eling for mixed reality: photometric aspects. In Proceedings of the
1999 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and
line multiuser dungeons, or MUDs (role-playing en-
Cybernetics (SMC99) (pp. 3641). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE. vironments), and the concept, though not the term,
Milgram, P., & Kishino, F. (1994, December). A taxonomy of mixed appeared in works of fiction dating back to the mid-
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Ohshima, T., Sato, K., Yamamoto, H., & Tamura, H. (1998). AR2 Agent
hockey: A case study of collaborative augmented reality. In
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Ong, K. C., Teh, H. C., & Tan, T. S. (1998). Resolving occlusion in im- Digital
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Raghavan, V., Molineros, J., & Sharma, R. (1999). Interactive evalua-
tion of assembly sequences using augmented reality. IEEE
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Rosenblum, L. (2000, JanuaryFebruary). Virtual and augmented re-
ality 2020. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 20(1), 3839.
State, A., Chen, D. T., Tector, C., Brandt, A., Chen, H., Ohbuchi, R.,
et al. (1994). Observing a volume rendered fetus within a pregnant
patient. In Proceedings of IEEE Visualization 94 (pp. 364368). Los
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Alamitos, CA: IEEE. Being
Stauder, J. (1999, June). Augmented reality with automatic illumi-
nation control incorporating ellipsoidal models. IEEE Transactions
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Tatham, E. W. (1999). Getting the best of both real and virtual worlds.
Communications of the ACM, 42(9), 9698.
Tatham, E. W., Banissi, E., Khosrowshahi, F., Sarfraz, M., Tatham, E., F I G U R E 1 . A representational schematic of avatars and
& Ursyn, A. (1999). Optical occlusion and shadows in a see- embodied agents. When a given digital representation
through augmented reality display. In Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE
International Conference on Information Visualization (pp. 128131). is controlled by a human, it is an avatar, and when it
Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE. is controlled by a computational algorithm it is an em-
Yamamoto, H. (1999). Case studies of producing mixed reality worlds. bodied agent. Central to the current definition is the
In Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Conference on Systems,
Man, and Cybernetics (SMC99) (pp. 4247). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.
ability for real-time behavior, in that the digital rep-
resentation exhibits behaviors by the agent or hu-
man as they are performed.

ethical issues related to avatars as digital human rep-
resentations. (We restrict our discussion to digital
avatars, excluding physical avatars such as puppets
and robots. Currently, the majority of digital avatars
are visual or auditory information though there is
no reason to restrict the definition as such.)
Agents and Avatars
Within the context of human-computer interaction,
an avatar is a perceptible digital representation whose
behaviors reflect those executed, typically in real time,
by a specific human being. An embodied agent, by
contrast, is a perceptible digital representation whose
behaviors reflect a computational algorithm designed
to accomplish a specific goal or set of goals. Hence,
humans control avatar behavior, while algorithms
control embodied agent behavior. Both agents and
avatars exhibit behavior in real time in accordance
with the controlling algorithm or human actions.
Figure 1 illustrates the fact that the actual digi-
tal form the digital representation takes has no bear-
ing on whether it is classified as an agent or avatar:
An algorithm or person can drive the same repre-
sentation. Hence, an avatar can look nonhuman de-
spite being controlled by a human, and an agent can
look human despite being controlled by an algorithm.
Not surprisingly, the fuzzy distinction between
agents and avatars blurs for various reasons.
Complete rendering of all aspects of a humans ac-
tions (down to every muscle movement, sound, and
scent) is currently technologically unrealistic. Only
actions that can be tracked practically can be ren-
dered analogously via an avatar; the remainder are
rendered algorithmically (for example, bleeding) or
not at all (minute facial expressions, for instance).
In some cases avatar behaviors are under non-
analog human control; for example, pressing a
button and not the act of smiling may be the way
one produces an avatar smile. In such a case, the be-
haviors are at least slightly nonanalogous; the
smile rendered by the button-triggered computer al-
gorithm may be noticeably different from the actual
humans smile. Technically, then, a human repre-
sentation can be and often is a hybrid of an avatar
and an embodied agent, wherein the human con-
trols the consciously generated verbal and nonverbal
AVATAARS 65
gestures and an agent controls more mundane au-
tomatic behaviors.
One should also distinguish avatars from online
identities. Online identities are the distributed dig-
ital representations of a person. Humans are known
to each other via e-mail, chat rooms, homepages, and
other information on the World Wide Web.
Consequently, many people have an online identity,
constituted by the distributed representation of all
relevant information, though they may not have
an avatar.
Realism
Avatars can resemble their human counterparts along
a number of dimensions, but the two that have re-
ceived the most attention in the literature are be-
havioral realism (reflected in the number of a given
humans behaviors the avatar exhibits) and photo-
graphic realism (reflected in how many of a given hu-
mans static visual features the avatar possesses).
Behavioral realism is governed by the capability
of the implementation system to track and render
behavior in real time. Currently, real-time behavioral
tracking technology, while improving steadily, does
not meet expectations driven by popular culture; for
example, online representations of the character Neo
in The Matrix (1999), Hiro from Snow Crash (1992),
or Case from Neuromancer (1984). In those fictional
accounts, the movements and gestures of avatars and
the represented humans are generally perceptually
indistinguishable. However, in actual practice,
complete real-time behavior tracking is extremely
difficult. Although gesture tracking through vari-
ous mechanical, optical, and other devices has im-
proved, the gap between actual movements and avatar
movements remains large, reducing behavioral real-
ism at least in situations requiring real-time tracking
and rendering, such as online social interaction
(for example, collaborative virtual work groups).
Fewer barriers exist for photographic realism.
Three-dimensional scanners and photogrammetric
software allow for the photographically realistic recre-
ation of static, digital human heads and faces that
cannot be easily distinguished from photographs and
videos of the underlying faces. Nonetheless, the
key challenge to avatar designers is creating faces and
66 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Three views of a digital avatar modeled after a human head and face. This avatar is built by creating a three-
dimensional mesh and wrapping a photographic texture around it.
bodies in sufficient detail to allow for the realistic
rendering of behavior, which brings us back to be-
havioral realism. In summary, static avatars currently
can look quite a bit like their human controllers but
can only perform a small subset of a dynamic hu-
mans actions in real time.
Current Use of Avatars
Depending on how loosely one defines digital rep-
resentation, the argument can be made that
avatars are quite pervasive in society. For example,
sound is transformed into digital information as it
travels over fiber-optic cables and cellular networks.
Consequently, the audio representation we perceive
over phone lines is actually an avatar of the speaker.
This example may seem trivial at first, but be-
comes less trivial when preset algorithms are applied
to the audio stream to cause subtle changes in the
avatar, for example, to clean and amplify the sig-
nal. This can only be done effectively because the
voice is translated into digital information.
More often, however, when people refer to
avatars, they are referring to visual representations.
Currently, millions of people employ avatars in
online role-playing games as well as in chat rooms
used for virtual conferencing. In these environments,
Photo courtesy of James J. Blascovich.
users interact with one another using either a key-
board or a joystick, typing messages back and
forth and viewing one anothers avatars as they move
around the digital world. Typically, these are avatars
in the minimal sense of the word; behavioral and
photographic realism is usually quite low. In the case
of online role-playing games, users typically navi-
gate the online world using stock avatars with lim-
ited behavioral capabilities.
Avatar Research
Computer scientists and others have directed much
effort towards developing systems capable of pro-
ducing functional and effective avatars. They have
striven to develop graphics, logic, and the tracking
capabilities to render actual movements by humans
on digital avatars with accuracy, and to augment
those movements by employing control algo-
rithms that supply missing tracking data or infor-
mation about static visual features.
Furthermore, behavioral scientists are examin-
ing how humans interact with one another via
avatars. These researchers strive to understand so-
cial presence, or copresence, a term referring to the
degree to which individuals respond socially towards
others during interaction among their avatars, com-

pared with the degree to which they respond to ac-
tual humans.
The behavioral scientist Jim Blascovich and his
colleagues have created a theoretical model for so-
cial influence within immersive virtual environments
that provides specific predictions for how the inter-
play of avatars photographic and behavioral realism
will affect peoples sense of the relevance of the avatar-
mediated encounter. They suggest that the inclusion
of certain visual features is necessary if the avatar
is to perform important, socially relevant behavioral
actions. For example, an avatar needs to have rec-
ognizable eyebrows in order to lower them in a frown.
Other data emphasize the importance of behav-
ioral realism. In 2001 Jeremy Bailenson and his
colleagues demonstrated that making a digital rep-
resentation more photographically realistic does not
increase its social presence in comparison with an
agent that is more cartoon-like as long as both types
of agents demonstrate realistic gaze behaviors. In
findings presented in 2003, Maia Garau and her col-
leagues failed to demonstrate an overall advantage
for more photographically realistic avatars; more-
over, these researchers demonstrated that increasing
the photographic realism of an avatar can actually
cause a decrease in social presence if behavioral re-
alism is not also increased.
In sum, though research on avatars currently is
largely in its infancy, investigators are furthering our
understanding of computer-mediated human in-
teraction. As avatars become more commonplace,
research geared towards understanding these appli-
cations should increase.
Ethical Issues
Interacting via avatars allows for deceptive interac-
tions. In 2003 Bailenson and his colleagues intro-
duced the notion of transformed social interactions
(TSIs). Using an avatar to interact with another per-
son is qualitatively different from other forms of
communication, including face-to-face interaction,
standard telephone conversations, and videocon-
ferencing. An avatar that is constantly rerendered in
real time makes it possible for interactants to sys-
tematically filter their appearance and behaviors (or
AVATARS 67
to have systems operators do this for them) within
virtual environments by amplifying or suppressing
communication signals.
TSI algorithms can impact interactants abilities
to influence interaction partners. For example, sys-
tem operators can tailor the nonverbal behaviors
of online teachers lecturing to more than one stu-
dent simultaneously within an immersive virtual
classroom in ways specific to each student inde-
pendently and simultaneously. Student A might
respond well to a teacher who smiles, and Student B
might respond well to a teacher with a neutral ex-
pression. Via an avatar that is rendered separately for
each student, the teacher can be represented si-
multaneously by different avatars to different stu-
dents, thereby communicating with each student in
the way that is optimal for that student. The psy-
chologist Andrew Beall and his colleagues have used
avatars to employ such a strategy using eye con-
tact; they demonstrated that students paid greater
attention to the teacher using TSI.
However, there are ethical problems associated
with TSIs. One can imagine a dismal picture of the fu-
ture of online interaction, one in which nobody is who
they seem to be and avatars are distorted so much from
the humans they represent that the basis for judging
the honesty of the communication underlying social
interactions is lost. Early research has demonstrated
that TSIs involving avatars are often difficult to detect.
It is the challenge to researchers to determine the
best way to manage this issue as the use of avatars
becomes more prevalent.
State of the Art
Currently, there are many examples of humans in-
teracting with one another via avatars. For the most
part, these avatars are simplistic and behaviorally
and photographically unrealistic. The exception oc-
curs in research laboratories, in which scientists
are beginning to develop and test avatars that are
similar in appearance and behavior to their human
counterpart. As avatars become more ubiquitous,
it is possible that we may see qualitative changes in
social interaction due to the decoupling and trans-
formation of behavior from human to avatar. While
68 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
there are ethical dangers in transforming behav-
iors as they pass from physical actions to digital rep-
resentations, there are also positive opportunities
both for users of online systems and for research-
ers in human-computer interaction.
Jeremy N. Bailenson and James J. Blascovich
See also Animation; Telepresence; Virtual Reality
FURTHER READING
Badler, N., Phillips, C., & Webber, B. (1993). Simulating humans:
Computer graphics, animation, and control. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press.
Bailenson, J. N., Beall, A. C., Blascovich, J., & Rex, C. (in press).
Examining virtual busts: Are photogrammetrically generated head
models effective for person identification? PRESENCE: Teleoperators
and Virtual Environments.
Bailenson, J. N., Beall, A. C., Loomis, J., Blascovich, J., & Turk, M. (in
press). Transformed social interaction: Decoupling representation
from behavior and form in collaborative virtual environments.
PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.
Bailenson, J. N., Blascovich, J., Beall, A. C., & Loomis, J. M. (2001).
Equilibrium revisited: Mutual gaze and personal space in virtual
environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments,
10, 583598.
Beall, A. C., Bailenson, J. N., Loomis, J., Blascovich, J., & Rex, C. (2003).
Non-zero-sum mutual gaze in immersive virtual environments.
In Proceedings of HCI International 2003 (pp. 11081112). New
York: ACM Press.
Blascovich, J. (2001). Social influences within immersive virtual
environments. In R. Schroeder (Ed.), The social life of avatars. Berlin,
Germany: Springer-Verlag.
Blascovich, J., Loomis, J., Beall, A. C., Swinth, K. R., Hoyt, C. L., &
Bailenson, J. N. (2001). Immersive virtual environment technol-
ogy as a methodological tool for social psychology. Psychological
Inquiry, 13, 146149.
Brunner, J. (1975). Shockwaver rider. New York: Ballantine Books.
Cassell, J., & Vilhjlmsson, H. (1999). Fully embodied conversa-
tional avatars: Making communicative behaviors autonomous.
Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, 2(1), 4564.
Garau, M., Slater, M.,Vinayagamoorhty,V., Brogni, A., Steed, A., & Sasse,
M. A. (2003). The impact of avatar realism and eye gaze control on
perceived quality of communication in a shared immersive virtual
environment. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 529536). New York: ACM Press.
Gibson, W. (1984). Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books.
Morningstar, C., & Farmer, F.R. (1991). The lessons of Lucasfilms
habitat. In M. Benedikt (Ed.), Cyberspace: First steps. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Slater, M., Howell, J., Steed, A., Pertaub, D., Garau, M., & Springel,
S. (2000). Acting in virtual reality. ACM Collaborative Virtual
Environments, CVE2000, 103110.
Slater, M., Sadagic, A., Usoh, M., & Schroeder, R. (2000). Small group
behaviour in a virtual and real environment: A comparative study.
PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 9, 3751.
Stephenson, N. (1993). Snow crash. New York: Bantam Books.
Thalmann, M. N, & Thalmann D. (Eds). (1999). Computer Animation
and Simulation 99. Vienna, Austria: Springer-Verlag.
Turk, M., & Kolsch, M. (in press). Perceptual Interfaces. In G. Medioni
& S. B. Kang (Eds.), Emerging topics in computer vision. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
Yee, N. (2002). Befriending ogres and wood elves: Understanding rela-
tionship formation in MMORPGs. Retrieved January 16, 2004, from
http://www.nickyee.com/hub/relationships/home.html

BETA TESTING
Beta testing, a stage in the design and development
process of computer software and hardware, uses
people outside a company, called beta testers, to be
sure that products function properly for typical end-
users outside the firm. Does a piece of software work
under normal operating conditions? Can users nav-
igate important features? Are there any critical
programming flaws? These are the questions beta
tests answer.
The widespread use of beta tests warrants the ex-
amination of the process. Because the trade literature
in computer programming focuses on the mechan-
ics of designing, conducting, and interpreting beta
tests, less has been written on the social implications
of the growing use of beta testing. For example, as
BETA TESTING
BRAILLE
BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES
BROWSERS
will be discussed below, beta tests make it possible for
endusers to contribute to the design and develop-
ment of a product and may represent a shift in the
organization of the production process.
Denitions of Beta Testing
A beta test is an early (preshipping or prelaunch), un-
official release of hardware or software that has already
been tested within the company for major flaws. In
theory, beta versions are very close to the final prod-
uct, but in practice beta testing is often simply one way
for a firm to get users to try new software under real
conditions. Beta tests expose software and hardware
to real-world configurations of computing platforms,
operating systems, hardware, and users. For exam-
ple, a beta test of a website is the time period just
before a sites official launch when a fully operational
69
70 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
product is used under normal operating conditions to
identify any programming bugs or interface issues
(Grossnickle and Raskin 2001, 351). David Hilbert de-
scribes beta testing as a popular technique for evalu-
ating the fit between application design and use.
The term beta testing emerged from the practice
of testing the unit, module, or components of a sys-
tem first. This test was called alpha, whereas beta re-
ferred to the initial test of the complete system. Alpha
and beta, derived from earlier nomenclature of hard-
ware testing, were reportedly first used in the
1960s at IBM. Now alpha typically refers to tests con-
ducted within the firm and beta refers to tests con-
ducted externally.
There is ample evidence that beta testing has in-
creased in various forms over the last decade. James
Daly, a technology business reporter and founder of
the magazine Business 2.0, reports that by 1994, 50
percent of Fortune 1000 companies in the United States
had participated in beta testing and 20 percent of those
companies had used beta testing widely. However, the
implementationand the purposesof beta testing
vary by company. An online market-research hand-
book suggests that for most ventures, standard
beta-testing technique involves e-mailing friends, fam-
ily, and colleagues with the URL of a new site
(Grossnickle and Raskin 2001, 351), which clearly
would not produce a statistically representative sam-
ple of end users. A meta study of beta-test evaluations
done more than a decade ago found that most beta
testing was actually driven by convenience or tradi-
tion rather than recognition of the costs and benefits
involved (Dolan and Matthews 1993, 318).
In addition to determining whether or not a
product works, a beta test can be used to increase a
firms knowledge about the user base for its prod-
ucts, to support its marketing and sales goals, and to
improve product support. More importantly, beta
testers suggestions may be incorporated into the de-
sign of the product or used to develop subsequent
generations of the product.
User Participation in
Product Development
Beta testing allows users to become involved in the
product-development process. According to sociol-
ogists Gina Neff and David Stark, establishing a
cycle of testing, feedback, and innovation that facil-
itates negotiations about what is made can make it
possible to incorporate broader participation into
the design of products and organizations.
However, in practice, beta tests may be poorly
designed to incorporate user feedback. Advice in the
trade literature suggests that beta tests may not be
constructed to provide more than bug squashing
and usability testing (Grossnickle and Raskin
n.d., 1). Beta tests also present firms with a chance
to conduct research on their users and on how their
products are used. Ideally, beta testers are statistically
representative of typical product users. However, em-
pirical research suggests that beta testers may not ac-
curately reflect end-users because testers tend to have
more technical training and hold more technical jobs
than typical office workers.
Critical Views of Beta Testing
The shift from total quality management to a test-
ing-driven model of development means that the
generation and detection of error plays a renewed
and desired role in the production cycle (Cole 2002,
1052). With the rise of the acceptance of beta ver-
sions, companies and users alike may be more will-
ing to tolerate flaws in widely circulated products,
and end-users (including beta testers) may bear an
increased burden for the number of errors that com-
panies allow in these products. Some criticism has
emerged that companies are releasing products for
beta testing that are clearly not ready for the mar-
ket and are exploiting free labor by using beta testers
as unpaid consultants to find the bugs in their prod-
ucts (Garman 1996, 6).
Users may also be frustrated by the continually
updated products that beta testing can enable. The
distribution of software in non-shrink-wrapped ver-
sions means that products are not clean end-versions
b u t d e s t a b i l i ze d a n d con s t a n t l y ch a n g i n g .
Technological advances in distribution, such as
online distribution of software products, makes it
possible to distribute products that are continually
updateable and almost infinitely customizable
products that, in effect, never leave a type of beta
phase (Neff and Stark 2003, 177).

Benets to Beta Testers
Because they are willing to risk bugs that could po-
tentially crash their computers, beta testers accrue
benefits such as getting a chance to look at new
features and products before other users and con-
tributing to a product by detecting software bugs or
minor flaws in programming. More than 2 million
people volunteered to be one of the twenty thousand
beta testers for a new version of Napster. There is also
an increase of beta retail productsearly and of-
ten cheaper versions of software that are more ad-
vanced than a traditional beta version but not yet a
fully viable commercial release. Although Apples
public beta release of OS X, its first completely
new operating system since 1984, cost $29.95, thou-
sands downloaded it despite reports that it still
had many bugs and little compatible software was
available. These beta users saw the long-awaited new
operating system six months before its first com-
mercial release, and Apple fans and the press pro-
vided invaluable buzz about OS X as they tested it.
Many scholars suggest that the Internet has com-
pressed the product-development cycles, especially
in software, often to the extent that one generation
of product software is hard to distinguish from the
next. Netscape, for example, released thirty-nine dis-
tinct versions between the beta stage of Navigator
1.0 and the release of Communicator 4.0.
Future Developments
Production is an increasingly dense and differenti-
ated layering of people, activities and things, each
operating within a limited sphere of knowing and
acting that includes variously crude or sophisticated
conceptualizations of the other (Suchman 2003,
62). Given this complexity, beta testing has been wel-
comed as a way in which people who create prod-
ucts can inter act w ith those who use them.
Internet communication facilitates this communi-
cation, making the distribution of products in ear-
lier stages of the product cycle both easier and
cheaper; it also facilitates the incorporation of user
feedback into the design process.
While it is true that most design-change ideas
surfaced by a beta test are passed onto product de-
velopment for incorporation into the next genera-
BETA TESTING 71
tion of the product (Dolan and Matthews 1993, 20),
beta tests present crucial opportunities to incorpo-
rate user suggestions into the design of a product.
Gina Neff
See also Prototyping; User-Centered Design
FURTHER READING
Cole, R. E. (2002). From continuous improvement to continuous
innovation. Total Quality Management, 13(8), 10511056.
Daly, J. (1994, December). For beta or worse. Forbes ASAP, 3640.
Dolan, R. J., & Matthews, J. M. (1993). Maximizing the utility of con-
sumer product testing: Beta test design and management. Journal
of Product Innovation Management, 10, 318330.
Hove, D. (Ed.). The Free online dictionary of computing. Retrieved
March 10, 2004, from http://www.foldoc.org
Garman, N. (1996). Caught in the middle: Online professionals and
beta testing. Online, 20(1), 6.
Garud, R., Sanjay, J., & Phelps, C. (n.d.). Unpacking Internet time in-
novation. Unpublished manuscript, New York University, New
York.
Grossnickle, J., & Raskin, O. (2001). Handbook of online marketing
research. New York: McGraw Hill.
Grossnickle, J., & Raskin, O. (n.d.). Supercharged beta test. Webmonkey:
Design. Retrieved January 8, 2004, from http://hotwired.lycos.com/
webmonkey
Hilbert, D. M. (1999). Large-scale collection of application usage data
and user feedback to inform interactive software development.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Irvine.
Kogut, B., & Metiu, A. (2001). Open source software development and
distributed innovation. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 17(2),
248264.
Krull, R. (2000). Is more beta better? Proceedings of the IEEE Professional
Communication Society, 301308.
Metiu, A., & Kogut, B. (2001). Distributed knowledege and the global
organization of software development. Unpublished manu-
script, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia.
Neff, G., & Stark, D. (2003). Permanently beta: Responsive organi-
zation in the Internet era. In P. Howard and S. Jones (Eds.), Society
Online. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
O'Mahony, S. (2002). The Emergence of a new commercial actor: Com-
munity managed software projects. Unpublished doctoral disser-
tation, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. Retrieved on January 8,
2004, from http://opensource.mit.edu/
Raymond, E. (1999). The Cathedral and the bazaar: Musings on Linux
and open source from an accidental revolutionary. Sebastapol, CA:
O'Reilly and Associates.
Ross, R. (2002). Born-again Napster takes baby steps. Toronto Star,
E04.
Suchman, L. (2002). Located accountabilities in technology production.
Retrieved on January 8, 2004, from http://www.comp.lancs.ac.
uk/sociology/soc039ls.html. Centre for Science Studies, Lancaster
University.
72 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Techweb (n.d.). Beta testing. Retrieved on January 8, 2004, from
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia
Terranova, T. (2000). Free labor: Producing culture for the digital econ-
omy. Social Text 18(2), 3358.
BRAILLE
Access to printed information was denied to blind
people until the late 1700s, when Valentin Hay, hav-
ing funded an institution for blind children in Paris,
embossed letters in relief on paper so that his pupils
could read them. Thus, two hundred and fifty
years after the invention of the printing press by the
German inventor Johannes Gutenberg, blind people
were able to read but not to write.
Historical Background
In 1819 a French army officer, Charles Barbier, in-
vented a tactile reading system, using twelve-dot
codes embossed on paper, intended for nighttime
military communications. Louis Braille, who had
just entered the school for the blind in Paris, learned
of the invention and five years later, at age fifteen,
developed a much easier-to-read six-dot code,
providing sixty-three dot patterns. Thanks to his in-
vention, blind people could not only read much
faster, but also write by using the slate, a simple hand
tool made of two metal plates hinged together be-
tween which a sheet of paper could be inserted
and embossed through cell-size windows cut in
the front plate. Six pits were cut in the bottom
plate to guide a hand-held embossing stylus inside
each window.
In spite of its immediate acceptance by his fel-
low students, Brailles idea was officially accepted
only thirty years later, two years after his death in
1852. Eighty more years passed before English-speak-
ing countries adapted the Braille system in 1932, and
more than thirty years passed before development
of the Nemeth code, a Braille system of scientific no-
tation, in 1965. Braille notation was also adopted by
an increasing number of countries.
In spite of its immense benefits for blind people,
the Braille system embossed on paper was too bulky
and too expensive to give its users unlimited and
quick access to an increasing amount of printed ma-
terial: books, newspapers, leaflets, and so forth.
The invention of the transistor in 1947 by three U.S.
physicists and of integrated circuits in the late 1960s
provided the solution: electromechanical tactile dis-
plays. After many attempts, documented by numer-
ous patents, electronic Braille was developed
simultaneously during the early 1970s by Klaus-Peter
Schnherr in Germany and Oleg Tretiakoff in France.
First Electronic Braille Devices
In electronic Braille, Braille codesand therefore
Braille booksare stored in numerical binary for-
mat on standard mass storage media: magnetic tapes,
magnetic disks, and so forth. In this format the bulk
and cost of Braille books are reduced by several orders
of magnitude. To be accessible to blind users, elec-
tronically stored Braille codes must be converted into
raised-dot patterns by a device called an electro-
mechanical Braille display. An electromechanical
Braille display is a flat reading surface that has holes
arranged in a Braille cell pattern. The hemispherical
tip of a cylindrical pin can either be raised above the
reading surface to show a Braille dot or lowered under
the reading surface to hide the corresponding Braille
dot. The Braille dot vertical motion must be con-
trolled by some kind of electromechanical actuator.
Two such displays were almost simultaneously put
onto the market during the mid-1970s.
The Schnherr Braille calculator had eight Braille
cells of six dots each, driven by electromagnetic ac-
tuators and a typical calculator keyboard. The dot
spacing had to be increased to about 3 millimeters
instead of the standard 2.5 millimeters to provide
enough space for the actuators.
The Tretiakoff Braille notebook carried twelve
Braille standard cells of six dots each, driven by piezo-
electric (relating to electricity or electric polarity due
to pressure, especially in a crystalline substance) reeds,
a keyboard especially designed for blind users, a cas-
sette tape digital recorder for Braille codes storage,
and a communication port to transfer data between
the Braille notebook and other electronic devices. Both
devices were portable and operated on replaceable or

Enhancing Access to Braille Instructional Materials
(ANS)Most blind and visually impaired children at-
tend regular school classes these days, but they are often
left waiting for Braille and large-print versions of class
texts to arrive while the other children already have the
books.
There are 93,000 students in kindergarten through
12th grade who are blind or have limited vision. Because
this group represents a small minority of all school-
children, little attention has been paid to updating the
cumbersome process of translating books into Braille, ad-
vocates said.
Traditionally, publishers have given electronic copies
of their books to transcribers, who often need to com-
pletely reformat them for Braille. Lack of a single techno-
logical standard and little communication between
publishing houses and transcribers led to delays in blind
students receiving instructional materials, experts said.
The solution, said Mary Ann Siller, a national pro-
gram associate for the American Foundation for the Blind
who heads its Textbook and Instructional Materials
Solutions Forum, is to create a single electronic file for-
mat and a national repository for textbooks that would
simplify and shorten the production process. And that's
exactly what is happening.
In October, the American Printing House for the Blind
in Louisville, Ky., took the first step in creating a reposi-
tory by listing 140,000 of its own titles on the Internet.
The group is now working to get publishers to deposit
their text files, which transcribers could readily access.
Everyone is excited about it, said Christine Anderson,
director of resource services for the Kentucky organiza-
tion. By having a central database with information about
the files for all books available in Braille, large print, sound
recording or computer files, costly duplications can be
eliminated, she said.
Pearce McNulty, director of publishing technology at
Houghton Mifflin Co. in Boston, which is a partner in the
campaign, said he is hopeful the repository will help solve
the problem. Publishers and Braille producers historically
BRAILLE 73
have misunderstood each other's business, he said, which
led to frustration on both sides.
Most blind children are mainstreamed into public
school classrooms and receive additional help from a cadre
of special teachers of the blind. Technology is also giv-
ing blind students more options. Scanning devices now
download texts into Braille and read text aloud. Closed
circuit television systems can enlarge materials for low-
vision students.
These kids have very individual problems, noted
Kris Kiley, the mother of a 15-year-old who has limited
vision.It's not one size fits all. But if you don't teach them
to read you've lost part of their potential.
New tools also bring with them new problems. For
example, the new multimedia texts, which are available
to students on CD-ROM, are completely inaccessible to
blind students. And because graphics now dominate many
books, lots of information, especially in math, does not
reach those with limited vision.
Simply recognizing the challenges faced by the
blind would go a long way toward solving the problem,
said Cara Yates. Yates, who recently graduated from law
school, lost her sight at age 5 to eye cancer. She recalls one
of her college professors who organized a series of tutors
to help her see star charts when she took astrophysics.
A lot of it isn't that hard, she said.It just takes some
thought and prior planning. The biggest problem for the
blind is they can't get enough information. There's no ex-
cuse for it. It's all available.
Siller said the foundation also hoped to raise aware-
ness about educational assessment; the importance of
parental participation; better preparation for teachers; a
core curriculum for blind students in addition to the
sighted curriculum; and better Braille skills and a reduced
caseload for teachers who often travel long distances to
assist their students.
Mieke H. Bomann
Source: Campaign seeks to end blind students' wait for Braille
textbooks. American News Service, December 16, 1999.
74 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
rechargeable batteries. The Tretiakoff Braille note-
book, called Digicassette, measured about 20 by
25 by 5 centimeters.
A read-only version of the Digicassette was man-
ufactured for the U.S. National Library Services for
the Blind of the Library of Congress.
Personal Braille Printers
Braille books consist of strong paper pages embossed
with a Braille dot pattern by high-speed machines
and then bound together much like ordinary books.
A typical Braille page can carry up to twenty-five lines
of forty Braille characters each and can be explored
rapidly from left to right and from top to bottom by
a blind reader. Electronic Braille displays consist gen-
erally of a single line comprising usually from eight-
een to forty Braille characters to keep the displays
portable and affordable for individual users. The shift
from a full page to a single line delayed the accept-
ance of Braille displays in spite of their ability to pro-
vide easy and high-speed access to electronically
stored information.
Personal Braille printers, also made possible by
the development of integrated circuits, appeared
soon after the first personal computers to fill the gap
between industrially produced Braille books and sin-
gle-line Braille displays. Similar in concept to dot-
matrix ink printers, personal Braille printers allowed
a blind user to emboss on a sheet of strong paper a
few lines of Braille characters per minute from Braille
codes received from an external source.
Tactile Graphics
Although the first personal Braille printers were de-
signed to print only a regularly spaced Braille pat-
ternat .6 centimeter spacing between characters
some were outfitted with print heads capable of
printing regularly spaced dots, in both the hori-
zontal and the vertical directions, allowing the
production of embossed tactile graphics.
Although the first electronic Braille displays were
built with horizontally stacked piezoelectric reeds,
whose lengthabout 5 centimetersprevented the
juxtaposition of more than two Braille lines, the mid-
1980s brought the first vertical piezoelectric Braille
cells used in Tretiakoff 's extremely portable Braille
notebook, the P-Touch. In these vertical cells each
piezoelectric actuator was located underneath the
corresponding tactile dot, allowing tactile dots to be
arranged in arrays of regularly spaced rows and
columns for the electronic display of graphics. These
vertical cells were about twice as high as conventional
horizontal cells and no less expensive. Multiline or
graphic displays were thus made technically feasible
but remained practically unaffordable at about $12
per dot for the end user as early as 1985.
Active versus Passive Reading
Since Louis Braille, blind people have performed tac-
tile reading by moving the tip of one to three fingers
across a Braille page or along a Braille line while ap-
plying a small vertical pressure on the dot pattern in
a direction and at a speed fully controlled by the
reader, hence the name active reading.
Louis Braille used his judgment to choose tactile
dot height and spacing; research performed during
the last thirty years has shown that his choices
were right on the mark. Objective experiments, in
which the electrical response of finger mechanore-
ceptors (neural end organs that respond to a me-
chanical stimulus, such as a change in pressure) is
measured from an afferent (conveying impulses
toward the central nervous system) nerve fiber, have
shown that strokingthe horizontal motion of
the fingerplays an essential role in touch resolu-
tion, the ability to recognize closely spaced dots.
Conversely, if a blind reader keeps the tip of one
or more fingers still on an array of tactile dots that
is moved in various patterns up or down under the
fingertips, this is called passive reading. Passive read-
ing has been suggested as a way to reduce the num-
ber of dots, and therefore the cost of tactile displays,
by simulating the motion of a finger across a wide ar-
ray of dots by proper control of vertical dot motion
under a still finger. The best-known example of this
approach is the Optacon (Optical to Tactile Converter),
invented during the mid-1970s by John Linvill to give
blind people immediate and direct access to printed
material. The Optacon generated a vibrating tactile
image of a small area of an object viewed by its
camera placed and moved against its surface.

Research has shown that touch resolution and
reading speed are significantly impaired by passive
reading, both for raised ordinary character shapes
and for raised-dot patterns.
Current and Future
Electronic Tactile Displays
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, sev-
eral companies make electromechanical tactile cells,
which convert electrical energy into mechanical en-
ergy and vice versa, but the dominant actuator tech-
nology is still the piezoelectric (relating to electricity
or electric polarity due to pressure, especially in a
crystalline substance) bimorph reed, which keeps
the price per tactile dot high and the displays bulky
and heavy. The majority of electronic tactile dis-
plays are single-line, stand-alone displays carry-
ing up to eighty characters or Braille computers
carrying from eighteen to forty characters on a sin-
gle line. Their costs range from $3,000 to more than
$10,000. A small number of graphic tactile mod-
ules carrying up to sixteen by sixteen tactile dots
are also available from manufacturers such as KGS
in Japan.
Several research-and-development projects, us-
ing new actuator technologies and designs, are un-
der way to develop low-cost g raphic tactile
displays that could replace or complement visual dis-
plays in highly portable electronic communication
devices and computers.
Oleg Tretiakoff
See also Sonification; Universal Access
FURTHER READING
American Council of the Blind. (2001). Braille: History and Use of
Braille. Retrieved May 10, 2004, from http://www.acb.org/re-
sources/braille.html
Blindness Resource Center. (2002). Braille on the Internet.
Retrieved May 10, 2004, from http://www.nyise.org/braille.html
BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES 75
BRAIN-COMPUTER
INTERFACES
A brain-computer interface (BCI), also known as a
direct brain interface (DBI) or a brain-machine in-
terface (BMI), is a system that provides a means
for people to control computers and other devices
directly with brain signals. BCIs fall into the cate-
gory of biometric devices, which are devices that de-
tect and measure biological properties as their basis
of operation. Research on brain-computer interfaces
spans many disciplines, including computer science,
neuroscience, psychology, and engineering. BCIs
were originally conceived in the 1960s, and since the
late 1970s have been studied as a means of provid-
ing a communication channel for people with very
severe physical disabilities. While assistive technol-
ogy is still the major impetus for BCI research, there
is considerable interest in mainstream applications
as well, to provide a hands-free control channel that
does not rely on muscle movement.
Despite characterizations in popular fiction, BCI
systems are not able to directly interpret thoughts or
perform mind reading. Instead, BCI systems mon-
itor and measure specific aspects of a users brain
signals, looking for small but detectable differences
that signal the intent of the user. Most existing BCI
systems depend on a person learning to control an
aspect of brain signals that can be detected and meas-
ured. Other BCI systems perform control tasks, such
as selecting letters from an alphabet, by detecting
brain-signal reactions to external stimuli.
Although BCIs can provide a communications
channel, the information transmission rate is low
compared with other methods of control, such as
keyboard or mouse. The best reported user per-
formance with current BCI systems is an informa-
tion transfer rate of sixty-eight bits per minute, which
roughly translates to selecting eight characters per
minute from an alphabet. BCI studies to date have
been conducted largely in controlled laboratory set-
tings, although the field is beginning to target real-
world environments for BCI use.
A driving motivation behind BCI research has been
the desire to help people with severe physical disabil-
76 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
ities such as locked-in syndrome, a condition caused
by disease, stroke, or injury in which a person remains
cognitively intact but is completely paralyzed and un-
able to speak. Traditional assistive technologies for
computer access depend on small muscle movements,
typically using the limbs, eyes, mouth, or tongue to ac-
tivate switches. People with locked-in syndrome
have such severely limited mobility that system in-
put through physical movement is infeasible or un-
reliable. A BCI system detects tiny electrophysiological
changes in brain signals to produce control instruc-
tions for a computer, thereby making it unnecessary
for a user to have reliable muscle movement.
Researchers have created applications for non-
disabled users as well, including gaming systems and
systems that allow hands-free, heads-up control of
devices, including landing an aircraft. Brain signal
interfaces have been used in psychotherapy to mon-
itor relaxation responses and to teach meditation,
although these are biofeedback rather than control
interfaces.
Brain Signal Characteristics
Brain signals are recorded using two general ap-
proaches. The most ubiquitous approach is the elec-
troencephalogram (EEG), a recording of signals
representing activity over the entire surface of the
brain or a large region of the brain, often incorpo-
rating the activity of millions of neurons. An EEG
can be recorded noninvasively (without surgery)
from electrodes placed on the scalp, or invasively (re-
quiring surgery) from electrodes implanted inside
the skull or on the surface of the brain. Brain signals
can also be recorded from tiny electrodes placed di-
rectly inside the brain cortex, allowing researchers
to obtain signals from individual neurons or small
numbers of colocated neurons.
Several categories of brain signals have been ex-
plored for BCIs, including rhythms from the senso-
rimotor cortex, slow cortical potentials, evoked
potentials, and action potentials of single neurons.
A BCI system achieves control by detecting changes
in the voltage of a brain signal, the frequency of a
signal, and responses to stimuli. The type of brain
signal processed has implications for the nature of
the users interaction with the system.
Sensorimotor Cortex Rhythms
Cortical rhythms represent the synchronized activ-
ity of large numbers of brain cells in the cortex
that create waves of electrical activity over the brain.
These rhythms are characterized by their frequency
of occurrence; for example, a rhythm occurring
between eight and twelve times a second is denoted as
mu, and one occurring between eighteen and twenty-
six times a second is referred to as beta. When
recorded over the motor cortex, these rhythms are
affected by movement or intent to move. Studies have
shown that people can learn via operant-condition-
ing methods to increase and decrease the voltage
of these cortical rhythms (in tens of microvolts) to
control a computer or other device. BCIs based on
processing sensorimotor rhythms have been used to
operate a binary spelling program and two-dimen-
sional cursor movement.
Slow Cortical Potentials
Slow cortical potentials (SCPs) are low-frequency
shifts of cortical voltage that people can learn to con-
trol with practice. SCP shifts can occur in durations
of a hundred milliseconds up to several seconds. SCP
signals are based over the frontal and central cor-
tex area, and are typically influenced by emotional
or mental imagery, as well as imagined movement.
SCPs are recorded both from electrodes on the scalp
using an operant conditioning approach and from
positive reinforcement to train users to alter their
SCPs. Both nondisabled and locked-in subjects have
been able to learn to affect their SCP amplitude, shift-
ing it in either an electrically positive or negative di-
rection. Locked-in subjects have used SCPs to
communicate, operating a spelling program to write
letters and even surfing with a simple web browser.
Evoked Potentials
The brain's responses to stimuli can also be detected
and used for BCI control. The P300 response occurs
when a subject is presented with something famil-
iar, such as a photo of a loved one, or of interest, such
as a letter selected from an alphabet. The P300 re-
sponse can be evoked by almost any stimulus, but
most BCI systems employ either visual or auditory

stimuli. Screening for the P300 is accomplished
through an oddball paradigm, where the subject
views a series of images or hears a series of tones, at-
tending to the one that is different from the rest. If
there is a spike in the signal power over the parietal
region of the brain approximately 300 millisec-
onds after the oddball or different stimulus, then
the subject has a good P300 response. One practical
application that has been demonstrated with P300
control is a spelling device. The device works by flash-
ing rows and columns of an alphabet grid and aver-
aging the P300 responses to determine which letter
the subject is focusing on. P300 responses have
also been used to enable a subject to interact with
a virtual world by concentrating on flashing vir-
tual objects until the desired one is activated.
Action Potentials of Single Neurons
Another approach to BCI control is to record from
individual neural cells via an implanted electrode.
In one study, a tiny hollow glass electrode was im-
planted in the motor cortices of three locked-in sub-
jects, enabling neural firings to be captured and
recorded. Subjects attempted to control this form of
BCI by increasing or decreasing the frequency of neu-
ral firings, typically by imagining motions of para-
lyzed limbs. This BCI was tested for controlling
two-dimensional cursor movement in communica-
tions programs such as virtual keyboards. Other ap-
proaches utilizing electrode arrays or bundles of
microwires are being researched in animal studies.
Interaction Styles With BCIs
How best to map signals from the brain to the
control systems of devices is a relatively new area
of study. A BCI transducer is a system component
that takes a brain signal as input and outputs a con-
trol signal. BCI transducers fall into three general
categories: continuous, discrete, and direct spatial
positioning.
Continuous transducers produce a stream of
values within a specified range. These values can be
mapped to cursor position on a screen, or they can di-
rectly change the size or shape of an object (such as a
progress bar). A user activates a continuous transducer
BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES 77
by learning to raise or lower some aspect of his or
her brain signals, usually amplitude or frequency.
Continuous transducers have enabled users to per-
form selections by raising or lowering a cursor to hit
a target on a screen. A continuous transducer is anal-
ogous to a continuous device, such as a mouse or joy-
stick, that always reports its current position.
A discrete transducer is analogous to a switch de-
vice that sends a signal when activated. Discrete trans-
ducers produce a single value upon activation. A user
typically activates a discrete transducer by learning
to cause an event in the brain that can be detected
by a BCI system. Discrete transducers have been used
to make decisions, such as whether to turn in navi-
gating a maze. Continuous transducers can emulate
discrete transducers by introducing a threshold that
the user must cross to activate the switch.
Direct-spatial-positioning transducers produce a
direct selection out of a range of selection choices.
These transducers are typically associated with evoked
responses, such as P300, that occur naturally and do
not have to be learned. Direct transducers have been
used to implement spelling, by flashing letters arranged
in a grid repeatedly and averaging the brain signal re-
sponse in order to determine which letter the user was
focusing on. A direct spatial positioning transducer is
analogous to a touch screen.
BCI system architectures have many common
functional aspects. Figure 1 shows a simplified model
of a general BCI system design as described by Mason
and Birch (2003).
Brain signals are captured from the user by an
acquisition method, such as scalp electrodes or im-
planted electrodes. The signals are then processed by
an acquisition component called a feature extractor
that identifies signal changes that could signify in-
tent. A signal translator then maps the extracted sig-
nals to device controls, which in turn send signals to
a control interface for a device, such as a cursor, a
television, or a wheelchair. A display may return feed-
back information to the user.
Feedback is traditionally provided to BCI users
through both auditory and visual cues, but some test-
ing methods allow for haptic (touch) feedback and
electrical stimulation. Which feedback mechanisms
are most effective usually depends on the abilities
and disabilities of the user; many severely disabled
78 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
users have problems with vision that can be com-
pensated for by adding auditory cues to BCI tasks.
Some research teams have embraced usability test-
ing to determine what forms of feedback are most
effective; this research is under way.
Applications for BCIs
As the BCI field matures, considerable interest has
arisen in applying BCI techniques to real-world prob-
lems. The principal goal has been to provide a com-
munication channel for people with severe motor
disabilities, but other applications may also be
possible. Researchers are focusing on applications
for BCI technologies in several critical areas:
Communication
Making communication possible for a locked-in per-
son is a critical and very difficult task. Much of the
work in BCI technology centers around communi-
cation, generally in the form of virtual keyboards or
iconic selection systems.
Environmental Control
The ability to control the physical environment is
also an important quality-of-life issue. Devices
that permit environmental control make it possi-
ble for locked-in people to turn a TV to a desired
channel and to turn lights on and off, as well as con-
trolling other physical objects in their world.
Internet Access
The Internet has the potential to enhance the lives
of locked-in people significantly. Access to the
Internet can provide shopping, entertainment, edu-
cation, and sometimes even employment opportu-
nities to people with severe disabilities. Efforts are
under way to develop paradigms for BCI interaction
with Web browsers.
FIGURE 1. BCI system architecture
Neural Prosthetics
A BCI application with significant implications is
neural prostheses, which are orthoses or muscle stim-
ulators controlled by brain signals. In effect, a neu-
ral prosthesis could reconnect the brain to paralyzed
limbs, essentially creating an artificial nervous sys-
tem. BCI controls could be used to stimulate mus-
cles in paralyzed arms and legs to enable a subject to
learn to move them again. Preliminary work on a
neurally controlled virtual hand was reported in 2000
with implanted electrodes: a noninvasive BCU has
been demonstrated to control a hand-grasp ortho-
sis for a person whose hand was paralyzed. An
SSVEP-based BCI has also been used to control a
functional electrical stimulator to activate paralyzed
muscles for knee extension.
Mobility
Restoring mobility to people with severe disabilities
is another area of research. A neurally controlled
wheelchair could provide a degree of freedom and
greatly improve the quality of life for locked-in peo-
ple. Researchers are exploring virtual navigation tasks,
such as virtual driving and a virtual apartment, as
well as maze navigation. A noninvasive BCI was used
to direct a remote-control vehicle, with the aim of
eventually transferring driving skills to a power
wheelchair.
Issues and Challenges for BCI
There are many obstacles to overcome before BCIs
can be used in real-world scenarios. The minute elec-
trophysiological changes that characterize BCI con-
trols are subject to interference from both electrical
and cognitive sources. Brain-signal complexity and
variability make detecting and interpreting changes
very difficult except under controlled circumstances.
Especially with severely disabled users, the effects of

medications, blood sugar levels, and stimulants such
as caffeine can all be significant. Cognitive distrac-
tions such as ambient environmental noise can af-
fect a persons ability to control a BCI in addition to
increasing the cognitive load the person bears.
Artifacts such as eye blinks or other muscle move-
ments can mask control signals.
BCIs and other biometric devices are also plagued
by what is termed the Midas touch problem: How
does the user signal intent to control when the brain
is active constantly? Hybrid discrete/continuous
transducers may be the answer to this problem,
but it is still a major issue for BCIs in the real world.
Another important issue currently is that BCI
systems require expert assistance to operate. As BCI
systems mature, the expectation is that more of the
precise tuning and calibration of these systems
may be performed automatically.
Although BCIs have been studied since the mid-
1980s, researchers are just beginning to explore their
enormous potential. Understanding brain signals and
patterns is a difficult task, but only through such an
understanding will BCIs become feasible. Currently
there is a lively debate on the best approach to acquir-
ing brain signals. Invasive techniques, such as im-
planted electrodes, could provide better control
through clearer, more distinct signal acquisition. Non-
invasive techniques, such as scalp electrodes, could
be improved by reducing noise and incorporating so-
phisticated filters. Although research to date has fo-
cused mainly on controlling output from the brain,
recent efforts are also focusing on input channels.
Much work also remains to be done on appropriate
mappings to control signals.
As work in the field continues, mainstream ap-
plications for BCIs may emerge, perhaps for peo-
ple in situations of imposed disability, such as jet
pilots experiencing high G-forces during maneuvers,
or for people in situations that require hands-free,
heads-up interfaces. Researchers in the BCI field are
just beginning to explore the possibilities of real-
world applications for brain signal control.
Melody M. Moore, Adriane B. Davis,
and Brendan Allison
See also Physiology
BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES 79
FURTHER READING
Bayliss, J. D., & Ballard, D. H. (2000). Recognizing evoked potentials
in a virtual environment. Advances in Neural Information Processing
Systems, 12, 39.
Birbaumer, N., Kubler, A., Ghanayim, N., Hinterberger, T., Perelmouter,
J. Kaiser, J., et al. (2000). The thought translation device (TTD) for
completely paralyzed patients. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation
Engineering, 8(2), 190193.
Birch, G. E., & Mason, S. G. (2000). Brain-computer interface research
at the Neil Squire Foundation. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation
Engineering, 8(2), 193195.
Chapin, J., & Nicolelis, M. (2002). Closed-loop brain-machine in-
terfaces. In J. R. Wolpaw & T. Vaughan (Eds.), Proceedings of Brain-
Computer Interfaces for Communication and Control: Vol. 2. Moving
Beyond Demonstration, Program and Abstracts (p. 38). Rensse-
laerville, NY.
Donchin, E., Spencer, K., & Wijesinghe, R. (2000). The mental
prosthesis: Assessing the speed of a P300-based brain-computer
interface. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, 8(2),
174179.
Kandel, E., Schwartz, J., & Jessell, T. (2000). Principles of neural sci-
ence (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Health Professions Division.
Kennedy, P. R., Bakay, R. A. E., Moore, M. M., Adams, K., & Goldwaithe,
J. (2000). Direct control of a computer from the human central
nervous system. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering,
8(2), 198202.
Lauer, R. T., Peckham, P. H., Kilgore, K. L., & Heetderks, W. J.
(2000). Applications of cortical signals to neuroprosthetic control:
A critical review. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering,
8(2), 205207.
Levine, S. P., Huggins, J. E., BeMent, S. L., Kushwaha, R. K., Schuh,
L. A., Rohde, M. M., et al. (2000). A direct-brain interface based
on event-related potentials. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation
Engineering, 8(2), 180185.
Mankoff, J., Dey, A., Moore, M., & Batra, U. (2002). Web accessibility
for low bandwidth input. In Proceedings of ASSETS 2002 (pp. 8996).
Edinburgh, UK: ACM Press.
Mason, S. G., & Birch, G. E. (In press). A general framework for brain-
computer interface design. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems
and Rehabilitation Technology.
Moore, M., Mankoff, J., Mynatt, E., & Kennedy, P. (2002). Nudge
and shove: Frequency thresholding for navigation in direct brain-
computer interfaces. In Proceedings of SIGCHI 2001Conference on
Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 361362). New York:
ACM Press.
Perelmouter, J., & Birbaumer, N. (2000). A binary spelling interface
with random errors. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineer-
ing, 8(2), 227232.
Pfurtscheller, G., Neuper, C., Guger, C., Harkam, W., Ramoser, H.,
Schlgl, A., et al. (2000). Current trends in Graz brain-computer in-
terface (BCI) research. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engi-
neering, 8(2), 216218.
Tomori, O., & Moore, M. (2003). The neurally controllable Internet
browser. In Proceedings of SIGCHI 03 (pp. 796798).
Wolpaw, J. R., Birbaumer, N., McFarland, D., Pfurtscheller, G., &
Vaughan, T. (2002). Brain-computer interfaces for communica-
tion and control. Clinical Neurophysiology, 113, 767791.
80 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Wolpaw, J. R., McFarland, D. J., & Vaughan, T. M. (2000). Brain-com-
puter interface research at the Wadsworth Center. IEEE Transactions
on Rehabilitation Engineering, 8(2), 222226.
BROWSERS
For millions of computer users worldwide, a browser
is the main interface with the World Wide Web, the
worlds foremost Internet information exchange serv-
ice. Banking, shopping, keeping in contact with
friends and family through e-mail, accessing news,
looking words up in the dictionary, finding facts and
solving puzzlesall of these activities and many
more can be carried out on the Web.
After the 1993 release of the first graphical user
interface Web browser (NCSA Mosaic), the Web rap-
idly evolved from a small user base of scientists ac-
cessing a small set of interlinked text documents to
approximately 600 million users accessing billions
of webpages that make use of many different media,
including text, graphics, video, audio, and anima-
tion. Economies of scale clearly apply to the effec-
tiveness of Web browsers.
Although there has been substantial work on the
webification of sources of information (for exam-
ple, educational course materials), there has been
surprisingly little research into understanding and
characterizing Web users tasks, developing better
browsers to support those tasks, and evaluating the
browsers success. But ethnographic and field stud-
ies can give us a contextual understanding of Web
use, and longitudinal records of users actions make
possible long-term quantitative analyses, which in
turn are leading to low-level work on evaluating and
improving browsers.
What Do Web Users Do?
The best way to understand fully what users do with
their browsers, why they do it, and the problems they
encounter is to observe and question users directly
as they go about their everyday work. Unfortunately
this approach puts inordinate demands on re-
searchers time, so it is normally used only with small
sets of participants. The study that best demonstrates
this ethnographic style of contextually immersed in-
vestigation is that of Michael Byrne and his colleagues
(1999), who used their observations to create a
taxonomy of Web-browsing tasks. Their method in-
volved videotaping eight people whenever they used
a browser in their work. The participants were en-
couraged to continually articulate their objectives
and tasks, essentially thinking aloud. A total of five
hours of Web use was captured on video and tran-
scribed, and a six-part taxonomy of stereotypical
tasks emerged:
1. Use information: activities relating to the use
of information gathered on the Web;
2. Locate on page: searching for particular in-
formation on a page;
3. Go to: the act of trying to get the browser to dis-
play a particular URL (Web address);
4. Provide information: sending information to a
website through the browser (for example, pro-
viding a billing address or supplying search
terms to a search engine);
5. Configure browser: changing the configuration
of the browser itself; and
6. React to environment: supplying information
required for the browser to continue its opera-
tion (for example, responding to a dialog box
that asks where a downloaded file should be
saved).
Although these results were derived from only a
few hours of Web use by a few people, they provide
initial insights into the tasks and actions accom-
plished using a browser.
Another approach to studying how people use
the Web is to automatically collect logs of users
actions. The logs can then be analyzed to provide a
wide variety of quantitative characterizations of Web
use. Although this approach cannot provide insights
into the context of the users actions, it has the ad-
vantage of being implementable on a large scale.
Months or years of logged data from dozens of users
can be included in an analysis.
Two approaches have been used to log Web-use
data. Server-side logs collect data showing which pages
were served to which IP address, allowing Web de-
signers to see, for instance, which parts of their sites
are particularly popular or unpopular. Unfortunately,

server-side logs only poorly characterize Web usability
issues.
The second approach uses client-side logs, which
are established by equipping the Web browser (or a
client-side browser proxy) so that it records the exact
history of the users actions with the browser. The first
two client-side log analyses of Web use were both con-
ducted in 1995 using the then-popular XMosaic
browser. The participants in both studies were pri-
marily staff, faculty, and students in university com-
puting departments. Lara Catledge and James Pitkow
logged 3 weeks of use by 107 users in 1995, while Linda
Tauscher and Saul Greenberg analyzed 5 to 6 weeks
of use by 23 users in 1995. The studies made several
important contributions to our understanding of what
users do with the Web. In particular, they revealed that
link selection (clicking on links in the Web browser)
accounts for approximately 52 percent of all webpage
displays, that webpage revisitation (returning to
previously visited webpages) is a dominant naviga-
tion behavior, that the Back button is very heavily used,
and that other navigation actions, such as typing URLs,
clicking on the Forward button, or selecting book-
marked pages, were only lightly used. Tauscher and
Greenberg also analyzed the recurrence rate of page
visitsthe probability that any URL visited is a re-
peat of a previous visit, expressed as a percentage
(Tauscher and Greenberg 1997, 112). They found a
recurrence rate of approximately 60 percent, mean-
ing that on average users had previously seen approxi-
mately three out of five pages visited. In a 2001 study,
Andy Cockburn and Bruce McKenzie showed that the
average recurrence rate had increased to approximately
80 percentfour out of five pages a user sees are ones
he or she has seen previously. Given these high recur-
rence rates, it is clearly important for browsers to pro-
vide effective tools for revisitation.
The 1995 log analyses suggested that people rarely
used bookmarks, with less than 2 percent of user
actions involving bookmark use. However, a survey
conducted the following year (Pitkow, 1996) indicates
that users at least had the intention of using book-
marks, with 84 percent of respondents having more
than eleven bookmarks. Pitkow reported from a
survey of 6,619 users that organizing retrieved in-
formation is one of the top three problems people re-
port relating to using the Web (reported by 34 percent
BROWSERS 81
of participants). Cockburn and McKenzies log analy-
sis suggested that bookmark use had evolved, with
users either maintaining large bookmark collections
or almost none: The total number of bookmarks in
participants collections ranged from 0 to 587, with
a mean of 184 and a high standard deviation of 166.
A final empirical characterization of Web use
from Cockburn and McKenzies log analysis is that
Web browsing is surprisingly rapid, with many or
most webpages being visited for only a very brief pe-
riod (less than a couple of seconds). There are two
main types of browsing behavior that can explain
the very short page visits. First, many webpages are
simply used as routes to other pages, with users
following known trails through the series of links
that are displayed at known locations on the pages.
Second, users can almost simultaneously display a
series of candidate interesting pages in inde-
pendent top-level windows by shift-clicking on the
link or by using the links context menu. For exam-
ple, the user may rapidly pop up several new win-
dows for each of the top result links shown as a result
of a Google search.
Improving the Web Browser
User Interface
The studies reported above inform designers
about what users do with the current versions of their
browsers. Naturally, there is a chicken-and-egg prob-
lem in that stereotypical browser use is strongly af-
fected by the support provided by browsers. Browser
interfaces can be improved both by designing to bet-
ter support the stereotypes and by innovative design
that enables previously difficult or impossible tasks.
The problems of hypertext navigation were
well known long before the Web. As users navigate
through the richly interconnected information nodes
of the Web (or any hypertextual information space)
their short-term memory becomes overloaded with
the branches made, and they become lost in hy-
perspace. In the late 1980s many researchers were
experimenting with graphical depictions of hyper-
text spaces in order to help users orient themselves:
For example, the popular Apple language Hypercard
provided a thumbnail graphical representation of the
82 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
recent cards displayed, and gIBIS provided a network
diagram of design argumentation. Soon after the Web
emerged in 1991, similar graphical techniques were
being constructed to aid Web navigation. Example
systems included MosaicG, which provided
thumbnail images of the visited pages arranged in a
tree hierarchy, WebNet, which drew a hub-and-spoke
representation of the pages users visited and the links
available from them, and the Navigational View
Builder, which could generate a wide variety of
two-dimensional and three-dimensional represen-
tations of the Web.
Despite the abundance of tools that provide
graphical representations of the users history, none
have been widely adopted. Similarly, log analyses of
Web use show that users seldom use the history tools
provided by all of the main Web browsers. Given that
Web revisitation is such a common activity, why
are these history tools so lightly used? The best ex-
planation seems to be that these tools are not needed
most of the time, so they are unlikely to be on per-
manent display, where they would compete with other
applications for screen real estate. Once iconified, the
tools are not ready to hand, and it is overhead for
users to think of using them, take the actions to
display them, orient themselves within the informa-
tion they display, and make appropriate selections.
While the projects above focus on extending
browser functionality, several other research projects
have investigated rationalizing and improving browsers
current capabilities. The interface mechanisms for re-
turning to previously visited pages have been a par-
ticular focus. Current browsers support a wide range
of disparate facilities for revisitation, including the
Back and Forward buttons and menus, menus that al-
low users to type or paste the URLs of websites the user
wants to visit, the history list, bookmarks or lists of fa-
vorites, and the links toolbar. Of these utilities, log
analyses suggest that only the Back button is heavily
used. The WebView system and Glabster both demon-
strate how history facilities and bookmarks can be en-
hanced and integrated within the Back menu, providing
a powerful and unified interface for all revisitation
tasks. Both WebView and Glabster automatically cap-
ture thumbnail images of webpages, making it easier
for the user to identify previously visited pages from
the set displayed within the back menu.
Another problem users have with current Web
browsers is that they misunderstand the behavior
of the Back button. An experiment showed that eight
of eleven computer scientists incorrectly predicted
the behavior of Back in simple Web navigation tasks.
The problem stems from users believing that Back
provides access to a complete history of previously
visited pages, rather than the stack-based subset that
can actually be accessed. Cockburn and his colleagues
describe the behavior and make an evaluation of a
true history-based Back system, but results indicate
that the pros and cons of the technique are closely
balanced, such that the advantages do not outweigh
the difficulties inherent in making a switch from cur-
rent behavior.
The World Wide Web revolution has been a great
success in bringing computer technology to the
masses. The widespread adoption and deployment
of the Web and the browsers used to access it hap-
pened largely without input from researchers in hu-
man-computer interaction. Those researchers are
now improving their understanding of the usability
issues associated with Web browsers and browsing.
As the technology and understanding matures, we
can expect browser interfaces to improve, enhanc-
ing the efficiency of Web navigation and reducing
the sensation of becoming lost in the Web.
Andy Cockburn
See also Mosaic; Website Design
FURTHER READING
Abrams, D., Baecker R., & Chignell, M. (1998). Information archiv-
ing with bookmarks: Personal Web space construction and or-
ganization. In Proceedings of CHI'98 Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems (pp. 4148). New York: ACM Press.
Ayers, E., & Stasko, J. (1995). Using graphic history in browsing the
World Wide Web. In Proceedings of the Fourth International World
Wide Web Conference (pp. 451459). Retrieved January 19, 2004,
from http://www.w3j.com/1/ayers.270/paper/270.html
Bainbridge, L. (1991). Verbal protocol analysis. In J. Wilson & E. Corlett
(Eds.), Evaluation of human work: A practical ergonomics method-
ology (pp. 161179). London: Taylor and Francis.
Byrne, M., John, B., Wehrle, N., & Crow, D. (1999). The tangled
Web we wove: A taskonomy of WWW Use. In Proceedings of CHI'99
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 544551).
New York: ACM Press.

Catledge, L., & Pitkow, J. (1995). Characterizing browsing strategies in the
World Wide Web. In Computer systems and ISDN systems: Proceedings
of the Third International World Wide Web Conference, 27, 10651073).
Chi, E., Pirolli, P., & Pitkow, J. (2000). The scent of a site: A system for
analyzing and predicting information scent, usage, and usability
of a Web site. In Proceedings of CHI'2000 Conference on Human
Factors in Computing Systems (pp.161168). New York: ACM Press.
Cockburn, A., Greenberg, S., McKenzie, B., Jason Smith, M., & Kaasten,
S. (1999). WebView: A graphical aid for revisiting Web pages. In
Proceedings of the 1999 Computer Human Interaction Specialist
Interest Group of the Ergonomics Society of Australia (OzCHI'91)
(pp. 1522). Retrieved January 19, 2004, from http://www.cpsc.ucal-
gary.ca/Research/grouplab/papers/1999/99-WebView.Ozchi/
Html/webview.html
Cockburn, A., & Jones, S. (1996). Which way now? Analysing and eas-
ing inadequacies in WWW navigation. International Journal of
Human-Computer Studies, 45(1), 105129.
Cockburn, A., & McKenzie, B. (2001). What do Web users do? An em-
pirical analysis of Web use. International Journal of Human-
Computer Studies, 54(6), 903922.
Cockburn, A., McKenzie, B., & Jason Smith, M. (2002). Pushing Back:
Evaluating a new behaviour for the Back and Forward buttons
in Web browsers. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies,
57(5), 397414.
Conklin, J. (1988). Hypertext: An introduction and survey. In I. Greif
(Ed.), Computer supported cooperative work: A book of readings
(pp. 423475). San Mateo, CA: Morgan-Kauffman.
BROWSERS 83
Conklin, J., & Begeman, M. (1988). gIBIS: A hypertext tool for ex-
ploratory discussion. ACM Transactions on Office Information
Systems, 6(4), 303313.
Coulouris, G., & Thimbleby, H. (1992). HyperProgramming. Woking-
ham, UK: Addison-Wesley Longman.
Fischer, G. (1998). Making learning a part of life: Beyond the 'gift-
wrapping' approach of technology. In P. Alheit & E. Kammler (Eds.),
Lifelong learning and its impact on social and regional development
(pp. 435462). Bremen, Germany: Donat Verlag.
Kaasten, S., & Greenberg, S. (2001). Integrating Back, History and
bookmarks in Web browsers. In Proceedings of CHI'01 (pp. 379380).
New York: ACM Press.
Mukherjea, S., & Foley, J. (1995). Visualizing the World Wide Web with
the navigational view builder. Computer Systems and ISDN Systems,
27(6), 10751087.
Nielsen, J. (1990). The art of navigating through HyperText: Lost in
hyperspace. Communications of the ACM, 33(3), 296310.
Pirolli, P., Pitkow, J., & Rao, R. (1996). Silk from a sow's ear: Extracting
usable structures from the Web. In R. Bilger, S. Guest, & M. J. Tauber
(Eds.), Proceedings of CHI'96 Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems (pp. 118125). New York: ACM Press.
Pitkow, J. (n.d.). GVU's WWW User Surveys. Retrieved January 19,
2004, from http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/
Tauscher, L., & Greenberg, S. (1997). How people revisit Web pages:
Empirical findings and implications for the design of history
systems. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 47(1),
97138.
 CATHODE RAY TUBES

CAVE

CHATROOMS

CHILDREN AND THE WEB

CLASSROOMS

C
CLIENT-SERVER ARCHITECTURE

COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH

COLLABORATORIES

COMPILERS

COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK

CONSTRAINT SATISFACTION

CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES

CYBERCOMMUNITIES

CYBERSEX

CYBORGS

CATHODE RAY TUBES
The cathode ray tube (CRT) has been the dominant
display technology for decades. Products that utilize
CRTs include television and computer screens in the
consumer and entertainment market, and electronic
displays for medical and military applications. CRTs
are of considerable antiquity, originating in the
late nineteenth century when William Crookes
(18321919) studied the effects of generating an elec-
trical discharge in tubes filled with various gases.
(The tubes were known as discharge tubes.) It was
over thirty years later in 1929 that the CRT was
utilized to construct actual imagery for television
applications by Vladimir Zworykin (18891982) of
Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The further de-
velopment and optimization of the CRT for televi-
sion and radar over the next fifty years provided the
impetus for continual improvements. With the emer-
gence of desktop computing in the 1980s, the CRT
market expanded, and its performance continued to
evolve. As portability has come to be more and more
important in the consumer electronics industry, the
CRT has been losing ground. The development of
flat panel technologies such as liquid crystal displays
and plasma displays for portable products, computer
screens, and television makes the CRT very vulner-
able. Because of the CRTs maturity and compara-
tively low cost, however, its application will be assured
for many years to come.
How Cathode Ray Tubes Work
A CRT produces images when an electron beam
is scanned over a display screen in a pattern that is

85
86 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
determined by a deflection mechanism. The display
screen is coated with a thin layer of phosphor that
luminesces under the bombardment of electrons.
By this means the display screen provides a two-
dimensional visual display, corresponding to in-
formation contained in the electron beam. There are
four major components of a CRT display: the
vacuum tube, the electron source (known as the elec-
tron gun), the deflection mechanism, and the phos-
phor screen.
The tube (sometimes referred to as a bulb) is
maintained at a very high vacuum level to facili-
tate the flow of electrons in the electron beam. The
front surface of the tube defines the visual area
of the display, and it is this front surface that is cov-
ered with phosphor, which is in turn covered by
the anode (the electron-collecting electrode). The
tube has three main sections: the front surface, the
funnel, and the neck. The entire tube is typically
made of glass so that very high vacuums can be
sustained, but in some cases the funnel and neck
can be fabricated from metal or ceramic. For de-
manding applications that require additional ro-
bustness, an implosion-proof faceplate may be
secured to the front tube surface for durability. This
typically comes at the expense of optical through-
put, but antireflection coatings are often used to
improve contrast and to compensate for the trans-
mission losses.
The electron source, a hot cathode at the far end
from the front surface, generates a high-density
electron beam whose current can be modulated.
The electron beam can be focused or reflected
deflectedby electrostatic or magnetic methods,
and this deflection steers the electron beam to des-
ignated positions of the front surface to create visual
imagery.
The phosphor screen on the inside front surface
of the tube converts the electron beam into visible
light output. On top of the phosphor particles is the
thin layer of conducting material (usually aluminum)
that serves as the anode, drawing the electrons toward
the screen. The directions on how to manipulate the
electron stream are contained in an electronic sig-
nal called a composite video signal. This signal con-
tains information on how intense the electron beam
must be and on when the beam should be moved
across different portions of the screen.
Displaying Color
One of the most important tasks of the modern dis-
play is rendering full-color images. Shadow-masking
configurations are by far the most successful way
to create full color images in CRT displays. The
shadow mask CRT typically uses three electron beams
deflected by one coil (the simplest configuration).
The electron beams traverse a perforated metal mask
(shadow mask) before impinging on selected
phosphor materials (there are three sorts of phos-
phor that can emit red, green, and blue light). The
shadow mask apertures are typically configured as
stripes, circles, or slots. The arrangement of the elec-
tron optics and the deflection system is such that
three electron beams converge onto the screen af-
ter passing through the shadow mask, each beam
impinging on one phosphor, which, when bom-
barded with electrons, emits red, green, or blue
visible light. The red, green, and blue phosphors are
spatially arranged on the viewing screen.
The Tr init ron desig n, invented by Sony
Corporation, uses vertical stripe arrays rather than
circular or slotted apertures. These arrays alternate
red, green, and blue when viewed from the faceplate
side of the tube. There is a single electron source,
rather than three, which eliminates the problem of
beam convergence. The Trinitron also has superior
resolution in the vertical direction since its apertures
are not limited in that direction. The only negative
attribute of the Trinitron is that the mask is not self-
supporting, which ultimately limits the size of the
vacuum tube. The advantages of CRT displays in-
clude their maturity, their well-understood manu-
facturing process, their ability to provide full-color
and high-resolution imaging, and the comparatively
low cost for high information content. CRTs are vul-
nerable to competition from liquid crystal displays
and plasma displays (both of which make possible
flat-panel displays), however, because CRTs are bulky,
heavy, and big power consumers. In addition to
the utility of flat-panel display for portable applica-
tions for which CRTs could never be considered, flat-

panel displays have made significant inroads into
desktop monitors and large-area televisions. As the
price of flat-panel displays continues to plummet,
they are certain to capture even more of the CRT
market in the future.
Gregory Philip Crawford
See also Liquid Crystal Displays
FURTHER READING
Castelliano, J. (1992). Handbook of display technology. San Diego, CA:
Academic Press.
Keller, P. A. (1997). Electronic display measurement. New York:
Wiley SID.
MacDonald, L. W., & Lowe, A. C. (1997). Display systems: Design
and applications. New York: Wiley SID.
CAVE
The CAVE is a virtual reality (VR) room, typically 3
by 3 by 3 meters in size, whose walls, floor, and some-
times ceiling are made entirely of computer-projected
screens. Viewers wear a six-degree-of-freedom loca-
tion sensor called a tracker so that when they move
within the CAVE, correct viewer-centered perspec-
tives and surround-stereo projections are produced
fast enough to give a strong sense of 3D visual im-
mersion. Viewers can examine details of a com-
plex 3D object simply by walking up to and into it.
The CAVE was invented in 1991 for two reasons:
to help scientists and engineers achieve scientific in-
sight without compromising the color and distortion-
free resolution available then on workstations and
to create a medium worthy of use by fine artists.
CAVE viewers see not only projected computer-
generated stereo scenes but also their own arms and
bodies, and they can interact easily with other people.
The CAVE uses active stereo, which produces differ-
ent perspective views for the left and right eyes of the
viewer in synchrony with special electronic shutter
glasses that go clear in front of the left eye when the
CAVE 87
left eye image should be seen by the left eye and are
opaque otherwise. Similarly, the right eye gets the right
image. Images need to be generated at 100 to 120 hertz
so each eye can get a flicker-free 50- to 60-hertz dis-
play. All screens need to be synchronized so that each
eye sees the same phase stereo image on every screen,
a requirement that until 2003 meant that only the
most expensive SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) computer
graphics systems could be used. Synchronizing PC
graphics cards now reduce the cost of CAVE com-
puting and image generation by 90 percent.
The CAVEs projection onto the screens does not
need to keep up with the viewers head motion nearly
as much as is required in a head-mounted VR dis-
play (HMD), which needs to have small screens at-
tached in front of the eyes. Of course, any movement
of the viewers body within the space requires up-
dating the scene perspective, but in normal inves-
tigative use, the CAVE needs to keep up only with
body motion, not head rotation; the important re-
sult is that the delay of trackers is dramatically less
of a problem with CAVEs than with HMDs. In ad-
dition, although only one viewer is tracked, other
people can share the CAVE visuals at the same time;
their view is also in stereo and does not swing with
the tracked users head rotation, although their per-
spective is still somewhat skewed. Often the person
The CAVE is a multi-person, room-sized, high-
resolution, 3D video and audio environment. Photo cour-
tesy of National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
88 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
The Personal Augmented Reality Immersive System
(PARIS) has a half-silvered mirror at an angle in front
of the user. The screen, above the desk facing down,
superimposes a stereo image on the users hands work-
ing beyond the mirror. Photo courtesy of the Electronic
Visualization Laboratory.
in the role of guide or instructor handles the con-
trols (a 3D mouse called Wanda) and the student
wears the tracker to get the best view, a mode of
usage that is quite functional for both learning and
demonstrations.
The CAVE uses a rear-screen projection for the
walls so the viewer does not block the light and cast
shadows. The floor is typically projected down from
the top, which creates a small shadow around the
viewers feet. A CAVE with three walls and a floor min-
imally requires a 13- by 10-meter space with a ceiling
4.5 meters high. Six-sided CAVEs have rear projec-
tions from every direction, which require much higher
ceilings, more elaborate support structures, and floor
screens that can withstand the weight of several people.
Someday, 3-square-meter flat-panel displays sus-
pended as a ceiling, positioned vertically as walls, and
tough enough to walk on would allow CAVEs in nor-
mal rooms. However, current technology panel-
displays refresh too slowly to use shutter glasses, so
they must be otherwise modified for stereo display.
The Varrier method involves placing a barrier screen
so that the computed views to each eye are seen
through perfectly placed thin black bars, that is, the
correctly segmented image is placed in dynamic
perspective behind the barrier in real time. Varrier
viewers wear no special glasses since the image sepa-
ration is performed spatially by the barrier screen.
CAVE Variants
Variants of the CAVE include the ImmersaDesk,
a drafting-table-size rear-projected display with a
screen set at an angle so that the viewer can look
down as well as forward into the screen; looking
down gives a strong sense of being in the scene.
PARIS uses a similarly angled half-silvered screen
that is projected from the top; the viewers hands
work under the screen and are superimposed on the
3D graphics (rather than blocking them, as with nor-
mal projections).
The CAVE originally used three-tube stereo pro-
jectors with special phosphors to allow a 100- to 120-
hertz display without ghosting from slow green phos-
phor decay. Tube projectors are now rather dim by
modern standards, so the CAVE was rebuilt to use
bright digital mirror-based projectors, like those used
in digital cinema theaters. Projectors require sig-
nificant alignment and maintenance; wall-sized flat-
panel screens will be welcomed since they need no
alignment and have low maintenance and no pro-
jection distance.
The GeoWall, a passive stereo device, works
differently, polarizing the output of two projectors
onto a single screen. Viewers wear the throw-away
polarized glasses used in 3D movies to see stereo.
In addition to visual immersion, the CAVE has
synchronized synthetic and sampled surround sound.
The PARIS system features a PHANTOM tactile de-
vice, which is excellent for manipulating objects the
size of a bread box or smaller.
CAVEs for Tele-Immersion
The CAVE was originally envisioned as a tele-
immersive device to enable distance collaboration
between viewers immersed in their computer-
generated scenes, a kind of 3D phone booth. Much
work has gone into building and optimizing ultra-
high-speed computer networks suitable for shar-
ing gigabits of information across a city, region,
nation, or indeed, the world. In fact, scientists, en-
gineers, and artists in universities, museums, and
commercial manufacturing routinely use CAVEs and
variants in this manner.
Tom DeFanti and Dan Sandin

See also Virtual Reality; Telepresence; Three-
Dimensional Graphics
FURTHER READING
Cruz-Neira, C., Sandin, D., & DeFanti, T. A. (1993). Virtual reality:
The design and implementation of the CAVE. Proceedings of the
SIGGRAPH 93 Computer Graphics Conference, USA, 135142.
Czernuszenko, M., Pape, D., Sandin, D., DeFanti, T., Dawe, G. L., &
Brown, M. D. (1997). The ImmersaDesk and Infinity Wall
projection-based virtual reality displays [Electronic version].
Computer Graphics, 31(2), 4649.
DeFanti, T. A., Brown M. D., & Stevens, R. (Eds.). (1996). Virtual re-
ality over high-speed networks. IEEE Computer Graphics &
Applications, 16(4), 1417, 4284.
DeFanti, T., Sandin, D., Brown, M., Pape, D., Anstey, J., Bogucki, M.,
et al. (2001). Technologies for virtual reality/tele-immersion ap-
plications: Issues of research in image display and global net-
working. In R. Earnshaw, et al. (Eds.), Frontiers of Human-Centered
Computing, Online Communities and Virtual Environments
(pp. 137159). London: Springer-Verlag.
Johnson, A., Leigh, J., & Costigan, J. (1998). Multiway tele-immersion
at Supercomputing 97. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications,
18(4), 69.
Johnson, A., Sandin, D., Dawe, G., Qiu, Z., Thongrong, S., & Plepys,
D. (2000). Developing the PARIS: Using the CAVE to prototype
a new VR display [Electronic version]. Proceedings of IPT 2000,
CD-ROM. Korab H., & Brown, M. D. (Eds.). (1995). Virtual
Environments and Distributed Computing at SC95: GII Testbed and
HPC Challenge Applications on the I-WAY. Retrieved November 5,
2003, from http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Training/SC95/GII
.HPCC.html
Lehner, V. D., & DeFanti, T. A. (1997). Distributed virtual reality:
Supporting remote collaboration in vehicle design. IEEE Computer
Graphics & Applications (pp. 1317).
Leigh, J., DeFanti, T. A., Johnson, A. E., Brown, M. D., & Sandin,
D. J. (1997). Global tele-immersion: Better than being there. ICAT
97, 7th Annual International Conference on Artificial Reality and
Tele-Existence, pp. 1017. University of Tokyo, Virtual Reality Society
of Japan.
Leigh, J., Johnson, A., Brown, M., Sandin, D., & DeFanti, T. (1999).
Tele-immersion: Collaborative visualization in immersive envi-
ronments. IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications (pp. 6673).
Sandin, D. J., Margolis, T., Dawe, G., Leigh, J., and DeFanti, T. A. (2001).
The Varrier auto-stereographic display. Proceedings of Photonics
West 2001: Electronics Imaging, SPIE. Retrieved on November 5,
2003, from http://spie.org/web/meetings/programs/pw01/
home.html
Stevens, R., & DeFanti, T. A. (1999). Tele-immersion and collabora-
tive virtual environments. In I. Foster & C. Kesselman (Eds.),
The grid: Blueprint for a new computing infrastructure (pp. 131158).
San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
CHATROOMS 89
CHATROOMS
Defined most broadly, chatrooms are virtual spaces
where conversations occur between two or more users
in a synchronous or nearly synchronous fashion. Many
different types of chat spaces exist on the Internet.
One type is Internet Relay Chat (IRC), a multiuser
synchronous chat line often described as the citi-
zens band radio of the Internet. Another type of vir-
tual space where computer-mediated communication
(CMC) takes place is Multi-User Domains (MUDs,
sometimes called Multi-User Dungeons, because of
their origin as virtual locations for a Dungeons and
Dragons role-playing type of networked gaming).
MUDs were initially distinguished from IRC by their
persistence, or continued existence over time, and their
malleability, where users may take part in the build-
ing of a community or even a virtual world, de-
pending on the tools and constraints built into the
architecture of their particular MUD. Web-based cha-
trooms are a third type of chat space where users may
converse synchronously in a persistent location hosted
by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or websites, which
may be either large Web portals like Yahoo.com or
small individual sites.
UNIX was not designed to stop people from doing stu-
pid things, because that would also stop them from do-
ing clever things.
Doug Gwyn
Another type of chat function on the Internet is
instant messaging (IM), which allows users to chat
with individuals (or invited groups) in real time,
provided that they know a persons user name. Instant
messaging is distinguished from other chat functions
in that it is often used to hold multiple, simultane-
ous, private one-on-one chats with others. IM is also
unusual in that the user can also monitor a list of
online friends to see when they are logged in to the
instant messaging service. IM chats also differ
from other types of chatrooms in that they are not
persistentthat is, a user cannot log in to the same
chat after the last chatterer has logged off. Instant
90 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
message chats are more likely to occur among a group
of people with some personal or professional con-
nection than among a group of strangers with only
one shared interest who happen to be in the same
virtual space at the same time.
History of Internet Chat
The first function that allowed for synchronous or
nearly synchronous communication over a network
was Talk, available on UNIX machines and the
networks that connected them. Developed in the
early 1980s, Talk allowed for the nearly synchronous
exchange of text between two parties; however, un-
like its descendents, it displayed text messages as they
were written, character by character, rather than as
completed messages posted to the discussion all at
once. Talk and its sister program Phone fell into dis-
use after the introduction of the World Wide Web in
1991 and the introduction of graphical and multi-
user interfaces.
Home computers are being called upon to perform many
new functions, including the consumption of homework
formerly eaten by the dog.
Doug Larson
Internet Relay Chat
Jarkko Oikarinen, a Finnish researcher, developed
IRC in 1988 based on the older Bulletin Board
System (BBS). BBSs were central locations where
users could dial in to a central server using a mo-
dem and leave messages and hold discussions on
this central server, usually dedicated to a certain
topic or interest group. Oikarinen wrote the IRC
program to allow users to have real-time discus-
sions not available on the BBS. First implemented
on a server at the University of Oulu where Oikarinen
worked, IRC quickly spread to other Finnish uni-
versities, and then to universities and ISPs through-
out Scandinavia and then the World.
Each channel on IRC (the name was taken from
the Citizens Band radio community) represents a
specific topic. Initially each channel was desig-
nated by a hatch mark (#) and a number. Because
that proved difficult to use as IRC expanded, each
channel was also given a text label, like #hottub
or #gayboston. IRC channels were originally not
persistentanyone could create a channel on any
conceivable topic, and when the last person logged
out of that channel it ceased to exist. Only with the
introduction in 1996 of Undernet and later DalNet
did it become possible to create persistent channels.
IRC runs through client softwarethe client soft-
ware is what allows the user to see the text in the chat
channel that theyre using and to see who else is cur-
rently in that channel. The most popular client is
mIRC, a windows-compatible client; others include
Xircon and Pirch.
IRC does not have a central organizing system;
organizations like universities and research groups
simply run the software on their servers and make it
available to their users. In the late 1990s, IRC de-
centralized architecture contributed to a system
breakdown. In mid-1996, when one IRC server op-
erator, based in North America, started abusing
the IRC system, other North American IRC server
operators expelled the abuser; however, when he
disconnected his server they discovered that
he was also the main link between North American
and European IRC networks. After weeks of negoti-
ations between North American and European
IRC server operators, who disagreed over the han-
dling of the expulsion, the impasse was not resolved.
While interconnectivity between continents has been
restored, the two IRC networks remain separate (IRC
net and Efnet [Eris Free Net]); they have their own
separate channels and have developed separately.
Other networks, including DALnet and Undernet,
have developed since the separation.
MUDs
Pavel Curtis, a researcher at Xerox PARC who spe-
cializes in virtual worlds, gives this definition of a
Multi-User Domain: A MUD is a software program
that accepts connections from multiple users across
some kind of network and provides to each user ac-
cess to a shared database of rooms, exits and other
objects. Each user browses and manipulates this data-
base from inside one of the rooms. A MUD is a kind
 CHATROOMS 91

A Personal StoryLife Online

In the mid 1990s, I went to visit my first online chatroom as part of a larger project on computer-mediated communi-
cation. I had no idea what to expectwhether the people would be who they said they were, whether Id have anything
in common with other visitors, or what it would be like to interact in a text-based medium. I found myself enjoying the
experience of talking to people from all over the world and came to spend much time in this virtual community.
I soon learned that the community was much larger than the chatroom I had visited, connected by telephone, e-mail,
letters, and occasional face-to-face visits. Over the past five years, Ive spoken or emailed with many new acquaintances,
and have had the pleasure of meeting my online friends in person when my travels take me to their part of the country.
Participation in a virtual community has provided me opportunities to talk in depth with people from around the
world, including Australia, New Zealand, South America, Mexico, Europe, and even Thailand. The virtual community
also brings together people from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds that might ordinarily never have mixed.
Its been fascinating to get to know such a diverse group of individuals.
My personal experiences in an online community have helped shape my research into the societal dimensions of
computing and computer-mediated communication. One of my current projects investigates the effects of participation
in online support communities on peoples mental and physical well-being. In addition, the success with which Ive been
able to meet and become acquainted with others using a text-only medium has had a strong impact on my theories about
how technologies can successfully support remote communication and collaboration.
Susan R. Fussell

of virtual reality, an electronically represented place Web-Based Chat

that users can visit (Warschauer 1998, 212).
MUDs provide more virtual places to visit, hang
out, socialize, play games, teach, and learn than IRC
or Web-based chatrooms do. Some MUDs have been
used to hold meetings or conferences because they
allow participants to convene without travel hassles
virtual conferences may have different rooms for dif-
ferent topics and a schedule of events similar to that
of a geographically located conference.
Two British graduate students, Richard Bartle and
Roy Trubshaw, developed the first MUD in 1979, as a
multiuser text-based networked computer game.
Other MUDs followed, and new subtypes grew, in-
cluding MOOs (Multiuser domains Object Oriented),
used primarily for educational purposes, and MUSHs
(Multi-user Shared Hallucinations). MOOs allow for
greater control because the users of the virtual space
can build objects and spaces as well as contribute text.
Because MUDs are complex virtual environments that
users visit to master commands and understand pro-
tocols, rules, and mores, their use and appeal has been
limited to a tech-savvy group of users.
Web-based chatting became possible after the World
Wide Web was first released onto the Internet in
December 1990, but it didnt became popular until
after the release of the Java programming language
a few years later. Java allowed developers to create
user-friendly graphical interfaces to chat spaces on
websites or ISP portals that could function across
different computing and Internet browsing plat-
forms. Web-based chatting, like IRC, tends to be
based around common themes, issues, or specific
discussion topicsit has given rise to rooms like
Love@AOL or sports- or hobby-themed rooms
like The Runners Room on Yahoo Chats. Other chat
spaces may be on an individual website devoted to a
common theme (like the chat on the Atlantic County
Rowing Association site, hosted by ezteams).
Chatroom Users
All the different iterations of chatrooms discussed
here have some common elements to help users nav-
igate and quickly understand how to use the software.
92 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
After entering a chatroom, channel, or domain, a
user is confronted with a screen that is split into two
or more parts: One side, usually the left, shows the
discussion in progress. In another box on the screen
is a list of who is logged in to the room. Generally
below these is the box where the user enters text or
commands to begin the conversation or move about
the space (in the case of MUDs). In some chat spaces,
users can create their own private chat with a sin-
gle individual from the chatroom. In some Web-
based tools, the chatroom is designed to use an
instant messaging program to conduct one-on-
one chats. In others the private chat tool is built-in
in MUDs, a user uses the whisper command to
direct a comment or conversation to a particular in-
dividual, and in some Web-based chats a private chat
may be opened in another smaller window in the
same chatting interface.
In a survey in the summer of 2002, the Pew
Internet & American Life Project found that only one-
quarter of Internet users had ever visited a chatroom
or participated in an online discussion, and only 4 per-
cent had visited a chatroom on a typical day. Men
are more likely to use chatrooms than women, as are
those who are less well off; those earning less than
$50,000 a year are much more likely to chat than those
earning more. Younger people are also more likely to
chat, particularly those between eighteen and twenty-
nine, although among teens, particularly adolescent
girls, chatting is frequently perceived as unsafe.
Nevertheless, in spite of (or because of) chats rep-
utation, 55 percent of young people between twelve
and seventeen have visited a chatroom.
Chatrooms have become the favorite play-
grounds of many Internet users because they enable
them to assume a character or a role different
from the one they play in their offline life. As social
psychologist Erving Goffman noted in his 1959 book
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, we present
different images of ourselves to different people, and
some theorists have described chatrooms as
spaces of performance where an identity is per-
formed for the audience of other chatters. In cer-
tain chatrooms, like MUDs, where gaming or
role-playing is often the reason users go there, it is
expected that visitors do not bear any resem-
blance to their selves at the keyboard. In IRC and
Web-based chat, however, there is the expectation
that users are presenting themselves honestly.
Nevertheless, all chat spaces give users the op-
portunity to explore portions of their identity,
whether it is by choosing to have the opposite gen-
der, a different race, or a different set of personal
experiences, or in the case of some games, by ex-
ploring what it is like to be something other than
human. Anonymity or pseudonymity on line gives
many users a feeling of freedom and safety that al-
lows them to explore identities that they dare not
assume in the offline world. Users are separated by
geographic distances so it is unlikely that actions
taken or phrases uttered will come back to haunt
them later. And finally, in chat environments with-
out audio or video, communication is mediated by
the technology so there are none of the cues that can
make a conversation emotional. All of this leads to
lower levels of inhibitions, which can either create
greater feelings of friendship and intimacy among
chat participants or lead to a greater feeling of ten-
sion and lend an argumentative, even combative qual-
ity to a chat space.
The Future of Chat
In 1991 researchers at Cornell University created
CUSeeMe, the first video chat program to be dis-
tributed freely online. Video and audio chat did not
truly enter mainstream use until the late 1990s, and
with the advent of Apples iChat and Microsofts im-
proved chatting programs and web cams, video chat
utilizing speakers and web cams looks to be the fu-
ture direction of chatting. Today Yahoo.com and
other portal-provided Web-based chatrooms allow
audio and video chat in their rooms, though the
number of users taking advantage of the technology
is still relatively small. A users bandwidth and hard-
ware capabilities are still limiting factors in the use
of the bandwidth-intensive video chat, but as broad-
band Internet connectivity percolates through the
population, the quality of video Web-based chatting
available to most users will improve, and its adop-
tion will undoubtedly become more widespread.
MUDs and MOOs are also moving into HTML-
based environments, which will make it much eas-
ier for the average Internet user to adopt them,

and will perhaps move Multi-User Domains from
the subculture of academics and devotees into
everyday use.
Amanda Lenhart
See also E-mail, MUDs
FURTHER READING
Bartle, R. (1990). Early MUD History. Retrieved July 31, 2003, from
http://www.ludd.luth.se/mud/aber/mud-history.html
Bevan, P. (2002). The circadian geography of chat. Paper presented at the
conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Maastricht,
Netherlands.
Campbell, J. E. (2004). Getting it on online: Cyberspace, gay male sex-
uality and embodied identity. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Press.
Dibbell, J. (1998). A rape in cyberspace. In My tiny life: Crime and pas-
sion in a virtual world. Owl Books, chapter 1. Retrieved July 31,
2003, from http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle.html
IRC.Net. IRC net: Our history. Retrieved July 30, 2003, from http://
www.irc.net/
Hudson, J. M., & Bruckman, A. S. (2002). IRC Francais: The cre-
ation of an Internet-based SLA community. Computer Assisted
Language Learning, 1(2), 109134.
Kendall, L. (2002). Hanging out in the virtual pub: Masculinities and
relationships online. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lenhart, A., et al. (2001). Teenage life online: The rise of the instant
message generation and the Internets impact on friendships and
family relationships. Pew Internet & American Life Project, retrieved
August 21, 2003, from http://www.pewinternet.org/
Murphy, K. L., & Collins, M. P. (1997). Communication conven-
tions in instructional electronic chats. First Monday, 11(2).
Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2003). Internet activities (Chart).
Retrieved July 31, 2003, from http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/
index.asp
Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2003). Unpublished data from
June-July 2002 on chatrooms. Author.
Reid, E. M. (1994). Cultural formation in text-based virtual realities.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Melbourne,
Australia. Retrieved July 31, 2003, from http://www.aluluei.com/
cult-form.htm
Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the
electronic frontier. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rheingold, H. (1998). Building fun online learning communities.
Retrieved July 30, 2003, from http://www.rheingold.com/texts/
education/moose.html
Schaap, F. (n.d.). Cyberculture, identity and gender resources (online
hyperlinked bibliography). Retrieved July 31, 2003, from http://
fragment.nl/resources/
Surkan, K. (n.d.). The new technology of electronic text: Hypertext and
CMC in virtual environments. Retrieved July 31, 2003, from http://
english.cla.umn.edu/GraduateProfiles/Ksurkan/etext/etable.html
Talk mode (n.d.). The jargon file. Retrieved November 1, 2002, from
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/talk-mode.html
CHILDREN AND THE WEB 93
Taylor, T.L. (1999). Life in virtual worlds: Plural existence, multi-
modalities and other online research challenges. American Behavioral
Scientist, 4(3).
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
Warshauer, S. C. (1998). Multi-user environment studies: Defining
a field of study and four approaches to the design of multi-user
environments. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 13(4).
Young, J. R. (1994). Textuality and cyberspace: MUDs and written
experience. Retrieved July 31, 2003, from http://ftp.game.org/pub/
mud/text/research/textuality.txt
CHILDREN
AND THE WEB
Children are among the millions of people who have
been introduced to new ways of accessing infor-
mation on the World Wide Web, which was launched
in 1991 and began to become popular with the adop-
tion of a graphical user interface in 1993. The fact
that the Web utilizes hypertext (content with active
links to other content) and a graphical user interface
have made it more congenial and much easier to use
than earlier menu-driven, text-based interfaces (i.e.,
Gopher, Jughead, Veronica) with the Internet.
Childrens Web Use
Children use the Web inside and outside the class-
room, and they navigate it to find information for
both simple and complex projects. They recognize
the Web as a rich source of up-to-date information,
hard-to-find information, and compelling images.
Research by Dania Bilal (2000) and Jinx Watson
(1998) has revealed that children who use the Web
have a sense of independence, authority, and con-
trol. They are motivated, challenged, and self-
confident. They prefer the Web to print sources due
to the vast amount of information available and their
ability to search by keyword and browse subject hi-
erarchies quickly. Research conducted for the Pew
Internet & American Life Project revealed that both
parents and children believe that the Internet helps
with learning. While these positive perceptions of
the Internet are encouraging, childrens success in
finding information on the Web is questioned. Given
94 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Two of the many books available that

educate children on the perils and
promise of the Web. Safety on the
Internet is geared to ages 69, while
Cyber Space is meant for ages 912.

the Webs increasing complexity and the abundance
of information available there, it is worth asking how
well children handle the challenges of using the Web.
Researchers from library and information sci-
ence, educational psychology, sociology, cognitive
science, and human-computer interaction have stud-
ied childrens interaction with the Web. In the field
of information science, researchers have investigated
childrens search strategies, their relative preferences
for browsing and searching, their successes and fail-
ures, the nature of tasks and success, Web design, and
childrens navigational skills, relevance judgment,
and affective states (feelings, perception, motivation).
Findings and conclusions from these studies have
begun to provide a rich framework for improving
system design and developing more effective Web
training programs.
The first study in library and information sci-
ence appeared in 1997 when Jasmine Kafai and
Marcia Bates examined elementary schoolchildrens
Web literacy skills. They found that children were
enthusiastic about using the Web and were able to
scroll webpages and use hyperlinks effectively.
However, the researchers perceived that many web-
sites had too much text to read and too much diffi-
cult vocabulary for elementary schoolchildren to un-
derstand. Children in that age range preferred sites
with high visual content, animation, and short, sim-
ple textual content. In 1998 the researchers John
Schacter, Gregory Chung, and Aimee Dorr studied
the effect of types of tasks on the success of fifth and
sixth graders in finding information. They found
that children browsed more than they searched by
keyword and performed better on open-ended (com-
plex) than factual (simple) tasks. By contrast, in 2000
Terry Sullivan and colleagues found that middle and
high school students were more successful on simple
tasks than complex ones. Results from Dania Bilals
research in 20002002 echoed Sullivans results
and revealed that middle school students were most
successful on tasks that they chose themselves than
they were on tasks that were assigned.
In 1999 Andrew Large, Jamshid Beheshti, and
Haidar Moukdad examined the Web activities of
Canadian sixth graders. These researchers found that
children browsed more than they searched by key-
word, had difficulty finding relevant information,
and, although they had been given basic Web
training, lacked adequate navigational skills. The
childrens use of the Netscape Back command to

return to the previous page, for example, accounted
for 90 percent of their total Web moves; they acti-
vated online search help only once. In fact, frequent
use of the Back command is common among chil-
dren and young adults. Various studies in the late
1990s and early 2000s found similar results. In a
follow-up to a 1999 study, Andrew Large and Jamshid
Beheshti (2000) concluded that children valued
the Web for finding information on hard topics, speed
of access, and the availability of color images, but
perceived it as more difficult to use than print sources.
Children expressed frustration with information
overload and with judging relevance of the retrieved
results. Information overload and problems deter-
mining relevance seem to be widespread among chil-
dren and young adults using the Web; a study of
elementary, middle, and high school students in
England corroborated Large and Beheshtis finding.
Most children assume that the Web is an efficient
and effective source for all types of information.
Consequently, they rarely question the accuracy and
authority of what they find. If they retrieve results
that are close enough to the topic, they may cease to
pursue their initial inquiry and take what they get at
face value.
Most studies focused on using the Web as a whole
and on search engines that are developed for adult
users rather than children. Bilal has investigated the
information-seeking behavior of children who used
Yahooligans!, a search engine and directory specif-
ically designed for children aged seven through
twelve. She found that 50 percent of the middle
school children were successful on an assigned, fact-
based task, 69 percent were partially successful on
an assigned, research-based task, and 73 percent were
successful on tasks they selected themselves. The flex-
ibility children had in topic selection and modifica-
tion combined with their satisfaction with the results
may have influenced their success rate on the self-
selected task. Children were more motivated, stimu-
lated, and engaged in completing their tasks when
they selected topics of personal interest.
The children used concrete concepts (selected
from the search questions) in their searches and, when
these concepts failed to generate relevant informa-
tion, they utilized abstract ones (synonyms or related
terms). The children had trouble finding informa-
CHILDREN AND THE WEB 95
tion, despite the fact that most of the concepts they
employed were appropriate. The failure to find re-
sults can be attributed largely to the poor indexing
of the Yahooligans! database. Overall, the children
took initiative and attempted to counteract their
information retrieval problems by browsing subject
categories. Indeed, they were more successful when
they browsed than when they searched by keyword.
Childrens low success rates on the assigned tasks
were attributed to their lack of awareness of the
difference between simple and complex tasks, es-
pecially in regard to the approach to take to fulfill
the assignments requirements. On the complex
assigned task, for example, children tended to seek
specific answers rather than to develop an under-
standing of the information found. On the positive
side, children were motivated and persistent in us-
ing the Web. When asked about reasons for their mo-
tivation and persistence, children cited convenience,
challenge, fun, and ease of use. Ease of use was de-
scribed as the ability to search by keyword. On the
negative side, children expressed frustration at both
information overload and the zero retrieval that
resulted from keyword searching. Indeed, this fea-
ture was central to most of the search breakdowns
children experienced. Although Yahooligans! is de-
signed for children aged seven through twelve, neither
its interface design nor its indexing optimized chil-
drens experience. Childrens inadequate knowledge
of how to use Yahooligans! and their insufficient
knowledge of the research process hindered their
success in finding information.
Optimizing the Web for Children
Childrens experiences with the Web can be greatly
improved by designing Web interfaces that build
on their cognitive developmental level, information-
seeking behaviors, and information needs. Since 2002,
Bilal (working in the United States) and Large,
Beheshti, and Tarjin Rahman (working together in
Canada), have begun projects that involve children
in the design of such interfaces. Both groups have
concluded that children are articulate about their in-
formation needs and can be effective design partners.
Based on the ten interfaces that children designed for
search engines, Bilal was able to identify the types
96 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
of information architecture and visual design chil-
dren needed and the information architecture, func-
tionality, and visual design they sought.
In sum, both Bilal and the Canadian-based team
concluded that children are creative searchers who
are more successful when they browse than when
they search by keyword. Typically, children prefer
keyword searching but resort to browsing when they
experience continued information-retrieval prob-
lems. Children do not take advantage of the search
features provided in search engines and rarely acti-
vate the help file for guidance.
The research also revealed that children have both
positive and negative feelings when it comes to the
Web. They associate the Web with motivation, chal-
lenge, convenience, fun, authority, independence,
and self-control, but also with frustration, dissatis-
faction, and disappointment caused by information
overload, lack of success in searches, and inability to
make decisions about document relevance.
As to information literacy, children possess
inadequate information-seeking skills, nave Web
navigational skills, and an insufficient conceptual un-
derstanding of the research process. These problems
cry out to teachers and information specialists to pro-
vide more effective Web training and to design in-
structional strategies that successfully integrate the
Web into effective learning.
With regard to system design, it appears that web-
sites, Web directories, and search engines are not easy
for children to use. Too much text, difficult vocabu-
lary, long screen display, deep subject hierarchies, in-
effective help files, poor indexing, and misleading
hyperlink titles all hinder childrens successful use.
Education, Design, and
Future Research
Use of the Web in school and its increased use at home
does not ensure that children possess effective skills in
using it. Information professionals (e.g., school and
public librarians) who serve children need to collab-
orate with teachers to identify how the Web can ef-
fectively support meaningful learning. Teachers cannot
make the Web an effective learning and research tool
unless they first receive effective, structured training
in its use. Children, too, should be taught how to use
the Web effectively and efficiently.With critical-thinking
skills and an understanding of how to manipulate the
Web, children can move from being active explorers
of the Web to becoming discerning masters of it.
In discussing how usable Web interfaces are for
children, Jacob Neilsen notes that existing Web
[interfaces] are based at best by insights gleaned from
when designers observe their own children, who are
hardly representative of average kids, typical Internet
skills, or common knowledge about the Web
(Neilsen 2002, 1). Thus, it is not surprising to find
that children experience difficulty in using the Web.
System developers need to design interfaces that ad-
dress childrens cognitive developmental level,
information needs, and information-seeking be-
haviors. Developing effective Web interfaces for chil-
dren requires a team effort involving information
scientists, software engineers, graphic designers, and
educational psychologists, as well as the active par-
ticipation of representative children.
We have a growing understanding of the
strengths and weaknesses of the Web as a tool for
teaching and learning. We also know much about
childrens perceptions of and experiences with the
Web, as well as their information-seeking behavior
on the Web. The rapid progress made in these ar-
eas of study is commended.
However, research gaps remain to be filled. We do
not have sufficient research on working with children
as partners in designing Web interfaces. We have in-
vestigated childrens information-seeking behavior in
formal settings, such as schools, to meet instructional
needs, but with the exception of Debra J. Slones 2002
study, we have little information on childrens Web be-
havior in informal situations, when they are using it to
meet social or entertainment needs. We also lack a
sophisticated model that typifies childrens information-
seeking behavior.We need to develop a model that more
fully represents this behavior so that we can predict suc-
cessful and unsuccessful outcomes, diagnose problems,
and develop more effective solutions.
Dania Bilal
See also Classrooms; Graphical User Interface; Search
Engines
 CLASSROOMS 97

Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved

FURTHER READING January 4, 2004, from http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/
pdfs/PIP_Schools_Report.pdf
Neilsen, J. (2002). Kids corner: Website usability for children. Retrieved
Bilal, D. (1998). Childrens search processes in using World Wide Web
Januar y 4, 2004, from http://www.useit.com/aler tbox/
search engines: An exploratory study. Proceedings of the 61st
20020414.html
ASIS Annual Meeting, 35, 4553.
Schacter, J., Chung, G. K. W. K., & Dorr, A. (1998). Childrens Internet
Bilal, D. (1999). Web search engines for children: A comparative study
searching on complex problems: Performance and process
and performance evaluation of Yahooligans!, Ask Jeeves for
analyses. Journal of the American Society for Information Science,
Kids, and Super Snooper. Proceedings of the 62nd ASIS Annual
49(9), 840849.
Meeting, 36, 7082.
Shenton, A. K., & Dixon, P. (2003). A comparison of youngsters use
Bilal, D. (2000). Childrens use of the Yahooligans! Web search engine,
of CD-ROM and the Internet as information resources. Journal of
I: Cognitive, physical, and affective behaviors on fact-based
the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 54(11),
tasks. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51(7),
10492003.
646665.
Slone, D. J. (2002). The influence of mental models and goals on search
Bilal, D. (2001). Childrens use of the Yahooligans! Web search engine,
patterns during Web interaction. Journal of the American Society
II: Cognitive and physical behaviors on research tasks. Journal of
for Information Science and Technology, 53(13), 11521169.
the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(2),
Wallace, R. M., Kupperman, J., and Krajcik, J. (2002). Science on the
118137.
Web: Students on-line in a sixth-grade classroom. The Journal of
Bilal, D. (2002). Childrens use of the Yahooligans! Web search engine,
the Learning Sciences, 9(1), 75104.
III: Cognitive and physical behaviors on fully self-generated tasks.
Watson, J. S. (1998). If you dont have it, you cant find it: A close look
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and
at students perceptions of using technology. Journal of the American
Technology, 53(13), 11701183.
Society for Information Science, 49(11), 10241036.
Bilal, D. (2003). Draw and tell: Children as designers of Web inter-
faces. Proceedings of the 66th ASIST Annual Meeting, 40,
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Bilal, D. (In press). Research on childrens use of the Web. In C. Cole
& M. Chelton (Eds.), Youth Information Seeking: Theories, Models,
and Approaches. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Druin, A., Bederson, B., Hourcade, J. P., Sherman, L., Revelle, G., Platner,
M., et al. (2001). Designing a digital library for young children. In People have regarded electronic technology through-
Proceedings of the first ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital out its evolution as an instrument for improving
Libraries (pp. 398405). New York: ACM Press. learning in classrooms. Television and video were
Fidel, R., Davies, R. K., Douglass, M. H., Holder, J. K., Hopkins, C. J.,
Kushner, E. J., et al. (1999). A visit to the information mall: Web
examples of early electronic technology used in class-
searching behavior of high school students. Journal of the American rooms, and now personal computers have shown
Society for Information Science, 50(1), 2437. how electronic technology can enhance teaching
Hirsh, S. G. (1999). Childrens relevance criteria and information seek- and learning. Some people have lauded the new
ing on electronic resources. Journal of the American Society for
Information Science, 50(14), 12651283. kinds of learning activities afforded by electronic
Kafai, Y. B., & Bates, M. J. (1997). Internet Web-searching instruc- technology; but other people maintain that such
tion in the elementary classroom: Building a foundation for technology can be detrimental in classrooms. Despite
information literacy. School Library Media Quarterly, 25(2),
103111.
such criticisms, researchers in different fields
Large, A., & Beheshti, J. (2000). The Web as a classroom resource: education, computer science, human-computer
Reactions from the users. Journal of the American Society for interactioncontinue to explore how such tech-
Information Science And Technology, 51(12), 10691080. nology, paired with innovative curricula and teacher
Large, A., Beheshti J., & Moukdad, H. (1999). Information seeking on
the Web: Navigational skills of grade-six primary school students.
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Large, A., Beheshti, J., & Rahman, R. (2002). Design criteria for chil-
drens Web portals: The users speak out. Journal of the American
Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(2), 7994. Early Visions of
Lenhart, A., Rainie, L., Oliver, L. (2003). Teenage life online: The rise of
the instant-message generation and the Internets impact on Learning Technologies
friendships and family relationships. Washington, DC: Pew Internet Early visions of how technology could be applied to
and American Life Project. Retrieved January 4, 2004, from http://
www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Report.pdf
learning included so-called behaviorist teaching ma-
Lenhart, A., Simon, M., & Graziano, M. (2001). The Internet and ed- chines inspired by the U.S. psychologist B. F. Skinner
ucation: Findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. in the 1960s. Skinner believed that classrooms
98 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
History Comes Alive in Cyberspace
OLD DEERFIELD, Mass. (ANS)On a blustery spring
morning, 18 students from Frontier Regional High
School made their way down Main Street here in this colo-
nial village, jotting down notes on the Federal and Italianate
architecture and even getting a look at an early 18th-century
kitchen.
But this was no ordinary field trip. The students
were gathering information for an Internet-based project
that is integrating state-of-the-art computer technology
with the social studies curriculum throughout this rural
western Massachusetts school district.
The project, titled Turns of the Centuries, focuses on
life at the turns of the last three centuries, beginning in
1700 and continuing through 1900. Its an unusual
partnership between three distinct entitiesa secondary
school, a university and a museum.
In the project, the primary sources of the Pocumtuck
Valley Memorial Association, a nationally recognized mu-
seum of frontier life in this region, will be available to stu-
dents through a web site that teachers, students and
researchers are putting together.
Central to the project are the over 30,000 museum ar-
tifactsdiaries, letters and other primary sourcesmade
available to students through the developing web site. The
marriage of technology with the museum archives has
made possible new opportunities for inquiry-based ed-
ucation, which focuses on developing the student as active
learner.
In essence, the educational project here is a cyberspace
version of the museum, enabling students to access archives
through the Internet, either from their homes or through
suffered from a lack of individual attention and that
individualized instruction would improve learning.
The idea was that individual students could use a
computer that would teach and test them on dif-
ferent topics. Students would receive positive rein-
forcement from the computer through some reward
mechanism (e.g., praise and advancement to the next
level of instruction) if they gave correct responses.
computer labs that are being established throughout
district schools. But as the trip to Old Deerfield demon-
strated, students will also add to the pool of knowledge
and contribute original data to the web site as well.
This is not just an electronic test book, said Tim
Neumann, executive director of Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association and one of the projects designers.
Students are not just surfing the web but actively en-
gaging with the text and images on the screen. Stu-
dents also address questions posed by teachers and then
conduct research via the Internet, as well as other field
studies, he said.
Building the web sites, from teachers notes and class-
room lesson plans, are students and technicians at the
University of Massachusetts Center for Computer-Based
Instructional Technology.
The students in Friday mornings expedition were re-
sponding to an assignment to choose a colonial family and
track them over time, using the resources at the museum.
Those results will eventually be incorporated into the Turns
of the Centuries web site, where other students through-
out the K-12 district will be able to access them.
In addition to helping acquaint students with emerg-
ing technologies, the Turns of the Centuries project in-
structs teachers how to teach social studies with a web-based
curriculum, and how to access these resources in their class-
rooms, as well as exploring the potential partnerships
among school and communities linked by the information
highway.
Robin Antepara
Source: Students learn about history with classroom computers of to-
morrow. American News Service, June 17, 1999.
Incorrect responses would prevent advancement
to the next level of questions, giving students the op-
portunity to consider how they could correct their
responses. Software adopting this approach is fre-
quently called drill and practice software, but few
examples of such software exist outside of educa-
tional games and other kinds of flash card pro-
grams that teach skills such as spelling and arithmetic.

A different vision is found in the work of
Seymour Papert, an MIT professor who has explored
technology in education since the 1960s, advocating
learning theories proposed by the Swiss psycholo-
gist Jean Piaget. Paperts vision uses computers
as tools that children use for exploratory and con-
structive activities. Through these activities children
create and shape their own understanding of con-
cepts. Papert incorporated these ideas in the Logo
programming language, which was intended to
let children write programs to create computer graph-
ics by exploring deeper concepts, such as the math-
ematical concepts needed to draw geographical
concepts.
A related vision came from Alan Kay, a renowned
computer science researcher, who proposed the
Dynabook concept during the early 1970s. The
Dynabook was envisioned as a device similar to to-
days laptop computer that children could use in
information-rich and constructive activities. The
Dynabook would have basic software core func-
tionality (using the Smalltalk computer language).
However, children could extend their Dynabooks
functionality through Smalltalk programming. This
would allow children to create new tools for creative
expression, information gathering, simulation, and
so forth by learning not only programming but also
the fundamentals of the underlying content (e.g., to
create a music tool, students would need to learn
musical concepts).
Initial Attempts at
Technology-Enhanced Classrooms
Each technological vision has brought promises of
how technology can improve classrooms and learn-
ing. With the advent of personal computers, edu-
cators rushed to place computers in classrooms with
the hope of implementing different visions of learn-
ing technologies. However, many initial attempts
of technology-enhanced classrooms fell short of their
promise because of technological and contextual
issues in classrooms.
One issue was that although people had some
ideas about what kinds of learning activities and
goals computers might support, people had little
CLASSROOMS 99
concrete design information to guide software de-
velopers in developing and assessing effective soft-
ware for learning. Many software projects had little
real grounding in learning theories and the nature
of children. Thus, for every successful software
project, many others had educational content that
was lacking and classroom use that was less than
successful. For instance, many software projects in-
volved the development of educational games
(sometimes called edutainment software) whose
educational content was dubious and whose ini-
tial appeal to children soon wore off. Other ap-
proaches involved tools such as HyperCard, which
allowed laypeople to create software with the hope
that educators could create software for their
students. However, although the idea of teacher-
created software was well intentioned and although
teachers have educational knowledge, they lack
software design knowledge, again resulting in
few major successes.
Other issues were contextual. Many early at-
tempts at educational computing were techno-
centric and lacked a full understanding of the
support needed in classrooms. Inadequate training
for busy teachers to use electronic technology can
become a large enough burden that teachers simply
bypass it. Furthermore, technology has been in-
troduced into the classroom without a good un-
derstanding by teachers (and sometimes by
researchers developing the technology) of how the
technology interacts with the classroom curriculum
and learning goals. Again, technology has little
impact if it is not a good fit with the activities that
teachers desire. Finally, schools have lacked adequate
technological resources to make full use of tech-
nology, so disparities in the number of computers
in classrooms and in network connectivity have hin-
dered effective use of technology.
Designing
Learner-Centered Technology
Simply developing stand-alone technology for class-
rooms is not enough. If effective technology-
enhanced classrooms are to become a reality, then
designers must design an overall learning system
100 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
that integrates three factors: technology, curricu-
lum, and teacher support and development. During
the last ten to fifteen years designers have developed
many learning systems in the classroom by con-
sidering these three factors. Research in many
content areas, such as science education, is shedding
light on effective technology-enhanced classrooms.
In such educational approaches technology acts as
a cognitive tool to support learners as they engage
in curricular activities. For example, many educa-
tional approaches in science education use an
inquiry-based technique in which students engage
in the same kinds of scientific activityfinding sci-
entific articles, gathering and visualizing scientific
data, building scientific models, and so forthin
which experts engage. For example, learners can use
software to search digital libraries for informa-
tion, use handheld computers with probes to gather
data in different locations, use software to build
graphs and scientific models, and so forth. Such tech-
nology should be designed to support learners in
mindfully engaging in curricular activities so that
learners can meet the learning goals that their teach-
ers have outlined.
Given this motivation, the approach for design-
ing learne-rcentered technologies shifts from sim-
ply designing technologies whose hallmark is ease
of use to designing technologies that learners can
use in new, information-rich activities. Developing
learner-centered technologies requires designers to
understand the kinds of work that learners should
engage in (i.e., curricular activities) and the learn-
ing goals of those learners. Then designers need to
understand the areas where learners may face dif-
ficulties in performing those kinds of work (e.g.,
learners may not know what kinds of activities com-
prise a science investigation or how to do those ac-
tivities) so that designers can create support features
that address those difficulties. Furthermore, such
support features differ from usability-oriented tra-
ditional software design. Although ease of use is still
important, learner-centered technologies should not
necessarily make tasks as easy as possible. Rather, just
as a good teacher guides students toward an an-
swer without giving the answer outright, learner-
centered technologies must provide enough support
to make tasks accessible to novice learners but leave
enough challenge that learners still work in the mind-
ful manner needed for real learning to occur.
Teacher support and development are also key
for technology-enhanced classrooms. Teacher sched-
ules and the classroom environment are busy, and
introducing technology into classrooms can make
matters more complex for teachers. Teachers need
support and development to show them how tech-
nology works, how they can integrate technology
into their classroom activities, and how they can use
technology effectively in the classroom.
New Visions of
Technology-Enhanced Classrooms
Current classroom technology includes primarily
desktop-based software. Some software implements
scaffolding features that support learners by ad-
dressing the difficulties they encounter in their learn-
ing activities. For example, one particular software
feature implementing a scaffolding approach would
be a visual process map that displays the space of ac-
tivities that learners should perform (e.g., the activ-
ities in a science investigation) in a way that helps
them understand the structure of the activities. Other
classroom software includes intelligent tutoring sys-
tems that oversee students as they engage in new ac-
tivity. Intelligent tutoring systems can sense when
students have encountered problems or are working
incorrectly and can provide just-in-time advice to
help them see their errors and understand their tasks.
Aside from traditional desktop-based software,
researchers are exploring new technology. For ex-
ample, handheld computers (e.g., Palm or PocketPC
computers) are becoming more pervasive among
students. The mobility of handheld computers lets
students take them to any learning context, not
just the classroom. Thus, researchers are exploring
how to develop learning tools for handheld com-
puters. An example of such tools is probes that can
be attached to handhelds for scientific data gather-
ing (e.g., probes to measure oxygen levels in a
stream). Handhelds with wireless networking capa-
bility can be used to gather information (e.g., access
digital libraries) from a range of locations outside of
a classroom. Additionally, handhelds can be part of
 CLASSROOMS 101

A Personal StoryLearning through Multimedia

When I talk about why I became interested in exploring computers in education, I like to tell a story from my early grad-
uate school days in the late 1990s. My research group was working in a local Michigan high school using the MediaText
software they had developed earlier. MediaText was a simple text editor that made it possible to incorporate different
media objects, such as images, sounds, or video, into the text one was writing.
In one class, students had been given an assignment to explain a series of physics terms. One particular student some-
times had difficulty writing, but with MediaText, she could use other media types for her explanations. For example,
using video clips from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? she explained potential energy with a clip of a cartoon baby
sitting on top of a stack of cups and saucers, swaying precariously without falling over. Then she explained kinetic ener-
gy with a clip of the same baby sliding across the floor of a room.
What struck me was that it was clear from her choice of video clips that she understood those physics concepts. If she
had been confined to textual explanations, she might not have been able to convey as much understanding. But because
she had a choice of media types, she was able to successfully convey that she knew those concepts.
This episode helped me realize how computers could impact learners by giving them a range of different media types
for self-expression. Now sometimes this story gets me in trouble with people who say that if you give students all these
alternatives to writing, theyll never learn to write correctly. Ill buy thatto a certain extent. But people are diverse
they learn differently and they express themselves differently. My response to the naysayers is that effectively incorporat-
ing different media in software tools isnt for flash, but to give people different languages to learn from and use. By
offering these alternatives, we open new educational doors, especially for todays diverse, tech-savvy kids. After all, if one
student can explain physics terms using a movie about a cartoon rabbit, then multimedia in the classroom is working.
Chris Quintana

new kinds of learning activities called participatory Meeting the Challenge

simulations in which groups of students can use the
beaming feature of wireless handhelds to be part
of a simulation in which they exchange information.
For example, students can explore epidemiological
crises in a simulation in which they meet other
people by exchanging information with their hand-
helds. During the simulation a students handheld
might announce that it is sick, at which point
students would engage in a discussion to understand
how disease might spread through a community.
Researchers are also exploring the other end of
the spectrum, looking at how large displays and vir-
tual reality can be used as learning tools. Such
tools can help students explore virtual worlds and
engage in activities such as virtual expeditions.
Students can explore environments that might be
difficult or impossible to explore in person (e.g., dif-
ferent ecosystems), thus allowing them to engage in
inquiry-based activities throughout a range of loca-
tions and gather otherwise inaccessible information.
Technology-enhanced classrooms have had fail-
ures as researchers have struggled to understand not
only the kinds of effective learning technologies, but
also the role of technology in classrooms and the
support needed for effective technology-enhanced
classrooms. Critics of technology in classrooms still
exist. Education professor Larry Cuban has written
extensively on the problems and failures of technol-
ogy in classrooms. Scientist and author Clifford Stoll
has also written about the possible adverse effects of
technology and the caution that must be taken for
children.
However, successes and new visions of how
technology-enhanced classrooms can support learn-
ers also exist. Designers of learning technologies need
to understand that designing software for ease of use
is not enough. Designers must understand learning
theories, the nature of learners, and the classroom
context to design cognitive learning technologies that
students use to mindfully engage in substantive
102 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
learning activities. People implementing technology-
enhanced classrooms need to consider other issues,
such as classroom curriculum augmenting technol-
ogy and teachers having the support and develop-
ment that they need in order to understand and make
full use of technology.
As new technology arises, people will always
attempt to see how that technology can be used to
enhance learning. By understanding the classroom
context and the local design issues involved in de-
veloping learner-centered technology, the human-
computer interaction community can make
significant contributions to realizing the promise of
technology-enhanced classrooms.
Chris Quintana
See also Children and the Internet; Psychology
and HCI
FURTHER READING
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How
people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school (Exp. ed.).
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of tech-
nology since 1920. New York: Teachers College Press.
Kay, A., & Goldberg, A. (1977). Personal dynamic media. IEEE
Computer, 10(3), 3141.
Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms. New York: Basic Books.
Quintana, C., Soloway, E., & Krajcik, J. (2003). Issues and approaches
for developing learner-centered technology. In M. Zelkowitz (Ed.),
Advances in computers: Volume 57. Information Repositories
(pp. 272323). New York: Academic Press.
Reiser, B. J. (2002). Why scaffolding should sometimes make tasks
more difficult for learners. Proceedings of CSCL 2002, 255264.
Soloway, E., Guzdial, M., & Hay, K. E. (1994). Learner-centered de-
sign: The challenge for HCI in the 21st century. Interactions,
1(2), 3648.
CLIENT-SERVER
ARCHITECTURE
Client-server architecture is one of the many ways
to structure networked computer software.
Developed during the 1980s out of the personal com-
puter (PC) explosion, client-server architecture pro-
vides a distributed synthesis of the highly interactive
personal computer (the client) with a remotely
located computer providing data storage and com-
putation (the server). The goal of client-server archi-
tecture is to create structures and communication
protocols between the client computer and the server
computer in order to optimize the access to a set of
computational resources.
Motivating Example
To understand client-server architecture, one can
consider a manufacturing company using computer
technology to support day-to-day business opera-
tions and long-range strategic planning. Product
orders come from the sales department, inventory is
maintained by the manufacturing department,
and the raw materials orders are generated by the
planning department. Furthermore, the accounting
department tracks the money, and the chief execu-
tive officer (CEO) wants a perspective on all aspects
of the company.
To be judged successful, the software solution
implemented should provide data storage and up-
date capability for all aspects of the company oper-
ation. Further, the appropriate database segments
should be accessible by all of the employees based
on their particular job responsibility, regardless of
where they are physically located. Finally, the ap-
plication views of the database should be highly
usable, interactive, and easy to build and update to
reflect ongoing business growth and development.
Conicting Goals
One key feature of any software application is the
database, the dynamic state of the application. For
example, the status of inventory and orders for a fac-
tory would be maintained in a database management
system (DBMS). Modern database management tech-
nology is quite well developed, supporting database
lookup and update in a secure, high performance
fashion. DBMS computers, therefore, are typically
high-performance, focused on the task, and have
large permanent storage capacity (disk) and large
working memory. The cost of this hardware, the crit-

ical need for consistency, and the complexity of sys-
tem management dictate that the DBMS be centrally
located and administered. This goal was realized in
the mainframe architecture of the 1960s and the
time-sharing architecture of the 1970s.
On the other hand, personal computer appli-
cations such as the spreadsheet program VisiCalc,
introduced in 1979, demonstrate the power of highly
interactive human-computer interfaces. Responding
instantly to a users every keystroke and displaying
results using graphics as well as text, the PC has
widened the scope and number of users whose pro-
ductivity would be enhanced by access to comput-
ing. These inexpensive computers bring processing
directly to the users but do not provide the same scal-
able, high-performance data-storage capability of
the DBMS. Furthermore, the goal of information
management and security is counter to the personal
computer architecture, in which each user operates
on a local copy of the database.
The networkthe tie that binds together the
DBMS and the human-computer interfacehas
evolved from proprietary system networks, such as
IBM System Network Architecture (SNA), intro-
duced in 1974, to local area networks, such as
Ethernet, developed at Xeroxs Palo Alto Research
Center (PARC) and introduced in 1976, to the
Internet, which began as the U.S. Department of
Defenses Advanced Research Projects Agency net-
work (Arpanet) in 1972 and continues to evolve.
A networking infrastructure allows client software,
operating on a PC, to make requests of the server for
operations on the users behalf. In other words, the
network provides for the best of both worlds:
high-performance, high-reliability components pro-
viding centralized data computation and user in-
terface components located on the personal computer
providing high interactivity and thereby enhanced
usability.
Furthermore, by defining standardized message-
passing protocols for expressing the requests from
client to server, a level of interoperability is achieved.
Clients and servers coming from different vendors
or implementing different applications may com-
municate effectively using protocols such as Remote
Procedure Call (RPC) or Standard Query Language
(SQL), together with binding services such as the
CLIENT-SERVER ARCHITECTURE 103
Common Object Request Broker Architecture
(CORBA) or the Component Object Model (COM).
Returning to our motivating example, the soft-
ware solution would include a separate interactive
PC application designed for each business function:
sales manufacturing, accounting, planning, and
the CEO. Each of these individual PC applications
would use an RPC call for each query or update
operation to the company database server. This par-
titioning of function is effective both in terms of
hardware cost performance (relatively inexpensive
client computers for each user versus a relatively ex-
pensive database server computer shared between
all users) and end-user application design.
As the number of simultaneous users grows,
the portion of a servers computation time spent man-
aging client-server sessions grows as well. To mitigate
this processing overhead, it is useful to introduce
an intermediary server to help handle the client-server
requests. Called a message queuing server, this soft-
ware system accepts operations to be performed on
the database and manages the request queues asyn-
chronously. Priority information allows intelligent
management and scheduling of the operations. Result
queues, returning answers back to the requesting
client, provide for asynchronous delivery in the other
direction as well. Through a message server the queu-
ing operations are offloaded from the database server,
providing enhanced throughput (output). The mes-
sage server also leads to increased flexibility be-
cause the message queuing provides a layer of
translation and independence between the client soft-
ware and the DBMS server.
Business Processes
Although PC-client access to a server-based DBMS was
an early client-server scenario and continues to be im-
portant, other client-server architectures include other
types of network services. For example, an application
server hosts computation rather than data storage, as
with a DBMS server. The business processes for an en-
terprise may be implemented using an application
server. Like the message queuing server, the application
server sits between the client software and the DBMS,
encapsulating functions that may be common across
many clients, such as policies and procedures.
104 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

The Future of based system. It is crucial to design systems for

ease of learning, because people generally learn to
Client-Server Computing use new computer-based systems by exploration.
Client-server computing will continue to be impor- People resort to reading manuals, using help systems,
tant long into the future. PCs continue to drop in price, or taking formal training only when they have
and new networked devices such as personal data as- been unsuccessful in learning to do their tasks by ex-
sistants (PDAs) and the World Wide Web are driving ploration. CW has been applied to a wide variety
network accessibility to a broader audience. The client- of systems, including automatic teller machines
server architecture, which lives on the network through (ATMs), telephone message and call forwarding sys-
standardized messaging protocols, will continue to tems, websites, computerized patient-record systems
have wide applicability, especially in business. for physicians, programming languages, multimedia
authoring tools, and computer-supported coopera-
Mark R. Laff tive work systems. HCI researcher Andrew J. Ko and
his associates innovatively applied CW (in lieu of pi-
See also Peer-to-Peer Architecture lot experiments) to predict problems that experi-
mental participants might have with the instructions,
procedures, materials, and interfaces used in ex-
FURTHER READING periments for testing the usability of a system (the
system was a visual programming language).
Berson, A. (1992). Client/server architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Berson, A. (1995). Sybase and client/server computing. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Comer, D. (1994). Internetworking with TCP/IP: Vol. 3. Client-server Cognitive Walkthrough
programming and applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
C o r b i n , J. R . ( 1 9 9 1 ) . T h e a r t o f d i s t r i b u t e d a p p l i c a t i o n s : Methodology
Programming techniques for remote procedure calls. New York: The CW approach was invented in 1990 and has
Springer-Verlag.
Edelstein, H. (1994). Unraveling client/server architecture. Redwood
evolved into a cluster of similar methods with the
City, CA: M & T Publishing. following four defining features:
Hall, C. (1994). Technical foundations of client/server systems. New
York: Wiley. 1. The evaluation centers on particular users and
IBM Corporation. (2002). Websphere MQ application message inter- their key tasks. Evaluators start a CW by care-
face. (SC34-6065-00). Armonk, NY: International Business fully analyzing the distinctive characteristics of
Machines Corporation.
Krantz, S. R. (1995). Real world client server: Learn how to success-
a particular user group, especially the relevant
fully migrate to client/server computing from someone whos actu- kinds of background knowledge these users can
ally done it. Gulf Breeze, FL: Maximum Press. call upon when learning to perform tasks on
Metcalfe, R. M., & Boggs, D. R. (1976). Ethernet: Distributed packet the system. Next, CW evaluators select a set of
switching for local computer networks. Communications of the
ACM, 19(5), 395404.
key tasks that members of the user group will
Sims, O. (1994). Business objects: Delivering cooperative objects for client- do on the system. Key tasks are tasks users do
server. New York: McGraw-Hill. frequently, tasks that are critical even if done
infrequently, and tasks that exhibit the core ca-
pabilities of the system.
2. The steps designers prescribe for doing tasks are
COGNITIVE evaluated. For each key task, CW evaluators
record the full sequence of actions necessary to
WALKTHROUGH do the task on the current version of the sys-
tem. Then CW evaluators walk through the
The cognitive walkthrough (CW) is a usability eval- steps, simulating users action selections and
uation approach that predicts how easy it will be for mental processes while doing the task. The sim-
people to learn to do particular tasks on a computer- plest CW version asks two questions at each

step: (1) Is it likely that these particular users
will take the right actionmeaning the ac-
tion designers expect them to takeat this step?
and (2) If these particular users do the right
action and get the feedback the system pro-
vides (if any), will they know they made a good
choice and realize that their action brought
them closer to accomplishing their goal? To an-
swer each question evaluators tell a believable
success story or failure story. They record fail-
ure stories and have the option of adding sug-
gestions for how to repair the problems and
turn failures into successes. Anchoring the eval-
uation to the steps specified by designers com-
municates feedback to designers in their own
terms, facilitating design modifications that re-
pair the usability problems.
3. Evaluators use theory-based, empirically verified
predictions. The foundation for CW is a theory
of learning by exploration that is supported by
extensive research done from the 1960s to the
1980s on how people attempt to solve novel
problems when they lack expert knowledge
or specific training. According to this theory,
learning to do tasks on a computer-based sys-
tem requires people to solve novel problems by
using general problem-solving methods, gen-
eral reading knowledge, and accumulated ex-
perience with computers. The key idea is
that correct actions are chosen based on their
perceived similarity to the users current goal
(Wharton et al. 1994, 126). For software appli-
cations, the theory predicts that a user scans
available menu item labels on the computer
screen and picks the menu item label that is
most similar in meaning to the users current
goal. CW evaluators answer the first question
with a success story if the right action desig-
nated by the designer is highly similar in mean-
ing to the users goal and if the menu item labels
on the screen use words familiar to the user.
4. Software engineers can easily learn how to
make CW evaluations. It is crucial to involve
software engineers and designers in CW, be-
cause they are the individuals responsible for
revising the design to repair the problems. There
is strong evidence that software engineers and
COGNITIVE WALKTHROUGH 105
designers can readily learn CW, but they have
a shallower grasp of the underlying theory than
usability experts trained in cognitive psychol-
ogy and consequently find less than half as many
usability problems. A group CW, including at
least one usability expert trained in cognitive
psychology, can find a higher percentage of us-
ability problems than an individual evaluator
up to 50 percent of the problems that appear in
usability tests of the system.
CW was one of the several evaluation methods
pioneered in the early 1990s to meet a practical need,
the need to identify and repair usability problems
early and repeatedly during the product develop-
ment cycle. The cost of repairing usability problems
rises steeply as software engineers invest more time
in building the actual system, so it is important to
catch and fix problems as early as possible. For a
product nearing completion the best evaluation
method is usability testing with end users (the people
who will actually use the system), but CW is ap-
propriate whenever it is not possible to do usabil-
ity testing. Early versions of CW were tedious to
perform, but the 1992 cognitive jogthrough and
streamlined CW of 2000, which still preserve all
the essential CW features, are much quicker to
perform.
Transforming CW to Faster and
More Accurately Predict User Actions
The cognitive walkthrough for the Web (CWW) has
transformed the CW approach by relying on Latent
Semantic Analysis (LSA)instead of on the subjec-
tive judgments of usability experts and software en-
gineersto predict whether users are likely to select
the right action. LSA is a computer software sys-
tem that objectively measures semantic similarity
similarity in meaningbetween any two passages of
text. LSA also assesses how familiar words and phrases
are for particular user groups.
While analyzing the distinctive characteristics of
the particular user group, CWW evaluators choose
the LSA semantic space that best represents the back-
ground knowledge of the particular user group
the space built from documents that these users
106 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
are likely to have read. For example, CWW currently
offers a college-level space for French and five spaces
that accurately represent general reading knowledge
for English at college level and at third-, sixth-,
ninth-, and twelfth-grade levels.
CWW uses LSA to measure the semantic simi-
larity between a users information search goal
(described in 100 to 200 words) and the text labels
for each and every subregion of the web page and
for each and every link appearing on a web page.
CWW then ranks all the subregions and link labels
in order of decreasing similarity to the users goal.
CWW predicts success if the right action is the
highest-ranking link, if that link is nested within the
highest-ranking subregion, and if the right action
link label and subregion avoid using words that are
liable to be unfamiliar to members of the user group.
Relying on LSA produces the same objective an-
swer every time, and laboratory experiments con-
firm that actual users almost always encounter serious
problems whenever CWW predicts that users will
have problems doing a particular task. Furthermore,
using CWW to repair the problems produces two-
to-one gains in user performance. So far, CWW re-
searchers have tested predictions and repairs only
for users with college-level reading knowledge of
English, but they expect to prove that CWW gives
comparably accurate predictions for other user
groups and semantic spaces.
APPLICATION A software program that performs a ma-
jor computing function (such as word processing or Web
browsing).
Research by cognitive psychologist Rodolfo Soto
suggests that CW evaluations of software applica-
tions would be improved by relying on LSA, but to
date CW has consistently relied on subjective judg-
ments of human evaluators. Consequently the agree-
ment between any two CW evaluators is typically
low, raising concerns about the accuracy of CW pre-
dictions. Many studies have tried to assess the accu-
racy and cost-effectiveness of CW compared to
usability testing and other evaluation methods. The
results are inconclusive, because there is controversy
about the experimental design and statistics of these
studies.
Relying on LSA opens the door to fully auto-
mating CWW and increasing its cost-effectiveness.
If other CW methods start to rely on LSA they,
too, could be automated. The streamlined CW is
more efficient than earlier CW methods, but it still
consumes the time of multiple analysts and relies on
subjective judgments of uncertain accuracy.
Objectively Predicting Actions for
Diverse Users
Relying on LSA makes it possible for CWW to do
something that even usability experts trained in
cognitive psychology can almost never do: objec-
tively predict action selections for user groups whose
background knowledge is very different from
the background knowledge of the human evaluators.
For example, selecting the sixth-grade semantic space
enables LSA to think like a sixth grader, because
the sixth-grade LSA semantic space contains only
documents likely to have been read by people who
have a sixth-grade education. In contrast, a college-
educated analyst cannot forget the words, skills, and
technical terms learned since sixth grade and can-
not, therefore, think like a sixth grader.
Since CW was invented in 1990, the number and
diversity of people using computers and the Internet
have multiplied rapidly. Relying on LSA will enable
the CW approach to keep pace with these changes.
In cases where none of the existing LSA semantic
spaces offers a close match with the background
knowledge of the target user group, new semantic
spaces can be constructed for CWW (and potentially
for CW) analysesin any language at any level of
ability in that language. Specialized semantic spaces
can also be created for bilingual and ethnic minor-
ity user groups and user groups with advanced back-
ground knowledge in a specific domain, such as
the domain of medicine for evaluating systems used
by health professionals.
Marilyn Hughes Blackmon
See also Errors in Interactive Behavior; User Modeling
 COLLABORATORIES 107

Spencer, R. (2000). The streamlined cognitive walkthrough method,

FURTHER READING working around social constraints encountered in a software de-
velopment company. In CHI 2000: Proceedings of the Conference
on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 353359.
Blackmon, M. H., Kitajima, M., & Polson, P. G. (2003). Repairing
Wharton, C., Rieman, J., Lewis, C., & Polson, P. (1994). The cognitive
usability problems identified by the cognitive walkthrough for the
walkthrough method: A practitioners guide. In J. Nielsen &
web. In CHI 2003: Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors
R. L. Mack (Eds.), Usability inspection methods (pp. 105140). New
in Computing Systems, 497504.
York: Wiley.
Blackmon, M. H., Polson, P. G., Kitajima, M., & Lewis, C. (2002).
Cognitive walkthrough for the Web. In CHI 2002: Proceedings of
the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 463470.
Desurvire, H. W. (1994). Faster, cheaper!! Are usability inspection

COLLABORATIVE
methods as effective as empirical testing? In J. Nielsen & R. L. Mack
(Eds.), Usability inspection methods (pp. 173202). New York: Wiley.
Gray, W. D., & Salzman, M. D. (1998). Damaged merchandise? A re-
view of experiments that compare usability evaluation methods.
Human-Computer Interaction, 13(3), 203261. INTERFACE
Hertzum, M., & Jacobsen, N. E. (2003). The evaluator effect: A chill-
ing fact about usability evaluation methods. International Journal See Multiuser Interfaces
of Human Computer Interaction, 15(1), 183204.
John B. E., & Marks, S. J. (1997). Tracking the effectiveness of us-
ability evaluation methods. Behaviour & Information Technology,
16(4/5), 188202.
John, B. E., & Mashyna, M. M. (1997). Evaluating a multimedia au-
thoring tool. Journal of the American Society for Information Science,
COLLABORATORIES
48(11), 10041022.
Ko, A. J., Burnett, M. M., Green, T. R. G., Rothermel, K. J., & Cook, A collaboratory is a geographically dispersed or-
C. R. (2002). Improving the design of visual programming lan- ganization that brings together scientists, instru-
guage experiments using cognitive walkthroughs. Journal of Visual
Languages and Computing, 13, 517544.
mentation, and data to facilitate scientific research.
Kushniruk, A. W., Kaufman, D. R., Patel, V. L., Lvesque, Y., & In particular, it supports rich and recurring hu-
Lottin, P. (1996). Assessment of a computerized patient record sys- man interaction oriented to a common research area
tem: A cognitive approach to evaluating medical technology. M D and provides access to the data sources, artifacts, and
Computing, 13(5), 406415.
Lewis, C., Polson, P., Wharton, C., & Rieman, J. (1990). Testing a walk-
tools required to accomplish research tasks. Collab-
through methodology for theory-based design of walk-up-and- oratories have been made possible by new com-
use interfaces. In CHI 90: Proceedings of the Conference on Human munication and computational tools that enable
Factors in Computing Systems, 235242. more flexible and ambitious collaborations. Such
Lewis, C., & Wharton, C. (1997). Cognitive walkthroughs. In
M. Helander, T. K. Landauer, & P. Prabhu (Eds.), Handbook of collaborations are increasingly necessary. As science
human-computer interaction (2nd ed., revised, pp. 717732). progresses, the unsolved problems become more
Amsterdam: Elsevier. complex, the need for expensive instrumentation in-
Pinelle, D., & Gutwin, C. (2002). Groupware walkthrough: Adding
context to groupware usability evaluation. In CHI 2002: Proceedings
creases, larger data sets are required, and a wider
of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 455462. range of expertise is needed. For instance, in high-
Polson, P., Lewis, C., Rieman, J., & Wharton, C. (1992). Cognitive walk- energy physics, the next generation of accelerators
throughs: A method for theory-based evaluation of user interfaces. will require vast international collaborations and will
International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 36, 741773.
Rowley, D. E., & Rhoades, D. G. (1992). The cognitive jogthrough: A
have a collaboratory model for remote access. At least
fast-paced user interface evaluation procedure. In CHI 92: 150 collaboratories representing almost all areas of
Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing science have appeared since the mid-1980s.
Systems, 389395. Collaboratories offer their participants a num-
Sears, A., & Hess, D. J. (1999). Cognitive walkthroughs: Understanding
the effect of task description detail on evaluator performance. ber of different capabilities that fall into five broad
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 11(3), categories: communication (including tools such as
185200. audio or video conferencing, chat, or instant mes-
Soto, R. (1999). Learning and performing by exploration: Label qual-
ity measured by Latent Semantic Analysis. In CHI 99: Proceedings
saging), coordination (including tools relating to
of the Conference on Human Factors and Computing Systems, access rights, group calendaring, and project man-
418425. agement), information access (including tools for
108 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
accessing online databases, digital libraries, and doc-
ument repositories), computational access (includ-
ing access to supercomputers), and facility access
(including tools for remotely accessing specialized
facilities or instruments, such as a particle acceler-
ator or a high-powered microscope).
Research on collaboratories has focused mostly
on solving technical problems. However, substantial
gains in the practice of science are likely to be the
combined effect of social and technical transforma-
tions. The gap between the raw performance capa-
bility of collaboratory tools (based on bandwidth,
storage capacity, processor speed, and so forth)
and the realized performance (usage for scientific
purposes, which is limited by factors such as usabil-
ity and fit to the work and culture) can limit the po-
tential of collaboratories. This point will be discussed
in greater detail later.
Types of Collaboratories:
Research-Focused Collaboratories
There are a number of different kinds of collabora-
tories. A collaboratory that satisfies all elements of the
definition given above is a prototypical collaboratory
a distributed research center. Other kinds of collabo-
ratories are missing one or more of the elements of
that definition. The following four types of collabo-
ratories focus on enabling geographically distributed
research.
Distributed Research Center
This type of collaboratory functions like a full-fledged
research center or laboratory, but its users are geo-
graphically dispersedthat is, they are not located
at the research center. It has a specific area of inter-
est and a general mission, with a number of specific
projects. A good example of a distributed research
center is the Alliance for Cellular Signaling, a large,
complex distributed organization of universities
whose goal is to understand how cells communicate
with one another to make an organism work.
Shared Instrument
A shared-instrument collaboratory provides access
to specialized or geographically remote facilities.
As the frontiers of science are pushed back, the in-
strumentation required for advances becomes more
and more esoteric, and therefore usually more and
more expensive. Alternatively, certain scientific in-
vestigations require instrumentation in specific geo-
graphic settings, such as an isolated or inhospitable
area. A typical example is the Keck Observatory,
which provides access to an astronomical observa-
tory on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii to a
consortium of California universities.
Community Data System
An especially common collaboratory type is one in
which a geographically dispersed community agrees
to share their data through a federated or central-
ized repository. The goal is to create a more power-
ful data set on which more sophisticated or powerful
analyses can be done than would be possible if the
parts of the data set were kept separately. A typical
example of a community data system is the Zebrafish
Information Network (ZFIN), an online aggregation
of genetic, anatomical, and methodological infor-
mation for zebra fish researchers.
Open-Community Contribution System
Open-community contribution systems are an emerg-
ing organizational type known as a voluntary asso-
ciation. Interested members of a community (usually
defined quite broadly) are able to make small con-
tributions (the business scholar Lee Sproull calls them
microcontributions) to some larger enterprise. These
contributions are judged by a central approval or-
ganization and placed into a growing repository. The
classic example is open-source software development,
which involves hundreds or even thousands of con-
tributors offering bug fixes or feature extensions to a
software system. In science, such schemes are used to
gather data from a large number of contributors. Two
examples will help illustrate this. The NASA Ames
Clickworkers project invited members of the public
to help with the identification of craters on images
from a Viking mission to Mars. They received 1.9 mil-
lion crater markings from over 85,000 contribu-
tors, and the averaged results of these community
contributions were equivalent in quality to those of
expert geologists. A second example is MITs Open
Mind Common Sense Initiative, which is collecting

examples of commonsense knowledge from mem-
bers of the public to help make computers smarter
(Singh n.d.).
Types of Collaboratories:
Practice-Focused Collaboratories
The next two collaboratory types support the pro-
fessional practice of science more broadly, as op-
posed to supporting the conduct of research itself.
Virtual Community of Practice
This is a network of individuals who share a research
area of interest and seek to share news of profes-
sional interest, advice, job opportunities, practical
tips on methods, and the like. A good example of
this kind of collaboratory is Ocean US, which
supports a broad community of researchers inter-
ested in ocean observations. A listserv is another
mechanism that is used to support a virtual com-
munity of practice, but much more common
these days are websites and wikis.
Virtual Learning Community
This type of collaboratory focuses on learning that
is relevant to research, but not research itself. A good
example is the Ecological Circuitry Collaboratory,
whose goal is to train doctoral students in ecology
in quantitative-modeling methods.
Evolution and
Success of Collaboratories
Collaboratories that last more than a year or two tend
to evolve. For example, a collaboratory may start
as a shared-instrument collaboratory. Those who
share the instrument may add a shared database com-
ponent to it, moving the collaboratory toward a
community data system. Then users may add com-
munication and collaboration tools so they can plan
experiments or data analyses, making the collabo-
ratory more like a distributed research center.
Some collaboratories are quite successful, while
others do not seem to work very well. There are a
number of factors that influence whether or not a
COLLABORATORIES 109
collaboratory is successful. What follow are some of
the most important factors.
Readiness for Collaboration
Participants must be ready and willing to collaborate.
Science is by its very nature a delicate balance of
cooperation and competition. Successful collabora-
tions require cooperation, but collaboration is very
difficult and requires extra effort and motivation.
Technologies that support collaboration will not be
used if the participants are not ready or willing to col-
laborate. Various fields or user communities have
quite different traditions of sharing. For instance,
upper-atmospheric physicists have had a long tra-
dition of collaboration; the Upper Atmospheric
Research Collaboratory (UARC) began with a col-
laborative set of users. On the other hand, several ef-
forts to build collaboratories for biomedical research
communities (for instance, for researchers studying
HIV/AIDS or depression) have had difficulty in part
because of the competitive atmosphere. Readiness
for collaboration can be an especially important fac-
tor when the collaboratory initiative comes from
an external source, such as a funding agency.
Technical Readiness
The participants, the supporting infrastructure, and
the design of the tools must be at a threshold tech-
nical level. Some communities are sufficiently col-
laborative to be good candidates for a successful
collaboratory, but their experience with collaborative
technologies or the supporting infrastructure is not
sufficient. Technical readiness can be of three kinds.
INDIVIDUAL TECHNICAL READINESS People in various
organizations or fields have different levels of ex-
perience with collaboration tools. A specific new
technology such as application sharing may be a leap
for some and an easy step for others. It is impor-
tant to take account of users specific experience when
introducing new tools.
INFRASTRUCTURE READINESS Collaborative technolo-
gies require good infrastructure, both technical and
social. Poor networks, incompatible workstations, or
a lack of control over different versions of software
can cause major problems. It is also very important
110 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
to have good technical support personnel, especially
in the early phases of a collaboratory. The Worm
Community System (WCS) was a very early collab-
oratory project, intended to support a community of
researchers who studied the organism c. elegans (a
type of nematode). Sophisticated software was de-
veloped for the WCS on a UNIX platform that was
not commonly used in the laboratories of the sci-
entists. Since the tools were thus not integrated
with everyday practice, they were seldom used.
Furthermore, the necessary technical support was not
generally present in the lab, so when there were prob-
lems, they were showstoppers.
SOCIAL ERGONOMICS OF TOOLS The social interac-
tions that take place in teams are affected both by the
characteristics of team members and by the tools
that are used. The study of the impact of technology
characteristics on this process may be called social
ergonomics (ergonomics is the application of knowl-
edge about humans to the design of things). For ex-
ample, video conferencing systems often ignore such
details as screen size, display arrangement in relation
to participants, camera angle, and sound volume.
But it turns out that these details can have social
effects. For example, a study conducted by the re-
searchers Wei Huang, Judith Olson, and Gary Olson
found that the apparent height of videoconference
participants, as conveyed via camera angle, influ-
enced a negotiation task. The apparently taller per-
son was more influential in shaping the final outcome
than the apparently shorter person.
Aligned Incentives
Aligning individual and organizational incentives is
an important element of successful collaborations.
Consider the incentives to participate in a commu-
nity data system: What motivates a researcher to con-
tribute data to a shared database? By contributing,
the researcher gives up exclusive access to the data
he or she has collected. There are a variety of incentive
schemes for encouraging researchers to collaborate.
GOODWILL ZFIN has relied on the goodwill of its mem-
bers. Most of the members of this community had a
connection to one specific senior researcher who both
pioneered the use of zebra fish as a model organism
and also created for the community a spirit of gen-
erosity and collaboration. Although goodwill among
the community of researchers has been a sufficient
incentive for participation, ZFIN is now expanding
its participation beyond its founders, and it will be in-
teresting to see how successful the goodwill incentive
is in the context of the expanded community.
GOODWILL PLUS KARMA POINTS Slashdot is a very large
and active community of open-source software
developers who share and discuss news. Slashdot re-
wards those who make the most informative con-
tributions by bringing them more into the center of
attention and allocating them karma points. Karma
points are allocated in accordance with how highly
a contributors postings are rated by others. These
karma points give contributors some additional priv-
ileges on the site, but their main value is as a tangi-
ble measure of community participation and status.
Karma points are a formalization of goodwill, valu-
able primarily because the members of the com-
munity value them as an indicator of the quality of
the sharing done by specific individuals.
REQUIRING CONTRIBUTION AS A PREREQUISITE FOR OTHER
ACTIVITY In order to get the details of gene sequences
out of published articles in journals, a consortium
of high-prestige journals in biology requires that
those who submit articles to the consortiums
journals have a GenBank accession number indi-
cating that they have stored their gene sequences
in the shared database.
NEW FORMS OF PUBLICATION The Alliance for Cellular
Signaling has taken a novel approach to providing
researchers with an incentive to contribute molecule
pages to the Alliances database. Because the mole-
cule pages represent a lot of work, the Alliance has
worked out an agreement with Nature, one of the
high-prestige journals in the field, to count a mol-
ecule page as a publication in Nature. Nature
coordinates the peer reviews, and although mole-
cule-page reviews do not appear in print, the mol-
ecule pages are published online and carry the
prestige of the Nature Publishing Group. The
Alliances editorial director has written letters in sup-
port of promotion and tenure cases indicating that

molecule page contributions are of journal-
publication quality. This agreement is a creative at-
tempt to ensure that quality contributions will be
made to the database; it also represents an interest-
ing evolution of the scholarly journal to include new
forms of scholarly publication.
Data Issues
Data are a central component of all collaborations.
There are numerous issues concerning how data are
represented and managed; how these issues are re-
solved affects collaboratory success. For example,
good metadatadata about dataare critical as
databases increase in size and complexity. Library
catalogs and indexes to file systems are examples of
metadata. Metadata are key to navigation and search
through databases.
Information about the provenance or origins of
the data is also important. Data have often been
highly processed, and researchers will want to know
what was done to the original raw data to arrive at
the processed data currently in the database. Two
related collaboratories in high-energy physics,
GriPhyN and iVDGL, are developing schemes for
showing investigators the paths of the transfor-
mations that led to the data in the database. This
will help researchers understand the data and will
also help in identifying and correcting any errors in
the transformations.
For some kinds of collaboratories, the complex
jurisdictional issues that arise when data are com-
bined into a large database pose an interesting new
issue. The BIRN project is facing just such an issue
as it works to build up a database of brain images.
The original brain images were collected at different
universities or hospitals under different institutional
review boards, entities that must approve any hu-
man data collection and preservation, and so the
stipulations under which the original images were
collected may not be the same in every case.
Other Issues
Many collaboratory projects involve cooperation
between domain scientists, who are the users of
the collaboratory, and computer scientists, who are
responsible for the development of the tools. In many
COLLABORATORIES 111
projects there are tensions between users, who want
reliable tools that do what they need done, and com-
puter scientists, who are interested in technical inno-
vations and creative software ideas. There is little
incentive for the computer scientists to go beyond
the initial demonstration versions of tools to the re-
liable and supported long-term operational infra-
structure desired by the users. In some fields, such
as high-energy physics, this tension has been at least
partially resolved. The field has used advanced soft-
ware for so long that it is understood that the extra
costs associated with having production versions
of tools must be included in a project. Other fields
are only just discovering this. The organization of
the George E. Brown, Jr., Network for Earthquake
Engineering Simulation (NEES) project represents
an innovation in this regard. The National Science
Foundation, which funds the project, established it
in two phases, an initial four-year system-integration
phase in which the tools are developed and tested,
and a ten-year operational phase overseen by a NEES
consortium of user organizations.
Any large organization faces difficult manage-
ment issues, and practicing scientists may not always
have the time or the skills to properly manage a com-
plex enterprise. Management issues get even more
complicated when the organization is geographically
distributed. Many large collaboratories have faced
difficult management issues. For instance, the two
physics collaboratories mentioned earlier, GriPhyN
and iVDGL, found that it was necessary to hire a full-
time project manager for each collaboratory in or-
der to help the science project directors manage
the day-by-day activities of the projects. The Alliance
for Cellular Signaling has benefited from a charis-
matic leader with excellent management skills who
has set up a rich management structure to oversee
the project. The BIRN collaboratory has an explicit
governance manual that contains guidelines for a
host of tricky management issues; it also has a steer-
ing committee that is responsible for implementing
these management guidelines.
Collaboratories in the Future
Geographically distributed research projects are be-
coming commonplace in all the sciences. This
112 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
proliferation is largely driven by what is required to
work at the frontiers of science. In the future, widely
shared knowledge about how to put together suc-
cessful collaboratories will be essential. Of course,
scientists are not alone in attempting geographically
distributed collaborations. Similar issues are faced
in industry, education, government, and the non-
profit sector. Good tools for collaboration and the
social and organizational knowledge to make effec-
tive use of them will be critical in all domains.
Gary M. Olson
See also Computer-Supported Cooperative Work;
Groupware
FURTHER READING
Aldhous, P. (1993). Managing the genome data deluge. Science, 262,
5023.
Birnholtz, J., & Bietz, M. (2003). Data at work: Supporting sharing in
science and engineering. In Proceedings of Group 2003. New
York: ACM Press.
Cinkosky, M. J., Fickett, J. W., Gilna, P., & Burks, C. (1991). Electronic
data publishing and GenBank. Science, 252, 12731277.
Finholt, T. A. (2002). Collaboratories. In B. Cronin (Ed.), Annual
Review of Information Science and Technology, 36, 74107.
Washington, DC: American Society for Information Science and
Technology.
Finholt, T. A., & Olson, G. M. (1997). From laboratories to collabo-
ratories: A new organizational form for scientific collaboration.
Psychological Science, 8(1), 2836.
Huang, W., Olson, J. S., & Olson, G. M. (2002). Camera angle affects
dominance in video-mediated communication. In Proceedings of
CHI 2002, short papers (pp. 716717). New York: ACM Press.
National Science Foundation. (2003) Revolutionizing science and en-
gineering through cyberinfrastructure: Report of the National Science
Foundation blue-ribbon panel on cyberinfrastructure. Retrieved
December 24, 2003, from http://www.communitytechnology.org/
nsf_ci_report/
Olson, G. M., Finholt, T. A., & Teasley, S. D. (2000). Behavioral aspects
of collaboratories. In S. H. Koslow & M. F. Huerta (Eds.), Electronic
collaboration in science (pp. 114). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Olson, G. M., & Olson, J. S. (2000). Distance matters. Human-Computer
Interaction, 15(23), 139179.
Raymond, E. S. (1999). The cathedral and the bazaar: Musing on Linux
and open source by an accidental revolutionary. Sebastopol, CA: OReilly.
Schatz, B. (1991). Building an electronic community system. Journal
of Management Information Systems, 8(3), 87107.
Singh, Push (n.d.). Open mind common sense. Retrieved December
22, 2003, from http://commonsense.media.mit.edu/cgi-bin/
search.cgi
Sproull, L., Conley, C., & Moon, J. Y. (in press). Pro-social behavior on
the net. In Y. Amichai-Hamburger (Ed.), The social net: The social
psychology of the Internet. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sproull, L. & Kiesler, S. (in press). Public volunteer work on the Internet.
In B. Kahin & W. Dutton (Eds.), Transforming enterprise. Cam-
bridge, MA: MIT Press.
Star, S. L., & Ruhleder, K. (1994). Steps towards an ecology of infra-
structure: Complex problems in design and access for large-scale
collaborative systems. In Proceedings of CSCW 94 (pp. 253264).
New York: ACM Press.
Teasley, S., & Wolinsky, S. (2001). Scientific collaborations at a dis-
tance. Science, 292, 22542255.
Torvalds, L., & Diamond, D. (2001). Just for fun: The story of an acci-
dental revolutionary. New York: Harper Business.
Wulf, W.A. (1993). The collaboratory opportunity. Science, 261,
854855.
COMPILERS
Compilers are computer programs that translate
one programming language into another. The orig-
inal program is usually written in a high-level lan-
guage by a programmer and then translated into a
machine language by a compiler. Compilers help
programmers develop user-friendly systems by al-
lowing them to program in high-level languages,
which are more similar to human language than ma-
chine languages are.
Background
Of course, the first compilers had to be written in
machine languages because the compilers needed to
operate the computers to enable the translation
process. However, most compilers for new computers
are now developed in high-level languages, which
are written to conform to highly constrained syntax
to ensure that there is no ambiguity.
Compilers are responsible for many aspects of
information system performance, especially for
the run-time performance. They are responsible
for making it possible for programmers to use the
full power of programming language. Although com-
pilers hide the complexity of the hardware from
ordinary programmers, compiler development re-
quires programmers to solve many practical algo-
rithmic and engineering problems. Computer
hardware architects constantly create new challenges

for compiler developers by building more complex
machines.
Compilers translate programming languages and
the following are the tasks performed by each spe-
cific compiler type:
Assemblers translate low-level language in-
structions into machine code and map low-level
language statements to one or more machine-
level instructions.
Compilers translate high-level language in-
structions into machine code. High-level lan-
guage statements are translated into more than
one machine-level instruction.
Preprocessors usually perform text substitutions
before the actual translation occurs.
High-level translators convert programs written
in one high-level language into another high-
level language. The purpose of this translation is
to avoid having to develop machine-language-
based compilers for every high-level language.
Decompilers and disassembers translate the ob-
ject code in a low-level language into the source
code in a high-level language. The goal of this
translation is to regenerate the source code.
In the 1950s compilers were often synonymous
with assemblers, which translated low-level language
instructions into directly executable machine code.
The evolution from an assembly language to a high-
level language was a gradual one, and the FORTRAN
compiler developers who produced the first successful
high-level language did not invent the notion of pro-
gramming in a high-level language and then com-
piling the source code to the object code. The first
FORTRAN compiler was designed and written be-
tween 1954 and 1957 by an IBM team led by John
W. Backus, but it had taken about eighteen person-
years of effort to develop. The main goal of the team
led by Backus was to produce object code that could
execute as efficiently as human machine coders could.
Translation Steps
Programming language translators, including com-
pilers, go through several steps to accomplish their
task, and use two major processesan analytic pro-
cess and a synthetic process. The analytic process
COMPILERS 113
takes the source code as input and then examines the
source program to check its conformity to the syn-
tactic and semantic constraints of the language in
which the program was written. During the synthetic
process, the object code in the target language is gen-
erated. Each major process is further divided. The
analytic process, for example, consists of a character
handler, a lexical analyzer, a syntax analyzer, and a
constraint analyzer. The character handler identifies
characters in the source text, and the lexical analyzer
groups the recognized characters into tokens such
as operators, keywords, strings, and numeric con-
stants. The syntax analyzer combines the tokens into
syntactic structures, and the constraint analyzer
checks to be sure that the identified syntactic
structures meet scope and type rules.
The synthetic process consists of an intermedi-
ate code generator, a code optimizer, and a code gen-
erator. An intermediate code generator produces code
that is less specific than the machine code, which will
be further processed by another language translator.
A code optimizer improves the intermediate code
with respect to the speed of execution and the com-
puter memory requirement. A code generator
takes the output from the code optimizer and then
generates the machine code that will actually be
executed on the target computer hardware.
Interpreters and
Interpretive Compilers
In general, compilers produce the executable ob-
ject code at the full speed, and compilers are usually
designed to compile the entire source code before
executing the resulting object code. However, it is
common for programmers to expect to execute one
or more parts of a program before completing the
program. In addition, many programmers want to
write programs using a trial-and-error or what-if
strategy. These cases call for the use of an interpreter
in lieu of a traditional compiler because an inter-
preter, which executes one instruction at a time, can
take the source program as input and then execute
the instructions without generating any object code.
Interpretive compilers generate simple inter-
mediate code, which satisfies the constraints of the
114 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
practical interpreters. The intermediate code is then
sent as input to an interpreter, which executes the al-
gorithm embedded in the source code by utilizing a
virtual machine. Within the virtual machine setting,
the intermediate code plays the role of executable
machine code.
Famous Compiler:
GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)
Many high-level language compilers have been im-
plemented using the C programming language
and generating C code as output. Because almost all
computers come with a C compiler, source code writ-
ten in C is very close to being truly hardware-
independent and portable. The GNU Compiler
Collection (GCC) provides code generation for many
programming languages such as C, C++, and Java,
and supports more than two hundred different soft-
ware and hardware platforms. The source code of
GCC is free and open, based on GNU General Public
License, which allows people to distribute the
compilers source code as long as the original
copyright is not violated and the changes are pub-
lished under the same license. This license enables
users to port GCC to their platform of choice.
Presently almost all operating systems for per-
sonal computers are supported by GCC and ship the
compiler as an integrated part of the platform. For
example, Apples Mac OS X is compiled using
GCC 3.1. Other companies such as Sun and The
Santa Cruz Operation also offer GCC as their stan-
dard system compiler. These examples show the flex-
ibility and portability of GCC.
Compiler Constructor: Lex and Yacc
Roughly speaking, compilers work in two stages. The
first stage is reading the source code to discover its
structure. The second stage is generating the exe-
cutable object code based on the identified structure.
Lex, a lexical-analyzer generator, and Yacc, a com-
piler-compiler, are programs used to discover the
structure of the source code. Lex splits the source
code into tokens and then writes a program whose
control flow is manipulated by instances of regular
expressions in the input stream. Regular expressions
consist of normal characters, which include upper-
and lower-case letters and digits, and metacharac-
ters, which have special meanings. For example, a
dot is a metacharacter, which matches any one char-
acter other than the new-line character. There is also
a table of regular expressions and their associated
program pieces, called Lex source, and the resulting
program is a translation of the table. The program
reads the input stream and generates the output
stream by partitioning the input into strings that
match the given regular expression.
Yacc is a general tool for describing the source
code to a program. After the Yacc user specifies the
structures to be recognized and the corresponding
codes to be invoked, Yacc finds the hierarchical struc-
tures and transforms their specifications into sub-
routines that process the input.
The Future of Compilers
Proebstrings Law states that compiler advances
double computing power every 18 years (Proebsting,
n.d., 1). This implies that compiler-optimization
work makes a very minor contribution because it
means that while the processing power of computer
hardware increases by about 60 percent per year, the
compiler optimization increases by only 4 percent.
Furthermore, some people claim that compilers
will become obsolete with the increased use of script-
ing languages, which rely on interpreters or inter-
pretive compilers. Scripting languages, such as
Python, are popular among new programmers and
people who do not care about minute efficiency dif-
ferences. However, there are arguments for the con-
tinued existence of compilers. One of the arguments
is that there has to be a machine code on which the
interpreters rely in order for a programmers intended
algorithm to be executed. In addition, there will al-
ways be new and better hardware, which will then
rely on new compilers. It will also be impossible to
extinguish the continuing desire to achieve even
minute performance improvements and compile-
time error-detection capability. One of the proposed
future directions for compilers is to aid in increas-

ing the productivity of programmers by optimizing
the high-level code. Another possible direction is
to make compilers smarter by making them self-
steering and self-tuning, which would allow them to
adapt to input by incorporating artificial-intelligence
techniques.
Woojin Paik
See also Programming Languages
FURTHER READING
Aho, A. V., Sethi, R., & Ulman, J. D. (1986). Compilers: principles, tech-
niques and tools. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Aho, A. V., & Ulman, J. D. (1977). Principles of compiler design. Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
Bauer, A. (2003). Compilation of functional programming languages
using GCCTail Calls. Retrieved January 20, 2004, from
http://home.in.tum.de/~baueran/thesis/baueran_thesis.pdf
A Brief History of FORTRAN /fortran. (1998). Retrieved January 20,
2004, from http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/languages/FORTRAN/
ch1-1.html
Catalog of free compilers and interpreters. (1998). Retrieved January
20, 2004, from http://www.idiom.com/free-compilers/
Clodius W. (1997). Re: History and evolution of compilers. Retrieved
January 20, 2004, from http://compilers.iecc.com/comparch/article/
97-10-008
Compiler Connection. (2003). Retrieved January 20, 2004, from
http://www.compilerconnection.com/index.html
Compiler Internet Resource List. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2004,
from http://www.eg3.com/softd/compiler.htm
Cooper, K., & Torczon, L. (2003). Engineering a Compiler. Burlington,
MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
Cooper, K., Kennedy, K., and Torczon, L. (2003). COMP 412 Overview
of the course. Retrieved January 20, 2004, from http://www.owl-
net.rice.edu/~comp412/Lectures/L01Intro.pdf
Cranshaw, J. (1997). Lets build a compiler. Retrieved January 20, 2004,
from http://compilers.iecc.com/crenshaw/
GCC Homepage. (January 26, 2004). Retrieved January 26, 2004, from
http://gcc.gnu.org/
Free Software Foundation. (1991). GNU General Public License.
Retrieved January 20, 2004, from http://www.fsf.org/licenses/
gpl.html
Joch, A. (January 22, 2001). Compilers, interpreters and bytecode.
Retrieved January 20, 2004, from http://www.computerworld.com/
softwaretopics/software/story/0,10801,56615,00.html
Lamm, E. (December 8, 2001). Lambda the Great. Retrieved January
20, 2004, from http://lambda.weblogs.com/2001/12/08
Mansour, S. (June 5, 1999). A Tao of Regular Expressions. Retrieved
January 20, 2004, from http://sitescooper.org/tao_regexps.html
Manzoor, K. (2001). Compilers, interpreters and virtual machines.
Retrieved January 20, 2004, from http://homepages.com.pk/
kashman/jvm.htm
COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK 115
Pizka, M. (1997). Design and implementation of the GNU INSEL
Compiler gic. Technical Report TUMI 9713. Munich, Germany:
Munich University of Technology.
Proebstring, T. (n.d.). Todd Proebstings home page. Retrieved January
20, 2004, from http://research.microsoft.com/~toddpro/
Rice compiler group. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2004, from http://
www.cs.rice.edu/CS/compilers/index.html
Terry, P. D. (1997). Compilers and compiler generators an introduc-
tion with C++. London: International Thomson Computer Press.
The comp.compilers newsgroup. (2002). Retrieved January 20, 2004,
from http://compilers.iecc.com/index.html
The Lex and Yacc page. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2004, from
http://dinosaur.compilertools.net/
Why compilers are doomed. (April 14, 2002). Retrieved January 20,
2004, from http://www.equi4.com/jcw/wiki.cgi/56.html
COMPUTER-SUPPORTED
COOPERATIVE WORK
Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is
the subarea of human-computer interaction con-
cerned with the communication, collaboration,
and work practices of groups, organizations, and com-
munities, and with information technology for
groups, organizations, and communities. As the
Internet and associated networked computing activ-
ities have become pervasive, research in CSCW has
expanded rapidly, and its central concepts and vo-
cabulary are still evolving. For the purposes of this
discussion, we understand cooperative work as any
activity that includes or is intended to include the co-
ordinated participation of at least two individuals;
we take computer support of such work to be any in-
formation technology used to coordinate or carry out
the shared activity (including archiving of the records
of an activity to allow subsequent reuse by another).
Several themes dominate research and practice
in CSCW: studies of work, in which activities and
especially tool usage patterns are observed, analyzed,
and interpreted through rich qualitative descriptions;
design and use of computer-mediated communica-
tion (CMC) systems and of groupware, designed
to aid with collaborative planning, acting, and sense
making; and analyses of the adoption and adapta-
tion of CSCW systems.
116 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

A Personal StorySocial Context in Computer-Supported

Cooperative Work (CSCW)

In the early 1980s, our research group at the IBM Watson Research Center focused on the early stages of learning word pro-
cessing systems, like the IBM Displaywriter. We carried out an extensive set of studies over several years. In these investi-
gations, we noticed that people tried to minimize the amount of rote learning they engaged in, preferring to adopt
action-oriented approaches in their own learning.
Eventually, we developed a description of the early stages of learning to use computer applications that helped to de-
fine new design approaches and learning support. But this work also made us wonder what more advanced learning might
be like.
To investigate this, my colleague John Gould and I visited an IBM customer site, to observe experienced users of
Displaywriters as they worked in their everyday environments. These individuals were competent and confident in their
use of the software. However we observed a pattern of distributed expertise: Each member of the staff had mastered one
advanced function. Whenever someone needed to use an advanced function, she contacted the corresponding expert for
personal, one-on-one coaching. This was a win-win situation: the requestors received customized help, and the specialized
experts earned an increase in status. These field observations taught us the importance of peoples social context in the use
and evaluation of information technology, something we now take for granted in CSCW.
Mary Beth Rosson

Studies of Work
A fundamental objective of CSCW is to understand
how computers can be used to support everyday work
practices. Early research in the 1980s focused on
workflow systems. This approach codifies existing
business procedures (for example, relating to the hir-
ing of a new employee) in a computer model and
embeds the model in a tracking system that moni-
tors execution of the procedures, providing reminders,
coordination across participants, and assurance that
appropriate steps are followed. Computerized work-
flow systems are highly rational technological tools
whose goal is to support the effective execution of
normative procedures. Ironically, a major lesson that
emerged from building and studying the use of these
systems is that exceptions to normative business
procedures are pervasive in real activity, and that
handling such exceptions characteristically involves
social interactions that need to be fluid and nuanced
in order to succeed. Indeed, the failure of direct and
rational workflow support was to a considerable ex-
tent the starting point for modern CSCW, which now
emphasizes balance between structured performance
and learning support and flexibility in the roles and
responsibilities available to human workers.
Studies of work often employ ethnographic
methods adapted from anthropology. In ethno-
graphic research, the activities of a group are ob-
served over an extended period of time. This allows
collaborative activity to be seen in context. Thus,
tasks are not characterized merely in terms of the
steps comprising procedures, but also in terms of
who interacts with whom to carry out and im-
provise procedures, what tools and other arti-
facts are used, what information is exchanged and
created, and the longer-term collateral outcomes
of activity, such as personal and collective learn-
ing and the development of group norms and mu-
tual trust. This work has demonstrated how, for
example, the minute interdependencies and
personal histories of doctors, nurses, patients,
administrators, and other caregivers in the func-
tioning of a hospital must be analyzed to properly
understand actions as seemingly simple as a doc-
tor conveying a treatment protocol to a nurse on
the next shift.

Sometimes the observer tries to be invisible in
ethnographic research, but sometimes the investi-
gator joins the group as a participant-observer.
Typically video recordings of work activities are
made, and various artifacts produced in the course
of the work are copied or preserved to enable later
analysis and interpretation.
Ethnographic methods produce elaborate and
often voluminous qualitative descriptions of com-
plex work settings. These descriptions have be-
come central to CSCW research and have greatly
broadened the notion of context with respect to un-
derstanding human activity. Theoretical frameworks
such as activity theory, distributed cognition, and
situated action, which articulate the context of ac-
tivity, have become the major paradigms for science
and theory in CSCW.
Much of what people do in their work is guided
by tacit knowledge. A team of engineers may not re-
alize how much they know about one anothers
unique experience, skills, and aptitudes, or how well
they recruit this knowledge in deciding who to call
when problems arise or how to phrase a question or
comment for best effect. But if an analyst observes
them at work, queries them for their rationale dur-
ing problem-solving efforts, and asks for reflections
on why things happen, the tacit knowledge that is
uncovered may point to important trade-offs in
building computerized support for their work
processes. For instance, directing a question to an
expert colleague provides access to the right infor-
mation at the right time, but also establishes and re-
inforces a social network. Replacing this social
behavior with an automated expert database may
answer the query more efficiently, but may cause em-
ployees to feel more disconnected from their
organization.
A persistent tension in CSCW studies of work
springs from the scoping of activities to be sup-
ported. Many studies have shown how informal
communicationdropping by a coworkers office,
encountering someone in the hall, sharing a coffee
can give rise to new insights and ideas and is essen-
tial in creating group cohesion and collegiality, social
capital to help the organization face future challenges.
But communication is also time consuming and often
COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK 117
ambiguous, entailing clarifications and confirma-
tions. And of course informal interactions are also
often unproductive. Balancing direct support for
work activities with broader support for building and
maintaining social networks is the current state of
the classic workflow systems challenge.
Computer-Mediated Communication
The central role of communication in the behavior
of groups has led to intense interest in how tech-
nology can be used to enable or even enhance com-
munication among individuals and groups. Much
attention has been directed at communication among
group members who are not colocated, but even
for people who share an office, CMC channels such
as e-mail and text chat have become pervasive. Indeed
e-mail is often characterized as the single most suc-
cessful CSCW application, because it has been inte-
grated so pervasively into everyday work activities.
The medium used for CMC has significant con-
sequences for the communicators. Media richness
theory suggests that media supporting video or voice
are most appropriate for tasks that have a subjective
or evaluative component because the nonverbal cues
provided by a communicators visual appearance or
voice tone provide information that helps partici-
pants better understand and evaluate the full impact
of one anothers messages. In contrast, text-based
media like e-mail or chat are better for gathering and
sharing objective information. Of course, even text-
based channels can be used to express emotional con-
tent or subjective reactions to some extent; a large
and growing vocabulary of character-based icons
and acronyms are used to convey sadness, happiness,
surprise, and so on.
Use of CMC has also been analyzed from the per-
spective of the psychologist Herbert Clarks theory
of common ground in languagethe notion that
language production, interpretation, and feedback
relies extensively on communicators prior knowl-
edge about one another, the natural language they
are using, the setting they are in, and their group and
cultural affiliations. In CMC settings some of this
information may be missing. Furthermore, many of
the acknowledgement and feedback mechanisms that
118 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
humans take for granted in face-to-face conversa-
tion (for example, head nods and interjected uh-
huhs and so on) become awkward or impossible to
give and receive in CMC. The theory of common
ground argues that these simple acknowledgement
mechanisms are crucial for fluid conversation be-
cause they allow conversation partners to monitor
and track successful communication: A head nod or
an uh-huh tells the speaker that the listener under-
stands what the speaker meant, is acknowledging
that understanding, and is encouraging the speaker
to continue.
Despite the general acknowledgement that text-
based CMC media such as e-mail and chat are rel-
atively poor at conveying emotion and subjective
content, these channels have advantages that make
them excellent choices for some tasks. E-mail, for ex-
ample, is usually composed and edited in advance of
sending the message; it can be read and reviewed
multiple times; and it is very easily distributed to
large groups. E-mail is also easy to archive, and its
text content can be processed in a variety of ways
to create reusable information resources. Because
e-mail is relatively emotion-free, it may be appro-
priate for delicate or uncomfortable communication
tasks. With so many CMC options, people are now
able to make deliberate (or tacit) choices among
CMC channels, using a relatively informal and un-
obtrusive medium like text chat for low-cost inter-
action, more formally composed e-mail for business
memos, and video or audio conferencing for im-
portant decision-making tasks.
The relative anonymity of CMC (particularly
with text-based channels) has provoked considerable
research into the pros and cons of anonymous com-
munication. Communicators may use their real
names or screen names that only loosely convey their
identity; in some situations virtual identities may be
adopted explicitly to convey certain aspects of an in-
vented personality or online persona. Anonymity
makes it easier to express sensitive ideas and so can
be very effective when brainstorming or discussion
is called for but social structures would otherwise in-
hibit a high degree of sharing. However the same fac-
tors that make anonymity an aid to brainstorming
also can lead to rude or inappropriate exchanges and
may make it difficult to establish common ground
and to build trusting relationships. Indeed, there have
been a number of well-publicized episodes of cruel
behavior in CMC environments such as chatrooms
and MUDs (multiuser dungeons or domains).
During the 1990s, cell phones, pagers, personal
digital assistants, and other mobile devices rendered
people and their work activities more mobile. As a
consequence, the context of CMC became quite var-
ied and unpredictable. A research area that has de-
veloped in response to users changing environments
is context-aware computing, wherein the technology
is used not only to support work activities, but also
to gather information about the users situation. For
example, it is relatively straightforward to set up dis-
tinct settings for how a cell phone will operate
(e.g., ring tone or volume) at work, home, outdoors,
and so on, but it takes time and attention to re-
member to activate and deactivate them as needed.
Thus the goal is to build devices able to detect changes
in peoples environment and to activate the appro-
priate communication options or tasks. Whether such
mode changes take place automatically or are man-
aged by the individual, the resulting context infor-
mation can be important to collaborators, signaling
if and when they can initiate or return to a shared
activity.
Groupware
CSCW software is often categorized by the timing
of the collaboration it supports: Synchronous group-
ware supports interaction at the same point in time,
while asynchronous groupware supports collabo-
ration across time. Another distinction is the col-
laborators relative location, with some groupware
designed for colocated interaction and some for dis-
tributed activities. For example, group decision sup-
port systems are typically used for synchronous and
colocated interaction: As part of a face-to-face meet-
ing, group members might use a shared online en-
vironment to propose, organize, and prioritize ideas.
In contrast, an online forum might be used for asyn-
chronous discussions among distributed group
members.
A longstanding goal for many groupware devel-
opers has been building support for virtual meetings
synchronous group interactions that take place
 COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK 119

A Personal StoryInternet Singing Lessons

Having immigrated to the United States from India at an early age, I have always had a problem mastering the fine melodic
nuances required to sing traditional Hindi songs. This problem has limited my singing repertoire.
Last winter, during a religious meeting of Indian immigrants living in the Ann Arbor area, I was struck with how
well a young Indian man sang a haunting Hindu chant. Later that evening I asked him to help me improve how I sang
Hindu chants, which he did willingly. However, he soon informed me that he was returning to India the following week
as he was in the U.S. on a temporary work visa.
Because I was disappointed in losing such a willing teacher, my friend suggested a technological solution. He suggested
that I set up an account with Yahoo! Messenger, and to buy a stereo headset through which we could continue our music
interaction. Yahoo! Messenger is an instant messaging system that enables logged-in users to exchange text messages, and
to talk free of charge on the Internet.
When my friend returned to India, we had to deal with two problems. First, we had to deal with the time-difference.
India is 10 hours ahead of the U. S. Second, we had to deal with the problem that my friend only had access to an Internet
connection at the office where he worked. This is because computers and Internet connections are still quite expensive
for the average Indian. We therefore decided that the best time for undisturbed instant voice messaging would be at 7:30 a.m.
Indian Standard Time when other employees had not yet arrived in my friends office. This time also work out well for
me because it would be 9:00 p.m. (EST), the time when I liked to pluck on my guitar and sing.
The above plan worked wellon February 8th, 2004, I had my first transcontinental singing lesson. Despite a slight
delay in sound transmission due to the Internet bandwidth problem, my friend was able to correct the fine melodic nu-
ances that I missed when I sang my favorite Hindu chant. I can now sing a Hindu chant with nuances approved by a singing
teacher sitting in front of a computer many oceans away.
Suresh Bhavnani

entirely online as a substitute for traditional face-to-
face meetings. As businesses have become increas-
ingly international and distributed, support for
virtual meetings has become more important. A vir-
tual meeting may use technology as simple as a tele-
phone conference call or as complex as a collaborative
virtual environment (CVE) that embodies attendees
and their work resources as interactive objects in a
three-dimensional virtual world. Because virtual
meetings must rely on CMC, attendees have fewer
communication cues and become less effective at
turn taking, negotiation, and other socially rich in-
teraction. It is also often difficult to access and in-
teract with meeting documents in a CVE, particularly
when the meeting agenda is open and information
needs to evolve during the meeting. Some researchers
have argued that online meetings will never equal
face-to-face interaction, and that researchers should
focus instead on the special qualities offered by a
virtual mediumfor example, the archiving, re-
viewing, and revising of content that is a natural con-
sequence of working together online.
When collaborators meet online, participant au-
thentication is an important issue. Many work sit-
uations have policies and procedures that must be
respected; for example, meetings may have a spec-
ified attendee list or restricted documents, or de-
cisions may require the approval of a manager.
Enforcing such restrictions creates work for both
the organizer of the activity (who must activate the
appropriate controls) and the participants (who
must identify themselves if and when required).
Depending on a groups culture and setting, the
meeting organizers may choose to make no restric-
tions at all (for example, they may meet in an on-
line chatroom and rely on group members to
self-enforce relevant policies and group behavior),
or they may rely on a set of roles (such as leader, at-
tendee, or scribe) built into the groupware system
to manage information access and interaction.
120 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
A significant technical challenge for synchronous
groupware is ensuring data consistency. When col-
laborators are able to communicate or edit shared
data in parallel, there is the possibility that simul-
taneous requests will conflict: One participant might
correct the spelling of a word at the same time that
another member deletes a phrase containing the
word, for example. The simplest technique for avoid-
ing consistency problems is to implement a floor
control mechanism that permits only one partici-
pant at a time to have the virtual pen, with others
waiting until it is passed to them. Because such mech-
anisms can be awkward and slow, many groupware
systems have explored alternatives, including implicit
locking of paragraphs or individual words, and fully
optimistic serialization, which processes all input in
the order in which it is received, with the assump-
tion that well-learned social protocols of turn tak-
ing and coordination will reduce conflict and ensure
smooth operation.
Many other technical challenges plague the
smooth operation of groupware. For instance, it is
quite common for collaborators to be interacting
with rather different hardware and software plat-
forms. Although work groups may settle on a stan-
dard set of software, not all group members may
follow all aspects of the standard, and beyond the
work group, there may be no standards. Thus inter-
operability of data formats, search tools, editing or
viewing software, and analysis tools is a constant con-
cern. As work settings have become more mobile and
dynamic, the variety of technical challenges has in-
creased: Some members at a virtual meeting may
join by cell phone, while others may use a dedicated
broadband network connection. It is increasingly
common for groupware systems to at least provide
an indicator of such variation, so that collabora-
tors can compensate as necessary (for example, by
recognizing that a cell phone participant may not be
able to see the slides presented at a meeting).
The general goal of promoting awareness dur-
ing CSCW interactions has many facets. During syn-
chronous work, groupware often provides some form
of workspace awareness, with telepointers or minia-
turized overviews showing what objects are selected
or in view by collaborators. In more extended col-
laborations, partners depend on social awareness to
know which group members are around, available
for interaction, and so on. Social awareness can be
provided through mechanisms such as buddy lists,
avatars (online representations of group members),
or even regularly updated snapshots of a person in
their work setting. For a shared project that takes
place over weeks or months, collaborators need ac-
tivity awareness: They must be aware of what proj-
ect features have changed, who has done what, what
goals or plans are currently active, and how to con-
tribute. However, promoting activity awareness re-
mains an open research topic; considerable work is
needed to determine how best to integrate across
synchronous and asynchronous interactions, what
information is useful in conveying status and
progress, and how this information can be gathered
and represented in a manner that supports rather
than interrupts collaborative activities.
Adoption and Adaptation of
CSCW Systems
Even when great care is taken in the design and
implementation of a CSCW system, there is no guar-
antee that it will be successfully adopted and inte-
grated into work practicesor that when it is
adopted it will work as originally intended. Many
case studies point to a sociotechnical evolution cy-
cle: Initially, delivered CSCW systems do not fit onto
existing social and organizational structures and
processes. During a process of assimilation and ac-
commodation, the organization changes (for exam-
ple, a new role may be defined for setting up and
facilitating virtual meetings) in concert with the tech-
nology (for example, a set of organization-specific
templates may be defined to simplify agenda setting
and meeting management).
Several implications follow from this view of
CSCW adoption. One is that participatory design of
the software is essentialwithout the knowledge of
praxis provided by the intended users, the software
will not be able to evolve to meet their specific needs;
furthermore if users are included in the design
process, introduction of the CSCW system into the
workplace will already have begun by the time the
system is deployed. Another implication is that

CSCW software should have as open an architecture
as possible, so that when the inevitable need for
changes is recognized months or years after deploy-
ment, it will be possible to add, delete, or other-
wise refine existing services. A third implication is
that organizations seeking CSCW solutions should
be ready to change their business structures and
processesand in fact should undertake business
process reengineering as they contribute to the de-
sign of a CSCW system. A frequent contributing fac-
tor in groupware failure is uneven distribution of
costs and benefits across organizational roles and re-
sponsibilities. There are genuine costs to collabo-
ration: When an individual carries out a task, its
subtasks may be accomplished in an informal and
ad hoc fashion, but distributing the same task among
individuals in a group is likely to require more ad-
vance planning and negotiation, recordkeeping, and
explicit tracking of milestones and partial results.
Collaboration implies coordination. Of course the
benefits are genuine as well: One can assign tasks
to the most qualified personnel, one gains multiple
perspectives on difficult problems, and social recog-
nition and rewards accrue when individuals com-
bine efforts to reach a common goal. Unfortunately,
the costs of collaboration are often borne by work-
ers, who have new requirements for online planning
and reporting, while its benefits are enjoyed by man-
agers, who are able to deliver on-time results of higher
quality. Therefore, when designing for sociotechni-
cal evolution, it is important to analyze the expected
costs and benefits and their distribution within the
organization. Equally important are mechanisms for
building social capital and trust, such that individ-
uals are willing to contribute to the common good,
trusting that others in the group will reward or
care for them when the time comes.
Critical mass is another determinant of success-
ful adoptionthe greater the proportion of indi-
viduals within an organization who use a technology,
the more sense it makes to begin using it oneself.
A staged adoption process is often effective, with a
high-profile individual becoming an early user and
advocate who introduces the system to his or her
group. This group chronicles its adoption experience
and passes the technology on to other groups, and
so on. By the time the late adopters begin to use
COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COOPERATIVE WORK 121
the new technology, much of the sociotechnical evo-
lution has taken place, context-specific procedures
have been developed and refined in situ, and there
are local experts to assist new users.
As more and more of an organizations activities
take place onlinewhether through e-mail or video-
conferencing or shared file systemsvia CSCW tech-
nology, the amount of online information about the
organization and its goals increases exponentially.
The increased presence of organizational informa-
tion online has generated great interest in the
prospects for organizational memory or knowledge
management. The hope is that one side effect of carry-
ing out activities online will be a variety of records
about how and why tasks are decomposed and ac-
complished, and that these records can provide guid-
ance to other groups pursuing similar goals. Of
course once again, there are important cost-benefit
issues to consider: Recording enough information
to be helpful to future groups takes time, especially
if it is to be stored in any useful fashion, and the ben-
efit in most cases will be enjoyed by other people.
One solution is to give computers the job of record-
ing, organizing, and retrieving. For example, even
a coarse-grained identification of speakers making
comments in a meeting can simplify subsequent
browsing of the meeting audiotape.
Research Directions
Much of the active research in CSCW is oriented
toward new technologies that will enhance aware-
ness, integrate multiple devices, populations, and
activities, and make it possible to visualize and share
rich data sets and multimedia documents. The need
to interconnect people who are using diverse devices
in diverse settings entails many research challenges,
some related to the general issues of multiplatform
computing and others tied to understanding and
planning for the social and motivational differences
associated with varied work settings. The rapidly
expanding archives in organizations offer many re-
search opportunities related to data processing and
analysis as well as information visualization and re-
trieval. At the same time, these digital storehouses
raise important questions about individual privacy
and identitythe more information an organization
122 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
collects about an individual, the more opportunity
there is for inappropriate access to and use of this
information.
A methodological challenge for CSCW is the de-
velopment of effective evaluation methods. Field
studies and ethnographic analyses yield very rich
data that can be useful in understanding system
requirements and organizational dynamics. But
analyzing such detailed records to answer precise
questions is time consuming and sometimes im-
possible due to the complexity of real-world settings.
Unfortunately, the methods developed for study-
ing individual computer use do not scale well to the
evaluation of multiple users in different locations.
Because social and organizational context are a key
component of CSCW activities, it is difficult to sim-
ulate shared activities in a controlled lab setting.
Groupware has been evolving at a rapid rate, so there
are few if any benchmark tasks or results to use for
comparison studies. One promising research di-
rection involves fieldwork that identifies interesting
collaboration scenarios; these are then scripted
and simulated in a laboratory setting for more sys-
tematic analysis.
In the 1980s human-computer interaction
focused on solitary users finding and creating in-
formation using a personal computer. Today, the
focus is on several to many people working together
at a variety of times and in disparate places, relying
heavily on the Internet, and communicating and col-
laborating more or less continually. This is far more
than a transformation of human-computer inter-
action; it is a transformation of human work and
activity. It is still under way, and CSCW will continue
to play a large role.
Mary Beth Rosson and John M. Carroll
See also Collaboratories; Ethnography; MUDs; Social
Psychology and HCI
FURTHER READING
Ackerman, M. S. (2002). The intellectual challenge of CSCW: The gap
between social requirements and technical feasibility. In J. M. Carroll
(Ed.), Human-computer interaction in the new millennium
(pp. 303324). New York: ACM Press.
Baecker, R. M. (1993). Readings in groupware and computer-supported
cooperative work: Assisting human-human collaboration. San
Francisco: Morgan-Kaufmann.
Beaudouin-Lafon, M. (Ed). (1999). Computer supported co-operative
work. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Bikson, T. K., & Eveland, J. D. (1996). Groupware implementation:
Reinvention in the sociotechnical frame. In Proceedings of the
Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work: CSCW 96
(pp. 428437). New York: ACM Press.
Carroll, J. M., Chin, G., Rosson, M .B., & Neale, D. C. (2000). The
development of cooperation: Five years of participatory design in
the virtual school. In Designing interactive systems: DIS 2000
(pp. 239251). New York: ACM Press.
Carroll, J. M., & Rosson, M.B. (2001). Better home shopping or new
democracy? Evaluating community network outcomes. In
Proceedings of Human Factors in Computing Systems: CHI 2001
(pp. 372379). New York: ACM Press.
Dourish, P., & Bellotti, V. (1992). Awareness and coordination in shared
workspaces. In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Supported
Cooperative Work: CSCW 92 (pp. 107114). New York: ACM Press.
Grudin, J. (1994). Groupware and social dynamics: Eight challenges
for developers. Communications of the ACM, 37(1), 92105.
Gutwin, C., & Greenberg, S. (1999). The effects of workspace aware-
ness support on the usability of real-time distributed group-
ware. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 6(3),
243281.
Harrison, S., & Dourish, P. (1996). Re-placing space: The roles of place
and space in collaborative systems. In Proceedings of the Conference
on Computer Supported Cooperative Work: CSCW 96 (pp. 6776).
New York: ACM Press.
Hughes, J., King, V., Rodden, T., & Andersen, H. (1994). Moving out
from the control room: Ethnography in system design. In
Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative
Work: CSCW 94 (pp. 429439). New York: ACM Press.
Hutchins, E. (1995). Distributed cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Malone, T. W., & Crowston, K. (1994). The interdisciplinary study
of coordination. ACM Computing Surveys, 26(1), 87119.
Markus, M. L. (1994). Finding a happy medium: Explaining the
negative effects of electronic communication on social life at work.
ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 12(2), 119149.
Nardi, B. A. (1993). A small matter of programming. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Nardi, B. A. (Ed). (1996). Context and consciousness: Activity theory
and human-computer interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Olson, G. M., & Olson, J. S. (2000). Distance matters. Human Computer
Interaction, 15(23), 139179.
Orlikowski, W. J. (1992). Learning from notes: Organizational issues
in groupware implementation. In Proceedings of the Conference on
Computer Supported Cooperative Work: CSCW 92 (pp. 362369).
New York: ACM Press.
Roseman, M., & Greenberg, S. (1996). Building real time groupware
with Groupkit, a groupware toolkit. ACM Transactions on Computer
Human Interaction, 3(1), 66106.
Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1991). Connections: New ways of working in
the networked organization. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Streitz, N. A., Geiler, J., Haake, J., & Hol, J. (1994). DOLPHIN:
Integrated meeting support across local and remote desktop en-
vironments and liveboards. In Proceedings of the Conference on
Computer Supported Cooperative Work: CSCW 94 (pp. 345358).
New York: ACM Press.

Suchman, L. (1987). Plans and situated actions: The problem of human-
machine communication. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press.
Sun, C., & Chen, D. (2002). Consistency maintenance in real-time col-
laborative graphics editing systems. ACM Transactions on Computer
Human Interaction, 9(1), 141.
Tang, J., Yankelovich, N., Begole, J., Van Kleek, M., Li, F., & Bhalodia,
J. (2001). Connexus to awarenex: Extending awareness to mobile
users. In Proceedings of Human Factors in Computing Systems: CHI
2001 (pp. 221228). New York: ACM Press.
Winograd, T. (1987/1988). A language/action perspective on the de-
sign of cooperative work. Human-Computer Interaction, 3(1), 330.
CONSTRAINT
SATISFACTION
Constraint satisfaction refers to a set of representa-
tion and processing techniques useful for model-
ing and solving combinatorial decision problems;
this paradigm emerged from the artificial intelligence
community in the early 1970s. A constraint satis-
faction problem (CSP) is defined by three elements:
(1) a set of decisions to be made, (2) a set of choices
or alternatives for each decision, and (3) a set of con-
straints that restrict the acceptable combinations
of choices for any two or more decisions. In general,
the task of a CSP is to find a consistent solution
that is, a choice for every decision such that all the
constraints are satisfied. More formally, each deci-
sion is called a variable, the set of alternative choices
for a given variable is the set of values or domain of
the variable, and the constraints are defined as the set
of allowable combinations of assignments of values
to variables. These combinations can be given in ex-
tension as the list of consistent tuples, or defined in
intention as a predicate over the variables.
The 4-Queen Problem
A familiar example of a CSP is the 4-queen problem.
In this problem, the task is to place four queens on
a 44 chessboard in such a way that no two queens
attack each other. One way to model the 4-queen
problem as a CSP is to define a decision variable for
each square on the board. The square can be either
empty (value 0) or have a queen (value 1). The con-
CONSTRAINT SATISFACTION 123
straints specify that exactly four of the decision vari-
ables have value 1 (queen in this square) and
that there cannot be two queens in the same row, col-
umn, or diagonal. Because there are sixteen variables
(one for each square) and each can take on two pos-
sible values, there are a total of 2 (65,536) possible
assignments of values to the decision variables. There
are other ways of modeling the 4-queen problem
within the CSP framework. One alternative is to treat
each row on the board as a decision variable. The
values that can be taken by each variable are the four
column positions in the row. This formulation yields
4 (256) possibilities. This example illustrates how
the initial formulation or model affects the number
of possibilities to be examined, and ultimately the
performance of problem solving.
CSP Representations
A CSP is often represented as an undirected graph
(or network), which is a set of nodes connected by
a set of edges. This representation opens up the
opportunity to exploit the properties and algorithms
developed in graph theory for processing and solv-
ing CSPs. In a constraint graph, the nodes represent
the variables and are labeled with the domains of the
variables. The edges represent the constraints and
link the nodes corresponding to the variables to
which the constraints apply. The arity of a constraint
designates the number of variables to which the con-
straint applies, and the set of these variables consti-
tutes the scope of the constraint. Constraints that apply
to two variables are called binary constraints and are
represented as edges in the graph. Constraints that
apply to more than two variables are called non-
binary constraints. While, early on, most research
has focused on solving binary CSPs, techniques for
solving nonbinary CSPs are now being investigated.
The Role of CSPs in Science
Beyond puzzles, CSPs have been used to model
and solve many tasks (for example, temporal rea-
soning, graphical user interfaces, and diagnosis) and
have been applied in many real-world settings (for
example, scheduling, resource allocation, and prod-
uct configuration and design). They have been used
124 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
in various areas of engineering, computer science,
and management to handle decision problems.
A natural extension of the CSP is the constrained
optimization problem (COP), where the task is to
find an optimal solution to the problem given a set
of preferences and optimization criteria. The prob-
lems and issues studied in the constraint processing
(CP) community most obviously overlap with those
investigated in operations research, satisfiability and
theoretical computer science, databases, and pro-
gramming languages. The 1990s have witnessed a
sharp increase in the interactions and cross-fertilization
among these areas.
A special emphasis is made in CP to maintain
the expressiveness of the representation. Ideally, a
human user should be able to naturally express the
various relations governing the interactions among
the entities of a given problem without having to re-
cast them in terms of complex mathematical mod-
els and tools, as would be necessary in mathematical
programming. The area of constraint reformulation
is concerned with the task of transforming the prob-
lem representation in order to improve the perfor-
mance of problem solving or allow the use of available
solution techniques. Sometimes such transforma-
tions are truthful (that is, they preserve the essence
of the problem), but often they introduce some
sufficient or necessary approximations, which may
or may not be acceptable in a particular context.
Solution Methods
The techniques used to solve a CSP can be divided
into two categories: constraint propagation (or infer-
ence) and search. Further, search can be carried out
as a systematic, constructive process (which is ex-
haustive) or as an iterative repair process (which of-
ten has a stochastic component).
Constraint Propagation
Constraint propagation consists in eliminating, from
the CSP, combinations of values for variables that
cannot appear in any solution to the CSP. Consider
for example two CSP variables A and B representing
two events. Assume that A occurred between
8 a.m. and 12 p.m. (the domain of A is the interval
[8, 12]), B occurred between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. (the
domain of B is the interval [7, 11]), and B oc-
curred one hour after A (B-A 1). It is easy to in-
fer that the domains of A and B must be restricted
to [8, 10] and [9, 11] respectively, because B can-
not possibly occur before 9, or A after 10, without
violating the constraint between A and B. This fil-
tering operation considers every combination of two
variables in a binary CSP. It is called 2-consistency.
A number of formal properties have been proposed
to characterize the extent to which the alternative
combinations embedded in a problem description
are likely to yield consistent solutions, as a mea-
sure of how close is the problem to being solved.
These properties characterize the level of consistency
of the problem (for example, k-consistency, mini-
mality, and decomposability).
Algorithms for achieving these properties, also
known as constraint propagation algorithms, remain
the subject of intensive research. Although the cost
of commonly used constraint propagation algorithms
is a polynomial function of the number of variables
of the CSP and the size of their domains, solving the
CSP remains, in general, an exponential-cost process.
An important research effort in CP is devoted to find-
ing formal relations between the level of consistency
in a problem and the cost of the search process used
for solving it. These relations often exploit the topol-
ogy of the constraint graph or the semantic proper-
ties of the constraint. For example, a tree-structured
constraint graph can be solved backtrack-free after
ensuring 2-consistency, and a network of constraints
of bounded differences (typically used in temporal
reasoning) is solved by ensuring 3-consistency.
Systematic Search
In systematic search, the set of consistent combi-
nations is explored in a tree-like structure starting
from a root node, where no variable has a value, and
considering the variables of the CSP in sequence.
The tree is typically traversed in a depth-first man-
ner. At a given depth of the tree, the variable under
consideration (current variable) is assigned a value
from its domain. This operation is called variable in-
stantiation. It is important that the value chosen for
the current variable be consistent with the instan-
tiations of the past variables. The process of check-
ing the consistency of a value for the current variable

with the assignments of past variables is called back-
checking. It ensures that only instantiations that are
consistent (partial solutions) are explored. If a
consistent value is found for the current variable,
then this variable is added to the list of past variables
and a new current variable is chosen from among
the un-instantiated variables (future variables).
Otherwise (that is, no consistent value exists in the
domain of the current variable), backtracking is ap-
plied. Backtracking undoes the assignment of the
previously instantiated variable, which becomes the
current variable, and the search process attempts
to find another value in the domain of this variable.
The process is repeated until all variables have
been instantiated (thus yielding a solution) or back-
track has reached the root of the tree (thus proving
that the problem is not solvable). Various techniques
for improving the search process itself have been pro-
posed. For systematic search, these techniques in-
clude intelligent backtracking mechanisms such as
backjumping and conflict-directed backjumping.
These mechanisms attempt to remember the reasons
for failure and exploit them during search in order
to avoid exploring barren portions of the search
space, commonly called thrashing. The choices of the
variable to be instantiated during search and that of
the value assigned to the variable are handled, re-
spectively, by variable and value ordering heuristics,
which attempt to reduce the search effort. Such
heuristics can be applied statically (that is, before the
search starts) or dynamically (that is, during the
search process). The general principles that guide
these selections are the most constrained variable
first and the most promising value first. Examples tion, which has been for a long time utilized in
of the former include the least domain heuristic
(where the variable with the smallest domain is cho-
sen for instantiation) and the minimal-width heuris-
tic (where the variables are considered in the ordering
of minimal width of the constraint graph).
Iterative-Repair Search
In iterative repair (or iterative improvement) search,
all the variables are instantiated (usually randomly)
regardless of whether or not the constraints are
satisfied. This set of complete instantiations, which
is not necessarily a solution, constitutes a state.
Iterative-repair search operates by moving from one
CONSTRAINT SATISFACTION 125
state to another and attempting to find a state where
all constraints are satisfied. This move operator and
the state evaluation function are two important com-
ponents of an iterative-repair search. The move is
usually accomplished by changing the value of one
variable (thus the name local search). However, a
technique operating as a multiagent search allows
any number of variables to change their values. The
evaluation function measures the cost or quality of
a given state, usually in terms of the number of bro-
ken constraints. Heuristics, such as the min-conflict
heuristic, are used to choose among the states reach-
able from the current state (neighboring states).
The performance of iterative-repair techniques
depends heavily on their ability to explore the so-
lution space. The performance is undermined by the
existence in this space of local optima, plateaux, and
other singularities caused by the nonconvexity of the
constraints. Heuristics are used to avoid falling
into these traps or to recover from them. One heuris-
tic, a breakout strategy, consists of increasing the
weight of the broken constraints until a state is
reached that satisfies these constraints. Tabu search
maintains a list of states to which search cannot move
back. Other heuristics use stochastic noise such as
random walk and simulated annealing.
Blending Solution Techniques
Constraint propagation has been successfully com-
bined with backtrack search to yield effective look-
ahead strategies such as forward checking. Combining
constraint propagation with iterative-repair strate-
gies is less common. On the other hand, randomiza-
local search, is now being successfully applied in back-
track search.
Research Directions
The use of constraint processing techniques is wide-
spread due to the success of the constraint pro-
gramming paradigm and the increase of commercial
tools and industrial achievements. While research on
the above topics remains active, investigations are also
invested in the following directions: user interaction;
discovery and exploitation of symmetry relations;
propagation algorithms for high-arity constraints
126 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
and for continuous domains; preference modeling
and processing; distributed search techniques; em-
pirical assessment of problem difficulty; and statis-
tical evaluation and comparison of algorithms.
Berthe Y. Choueiry
See also Artificial Intelligence; N-grams
FURTHER READING
Bistarelli, S., Montanari, U., & Rossi, F. (1997). Semiring-based con-
straint satisfaction and optimization. Journal of the ACM, 44(2),
201236.
Borning, A., & Duisberg, R. (1986). Constraint-based tools for build-
ing user interfaces. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 5(4), 345374.
Cohen, P. R. (1995). Empirical methods for artificial intelligence.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Dechter, R. (2003). Constraint processing. San Francisco: Morgan
Kaufmann.
Ellman, T. (1993). Abstraction via approximate symmetry. In
Proceedings of the 13th IJCAI (pp. 916921). Chambry, France.
Freuder, E. C. (1982). A sufficient condition for backtrack-free search.
JACM, 29(1), 2432.
Freuder, E. C. (1985). A sufficient condition for backtrack-bounded
search. JACM, 32(4), 755761.
Freuder, E. C. (1991). Eliminating interchangeable values in constraint
satisfaction problems. In Proceedings of AAAI-91 (pp. 227233).
Anaheim, CA.
Gashnig, J. (1979). Performance measurement and analysis of certain
search algorithms. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie-Mellon University.
Glaisher, J. W. L. (1874). On the problem of the eight queens.
Philosophical Magazine, 4(48), 457467.
Glover, F. (1989). Tabu SearchPart I. ORSA Journal on Computing,
1(3), 190206.
Gomes, C. P. (2004). Randomized backtrack search. In M. Milano
(Ed.), Constraint and Integer Programming: Toward a Unified
Methodology (pp. 233291). Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Haralick, R. M., & Elliott, G. L. (1980). Increasing tree search efficiency
for constraint satisfaction problems. Artificial Intelligence, 14, 263313.
Hogg, T., Huberman, B. A., & Williams, C. P. (Eds.). (1996). Special
volume on frontiers in problem solving: Phase transitions and
complexity. Artificial Intelligence, 81(12). Burlington, MA: Elsevier
Science.
Hooker, J. (2000). Logic-based methods for optimization: Combining
optimization and constraint satisfaction. New York: Wiley.
Hoos, H. H., & Sttzle, T. (2004). Stochastic local search. San Francisco:
Morgan Kaufmann.
Kirkpatrick, S., Gelatt, J. C. D., & Vecchi, M. P. (1983). Optimization
by simulated annealing. Science, 220(4598), 671680.
Liu, J., Jing, H., & Tang, Y. Y. (2002). Multi-agent oriented constraint
satisfaction. Artificial Intelligence, 136(1), 101144.
Minton, S., et al. (1992). Minimizing conflicts: A heuristic repair
method for constraint satisfaction and scheduling problems.
Artificial Intelligence, 58, 161205.
Montanari, U. (1974). Networks of constraints: Fundamental proper-
ties and application to picture processing. Information Sciences, 7,
95132.
Prosser, P. (1993). Hybrid algorithms for the constraint satisfaction
problem. Computational Intelligence, 9(3), 268299.
Rgin, J.-C. (1994). A filtering algorithm for constraints of difference
in constraint satisfaction problems. In Proceedings from the National
Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 1994) (pp. 362437).
Seattle, WA.
Revesz, P. (2002). Introduction to constraint databases. New York:
Springer.
Stuckey, K. M. (1998). Programming with constraints: An introduction.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Tsang, E. (1993). Foundations of constraint satisfaction. London, UK:
Academic Press.
Yokoo, M. (1998). Distributed constraint satisfaction. New York:
Springer.
CONVERGING
TECHNOLOGIES
Human-computer interaction (HCI) is a multi-
disciplinary field arising chiefly in the convergence
of computer science, electrical engineering, infor-
mation technology, and cognitive science or psy-
chology. In the future it is likely to be influenced
by broader convergences currently in progress, reach-
ing out as far as biotechnology and nanotechnology.
Together, these combined fields can take HCI to new
levels where it will unobtrusively but profoundly en-
hance human capabilities to perceive, to think, and
to act with maximum effectiveness.
The Basis for Convergence
During the twentieth century a number of interdis-
ciplinary fields emerged, bridging the gaps be-
tween separate traditionally defined sciences. Notable
examples are astrophysics (astronomy plus physics),
biochemistry (biology plus chemistry), and cogni-
tive science (psychology plus neurology plus com-
puter science). Many scientists and engineers believe
that the twenty-first century will be marked by a
broader unification of all of the sciences, permitting
a vast array of practical breakthroughsnotably
in the convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology,
information technology, and cognitive technology

based on the unification of nanoscience, biology,
information science, and cognitive science. HCI itself
stands at the junction between the last two of these
four, and it has the potential to play a major role in
the emergence of converging technologies.
A number of scientific workshops and conferences,
organized by scientists and engineers associated with
the U.S. National Science Foundation and building
upon the United States National Nanotechnology
Initiative, have concluded that nanoscience and nano-
technology will be especially important in conver-
gence. Nanoscience and nanotechnology concern
scientific research and engineering (respectively)
at the nanoscale, the size range of physical structures
between about 1 nanometer and 100 nanometers in
shortest dimension. A nanometer is 1 billionth of a
meter, or 1 millionth of a millimeter, and a millimeter
is about the thickness of a dime (the thinnest U.S.
coin). Superficially, nanoscience and nanotechnology
The BRLESC-II, a solid-state digital computer introduced in 1967. It was designed to be
200 times faster than the ORDVAC computer it replaced. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army.
CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES 127
seem remote from HCI because the human senses
operate at a much larger scale. However, we can al-
ready identify a number of both direct and in-
direct connections, and as work at the nanoscale
promotes convergence between other fields it will
create new opportunities and challenges for HCI.
The largest single atoms, such as those of ura-
nium, are just smaller than 1 nanometer. The struc-
tures of complex matter that are fundamental to
all sciences originate at the nanoscale. That is the
scale at which complex inorganic materials take on
the characteristic mechanical, electrical, and
chemical properties they exhibit at larger scales. The
nanoscale is where the fundamental structures of life
arise inside biological cells, including the human
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecule itself. The
double helix of DNA has the proportions of a twisted
piece of string, about 2.5 nanometers thick but as
much as 4 centimeters (40 million nanometers) long
128 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
if uncoiled. The synaptic gaps between neurons in
the human brain, and the structures that contain the
neurotransmitter chemicals essential to their func-
tioning, are on the order of 20 to 50 nanometers.
Nanotechnology and nanoscience are chiefly a
partnership of physics, chemistry, and materials sci-
ence (an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of
physics, chemistry, and engineering that deals with
the properties of materials, including composite ma-
terials with complex structures). In the near term
nanotechnology offers engineering a host of new
materials, including powders with nanoscale gran-
ules, thin coatings that transform the properties of
surfaces, and composite materials having nanoscale
structure that gives them greater strength, durabil-
ity, and other characteristics that can be precisely de-
signed for many specific uses. In the midterm to long
term, nanotechnology is expected also to achieve
practical accomplishments with complex nano-
structures, including new kinds of electronic com-
ponents and nanoscale machines.
Biotechnology applies discoveries in biology to
the invention and production of products that are
valuable for human health, nutrition, and economic
well-being. The traditional application areas for
biotechnology are medicine and agriculture, in-
cluding the production of chemicals and construc-
tion materials having organic origins. Biotechnology
has a long history, extending back thousands of years
to ancient industries such as fermentation of alco-
hol, tanning of hides, dyeing of clothing, and bak-
ing of bread. The pace of innovation accelerated
throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
leading to the latest developments in genomics (a
branch of biotechnology concerned with applying
the techniques of genetics and molecular biology to
the genetic mapping and DNA sequencing of sets of
genes or the complete genomes of selected organ-
isms) and a growing understanding of the structures
and processes inside the living cell.
Information technology is a creation of the
second half of the twentieth century, revolutioniz-
ing traditional communication technologies through
the introduction of electronic computation. It
comprises computers, information systems, and com-
munication networks such as Internet and the World
Wide Web, both hardware and software. Many of the
early applications have been new ways of accom-
plishing old tasks, for example, word processors, dig-
ital music and television, and more recently digital
libraries. The integration of mobile computing with
the Internet is expected to unleash a wave of radi-
cally different innovations, many of which cannot
even be imagined today, connected to ubiquitous
availability of information and of knowledge tools.
Cognitive science is the study of intelligence,
whether human, nonhuman animal, or machine,
including perception, memory, decision, and un-
derstanding. It is itself a convergence of fields, draw-
ing upon psychology, social psychology, cultural
anthropology, linguistics, economics, sociology,
neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and machine
learning. The fundamental aim is a profound un-
derstanding of the nature of the human mind. By
the beginning of the twenty-first century a new uni-
verse of cognitive technologies clearly was opening
up, especially in partnerships between humans and
computers. The result could be technologies that
overcome breakdowns in human awareness, analy-
sis, planning, decision making, and communication.
Each of these four fields is a fertile field of sci-
entific research and technological development, but
in combination they can achieve progress much more
rapidly and broadly than they can alone. Following
are examples of the science and engineering oppor-
tunities in each of the six possible pairs.
NanotechnologyBiotechnology
Research at the nanoscale can reveal the detailed, dy-
namic geometry of the tiny structures that carry out
metabolism, movement, and reproduction inside the
living cell, thereby greatly expanding biological sci-
ence. Biology provides conceptual models and prac-
tical tools for building inorganic nanotechnology
structures and machines of much greater complex-
ity than currently possible.
NanotechnologyInformation Technology
Nanoelectronic integrated circuits will provide the
fast, efficient, highly capable hardware to support
new systems for collecting, managing, and distrib-
uting information wherever and whenever it is

needed. Advances in information technology will be
essential for the scientific analysis of nanoscale struc-
tures and processes and for the design and manu-
facture of nanotechnology products.
NanotechnologyCognitive Technology
New research methods based on nanoscale sensor
arrays will enable neuroscientists to study the fine
details of neural networks in the brain, including the
dynamic patterns of interaction that are the basis of
human thought. Cognitive science will help nano-
scientists and educators develop the most readily
intelligible models of nanoscale structures and the
innovative curriculum needed for students to un-
derstand the world as a complex hierarchy of sys-
tems built up from the nanoscale.
BiotechnologyInformation Technology
Principles from evolutionary biology can be applied
to the study of human culture, and biologically in-
spired computational methods such as genetic al-
gorithms (procedures for solving a mathematical
problem in a finite number of steps that frequently
involve repetition of an operation) can find mean-
ingful patterns in vast collections of information.
Bioinformatics, which consists of biologically ori-
ented databases with lexicons for translating from
one to another, is essential for managing the huge
trove of data from genome (the genetic material of
an organism) sequencing, ecological surveys,
large-scale medical and agricultural experiments,
and systematic comparisons of evolutionary con-
nections among thousands of species.
BiotechnologyCognitive Technology
Research techniques and instruments developed in
biotechnology are indispensable tools for research
on the nature and dynamics of the nervous system,
in both humans and nonhuman animals, under-
stood as the products of millions of years of bio-
logical evolution. Human beings seem to have great
difficulty thinking of themselves as parts of com-
plex ecological systems and as the products of
evolution by natural selection from random evolu-
tion, so advances will be needed to design fresh
approaches to scientific education and new visual-
CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES 129
ization tools to help people understand biology and
biotechnology correctly.
Information TechnologyCognitive Technology
Experiments on human and nonhuman animal
behavior depend upon computerized devices for data
collection and on information systems for data analy-
sis, and progress can be accelerated by sharing in-
formation widely among scientists. Discoveries by
cognitive scientists about the ways the human mind
carries out a variety of judgments provide models
for how machines could do the same work, for ex-
ample, to sift needed information from a vast as-
sembly of undigested data.
HCI Contributions to Convergence
Attempting to combine two scientific disciplines
would be futile unless they have actually moved into
adjacent intellectual territories and proper means
can be developed to bridge between them. Disciplines
typically develop their own distinctive assumptions,
terminologies, and methodologies. Even under the
most favorable conditions, transforming tools are
needed, such as new concepts that can connect the
disparate assumptions of different disciplines,
ontologiescategory schemes and lexicons of
concepts in a particular domainthat translate lan-
guage across the cultural barriers between disciplines,
and research instrumentation or mathematical analy-
sis techniques that can be applied equally well in
either discipline. Because many of these trans-
forming tools are likely to be computerized, human-
computer interaction research will be essential for
scientific and technological convergence.
One of the key ways of developing fresh scientific
conceptualizations, including models and metaphors
that communicate successfully across disciplinary
barriers, is computer visualizations. For example,
three-dimensional graphic simulations can help stu-
dents and researchers alike understand the structures
of complex molecules at the nanoscale, thus bridg-
ing between nanoscience and molecular biology,
including genomics and the study of the structures
inside the living cell. In trying to understand the
behavior of protein molecules, virtual reality (VR)
130 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
may incorporate sonification (the use of sounds to
represent data and information) in which a
buzzing sound represents ionization (the dissocia-
tion of electrons from atoms and molecules, thus giv-
ing them an electric charge), and haptics (relating to
the sense of touch) may be used to represent the at-
traction between atoms by providing a counteract-
ing force when a VR user tries to pull them apart. For
data that do not have a natural sensory representa-
tion, a combination of psychology and user-centered
design, focusing on the needs and habitual thought
patterns of scientists, will identify the most success-
ful forms of data visualization, such as information
spaces that map across the conceptual territories of
adjacent sciences.
HCI is relevant not only for analyzing statistical
or other data that have already been collected and
computerized, but also for operating scientific in-
struments in real time. Practically every kind of sci-
entific research uses computerized instruments today.
Even amateur astronomical telescopes costing under
$500 have guidance computers built into them. In
the future expensive computerized instruments used
in nanoscience, such as atomic force microscopes
(tools for imaging individual atoms on a surface, al-
lowing one to see the actual atoms), may provide
haptic feedback and three-dimensional graphics to
let a user virtually feel and see individual atoms when
manipulating them, as if they have been magnified
10 million times.
In any branch of science and engineering, HCI-
optimized augmented cognition and augmented re-
ality may play a useful role, and after scientists and
engineers in different fields become accustomed to
the same computer methods for enhancing their abil-
ities, they may find it easier to communicate and thus
collaborate with each other. For example, primate
cognitive scientists, studying the behavior of baboons,
may collaborate with artificial-intelligence re-
searchers, and both can employ augmented reality
to compare the behavior of a troop of real animals
with a multiagent system designed to simulate them.
Internet-based scientific collaboratories can not only
provide a research team at one location with a va-
riety of transforming tools, but also let researchers
from all around the world become members of the
team through telepresence.
Researchers in many diverse sciences already have
established a shared data infrastructure, such as in-
ternational protein structure and genomics databases
and the online archives that store thousands of so-
cial and behavioral science questionnaire datasets.
The development of digital libraries has expanded
the range of media and the kinds of content that can
be provided to scholars, scientists, and engineers over
the Internet. Grid computing, which initially served
the supercomputing community by connecting geo-
graphically distributed heavy iron machines, is ma-
turing into a vast, interconnected environment of
shared scientific resources, including data collection
instrumentation, information storage facilities, and
major storehouses of analytic tools. As more and
more research traditions join the grid world, they
will come to understand each other better and find
progressively more areas of mutual interest. This con-
vergence will be greatly facilitated by advances in
human-computer interaction research.
Implications for Computing
Because HCI already involves unification of infor-
mation and cognitive technologies, distinctive effects
of convergence will primarily occur in unification
with the two other realms: nanotechnology and bio-
technology. Nanotechnology is likely to be especially
crucial because it offers the promise of continued
improvement in the performance of computer com-
ponents. Already a nanoscale phenomenon called
the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect has been
used to increase the data density on mass produc-
tion computer hard disks, giving them much greater
capacity at only slight cost. The two key components
of a computer hard disk are a rotatable magnetic disk
and a read-and-write head that can move along
the radius of the disk to sense the weak magnetism
of specific tiny areas on the disk, each of which
represents one bit (a unit of computer information
equivalent to the result of a choice between two al-
ternatives) of data. Making the active tip of the read-
and-write head of precisely engineered materials
constructed in thin (nanoscale) layers significantly
increases its sensitivity. This sensitivity, in turn, al-
lows the disk to be formatted into a larger number
of smaller areas, thereby increasing its capacity.

Since the beginning of the human-computer in-
teraction field, progress in HCI has depended not
only on the achievements of its researchers, but also
on the general progress in computer hardware. For
example, early in the 1970s the Altair computer pio-
neered the kind of graphic user interface employed
by essentially all personal computers at the end of
the twentieth century, but its memory chips were too
expensive, and its central processing unit was
too slow. A decade later the chips had evolved to the
point where Apple could just barely market the
Macintosh, the first commercially successful com-
puter using such an interface. Today many areas
of HCI are only marginally successful, and along with
HCI research and development, increased power and
speed of computers are essential to perfect such ap-
proaches as virtual reality, real-time speech recogni-
tion, augmented cognition, and mobile computing.
Since the mid-1960s the density of transistors on
computer chips has been doubling roughly every eight-
een months, and the cost of a transistor has been drop-
ping by half. So long as this trend continues, HCI can
count on increasingly capable hardware. At some
point, possibly before 2010, manufacturers will no
longer be able to achieve progress by cramming more
and more components onto a chip of the tradi-
tional kind. HCI progress will not stop the next day,
of course, because a relatively long pipeline of research
and development exists and cannot be fully exploited
before several more years pass. Progress in other areas,
such as parallel processing and wireless networking,
will still be possible. However, HCI would benefit
greatly if electronic components continued to become
smaller and smaller because this miniaturization
means they will continue to get faster, use progres-
sively less power, and possibly also be cheaper.
Here is where nanotechnology comes in. Actually,
the transistors on computer chips have already shrunk
into the nanoscale, and some of them are less than
50 nanometers across. However, small size is only
one of the important benefits of nanotechnology.
Equally important are the entirely new phenomena,
such as GMR, that do not even exist at larger scales.
Nanotechnologists have begun exploring alterna-
tives to the conventional microelectronics that we
have been using for decades, notably molecular logic
gates (components made of individual molecules
CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES 131
that perform logical operations) and carbon nano-
tube transistors (transistors made of nanoscale tubes
composed of carbon).
If successful, these radically new approaches
require development of an entire complex of fresh
technologies and supporting industries; thus, the
cost of shifting over to them may be huge. Only a
host of new applications could justify the massive
investments, by both government and industry, that
will be required. Already people in the computer in-
dustry talk of performance overhang, the possi-
bility that technical capabilities have already
outstripped the needs of desirable applications. Thus,
a potential great benefit for HCI becomes also a great
challenge. If HCI workers can demonstrate that a
range of valuable applications is just beyond the reach
of the best computers that the old technology can
produce, then perhaps people will have sufficient
motivation to build the entire new industries that
will be required. Otherwise, all of computer sci-
ence and engineering may stall.
During the twentieth century several major tech-
nologies essentially reached maturity or ran into
social, political, or economic barriers to progress.
Aircraft and automobiles have changed little in recent
years, and they were certainly no faster in 2000 than
in 1960. The introduction of high-definition tele-
vision has been painfully slow, and applications of
haptics and multimodal augmented reality outside
the laboratory move at a snails pace. Space flight
technology has apparently stalled at about the tech-
nical level of the 1970s. Nuclear technology has either
been halted by technical barriers or blocked by po-
litical opposition, depending on how one prefers
to analyze the situation. In medicine the rate of in-
troduction of new drugs has slowed, and the great
potential of genetic engineering is threatened by in-
creasing popular hostility. In short, technological
civilization faces the danger of stasis or decline un-
less something can rejuvenate progress.
Technological convergence, coupled with ag-
gressive research at the intersections of technical
fields, may be the answer. Because HCI is a conver-
gent field itself and because it can both benefit from
and promote convergence, HCI can play a central
role. In addition to sustaining progress as tradition-
ally defined, convergence enables entirely new
132 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
applications. For example, nanotechnology provides
the prospect of developing sensors that can instantly
identify a range of chemicals or microorganisms in
the environment, and nano-enabled microscale sen-
sor nets can be spread across the human body, a rain
forest, and the wing of an experimental aircraft to
monitor their complex systems of behavior.
Paradigm Transformation
Convergence is not just a matter of hiring a multi-
disciplinary team of scientists and engineers and
telling them to work together. To do so they need ef-
fective tools, including intellectual tools such as com-
prehensive theories, mathematical techniques for
analyzing dynamic systems, methods for visualizing
complex phenomena, and well-defined technical
words with which to talk about them.
Decades ago historian Thomas Kuhn described
the history of science as a battle between old ways of
thought and new paradigms (frameworks) that may
be objectively better but inevitably undergo oppo-
sition from the old-guard defenders of the prevail-
ing paradigm. His chief example was the so-called
Copernican Revolution in astronomy, when the no-
tion that the Earth is the center of the universe was
displaced by a new notion that the sun is the cen-
ter of the solar system and of a vast, centerless uni-
verse far beyond. The problem today is that many
paradigms exist across all branches of science and
engineering. Some may be equivalent to each other,
after their terms are properly translated. Others may
be parts of a larger intellectual system that needs
to be assembled from them. However, in many areas
inferior paradigms that dominate a particular dis-
cipline will need to be abandoned in favor of one
that originated in another discipline, and this process
is likely to be a hard-fought and painful one taking
many years.
The human intellectual adventure extends back
tens of thousands of years. In their research and
theoretical work on the origins of religion, Rodney
Stark and William Sims Bainbridge observed that
human beings seek rewards and try to avoid costs
a commonplace assumption in economics and other
branches of social science. To solve the problems
they faced every day, ancient humans sought
explanationsstatements about how and why re-
wards may be obtained and costs are incurred. In
the language of computer science, such explana-
tions are algorithms.
Some algorithms are very specific and apply only
under certain narrowly defined circumstances. If one
wants meat, one takes a big stick from the forest, goes
into the meadow, and clobbers one of the sheep graz-
ing there. If one wants water, one goes to the brook
at the bottom of the valley. These are rather spe-
cific explanations, assuming that only one meadow,
one kind of animal, one brook, and one valley exist.
As the human mind evolved, it became capable of
working out much more general algorithms that ap-
plied to a range of situations. If one wants meat, one
takes a club, goes to any meadow, and sees what one
can clobber there. If one wants water, the bottoms
of deep valleys are good places to look. In the terms
of artificial intelligence, the challenge for human in-
telligence was how to generalize, from a vast com-
plexity of experience, by reasoning from particular
cases to develop rules for solving particular broad
kinds of problems.
Stark and Bainbridge noted how difficult it is for
human beings to invent, test, and perfect very gen-
eral explanations about the nature of the universe
and thereby to find empirically good algorithms for
solving the problems faced by our species. In other
words, science and technology are difficult enter-
prises that could emerge only after ten thousand years
of civilization and that cannot be completed for many
decades to come. In the absence of a desired reward,
people often will accept algorithms that posit at-
tainment of the reward in the distant future or in
some other non-verifiable context. Thus, first sim-
ple magic and then complex religious doctrines
emerged early in human history, long before humans
had accurate explanations for disease and other dis-
asters, let alone effective ways of dealing with
them. If the full convergence of all the sciences and
technologies actually occurs, as it may during the
twenty-first century, one can wonder what will be-
come not only of religion but of all other forms of
unscientific human creativity, what are generally
called the humanities.
The U.S. entomologist and sociobiologist Edward
O. Wilson has written about the convergence that

is far advanced among the natural sciences, calling
it consilience, and has wondered whether the hu-
manities and religion will eventually join in to be-
come part of a unified global culture. Here again
human-computer interaction may have a crucial role
to play because HCI thrives exactly at the boundary
between humans and technology.
During the first sixty years of their existence,
computers evolved from a handful of massive ma-
chines devoted to quantitative problems of engi-
neering and a few physical sciences to hundreds of
millions of personal tools, found in every school
or library, most prosperous peoples homes, and
many peoples pockets. Many people listen to music
or watch movies on their computers, and thousands
of works of literature are available over the Internet.
A remarkable number of digital libraries are devoted
to the humanities, and the U.S. National Endowment
for the Humanities was one of the partner agencies
in the Digital Library Initiative led by the U.S.
National Science Foundation.
The same HCI methods that are used to help sci-
entists visualize complex patterns in nature can
become new ways of comprehending schools of art,
tools for finding a desired scholarly reference, or even
new ways of creating the twenty-second-century
equivalents of paintings, sculptures, or symphonies.
The same virtual reality systems that will help sci-
entists collaborate across great distances can become
a new electronic medium, replacing television, in
which participants act out roles in a drama while
simultaneously experiencing it as theater. Cyber-
infrastructure resources such as geographic infor-
mation systems, automatic language translation
machines, and online recommender systems can
be used in the humanities as easily as in the sciences.
The conferences and growing body of publica-
tions devoted to converging technologies offer a pic-
ture of the world a decade or two in the future when
information resources of all kinds are available at all
times and places, organized in a unified but malleable
ontology, and presented through interfaces tai-
lored to the needs and abilities of individual users.
Ideally, education from kindergarten through grad-
uate school will be organized around a coherent
set of concepts capable of structuring reality in ways
that are simultaneously accurate and congenial to
CYBERCOMMUNITIES 133
human minds of all ages. Possibly no such com-
prehensive explanation of reality (an algorithm for
controlling nature) is possible. Or perhaps the in-
tellectuals and investors who must build this fu-
ture world may not be equal to the task. Thus,
whether it succeeds or fails, the technological con-
vergence movement presents a huge challenge for
the field of human-computer interaction, testing
how well we can learn to design machines and in-
formation systems that help humans achieve their
maximum potential.
William Sims Bainbridge
See also Augmented Cognition; Collaboratories
FURTHER READING
Atkins, D. E., Drogemeier, K. K., Feldman, S. I., Garcia-Molina, H.,
Klein, M. L., Messerschmitt, D. G., Messina, P., Ostriker, J. P., &
Wright, M. H. (2003). Revolutionizing science and engineering
through cyberinfrastructure. Arlington, VA: National Science
Foundation.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Roco, M. C., & Bainbridge, W. S. (2001). Societal implications of
nanoscience and nanotechnology. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Roco, M. C., & Bainbridge, W. S. (2003). Converging technologies for
improving human performance. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Roco, M. C., & Montemagno, C. D. (Eds.). (2004). The coevolution of
human potential and converging technologies. Annals of the New
York Academy of Sciences, 1013. New York: New York Academy of
Sciences.
Stark, R., & Bainbridge, W. S. (1987). A theory of religion. New York:
Toronto/Lang.
Wilson, E. O. (1998). Consilience: The unity of knowledge. New York:
Knopf.
CYBERCOMMUNITIES
For many people, the primary reason for interacting
with computers is the ability, through computers, to
communicate with other people. People form cyber-
communities by interacting with one another
through computers. These cybercommunities are
conceived of as existing in cyberspace, a concep-
tual realm created through the networking and in-
terconnection that computers make possible.
134 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Cybercommunity Definition and History
The prefix cyber first appeared in the word cyber-
netics, popularized by Norbert Weiner (18941964)
in the 1940s to refer to the science of control and
communication in the animal and the machine (the
subtitle of Weiners 1948 book Cybernetics). Since
that time, cyber has prefixed many other words to
create new terms for various interconnections be-
tween computers and humans. One of the terms, cy-
berspace, has become a popular metaphor for the
perceived location of online interactions. Coined by
William Gibson in his 1984 novel Neuromancer,
cyberspace originally referred to a graphical repre-
sentation of computerized data to which people con-
nected through direct electrical links to the brain.
Since then, the term has come to mean any virtual
forum in which people communicate through com-
puters, whether the form of communication involves
text, graphics, audio, or combinations of those.
Cybercommunities predate widespread use of
the Internet, with the first forming in localized sys-
tems called bulletin board services (BBSs). BBSs
usually ran on a single computer, and participants
connected through modems and a local phone line.
This meant that most participants lived within a lim-
ited geographical area. Thus many BBSs were able to
hold occasional face-to-face get-togethers, enhanc-
ing community relationships. Communication on
BBSs was usually asynchronous; that is, people logged
on at different times and posted messages in various
topical forums for others to read and respond to later.
(E-mail and similar bulletin boards now available
on the World Wide Web are also asynchronous forms
of online communication, while the various types of
online chat and instant messaging are considered
to be synchronous forms of communication, since
participants are present on a forum simultane-
ously and can spontaneously respond to each others
communications.)
From the earliest days of the Internet and its
military-funded precursor, the Arpanet (established
in 1969), online participants began forming cyber-
communities. E-mail immediately emerged as the
largest single use of the Internet, and remained so
until 2002, when it was matched by use of the World
Wide Web (an information-exchange service avail-
able on the Internet first made available in 1991 and
given a graphical interface in 1993). People also
began using the Internet in the early 1980s to run
bulletin board services such as Usenet, which, unlike
the earlier local BBSs, could now be distributed to
a much larger group of people and accessed by people
in widely dispersed geographical locations. Usenet
expanded to include many different cybercommu-
nities, most based around a common interest such
as Linux programming or soap operas.
Existing Cybercommunities
Cybercommunities have risen in number with the
increasing availability and popularity of the Internet
and the World Wide Web. Even within the short over-
all history of cybercommunities, some cyber-
communities have been short-lived. However, there
are several, begun in the early days of computer net-
working, that still exist online and therefore present
a useful view of factors involved in the formation
and maintenance of online communities.
One of the oldest still-extant cybercommunities
is The WELL, which began in 1985 as a local BBS
in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Laurence
Brilliant, a physician with an interest in computer
conferencing, and Stewart Brand, editor of the Whole
Earth Review and related publications, founded The
WELL with the explicit goal of forming a virtual
community. One savvy method the founders used
to attract participants was to give free accounts to
local journalists, many of whom later wrote about
their participation, generating further interest and
publicity. In the early years, when most participants
lived in the same geographical area, The WELL held
monthly face-to-face meetings. Currently owned by
Salon.com, The WELL is now accessible through the
World Wide Web.
Another venerable cybercommunity, Lambda-
MOO, also began as an experiment in online com-
munity. In contrast to The WELL, LambdaMOO
provided a forum for synchronous communica-
tion and allowed people to create a virtual envi-
ronment within which to interact. LambdaMOO
is an example of a type of program called a MUD,
(for multiuser dimension or multiuser dungeon).
MUDs are similar to online chatrooms, but also allow

participants to create their own virtual spaces and
objects as additions to the program, with which they
and others can then interact. These objects enhance
B
elow is an introduction to the cybercommunity
the feel of being in a virtual reality. Created by the
LamdaMOO, as presented on www.lamdamoo.info:
computer scientist Pavel Curtis as a research project
for Xerox, LambdaMOO opened in 1990. A 1994 ar-
ticle about it in Wired magazine led to a significant
increase in interest in it and to dramatic population
growth. Pavel Curtis has moved on to other projects,
and LambdaMOO is no longer associated with Xerox.
But although it has undergone considerable social
changes over the years, it still attracts hundreds of
participants.
MUDs began as interactive text-based role-
playing games inspired by similar face-to-face
roleplaying games such as Dungeons and Dragons
(hence dungeon in one expansion of the acronym).
More recently, similar online games have become
available with the enhancement of a graphical in-
terface. People have used MMORPGs (massively
multiplayer online role-playing games) such as Ever-
quest as forums for socializing as well as gaming, and
cybercommunities are forming amongst online
gamers.
Web logs, or blogs, are a relatively new and in-
creasingly popular platform for cybercommunities.
Blogs are online journals in which one can post ones
thoughts, commentary, or reflections, sometimes
also allowing others to post comments or reactions
to these entries. Many blogs provide a forum for
amateur (or, in some cases, professional) journal-
ism, however others more closely resemble online
personal diaries. There are many different programs
available for blogging, and some give specific at-
tention to community formation. LiveJournal, for
instance, enables each participant to easily gather
other journals onto a single page, making it easy to
keep up with friends journals. Links between par-
ticipants are also displayable, enabling people to see
who their friends friends are and to easily form and
expand social networks.
Community Networks
Some cybercommunities grow out of existing offline
communities. In particular, some local municipali-
ties have sought to increase citizen participation in
CYBERCOMMUNITIES 135
Welcome to LamdaMOO
LambdaMOO is sort of like a chat room. Its a
text-only based virtual community of thousands
of people from all over the world. Its comprised
of literally thousands of rooms that have
been created by the users of LambdaMOO, and
you endlessly navigate (walk around) north,
south, etc. from room to room, investigating, and
meeting people that you can interact with to your
hearts content.
You get there not thru an HTML browser like
Netscape or IE but through another program
called TELNET (search). Your computer most
likely has Telnet but enhanced versions can be
found. (Telnet address: telnet://lambda.moo
.mud.org:8888/). You can try the Lambda button
at the top of this page to see if all goes well. If so,
a window will open and youll be able to log in.
When you get the hang of it, you can create
a character who has a name and a physical de-
scription, and who can be seen by all who meet
you. As you walk around from room to room you
are given a description of the room and a list of
contents (including other people). You can look
at each person to get a more detailed description
and when you do, they see a message stating that
you just checked them out. You can talk to
them and they see your words in quotes, like read-
ing spoken words in a book. You can also
emote (communicate with body language) using
gestures such as a smile or a nod of the head. In
time youll learn to create your own rooms or
other objects, which are limited only by your
imagination.
There are many people to meet up with
and build cyber-friendships with. When you
first get there youll be asked to log in. First timers
can sign in as a guest. After that you can apply for
a permanent character name and password. Give
it a try and if you see me around say hi.
Felis~Rex
Status: Programmer/108/33%Fogy/PC
Parent: Psychotic Class of Players
Seniority: 1320/4093, (33%)
MOO-age: 108 months. (1995 January 28,
Saturday)
136 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
the local government and community by forming
community computer networks that allow people
access to government officials and provide forums
for community discussion. The first of these, the
Public Electronic Network (PEN), started in Santa
Monica, California, in 1989. It was particularly
successful in providing access to low-income citizens
who might not otherwise have had access to com-
puters or computer networks.
In more recent years, some offline communities
have gone beyond providing an online forum specif-
ically related to the community and have also sought
to promote computer use and connectivity in gen-
eral. For instance, the town of Blacksburg, Virginia,
with the help of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University (known as Virginia Tech and located
in town) and local businesses, is attempting to
provide the infrastructure necessary to bring Internet
connectivity to every household in town and in the
surrounding rural area. This project, called the
Blacksburg Electronic Village (BEV) has had several
goals, including expanding the local economy
through the promotion of high-tech industry, in-
creasing citizen access to online resources, and
promoting a stronger sense of community. Recent
evaluations by project leaders indicate that BEV
has been more successful in the first two areas than
in the third.
Access Issues
As the BEV project recognized, in order to partici-
pate in cybercommunities, people need access to
computers and to computer networks, especially
to the Internet and the World Wide Web. Although
such access has been expanding rapidly, people in
poorer nations and disadvantaged populations in
more affluent countries still have limited access to
the Internet, if they have it at all.
This issue has been particularly salient for com-
munity networks, which are often created with the
specific goal of making it possible for disadvantaged
groups to access and influence their local govern-
mental structures. Thus many community net-
works, in addition to setting up websites, have
provided publicly accessible terminals for the use
of those who do not have access to computers at
home or at work.
As more and more online sites use multimedia
and bandwidth-intensive enhancements (that is,
enhancements that can only be successfully trans-
mitted across a wide rangeor bandof electro-
magnetic frequencies), speed of access has also become
a crucial issue. People with older equipmentslower
modems and computer processorsare disadvan-
taged in their ability to access online materials, es-
pecially at multimedia sites. Some governments,
notably in South Korea and Japan, have sought to
address that problem by subsidizing the develop-
ment of broadband networks, enabling widespread
relatively inexpensive access in those countries to
high-speed Internet connections.
In addition to access to equipment and networks,
people need the skills that enable them to use that
access. Research has also shown that people are
unlikely to take advantage of the availability of
computers and the Internet if they do not consider
computer-related activities useful and do not have
social support for such activities from people they
know, especially their peers. This is particularly
apparent in wealthier nations such as the United
States, where the usefulness of and accessibility to
online resources is taken for granted by more af-
fluent members of society but where such online re-
sources are less likely to be perceived as desirable
by members of less affluent communities. To address
that problem, several nonprofit groups in the United
States have set up community computing centers in
poorer neighborhoods, where they provide both train-
ing in necessary computer skills and a community-
based context for valuing such skills.
Another approach to broadening community ac-
cess to the Internet has been to integrate Internet
connections into the construction of new build-
ings or entire neighborhoods. However, these
types of developments also benefit only those who
can afford to buy into them.
Interfaces
The direct-brain interfaces envisioned by Gibson,
if possible at all, are likely many years in the future
(although there have been some promising early ex-
periments in recent years, including one in which a
blind person was given partial sight through a video
feed wired to the optical nerve). Most people cur-

rently access and participate in cybercommunity
through personal computers. Usually, these com-
puters are connected to the Internet by a modem or
other wired connection to an Internet service pro-
vider. However, wireless services are increasing, and
in some countries, most notably Japan, cell phones
are commonly used to access the Internet and to
communicate textually with others. In other coun-
tries, including the United States, people are also be-
ginning to use cell phones and personal digital
assistants (PDAs) for these purposes.
Most communication in cybercommunities oc-
curs through text, although some forums use graph-
ics or voice communication, often supplemented by
text. Some of the oldest existing cybercommunities
are still text-only and therefore require a high level
of literacy as well as comfort with computers. Early
text-based forums were not always particularly easy
to use, either. The WELLs original interface was no-
toriously difficult to work with. This meant that only
those with an understanding of computers and a
strong interest in the possibilities of cybercommu-
nity had the motivation and ability to participate.
Currently, The WELL has a much more accessible
Web interface and a concomitantly more diverse pop-
ulation of users.
As available Internet bandwidth and computer
processing speeds have increased, cybercommuni-
ties are able to use graphical representations of people
and objects within the cyberspace. One of the ear-
liest examples, from 1985, was Habitat, a role-playing
game and socializing space that emulated an of-
fline community. Habitat featured a local economy
(based on points rather than real money) and such
social structures as a church and sheriff s office.
Habitat used two-dimensional cartoon-like draw-
ings to represent people and objects within the
forum. Many current graphical worlds also use flat
cartoon-type representations. Habitat originated the
use of the term avatar to refer to the representa-
tion of people in such graphical worlds, and that term
has persisted in most such systems.
The technical difficulties inherent in rendering
three-dimensional spaces through which characters
can move and in which people can manipulate vir-
tual objects, along with the high level of computer
processing power required to make possible three-
CYBERCOMMUNITIES 137
dimensional virtual spaces, has slowed the develop-
ment of cybercommunities using three-dimensional
spaces and avatars. One such community, Active
Worlds (introduced in 1995), provides a three-
dimensional view of the environment similar to those
first used in first-person shooter computer games
(games in which you see on the screen what your
character sees, rather than watching your character
move about) such as Doom and Quake. Technical
considerations, including the simple problem of the
amount of real estate available on a computer
screen, meant that participants in the early years of
Active Worlds could see only the twelve closest
avatars. This contrasts with text-only interactive
forums such as MUDs and chat, in which thirty to
fifty participants can be simultaneously involved
in overlapping textual conversations. Graphical in-
terfaces provide both limitations and enhancements
to online communications.
Identity in Cybercommunities
Aside from the more technical aspects of interface
design, cybercommunities have also had to grapple
with the question of self-representation. How do par-
ticipants appear to one another? What can they know
about one another at the outset, and what can they
find out? How accountable are cybercommunity
members for their words and behavior within the
virtual space?
In purely text-based systems such as chat forums
or MUDs, participants are generally expected to pro-
vide some sort of description or personal informa-
tion, although on some systems it is understood that
this information may be fanciful. On LamdaMOO,
for instance, many participants describe themselves
as wizards, animals, or creatures of light. However,
each participant is required to choose a gender for
their character, partly in order to provide pronoun
choice for text generated by the MUD program, but
also indicating the assumed importance of this
aspect of identity. In a divergence from real life,
LambdaMOO provides ten choices for gender iden-
tification. Despite this, most participants choose
either male or female. LambdaMOO participants
choose what other personal information they wish
to reveal. On other MUDs, especially those intended
as professional spaces or as forums for discussions
138 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
relating to real life (offline life), participants may
be required to provide e-mail addresses or real names.
In graphical forums, participants are represented
both by the textual information they provide
about themselves and by their avatar. Design choices
involved in avatar creation in different virtual spaces
often reveal important underlying social assump-
tions, as well as technical limitations. In the early
years on Active Worlds, for instance, participants
were required to choose from a limited number of
existing predesigned avatars. In part this stemmed
from the difficulties of rendering even nominally
human-seeming avatars in the three-dimensional
space. However, the particular avatars available also
revealed biases and assumptions of the designers. In
contrast to MUDs such as LambdaMOO, all avatars
were human. At one point, participants exploited a
programming loophole to use other objects, such as
trees and walls, as personal representations, but this
loophole was quickly repaired by the designers, who
felt strongly that human representations promoted
better social interaction. Active Worlds avatars
also displayed a very limited range of human vari-
ation. Most were white, and the few non-white avatars
available tended to display stereotypical aspects.
For instance, the single Asian avatar, a male, used
kung-fu moves, the female avatars were all identifi-
able by their short skirts, and the single black male
avatar sported dreadlocks. Since then, programming
improvements and feedback from users has enabled
Active Worlds to improve their graphics (the avatars
now have distinct facial features) and expand their
representational offerings.
In two-dimensional graphical environments such
as Worlds Away (introduced in 1995), variation
tended to be greater from the beginning, and par-
ticipants were given the ability to construct avatars
from components. They could even change avatar
appearance at will by (for example) buying new heads
from the head shop. In some systems, participants
can also import their own graphics to further cus-
tomize their online self-representation.
Cybercommunities with greater ties to offline
communities also have to deal with interface and rep-
resentations issues. In order to provide community
access to as wide a range of townspeople as possi-
ble, networks such as PEN need an easy-to-use inter-
face that can recover well from erroneous input.
Names and accountability are another crucial issue
for community forums. PEN found that anonymity
tended to facilitate and perhaps even encourage flam-
ing (caustic criticism or verbal abuse) and other an-
tisocial behavior, disrupting and in some cases
destroying the usefulness of the forums for others.
Conflict Management and Issues of Trust
Cybercommunities, like other types of communi-
ties, must find ways to resolve interpersonal conflicts
and handle group governance. In the early years of
the Internet, users of the Internet were primarily
white, male, young, and highly educated; most were
connected to academic, government, or military in-
stitutions, or to computing-related businesses.
However, in the mid-1990s the Internet experienced
a great increase in participation, especially from
groups who had previously been on private systems
not connected to the Internet, notably America
Online (AOL). This sudden change in population
and increase in diversity of participants created ten-
sions in some existing cybercommunities.
In one now-famous Usenet episode in 1993, par-
ticipants in a Usenet newsgroup called alt.tasteless,
a forum for tasteless humor frequented primarily by
young men, decided to stage an invasion of another
newsgroup, rec.pets.cats, whose participants, atypi-
cally for Usenet newsgroups at the time, were largely
women, older than Usenet participants in general,
and in many cases relatively new to the Internet. The
alt.tasteless participants flooded rec.pets.cats with
gross stories of cat mutilation and abuse, disrupting
the usual discussions of cat care and useful infor-
mation about cats. Some of the more computer-savvy
participants on rec.pets.cats attempted to deal
with the disruption through technical fixes such as
kill files (which enable a participant to automatically
eliminate from their reading queue messages posted
by particular people), but this was difficult for par-
ticipants with less understanding of the somewhat
arcane Usenet system commands. The invaders,
meanwhile, found ways around those fixes. The con-
flict eventually spread to peoples offline lives, with
some rec.pets.cats participants receiving physical
threats, and at least one alt.tasteless participant hav-
ing their Internet access terminated for abusive be-

havior. Eventually, the invaders tired of their sport
and rec.pets.cats returned to normal. Some news-
groups have sought to avoid similar problems by es-
tablishing a moderator, a single person who must
approve all contributions before they are posted to
the group. In high traffic groups, however, the task
of moderation can be prohibitively time-consuming.
LambdaMOO experienced a dramatic popula-
tion surge in the late 1990s, causing not only social
tensions, but also technical problems as the
LambdaMOO computer program attempted to
process the increasing numbers of commands.
LambdaMOO community members had to come up
with social agreements for slowing growth and for
limiting commands that were particularly taxing on
the server. For instance, they instituted a limit on the
numbers of new participants that could be added
each day, started deleting (reaping) the characters
and other information of participants who had been
inactive for several months, and set limits on the
number of new virtual objects and spaces that par-
ticipants could build. This created some tension as
community members attempted to find fair ways to
determine who would be allowed to build and how
much. The solution, achieved through vote by par-
ticipants, was to create a review board elected by the
community that would reject or approve proposed
projects. Designers of cybercommunity forums have
also had to consider what types of capabilities to give
participants and what the social effects of those ca-
pabilities might be. For instance, Active Worlds orig-
inally did not allow participants to have private
conversations that were not visible to all other par-
ticipants in the same virtual space. The designers felt
that such conversations were antisocial and might
lead to conflicts. However, participants continued to
request a command that enabled such whispered
conversations, and also implemented other programs,
such as instant messaging, in order to work around
the forums limitations. The designers eventually ac-
quiesced and added a whisper command.
Similarly, some MUDs have a command known
as mutter. Rather than letting you talk only to one
other person, as is the case with whisper, mutter lets
you talk to everyone else in the virtual room except
a designated person; in other words, it enables you
to talk behind a persons back while that person is
CYBERCOMMUNITIES 139
presentsomething not really possible offline. As a
positive contribution, this command can allow com-
munity members to discuss approaches to dealing
with a disruptive participant. However, the com-
mand can also have negative consequences.
The use of avatars in graphical forums presents
another set of potential conflicts. In the two-
dimensional space of Worlds Away, participants
found that they could cause another participant to
completely disappear from view by placing their own
avatar directly on top of the others. With no avail-
able technical fix for this problem, users had to
counter with difficult-to-enforce social sanctions
against offenders.
Trust
The potential for conflicts in cybercommunities is
probably no greater than that in offline communi-
ties. On the one hand, physical violence is not pos-
sible online (although in theory escalating online
conflicts can lead to offline violence). On the other
hand, the difficulty in completely barring offend-
ers from a site (since people can easily reappear us-
ing a different e-mail address) and the inability to
otherwise physically enforce community standards
has increased cybercommunities vulnerability to
disruption. In some cases, the greater potential for
anonymity or at least pseudonymity online has
also facilitated antisocial behavior. Many cyber-
communities have therefore tried to find ways to en-
hance trust between community members.
Some have sought to increase accountability by
making participants e-mail addresses or real life
names available to other participants. Others have
set rules for behavior with the ultimate sanction be-
ing the barring of an individual from the forum
(sometimes technologically tricky to implement).
LambdaMOO, for instance, posts a set of rules for
polite behavior. Because it is also one of the most fa-
mous (and most documented) cybercommunities,
LambdaMOOs opening screen also displays rules of
conduct for journalists and academic researchers vis-
iting the site.
LiveJournal requires potential participants to ac-
quire a code from an existing user in order to become
a member, which it is hoped ensures that at least one
person currently a member of the community
140 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
vouches for the new member. LiveJournal is con-
sidering abandoning this practice in favor of a
complex system of interpersonal recommendations
that give each participant a trust rating, theoretically
an indication of their trustworthiness and status
within the community.
Although perhaps not as complex, similar sys-
tems are in use at other online forums. Slashdot, a
bulletin board service focusing primarily on com-
puter-related topics, allows participants to rank post-
ings and then to filter what they read by aggregated
rank. A participant can, for instance, decide to
read only messages that achieve the highest aver-
age rating, as averaged from the responses of other
participants.
The online auction site eBay has a feedback
system through which buyers and sellers rate one an-
others performance after each transaction, result-
ing in a numerical score for each registered member.
Each instance of positive feedback bestows a point,
and each instance of negative feedback deletes one.
A recent change in the way auctions are displayed
now lists a percentage of positive feedback for each
seller. Users can also read the brief feedback mes-
sages left for other users. These features are intended
to allow users to evaluate a persons trustworthiness
prior to engaging in transactions with that person.
The degree to which these types of trust-
promotion systems work to foster and enhance
community is unclear. Participants in various cyber-
communities continue to consider issues of trust and
to work on technological enhancements to the virtual
environment that will help suppress antisocial be-
havior and promote greater community solidarity.
Future Directions
As cybercommunities first developed, mainstream
media commentary discussed a variety of hyperbolic
fears and hopes. People feared that cybercommu-
nities would replace and supplant other forms of
community and that cybercommunities were less
civilized, with greater potential for rude and anti-
social behavior. On the other hand, people also hoped
that cybercommunities might provide forms of
interconnectedness that had otherwise been lost in
modern life. Some people also suggested that cyber-
communities could provide a forum in which pre-
vious prejudices might be left behind, enabling a
utopian meeting of minds and ideas.
So far, it appears that cybercommunities tend to
augment rather than supplant peoples other social
connections. They appear to contain many of the
same positive and negative social aspects present
in offline communities. Further, many cybercom-
munities emerge from existing offline groups, also
include an offline component (including face-to-
face contact between at least some participants), or
utilize other technologies such as the telephone to
enhance connections. Whatever form cybercommu-
nities take in the future, their presence and popu-
larity from the earliest days of computer networks
makes it clear that such interconnections will con-
tinue to be a significant part of human-computer
interaction.
Lori Kendall
See also Avatars; Digital Divide; MUDs
FURTHER READING
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http://www.well.com/aboutwell.html
CYBERSEX
The term cybersex is a catch-all word used to describe
various sexual behaviors and activities performed
while on the Internet. The term does not indicate
that a particular behavior is good or bad, only that
the sexual behavior occurred in the context of the
Internet. Examples of behaviors or activities that may
be considered cybersex include sexual conversations
in Internet chatrooms, retrieving sexual media (for
example, photographs, stories, or videos) via the
CYBERSEX 141
Internet, visiting sex-related websites, masturbating
to sexual media from the Internet, engaging in sex-
ualized videoconferencing activities, creating sexual
materials for use/distribution on the Internet, and
using the Internet to obtain/enhance offline sexual
behaviors.
A broader term used to describe Internet sex-
ual behavior is online sexual activity (OSA), which
includes using the Internet for any sexual purpose,
including recreation, entertainment, exploration, or
education. Examples of OSA are using online ser-
vices to meet individuals for sexual /romantic pur-
poses, seeking sexual information on the Internet
(for instance, about contraception and STDs), and
purchasing sexual toys/paraphernalia online. What
distinguishes cybersex from OSA is that cybersex
involves online behaviors that result in sexual arousal
or gratification, while other online sexual activities
may lead to offline sexual arousal and gratifica-
tion. Sexual arousal from cybersex is more immedi-
ate and is due solely to the online behavior.
Venues
Many people assume that the World Wide Web is the
main venue for cybersex. In fact, the Web repre-
sents only a small portion of the places where cyber-
sex activities can occur. Other areas of the Internet
where cybersex may take place include the following:
Newsgroups This area serves as a bulletin
board where individuals can post text or multi-
media messages, such as sexual text, pictures,
sounds, and videos;
E-mailE-mail can be used for direct com-
munication with other individuals or groups
of individuals. In the case of cybersex, the mes-
sage may be a sexual conversation, story, picture,
sound, or video;
ChatroomsBoth sexualized conversation
and multimedia can be exchanged in chatrooms.
Casual users are familiar with Web-based chat-
ting such as Yahoo Chat or America Online
(AOL) Chat. Most Web-based chat areas have
sections dedicated to sexual chats. However,
the largest chat-based system is the Internet Relay
Chat (IRC), an area largely unfamiliar to most
casual users. In addition to text-based chatting,
142 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
IRC contains a number of chatrooms specifically
dedicated to the exchange of pornography
through file servers;
Videoconferencing/Voice ChattingThe use of
these areas is rapidly increasing. As technology
improves and connection speeds increase, the
use of the Internet for live cybersex sessions
will become commonplace. Videoconferencing
combined with voice chat constitutes a high-tech
version of a peep show mixed with an obscene
phone call; and
Peer-to-Peer File SharingSoftware packages
such as Napster and Kazaa have made file shar-
ing a popular hobby. Casual users of this soft-
ware know its use for exchanging music files, but
any file can be shared on the network, including
sexual images, sounds, and videos.
Statistics
Although the term cybersex often has negative con-
notations, research in this area suggests that
nearly 80 percent of individuals who engage in
Internet sex report no significant problems in their
lives associated with their online sexual activities.
Although this may be an underestimate since the re-
search relied on the self-reports of respondents, it
is safe to assume that the majority of individuals
who engage in cybersex behavior report this activ-
ity to be enjoyable and pleasurable, with few nega-
tive consequences.
However, there are individuals who engage in
cybersex who do report significant negative conse-
quences as a result of their online sexual behavior.
These individuals often report that their occupa-
tional, social, or educational life areas have been neg-
atively impacted or are in jeopardy as a result of their
sexual use of the Internet. Often these individuals
report a sense of being out of control or compulsive
in their sexual use of the Internet and often compare
it to addictions like gambling, eating, shopping, or
working.
Several large-scale studies estimate the per-
centage of individuals who are negatively impacted
by cybersex behaviors. While exact numbers are im-
possible given the size of the Internet, estimates are
that from 11 to 17 percent of individuals who en-
gaged in cybersex report some consequences in their
life and score moderately high on measures of gen-
eral sexual compulsivity. In addition, approximately
6 percent report feeling out of control with their
Internet sexual behavior and scored high on mea-
sures of sexual compulsivity.
Healthy Versus
Problematic Cybersex
One of the difficulties in defining cybersex as
either healthy or problematic is the fact that there
are few agreed-upon definitions about what con-
stitutes sexually healthy behavior. Society has clearly
delineated some behaviors as unhealthy, for exam-
ple, sex with children or other non-consenting part-
ners. However, people disagree about whether
masturbation, multiple affairs, bondage, and fetishes
are healthy or unhealthy. In the world of cybersex,
these same gray areas exist between healthy and un-
healthy and are often even more difficult to define
since the behavior does not include actual sexual
contact.
It is also important not to assume that frequency
is the key factor in determining whether an indi-
vidual is engaged in unhealthy cybersex. Some indi-
viduals engage in cybersex at a high frequency and
have few problems, while others who engage in it
only a few hours a week have significant negative
consequences.
Physician and researcher Jennifer Schneider pro-
posed three criteria to help determine if some-
ones behavior has become compulsivethat is,
whether the person has crossed the line from a
recreational to a problematic user of cyber-
sex. The three criteria are (1) loss of freedom to
choose whether to stop the behavior; (2) negative
consequences as a result of the behavior; and (3) ob-
sessive thinking about engaging in the behavior. The
Internet Sex Screening Test (ISS) described by coun-
seling professor David Delmonico and professor of
school psychology Jeffrey Miller can be used to con-
duct initial screening of whether an individual has
a problem with cybersex.
 CYBERSEX 143

The Appeal of the Internet

With an estimated 94 million users accessing it Cybersex Addiction
regularly, it is difficult to dispute the Internets wide-

T
he Center for Online and Internet Addiction (www
spread appeal. In 2001 Delmonico, Moriarity, and .netaddiction.com) offers the following test to help
marriage and family therapist Elizabeth Griffin, pro- diagnose cybersex addiction:
posed a model called the Cyberhex for under-
1. Do you routinely spend significant amounts of time
standing why the Internet is so attractive to its users.
in chat rooms and private messaging with the sole
Their model lists the following six characteristics:
purpose of finding cybersex?
Integral: The Internet is nearly impossible to avoid.
2. Do you feel preoccupied with using the Internet to
Even if a cybersex user decided to never use the Internet
find on-line sexual partners?
again, the integral nature of the Internet would make
3. Do you frequently use anonymous communica-
that boundary nearly impossible, since many need the
tion to engage in sexual fantasies not typically car-
Internet for work, or to access bank information, and
ried out in real-life?
so on. In addition, public availability, the use of e-mail,
4. Do you anticipate your next on-line session with the
and other activities like shopping and research make
expectation that you will find sexual arousal or
the Internet a way of life that is integrated into our daily
gratification?
routines.
5. Do you find that you frequently move from cyber-
Imposing: The Internet provides an endless sup-
sex to phone sex (or even real-life meetings)?
ply of sexual material 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
6. Do you hide your on-line interactions from your sig-
The amount of information and the imposing nature
nificant other?
of marketing sexual information on the Internet
7. Do you feel guilt or shame from your on-line use?
contributes to the seductiveness of the world of cybersex.
8. Did you accidentally become aroused by cybersex at
Inexpensive: For a relatively small fee, twenty to
first, and now find that you actively seek it out when
forty dollars per month, a user can access an intoxi-
you log on-line?
cating amount of sexual material on the Internet. In
9. Do you masturbate while on-line while engaged in
the offline world such excursions can be cost-prohibitive
erotic chat?
to many.
10. Do you provide less investment with your real-life
Isolating: Cybersex is an isolating activity. Even
sexual partner only to prefer cybersex as a primary
though interpersonal contact may be made during the
form of sexual gratification?
course of cybersex, these relationships do not require
Source: Are you addicted to cybersex. Center for Online and Internet
the same level of social skills or interactions that offline Addiction. Retrieved March 23, 2004, from http://www.netaddiction.com/
behaviors require. The Internet becomes a world in it- resources/cybersexual_addiction_test.htm

self, where it is easy to lose track of time, consequences,

and real-life relationships. The isolation of cybersex of-
ten provides an escape from the real world, and while
everyone takes short escapes, cybersex often becomes
the drug of choice to anesthetize any negative feelings
associated with real-life relationships.
Interactive: While isolating in nature, the Internet
also hooks individuals into pseudorelationships. These
pseudorelationships often approximate reality with-
out running the risks of real relationshipslike emo-
tional and physical vulnerability and intimacy. This
close approximation to reality can be fuel for the fan-
tasy life of those who experience problems with their
cybersex behaviors.
Intoxicating: This is what happens when the pre-
ceding five elements are added together. This com-
bination makes for an incredibly intoxicating
experience that is difficult for many to resist. The
intoxication of the Internet is multiplied when cyber-
sex is involved since behaviors are reinforced with
one of the most powerful rewards, sex.
Any single aspect of the Internet can be pow-
erful enough to entice a cybersex user. However,
it is typically a combination of these six factors that
draws problematic cybersex users into their rituals
144 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
and leads to their loss of control over their cyber-
sex use.
Special Populations
Engaged in Cybersex
The following subgroups of cybersex users have been
studied in some detail:
Males and Females: In the early to mid-1990s
there were three times as many males online as fe-
males. Recent research shows that the gap has closed
and that the split between male and female Internet
users is nearly fifty-fifty. As a result, research on cyber-
sex behavior has also included a significant number
of females who engage in cybersex. Most of this re-
search suggests that men tend to engage in more vi-
sual sex (for example, sexual media exchange), while
women tend to engage in more relational sex (for
example, chatrooms and e-mail). Females may
find the Internet an avenue to sexual exploration and
freedom without fear of judgment or reprisal from
society. In this way, the Internet can have genuine
benefits.
Gays and Lesbians: Researchers have reported
that homosexuals tend to engage in cybersex at higher
levels than heterosexuals, which may be because they
dont have to fear negative cultural responses or even
physical harm when they explore sexual behaviors
and relationships on the Internet. Some homosexu-
als report that cybersex is a way to engage in sexual
behavior without fear of HIV or other sexually trans-
mitted diseases. By offering homosexuals a safe
way to explore and experience their sexuality, the
Internet gives them freedom from the stigma often
placed on them by society.
Children and Adolescents: Studies conducted by
AOL and Roper Starch revealed that children use the
Internet not only to explore their own sexuality and
relationships, but also to gather accurate sexual health
information. Since many young adults have grown
up with the Internet, they often see it through a
different lens than adults. Children, adolescents, and
young adults use the Internet to seek answers to a
multitude of developmental questions, including
sexuality, which they may be afraid to address di-
rectly with other adults. Although the Internet can
be useful in educating children and adolescents about
sexuality, it can also be a dangerous venue for the de-
velopment of compulsive behavior and victimiza-
tion by online predators. Although the effect of
hardcore, explicit pornography on the sexual devel-
opment of children and adolescents has yet to be re-
searched, early exposure to such pornography may
impact their moral and sexual development.
Physically or Developmentally Challenged
People: Only recently have questions been raised
about the appropriate use of the Internet for sex-
ual and relational purposes among physically chal-
lenged individuals. This area warrants more research
and exploration, but initial writings in this area sug-
gest that the Internet can confer a tremendous ben-
efit for sexual and relationship exploration for
persons with disabilities.
While sex on the Internet can be a positive ex-
perience for these subpopulations, it can also intro-
duce the people in these groups to the same problems
associated with cybersex that other groups report.
Implications
Cybersex is changing sexuality in our culture. The
positive side is that sexual behavior is becoming more
open and varied, and better understood. The nega-
tive implications are that sexuality may become ca-
sual, trivial, and less relational.
The pornography industry continues to take ad-
vantage of the new technologies with the primary
goal of profit, and these new technologies will allow
for faster communication to support better video
and voice exchanges. The eventual development of
virtual reality technologies online will further en-
hance the online sexual experience, and perhaps make
the sexual fantasy experience more pleasurable than
real life. These technological advances will continue
to alter the way we interact and form relationships
with others.
Researchers are just starting to realize the impli-
cations of sex on the Internet. Theories like Cyberhex
are helpful in understanding why people engage in
cybersex, but the best methods for helping those strug-
gling with cybersex have yet to be discovered. However,
society will continue to be impacted by the Internet
and cybersex. Parents, teachers, and others who

have not grown up with the Internet will fail future
generations if they discount the significant impact it
can have on social and sexual development. Continued
research and education will be necessary to help in-
dividuals navigate the Internet and the world of cyber-
sex more safely.
David L. Delmonico and Elizabeth J. Griffin
See also Chatrooms; Cybercommunities
FURTHER READING
Carnes, P. J. (1983). Out of the shadows. Minneapolis, MN: CompCare.
Carnes, P. J., Delmonico, D. L., Griffin, E., & Moriarity, J. (2001). In
the shadows of the Net: Breaking free of compulsive online behavior.
Center City, MN: Hazelden Educational Materials.
Cooper, A. (Ed.). (2000). Sexual addiction & compulsivity: The jour-
nal of treatment and prevention. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Cooper, A. (Ed.). (2002). Sex and the Internet: A guidebook for clini-
cians. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Cooper, A., Delmonico, D., & Burg, R. (2000). Cybersex users, abusers,
and compulsives: New findings and implications. Sexual Addiction
and Compulsivity: Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 7, 529.
Cooper, A., Scherer, C., Boies, S. C., & Gordon, B. (1999). Sexuality on
the Internet: From sexual exploration to pathological expres-
sion. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 30(2), 154164.
Delmonico, D. L. (1997). Internet sex screening test. Retrieved
August 25, 2003, from http://www.sexhelp.com/
Delmonico, D. L., Griffin, E. J., & Moriarity, J. (2001). Cybersex un-
hooked: A workbook for breaking free of compulsive online behavior.
Wickenburg, AZ: Gentle Path Press.
Delmonico, D. L., & Miller, J. A. (2003). The Internet sex screening
test: A comparison of sexual compulsives versus non-sexual com-
pulsives. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 18(3), 261276.
Robert Starch Worldwide, Inc. (1999). The America Online/Roper
Starch Youth Cyberstudy. Author. Retrieved on December 24, 2003,
from http://www.corp.aol.com/press/roper.html/
Schneider, J. P. (1994). Sex addiction: Controversy within mainstream
addiction medicine, diagnosis based on the DSM-III-R and physi-
cian case histories. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity: The Journal
of Treatment and Prevention, 1(1), 1944.
Schneider, J. P., & Weiss, R. (2001). Cybersex exposed: Recognizing the
obsession. Center City, MN: Hazelden Educational Materials.
Tepper, M. S., & Owens, A. (2002). Access to pleasure: Onramp to
specific information on disability, illness, and other expected
changes throughout the lifespan. In A. Cooper (Ed.), Sex and
the Internet: A guidebook for clinicians. New York: Brunner-
Routledge.
Young, K. S. (1998). Caught in the Net. New York: Wiley.
Young, K. S. (2001). Tangled in the web: Understanding cybersex from
fantasy to addiction. Bloomington, IN: 1st Books Library.
CYBORGS 145
CYBORGS
A cyborg is a technologically enhanced human be-
ing. The word means cybernetic organism. Because
many people use the term cybernetics for computer
science and engineering, a cyborg could be the fu-
sion of a person and a computer. Strictly speaking,
however, cybernetics is the science of control pro-
cesses, whether they are electronic, mechanical, or
biological in nature. Thus, a cyborg is a person, some
of whose biological functions have come under tech-
nological control, by whatever means. The standard
term for a computer-simulated person is an avatar,
but when an avatar is a realistic copy of a specific real
person, the term cyclone is sometimes used, a cyber-
netic clone or virtual cyborg.
Imaginary Cyborgs
The earliest widely known cyborg in literature,
dating from the year 1900, is the Tin Woodman in
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
Originally he was a man who earned his living chop-
ping wood in the forest. He wanted to marry a beau-
tiful Munchkin girl, but the old woman with whom
the girl lived did not want to lose her labor and pre-
vailed upon the Wicked Witch of the East to enchant
his axe. The next time he went to chop wood, the axe
chopped off his left leg instead. Finding it incon-
venient to get around without one of his legs, he went
to a tinsmith who made a new one for him. The
axe then chopped off his right leg, which was then
also replaced by one made of tin. This morbid process
continued until there was nothing left of the origi-
nal man but his heart, and when that finally was
chopped out, he lost his love for the Munchkin girl.
Still, he missed the human emotions that witchcraft
and technology had stolen from him, and was ready
to join Dorothy on her journey to the Emerald City,
on a quest for a new heart.
This story introduces one of the primary themes
associated with cyborgs: the idea that a person ac-
cepts the technology to overcome a disability. That
is, the person is already less than complete, and the
technology is a substitute for full humanity, albeit an
inferior one. This is quite different from assimilating
146 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
new technology in order to become more than hu-
man, a motive severely criticized by the Presidents
Council on Bioethics in 2003. A very different
viewpoint on what it means to be disabled has been
expressed by Gregor Wolbring, a professor at the
University of Calgary. Who decides the meanings
of disability and normality is largely a political issue,
and Wolbring argues that people should generally
have the power to decide for themselves. He notes the
example of children who are born without legs be-
cause their mothers took thalidomide during preg-
nancy, then forced to use poorly designed artificial
legs because that makes them look more normal,
when some other technology would have given them
far better mobility.
C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot. C++ makes
it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg.
Bjarne Stroustrup
A common variation on the disability theme is
the hero who suffers a terrible accident, is rebuilt,
and becomes a cyborg superhero. A well-known ex-
ample is The Six Million Dollar Man, a television se-
ries that aired 19731978 and was based on the 1972
novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin. Test pilot Steve Austin
is severely injured in a plane crash, then rebuilt with
bionic (biological plus electronic) technology. A spin-
off series, The Bionic Woman (19761978) focuses
on tennis player Jaime Sommers who is similarly dis-
abled in a parachute accident. Both become super-
hero special agents, perhaps to justify the heavy
investment required to insert and maintain their
bionics. An especially striking example is the motion
picture Robocop (1987). Policeman Alex Murphy lives
in a depressing future Detroit, dominated by a single,
exploitative corporation. To control the increasingly
violent population, the corporation develops robot
police possessing overwhelming firepower but lack-
ing the judgment to interact successfully with human
beings. Thus, when Murphy is blown to pieces by
criminals, the corporation transforms him into a cy-
borg that combines human judgment with machine
power. The corporation denies Murphy the right
to be considered human, thereby forcing him to
become its enemy. This reflects a second persistent
literary theme associated with cyborgs: They re-
flect the evils of an oppressive society in which tech-
nology has become a tool by which the masters
enslave the majority.
By far the most extensive treatment of the idea
that cyborg technology is wicked can be found in the
Dalek menace from the long-running BBC televi-
sion series, Dr. Who. Sometimes mistaken for robots,
Daleks are metal-clad beings that resemble huge salt
shakers, wheeled trash cans, or British post boxes.
They became extremely popular villains since their
first appearance in 1963. Two low-budget feature
films that retold the first TV serials added to their
fame, Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Dr. Who:
Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966). Inside a
Daleks metal shell lurks a helpless, sluggish creature
with vestigial claws, yet the combination of biol-
ogy and technology gave it the possibility of con-
quering the universe. Their motto describes how they
treat all other living creatures: Exterminate. The
secret of their origins is revealed in the 1975 serial,
Genesis of the Daleks. The protagonist of Dr. Who,
The Doctor, lands his time machine on the battle-
scarred planet Skaro, just as the nuclear war between
the Thals and the Kaleds reaches its climax. Davros,
the evil (and disabled) Kaled scientist, recognizes
that chemical weapons are causing his people to mu-
tate horribly, and rather than resist this trend, he
accelerates it, transforming humans into the vile
Dalek cyborgs.
Real Cyborg Research
Since human beings began wearing clothing, the
boundary between ourselves and our technology has
blurred. Arguably, everybody who wears a wristwatch
or carries a cell phone is already a cyborg. But the
usual definition implies that a human body has been
modified, typically by insertion of some nonbiological
technology. In the early years of the twentieth cen-
tury, when surgeons first gained technological
control over pain and infection, many brave or irre-
sponsible doctors began experimenting with im-
provements to their patients. Sir William Arbuthnot
Lane, the British royal physician, theorized that many
illnesses were caused by a sluggish movement of food

through the bowels that supposedly flooded the sys-
tem with poisonous toxins. Diagnosing this chronic
intestinal stasis in many cases, Lane performed
surgery to remove bands and adhesions, and free the
intestines to do their job. Some of his colleagues op-
erated on neurotic patients, believing that moving
the abdominal organs into their proper places could
alleviate mental disorders. Later generations of doc-
tors abandoned these dangerous and useless pro-
cedures, but one of Lanes innovations has persisted.
He was the first to plate a bonethat is to screw Visions of the Future
a supportive metal plate onto a broken bone. Today
many thousands of people benefit from artificial hip
and knee joints.
In World War I, even before the introduction
of antibiotics, rigorous scientific techniques were
sufficiently effective to prevent death from infection
in most wounded cases, thereby vastly increasing the
number of people who survived with horrendous
war-caused disabilities. The Carrel-Dakin technique
was especially impressive, employing an antiseptic
solution of sodium hypochlorite in amazingly rig-
orous procedures. Suppose a soldiers leg had been
badly torn by an artillery shell. The large and irreg-
ular wound would be entirely opened up and cleaned.
Then tubes would be placed carefully in all parts of
the wound to drip the solution very slowly, for
days and even for weeks. Daily, a technician takes
samples from every part of the wound, examining
them under the microscope, until no more microbes
are seen and the wound can be sewed up. Restorative
plastic surgery and prosthetics could often help the
survivors live decent lives.
In the second half of the twentieth century, much
progress was achieved with transplants of living
tissuesuch as kidneys from donors and coronary
artery bypass grafts using material from the patient.
Inorganic components were also successfully in-
troduced, from heart values to tooth implants.
Pacemakers to steady the rhythm of the heart and
cochlear transplants to overcome deafness are among
the relatively routine electronic components inserted
into human bodies, and experiments are being
carried out with retina chips to allow the blind to
see. There are many difficult technical challenges,
notably how to power artificial limbs, how to connect
large components to the structure of the human body
CYBORGS 147
safely, and how to interface active or sensory com-
ponents to the human nervous system. Several re-
searchers, such as Miguel Nicolelis of Duke
University, have been experimenting with brain im-
plants in monkeys that allow them to operate artifi-
cial arms, with the hope that this approach could be
applied therapeutically to human beings in the near
future.
Kevin Warwick, professor of Cybernetics at Reading
University in Britain, is so convinced of the near-term
prospects for cyborg technology, that he has experi-
mented on his own body. In 1998, he had surgeons
implant a transponder in his left arm so a computer
could monitor his movements. His first implant
merely consisted of a coil that picked up power from
a transmitter and reflected it back, letting the com-
puter know where he was so it could turn on lights
when he entered a room. In 2002 he had neuro-
surgeons connect his nervous system temporarily
to a computer for some very modest experiments, but
in the future he imagines that implants interfacing
between computers and the human nervous system
will allow people to store, playback, and even share
experiences. He plans someday to experiment with
the stored perceptions associated with drinking wine,
to see if playing them back really makes him feel
drunk. His wife, Irena, has agreed that someday
they both will receive implants to share feelings
such as happiness, sexual arousal, and even pain. In
the long run, Warwick believes, people will join
with their computers to become superhuman cyborgs.
In so doing, they will adopt a radically new concep-
tion of themselves, including previously unknown
understandings, perceptions, and desires.
Natasha Vita-More, an artist and futurist, has
sketched designs for the cyborg posthuman she
calls Primo, based on aesthetics and general techno-
logical trends. Although she is not building proto-
types or experimenting with components at the
present time, she believes that her general vision could
be achieved within this century. Primo would be age-
less rather than mortal, capable of upgrades when-
ever an organ wore out or was made obsolete by
technical progress, and able to change gender
148 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
whenever (s)he desires. Nanotechnology would give
Primo 1,000 times the brainpower of a current hu-
man, and thus capable of running multiple viewpoints
in parallel rather than being locked into one narrow
frame of awareness. Primos senses would cover a
vastly wider bandwidth, with sonar mapping onto the
visual field at will, an internal grid for navigating and
moving anywhere like an acrobatic dancer with
perfect sense of direction, and a nervous system
that can transmit information from any area of the
body to any other instantly. Primos nose could iden-
tify any chemical or biological substance in the en-
vironment, and smart skin will not only protect the
body, but provide vastly enhanced sensations. Instead
of the depression and envy that oppress modern
humans, (s)he would be filled with ecstatic yet real-
istic optimism. The old fashioned bodys need to elim-
inate messy wastes will be transcended by Primos
ability to recycle and purify.
William J. Mitchell, the director of Media Arts and
Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
argues that we have already evolved beyond tradi-
tional homo sapiens by become embedded in a
ubiquitous communication network. The title of
his book, ME++: The Cyborg Self and the Networked
City (2003), offers a nice metaphor derived from
the C language for programming computers. C was
originally developed by a telephone company (Bell
Labs) and has become possibly the most influential
language among professional programmers, especially
in the modular version called C++. In C (and in the
Java language as well), ++ means to increment a
number by adding 1 to it. Thus, C++ is one level more
than C, and ME++ is one level more than me, in which
technology takes me above and beyond myself. A per-
son who is thoroughly plugged in experiences radi-
cally transformed consciousness: I construct, and I
am constructed, in a mutually recursive process
that continually engages my fluid, permeable bound-
aries and my endlessly ramifying networks. I am a
spatially extended cyborg (Mitchell 2003, 39).
Williams Sims Bainbridge
FURTHER READING
Bainbridge, W. S. (1919). Report on medical and surgical developments
of the war. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Barnes, B. A. (1977). Discarded operations: Surgical innovation by
trial and error. In J. P. Bunker, B. A. Barnes, & F. Mosteller (Eds.),
Costs, risks, and benefits of surgery (pp. 109123). New York: Oxford
University Press.
Baum, L. F. (1900). The wonderful wizard of Oz. Chicago: G. M. Hill.
Bentham, J. (1986). Doctor Who: The early years. London: W. H. Allen.
Caidin, M. (1972). Cyborg. New York: Arbor House.
Haining, P. (Ed.). (1983). Doctor Who: A celebration. London:
W. H. Allen.
Mitchell, W. J. (2003). ME++: The cyborg self and the networked city.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Nicolelis, M. A. L., & Srinivasan, M. A. (2003). Human-machine
interaction: Potential impact of nanotechnology in the design of
neuroprosthetic devices aimed at restoring or augmenting human
performance. In M. C. Roco & W. S. Bainbridge (Eds.), Converging
technologies for improving human performance (pp. 251255).
Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Presidents Council on Bioethics. (2003). Beyond therapy: Biotechnology
and the pursuit of happiness. Washington, DC: Presidents Council
on Bioethics.
Warwick, K. (2000). Cyborg 1.0. Wired, 8(2), 144151.
Wolbring, G. (2003). Science and technology and the triple D (Disease,
Disability, Defect). In M. C. Roco & W. S. Bainbridge (Eds.),
Converging technologies for improving human performance
(pp. 232243). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.

D
DATA MINING
Data mining is the process of automatic discovery
of valid, novel, useful, and understandable patterns,
associations, changes, anomalies, and statistically sig-
nificant structures from large amounts of data. It is
an interdisciplinary field merging ideas from sta-
tistics, machine learning, database systems and data-
warehousing, and high-performance computing, as
well as from visualization and human-computer in-
teraction. It was engendered by the economic and
scientific need to extract useful information from
the data that has grown phenomenally in all spheres
of human endeavor.
It is crucial that the patterns, rules, and models
that are discovered be valid and generalizable not only
in the data samples already examined, but also in
DATA MINING
DATA VISUALIZATION
DEEP BLUE
DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK
DESKTOP METAPHOR
DIALOG SYSTEMS
DIGITAL CASH
DIGITAL DIVIDE
DIGITAL GOVERNMENT
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
DRAWING AND DESIGN
future data samples. Only then can the rules and mod-
els obtained be considered meaningful. The discov-
ered patterns should also be novel, that is, not already
known to experts; otherwise, they would yield very
little new understanding. Finally, the discoveries
should be useful as well as understandable.
Typically data mining has two high-level goals:
prediction and description. The former answers the
question of what and the latter the question of
why. For prediction, the key criterion is the accuracy
of the model in making future predictions; how
the prediction decision is arrived at may not be
important. For description, the key criterion is the
clarity and simplicity of the model describing the
data in understandable terms. There is sometimes
a dichotomy between these two aspects of data min-
ing in that the most accurate prediction model for
a problem may not be easily understandable, and the
149
150 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
most easily understandable model may not be highly
accurate in its predictions.
Steps in Data Mining
Data mining refers to the overall process of discov-
ering new patterns or building models from a
given dataset. There are many steps involved in the
mining enterprise. These include data selection, data
cleaning and preprocessing, data transformation and
reduction, data mining task and algorithm selection,
and finally, postprocessing and the interpretation
of discovered knowledge. Here are the most im-
portant steps:
Understand the application domain: A proper
understanding of the application domain is neces-
sary to appreciate the data mining outcomes desired
by the user. It is also important to assimilate and take
advantage of available prior knowledge to maximize
the chance of success.
Collect and create the target dataset: Data min-
ing relies on the availability of suitable data that
reflects the underlying diversity, order, and structure
of the problem being analyzed. Therefore, it is cru-
cial to collect a dataset that captures all the possi-
ble situations relevant to the problem being analyzed.
Clean and transform the target dataset: Raw data
contain many errors and inconsistencies, such as
noise, outliers, and missing values. An important el-
ement of this process is the unduplication of data
records to produce a nonredundant dataset. Another
important element of this process is the normal-
ization of data records to deal with the kind of
pollution caused by the lack of domain consistency.
Select features and reduce dimensions: Even
after the data have been cleaned up in terms of elim-
inating duplicates, inconsistencies, missing values,
and so on, there may still be noise that is irrelevant
to the problem being analyzed. These noise attrib-
utes may confuse subsequent data mining steps, pro-
duce irrelevant rules and associations, and increase
computational cost. It is therefore wise to perform
a dimension-reduction or feature-selection step to
separate those attributes that are pertinent from those
that are irrelevant.
Apply data mining algorithms: After perform-
ing the preprocessing steps, apply appropriate data
mining algorithmsassociation rule discovery, se-
quence mining, classification tree induction, clus-
tering, and so onto analyze the data.
Interpret, evaluate, and visualize patterns: After
the algorithms have produced their output, it is still
necessary to examine the output in order to inter-
pret and evaluate the extracted patterns, rules, and
models. It is only by this interpretation and evalu-
ation process that new insights on the problem be-
ing analyzed can be derived.
Data Mining Tasks
In verification-driven data analysis the user postu-
lates a hypothesis, and the system tries to validate it.
Common verification-driven operations include
querying and reporting, multidimensional analysis,
and statistical analysis. Data mining, on the other
hand, is discovery driventhat is, it automatically
extracts new hypotheses from data. The typical data
mining tasks include the following:
Association rules: Given a database of trans-
actions, where each transaction consists of a set of
items, association discovery finds all the item sets
that frequently occur together, and also the rules
among them. For example, 90 percent of people
who buy cookies also buy milk (60 percent of gro-
cery shoppers buy both).
Sequence mining: The sequence-mining task is
to discover sequences of events that commonly oc-
cur together. For example, 70 percent of the people
who buy Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice also buy
Emma within a month.
Similarity search: An example is the problem
where a person is given a database of objects and a
query object, and is then required to find those
objects in the database that are similar to the query
object. Another example is the problem where a per-
son is given a database of objects, and is then required
to find all pairs of objects in the databases that are
within some distance of each other.
Deviation detection: Given a database of objects,
find those objects that are the most different from
the other objects in the databasethat is, the out-
liers. These objects may be thrown away as noise, or
they may be the interesting ones, depending on the
specific application scenario.

Classification and regression: This is also called
supervised learning. In the case of classification, some-
one is given a database of objects that are labeled with
predefined categories or classes. They are required
to develop from these objects a model that separates
them into the predefined categories or classes.
Then, given a new object, the learned model is applied
to assign this new object to one of the classes. In the
more general situation of regression, instead of pre-
dicting classes, real-valued fields have to be predicted.
Clustering: This is also called unsupervised learn-
ing. Here, given a database of objects that are usu-
ally without any predefined categories or classes, the
individual is required to partition the objects into
subsets or groups such that elements of a group share
a common set of properties. Moreover, the partition
should be such that the similarity between members
of the same group is high and the similarity between
members of different groups is low.
Challenges in Data Mining
Many existing data mining techniques are usually ad
hoc; however, as the field matures, solutions are
being proposed for crucial problems like the incor-
poration of prior knowledge, handling missing data,
adding visualization, improving understandability,
and other research challenges. These challenges in-
clude the following:
Scalability: How does a data mining algorithm
perform if the dataset has increased in volume and
in dimensions? This may call for some innovations
based on efficient and sufficient sampling, or on a
trade-off between in-memory and disk-based pro-
cessing, or on an approach based on high-perfor-
mance distributed or parallel computing.
New data formats: To date, most data mining re-
search has focused on structured data, because it is
the simplest and most amenable to mining. However,
support for other data types is crucial. Examples in-
clude unstructured or semistructured (hyper)text,
temporal, spatial, and multimedia databases. Mining
these is fraught with challenges, but it is necessary
because multimedia content and digital libraries pro-
liferate at astounding rates.
Handling data streams: In many domains the
data changes over time and/or arrives in a constant
DATA MINING 151
stream. Extracted knowledge thus needs to be con-
stantly updated.
Database integration: The various steps of the
mining process, along with the core data mining
methods, need to be integrated with a database
system to provide common representation, storage,
and retrieval. Moreover, enormous gains are possi-
ble when these are combined with parallel data-
base servers.
Privacy and security issues in mining: Privacy-
preserving data mining techniques are invaluable in
cases where one may not look at the detailed data,
but one is allowed to infer high-level information.
This also has relevance for the use of mining for na-
tional security applications.
Human interaction: While a data mining algo-
rithm and its output may be readily handled by a
computer scientist, it is important to realize that the
ultimate user is often not the developer. In order for
a data mining tool to be directly usable by the ulti-
mate user, issues of automationespecially in the
sense of ease of usemust be addressed. Even for
computer scientists, the use and incorporation of
prior knowledge into a data mining algorithm is often
a challenge; they too would appreciate data mining
algorithms that can be modularized in a way that fa-
cilitates the exploitation of prior knowledge.
Data mining is ultimately motivated by the
need to analyze data from a variety of practical
applications from business domains such as
finance, marketing, telecommunications, and man-
ufacturing, or from scientific fields such as biology,
geology, astronomy, and medicine. Identifying new
application domains that can benefit from data min-
ing will lead to the refinement of existing techniques,
and also to the development of new methods where
current tools are inadequate.
Mohammed J. Zaki
FURTHER READING
Association for Computing Machinerys special interest group on
knowledge discovery and data mining. Retrieved August 21, 2003,
from http://www.acm.org/sigkdd.
Dunham, M. H. (2002). Data mining: Introductory and advanced top-
ics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
152 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Han, J., & Kamber, M. (2000). Data mining: Concepts and techniques.
San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman.
Hand, D. J., Mannila, H., & Smyth, P. (2001). Principles of data mining.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kantardzic, M. (2002). Data mining: Concepts, models, methods, and
algorithms. Somerset, NJ: Wiley-IEEE Press.
Witten, I. H., & Frank, E. (1999). Data mining: Practical machine learn-
ing tools and techniques with Java implementations. San Francisco:
Morgan Kaufmann.
DATA VISUALIZATION
Data visualization is a new discipline that uses com-
puters to make pictures that elucidate a concept,
phenomenon, relationship, or trend hidden in a
large quantity of data. By using interactive three-
dimensional (3D) graphics, data visualization goes
beyond making static illustrations or graphs and em-
phasizes interactive exploration.
The pervasive use of computers in all fields of
science, engineering, medicine, and commerce has
resulted in an explosive growth of data, presenting
people with unprecedented challenges in under-
standing data. Data visualization transforms raw data
into pictures that exploit the superior visual pro-
cessing capability of the human brain to detect
patterns and draw inferences, revealing insights hid-
den in the data. For example, data visualization al-
lows us to capture trends, structures, and anomalies
in the behavior of a physical process being modeled
or in vast amounts of Internet data. Furthermore, it
provides us with a visual and remote means to com-
municate our findings to others.
Since publication of a report on visualization in
scientific computing by the U.S. National Science
Foundation in 1987, both government and industry
have invested tremendous research and development
in data-visualization technology, resulting in advances
in visualization and interactive techniques that have
helped lead to many scientific discoveries, better en-
gineering designs, and more timely and accurate
medical diagnoses.
Visualization Process
A typical data-visualization process involves mul-
tiple steps, including data generation, filtering, map-
ping, rendering, and viewing. The data-generation
step can be a numerical simulation, a laboratory
experiment, a collection of sensors, an image scan-
ner, or a recording of Web-based business trans-
actions. Filtering removes noise, extracts and
enhances features, or rescales data. Mapping derives
appropriate representations of data for the render-
ing step. The representations can be composed of
geometric primitives such as point, lines, poly-
gons, and surfaces, supplemented with properties
such as colors, transparency, textures. Whereas the
visualization of a computerized tomography (CT)
scan of a fractured bone should result in an image
of a bone, plenty of room for creativity exists when
making a visual depiction of the trend of a stock mar-
ket or the chemical reaction in a furnace.
Rendering generates two-dimensional or
three-dimensional images based on the mapping re-
sults and other rendering parameters, such as the
lighting model, viewing position, and so forth. Finally,
the resulting images are displayed for viewing. Both
photorealistic and nonphotorealistic rendering tech-
niques exist for different purposes of visual com-
munication. Nonphotorealistic rendering, which
mimics how artists use brushes, strokes, texture, color,
layout, and so forth, is usually used to increase the
clarity of the spatial relationship between objects,
improve the perception of an objects shape and size,
or give a particular type of media presentation.
Note that the filtering and mapping steps are
largely application dependent and often require do-
main knowledge to perform. For example, the fil-
tering and mapping steps for the visualization of
website structure or browsing patterns would be
quite different from those of brain tumors or
bone fractures.
A data-visualization process is inherently itera-
tive. That is, after visualization is made, the user
should be able to go back to any previous steps,
including the data-generation step, which consists
o f a nu m e r i c a l o r p hy s i c a l m o d e l , to m a ke
changes such that more information can be obtained
from the revised visualization. The changes may be
made in a systematic way or by trial and error.
The goal is to improve the model and understand-
ing of the corresponding problem via this visual
feedback process.

Computational Steering
Data visualization should not be performed in iso-
lation. It is an integral part of data analysis and the
scientific discovery process. Appropriate visualiza-
tion tools integrated into a modeling process can
greatly enhance scientists productivity, improve the
efficiency of hardware utilization, and lead to scien-
tific breakthroughs. The use of visualization to drive
scientific discovery processes has become a trend.
However, we still lack adequate methods to achieve
computational steeringthe process of inter-
acting with as well as changing states, parameters, or
resolution of a numerical simulationand to be able
to see the effect immediately, without stopping or
restarting the simulation. Consequently, the key to
successful data visualization is interactivity, the abil-
ity to effect change while watching the changes
take effect in real time on the screen.
If all the steps in the modeling and visualization
processes can be performed in a highly interactive
fashion, steering can be achieved. The ability to steer
a numerical model makes the visualization process
a closed loop, becoming a scientific discovery process
that is self-contained. Students can benefit from such
a process because they can more easily move from
concepts to solutions. Researchers can become much
more productive because they can make changes ac-
cording to the interactive graphical interpretation of
the simulation states without restarting the simu-
lation every time.
Computational steering has been attempted in
only a few fields. An example is the SCIRun system
used in computational medicine. To adopt compu-
tational steering, researchers likely must redesign the
computational model that is required to incorporate
feedback and changes needed in a steering process.
More research is thus needed to make computational
steering feasible in general.
Computer-Assisted Surgery
During the past ten years significant advances have
been made in rendering software and hardware tech-
nologies, resulting in higher fidelity and real-time
visualization. Computer-assisted surgery is an
application of such advanced visualization tech-
nologies with a direct societal impact. Computer
DATA VISUALIZATION 153
visualization can offer better 3D spatial acuity than
humans have, and computer-assisted surgery is more
reliable and reproducible. However, computer-
assisted surgery has several challenges. First, the en-
tire visualization processconsisting of 3D
reconstruction, segmentation, rendering, and image
transport and displaymust be an integrated part
of the end-to-end surgical planning and procedure.
Second, the visualization must be in real time, that
is, flicker free. Delayed visual response could lead to
dangerous outcomes for a surgery patient. Most im-
portant, the visualization must attain the required
accuracy and incorporate quantitative measuring
mechanisms.
Telesurgery, which allows surgeons at remote sites
to participate in surgery, will be one of the major ap-
plications of virtual reality and augmented reality
(where the virtual world and real world are allowed
to coexist and a superimposed view is presented to
the user). Due to the distance between a patient and
surgeons, telesurgery has much higher data visual-
ization, hardware, and network requirements.
Nevertheless, fast-improving technology and de-
creasing costs will make such surgery increasingly
appealing. Whether and how much stereoscopic
viewing can benefit surgeons remains to be investi-
gated. The most needed advance, however, is in inter-
face software and hardware.
User Interfaces for Data Visualization
Most data visualization systems supply the user with
a suit of visualization tools that requires the user
to be familiar with both the corresponding user in-
terfaces and a large visualization parameter space (a
multidimensional space which consists of those
input variables used by the visualization program).
Intuitive and intelligent user interfaces can greatly
assist the user in the process of data exploration. First,
the visual representation of the process of data ex-
ploration and results can be incorporated into the
user interface of a visualization system. Such an inter-
face can help the user to keep track of the visualiza-
tion experience, use it to generate new visualizations,
and share it with others. Consequently, the interface
needs to display not only the visualizations but
also the visualization process to the user. Second, the
154 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
task of exploring large and complex data and visu-
alization parameter space during the mapping step
can be delegated to an intelligent system such as a
neural network. One example is to turn the 3D
segmentation problem into a simple 2D painting
process for the user, leaving the neural network to
classify the multidimensional data. As a result, the
user can focus on the visualizations rather than on
the user interface widgets (e.g., a color editor, plot-
ting area, or layout selector) for browsing through
the multidimensional parameter space. Such next-
generation user interfaces can enhance data un-
derstanding while reducing the cost of visualization
by eliminating the iterative trial-and-error process
of parameter selection. For routine analysis of large-
scale data sets, the saving can be tremendous.
Research Directions
The pervasiveness of the World Wide Web in aver-
age peoples lives has led to a data explosion. Some
data are relevant to some peoples needs, but most
are not. Nevertheless, many people do their every-
day jobs by searching huge databases of information
distributed in locations all over the world. A large
number of computer services repeatedly operate on
these databases. Information visualization, a branch
of visualization, uses visual-based analysis of data
with no spatial references, such as a large amount of
text and document. A data mining step (the proce-
dure to reduce the size, dimensionality, and/or com-
plexity of a data set), which may be considered as the
filtering step, usually precedes the picture-making
step of visualization. The mapping step often con-
verts reduced relations into graphs or charts. Most
information visualizations are thus about display-
ing and navigating 2D or 3D graphs. People need
new reduction, mapping, and navigation methods
so that they can manage, comprehend, and use the
fast-growing information on the World Wide Web.
Other important research directions in data
visualization include improving the clarity of visu-
alizations, multidimensional and multivariate data
(a data set with a large number of dependent vari-
ables) visualization, interaction mechanisms for large
and shared display space, visualization designs guided
by visual perception study, and user studies for mea-
suring the usability of visualization tools and the suc-
cess of visualizations.
Kwan-Liu Ma
See also Information Spaces; Sonification
FURTHER READING
Johnson, C., & Parker, S. (1995). Applications in computational med-
icine using SCIRun: A computational steering programming
environment. The 10th International Supercomputer Conference
(pp. 219).
Ma, K. L. (2000). Visualizing visualizations: Visualization viewpoints.
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 20(5), 1619.
Ma, K.-L. (2004). VisualizationA quickly emerging field. Computer
Graphics, 38(1), 47.
McCormick, B., DeFanti, T., & Brown, M. (1987). Visualization in sci-
entific computing. Computer Graphics, 21(6)
DEEP BLUE
In 1997, the chess machine Deep Blue fulfilled a
long-standing challenge in computer science by de-
feating the human world chess champion, Garry
Kasparov, in a six-game match. The idea that a com-
puter could defeat the best humanity had to offer in
an intellectual game such as chess brought many
important questions to the forefront: Are com-
puters intelligent? Do computers need to be intelli-
gent in order to solve difficult or interesting
problems? How can the unique strengths of humans
and computers best be exploited?
Early History
Even before the existence of electronic computers,
there was a fascination with the idea of machines
that could play games. The Turk was a chess-playing
machine that toured the world in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, to much fanfare. Of course the
technology in the Turk was mainly concerned with
concealing the diminutive human chess master hid-
den inside the machine.

In 1949, the influential mathematician Claude
Shannon (19162001) proposed chess as an ideal
domain for exploring the potential of the then-new
electronic computer. This idea was firmly grasped
by those studying artificial intelligence (AI), who
viewed games as providing an excellent test bed for
exploring many types of AI research. In fact, chess
has often been said to play the same role in the field
of artificial intelligence that the fruit fly plays in ge-
netic research. Although breeding fruit flies has
no great practical value, they are excellent subjects
for genetic research: They breed quickly, have suffi-
cient variation, and it is cheap to maintain a large
population. Similarly, chess avoids some aspects
of complex real-world domains that have proven
difficult, such as natural-language understanding,
vision, and robotics, while having sufficient com-
plexity to allow an automated problem solver to
focus on core AI issues such as search and knowl-
edge representation.
Chess programs made steady progress in the
following decades, particularly after researchers aban-
doned the attempt to emulate human thought
processes and instead focused on doing a more thor-
ough and exhaustive exploration of possible move
sequences. It was soon observed that the playing
strength of such brute-force chess programs cor-
related strongly with the speed of the underlying
computer, and chess programs gained in strength
both from more sophisticated programs and faster
computers.
Deep Blue
The Deep Blue computer chess system was devel-
oped in 19891997 by a team (Murray Campbell, A.
Joseph Hoane, Jr., Feng-hsiung Hsu) from IBMs
T. J. Watson Research Center. Deep Blue was a leap
ahead of the chess-playing computers that had gone
before it. This leap resulted from a number of fac-
tors, including:
a computer chip designed specifically for high-
speed chess calculations,
a large-scale parallel processing system, with more
than five hundred processors cooperating to se-
lect a move,
DEEP BLUE 155
a complex evaluation function to assess the good-
ness of a chess position, and
a strong emphasis on intelligent exploration
(selective search) of the possible move sequences.
The first two factors allowed the full Deep Blue
system to examine 100200 million chess positions
per second while selecting a move, and the complex
evaluation function allowed Deep Blue to make more
informed decisions. However, a naive brute-force ap-
plication of Deep Blues computational power would
have been insufficient to defeat the top human chess
players. It was essential to combine the computers
power with a method to focus the search on move
sequences that were important. Deep Blues selective
search allowed it to search much more deeply on the
critical move sequences.
Deep Blue first played against world champion
Garry Kasparov in 1996, with Kasparov winning the
six-game match by a score of 4-2. A revamped Deep
Blue, with improved evaluation and more compu-
tational power, won the 1997 rematch by a score of
3.52.5.
Human and Computer
Approaches to Chess
It is clear that systems like Deep Blue choose moves
using methods radically different from those em-
ployed by human experts. These differences result
in certain characteristic strengths of the two types
of players. Computers tend to excel at the short-
range tactical aspects of a game, mainly due to an
extremely thorough investigation of possible move
sequences. Human players can only explore perhaps
a few dozen positions while selecting a move, but
can assess the long-term strategic implications of
these moves in a way that has proven difficult for
a computer.
The combination of human and computer play-
ers has proven to be very powerful. High-level chess
players routinely use computers as part of their prepa-
ration. One typical form of interaction would have the
human player suggest strategically promising moves
that are validated tactically by the computer player.
156 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Research Areas
While computer programs such as Deep Blue achieve
a very high level of play, most of the knowledge in
such systems is carefully crafted by human experts.
Much research is needed to understand how to have
future systems learn the knowledge necessary to play
the game without extensive human intervention.
TD-gammon, a neural-network system that plays
world-class backgammon, was an early leader in
this area.
Determining the best mode for humans and
computers to interact in a more cooperative man-
ner (for example, with one or the other acting as as-
sistant, trainer, or coach) is another area worthy of
further research. Game-playing programs that are
based on large-scale searches have problems in trans-
lating the search results into forms that humans can
deal with easily.
Some types of games, such as the Chinese
game Go, have too many possible moves to allow a
straightforward application of the methods used for
chess, and pose significant challenges. Games with
hidden information and randomness, such as poker
or bridge, also require new and interesting ap-
proaches. Interactive games, which employ com-
puter-generated characters in simulated worlds, can
be more realistic and entertaining if the characters
can behave in intelligent ways. Providing such
intelligent characters is a key goal for future AI
researchers.
Murray Campbell
See also Artificial Intelligence
FURTHER READING
Campbell, M., Hoane, A. J., & Hsu, F. (2002). Deep Blue. Artificial
Intelligence, 134(12), 5783.
Frey, P. W. (Ed.). (1983). Chess skill in man and machine. New York:
Springer-Verlag.
Hsu, F. (2002). Behind Deep Blue: Building the computer that
defeated the world chess champion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Laird, J. E., & van Lent, M. (2000). Human-level AIs killer applica-
tion: Interactive computer games. AI Magazine, 22(2), 1526.
Marsland, T. A., & Schaeffer, J. (Eds.). (1990). Computers, chess, and
cognition. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Newborn, M. (2003). Deep Blue: An artificial intelligence milestone.
New York: Springer-Verlag.
Schaeffer, J. (2001). A gamut of games. AI Magazine, 22(3), 2946.
Schaeffer, J., & van den Herik, J. (Eds.). (2002). Chips challenging cham-
pions: Games, computers, and artificial intelligence. New York:
Elsevier.
Shannon, C. (1950). Programming a computer for playing chess.
Philosophical Magazine, 41, 256275.
Standage, T. (2002). The Turk: The life and times of the famous
eighteenth-century chess-playing machine. New York: Walker &
Company.
DENIAL-OF-SERVICE
ATTACK
A denial-of-service (DoS) attack causes the con-
sumption of a computing systems resources
typically with malicious intenton such a scale as
to compromise the ability of other users to interact
with that system. Virgil Gligor coined the term denial-
of-service attack in reference to attacks on operating
systems (OS) and network protocols. Recently the
term has been used specifically in reference to attacks
executed over the Internet.
As governments and businesses increasingly rely
on the Internet, the damage that a DoS attack can
cause by the disruption of computer systems has
provided incentive for attackers to launch such at-
tacks and for system operators to defend against such
attacks.
Evolution of
Denial-of-Service Attacks
DoS vulnerabilities occur when a poor resources-allo-
cation policy allows a malicious user to allocate so
many resources that insufficient resources are left for
legitimate users. Early DoS attacks on multiuser
operating systems involved one user spawning a large
number of processes or allocating a large amount of
memory, which would exhaust the memory avail-
able and result in operating system overload.
Early network DoS attacks took advantage of the
fact that the early Internet was designed with implicit
trust in the computers connected to it. The unin-

tended result of this trust was that users paid little
attention to handling packets (the fundamental unit
of data transferred between computers on the
Internet) that did not conform to standard Internet
protocols. When a computer received a malformed
packet that its software was not equipped to handle,
it might crash, thus denying service to other users.
These early DoS attacks were relatively simple and
could be defended against by upgrading the OS soft-
ware that would identify and reject malformed pack-
ets. However, network DoS attacks rapidly increased
in complexity over time.
A more serious threat emerged from the implicit
trust in the Internets design: The protocols in the
Internet themselves could be exploited to execute a
DoS attack. The difference between exploiting an
Internet software implementation (as did the pre-
vious class of DoS attacks) and exploiting an Internet
protocol itself was that the former were easy to iden-
tify (malformed packets typically did not occur out-
side of an attack) and once identified could be
defended against, whereas protocol-based attacks
could simply look like normal traffic and were dif-
ficult to defend against without affecting legiti-
mate users as well. An example of a protocol attack
was TCP SYN flooding. This attack exploited the fact
that much of the communication between comput-
ers over the Internet was initiated by a TCP hand-
shake where the communicating computers
exchanged specialized packets known as SYN pack-
ets. By completing only half of the handshake, an
attacker could leave the victim computer waiting for
the handshake to complete. Because computers could
accept only a limited number of connections at
one time, by repeating the half-handshake many
times an attacker could fill the victim computers
connection capacity, causing it to reject new con-
nections by legitimate users or, even worse, causing
the OS to crash. A key component of this attack was
that an attacker was able to hide the origin of his
or her packets and pose as different computer
users so the victim had difficulty knowing which
handshakes were initiated by the attacker and which
were initiated by legitimate users.
Then another class of DoS attack began to ap-
pear: distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
The difference between traditional DoS attacks
DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK 157
and the DDoS variant was that attackers were be-
ginning to use multiple computers in each attack,
thus amplifying the attack. Internet software imple-
mentation and protocol attacks did not require mul-
tiple attackers to be successful, and effective defenses
were designed (in some cases) against them. A DDoS
attack, however, did not require a software imple-
mentation or protocol flaw to be present. Rather, a
DDoS attack would consist of an attacker using mul-
tiple computers (hundreds to tens of thousands)
to send traffic at the maximum rate to a victims com-
puter. The resulting flood of packets was sometimes
enough to either overload the victims computer
(causing it to slow to a crawl or crash) or overload
the communication line from the Internet to that
computer. The DDoS attacker would subvert con-
trol of other peoples computers for use in the attack,
often using flaws in the computers control code sim-
ilar to Internet software implementation DoS attacks
or simply attaching the attack control codes in an
e-mail virus or Internet worm. The presence of at-
tacking computers on many portions of the Internet
gave this class of attacks its name.
Defense against DoS Attacks
Defending against DoS attacks is often challenging
because the very design of the Internet allows
them to occur. The Internets size requires that even
the smallest change to one of its fundamental pro-
tocols be compatible with legacy systems that do not
implement the change. However, users can deploy
effective defenses without redesigning the entire
Internet. For example, the defense against Internet
software implementation DoS attacks is as simple as
updating the software on a potential victims com-
puter; because the packets in this type of attack are
usually malformed, the compatibility restriction is
easy to meet.
Defending against a protocol-level attack is more
difficult because of the similarity of the attack it-
self to legitimate traffic. Experts have proposed several
mechanisms, which mostly center on the concept of
forcing all computers initiating a handshake to show
that they have performed some amount of work
during the handshake. The expectation is that an
attacker will not have the computing power to
158 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
impersonate multiple computers making handshake
requests. Unfortunately, this class of defenses requires
a change in the Internet protocol that must be im-
plemented by all computers wanting to contact the
potential victims computer. Moreover, more
protocol-compliant solutions involve placing be-
tween the victims computer and the Internet spe-
cialized devices that are designed to perform many
handshakes at once and to pass only completed hand-
shakes to the victim.
The DDoS variant of DoS attacks is the most dif-
ficult to defend against because the attack simply
overwhelms the victims computer with too many
packets or, worse, saturates the victims connection
to the Internet so that many packets are dropped be-
fore ever reaching the victims computer or network.
Some businesses rely on overprovisioning, which
is the practice of buying computer resources far in
excess of expected use, to mitigate DDoS attacks; this
practice is expensive but raises the severity of an
attack that is necessary to disable a victim. Proposed
defenses against this type of attackmore so than
proposed defenses against other types of attacks
have focused on changing Internet protocols. Many
proposals favor some type of traceback mechanism,
which allows the victim of an attack to determine
the identity and location of the attacking comput-
ers, in the hope that filters can be installed in the
Internet to minimize the flood of traffic while
leaving legitimate traffic unaffected. At the time of
this writing, no DDoS defense proposal has been ac-
cepted by the Internet community.
The Future
DoS attacks are likely to trouble the Internet for
the foreseeable future. These attacks, much like ur-
ban graffiti, are perpetrated by anonymous attack-
ers and require a substantial investment to defend
against, possibly requiring a fundamental change in
the Internets protocols. Although several DoS at-
tacks have succeeded in bringing down websites of
well-known businesses, most attacks are not as wildly
successful, nor have all businesses that have been
victimized reported attacks for fear of publicizing
exactly how weak their computing infrastructure is.
We must wait to see whether DoS attacks will further
threaten the Internet, provoking the acceptance of
radical defense proposals, or will simply fade into
the background and become accepted as a regular
aspect of the Internet.
Adrian Perrig and Abraham Yaar
See also Security; Spamming
FURTHER READING
Aura, T., Nikander, P., & Leiwo, J. (2000). DoS-resistant authentica-
tion with client puzzles. Security Protocols8th International
Workshop.
Gligor, V. D. (1983). A note on the denial of service problem. Proceedings
of 1983 Symposium on Security and Privacy (pp. 139149).
Gligor, V. D. (1986). On denial of service in computer networks.
Proceedings of International Conference on Data Engineering
(pp. 608617).
Gligor, V. D. (2003). Guaranteeing access in spite of service-flooding
attacks. Proceedings of the Security Protocols Workshop.
Savage, S., Wetherall, D., Karlin, A., & Anderson, T. (2000). Practical
network support for IP traceback. Proceedings of ACM SIGCOMM
2000 (pp. 295306).
Wang, X., & Reiter, M. K. (2003). Defending against denial-of-service
attacks with puzzle auctions. Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE
Symposium on Security and Privacy (pp. 7892).
Yaar, A., Perrig, A., & Song, D. (2003). Pi: A path identification mech-
anism to defend against DDoS attacks. IEEE Symposium on Security
and Privacy (pp. 93107).
DESKTOP METAPHOR
The desktop metaphor is being used when the inter-
face of an interactive software system is designed such
that its objects and actions resemble objects and
actions in a traditional office environment. For ex-
ample, an operating system designed using the desk-
top metaphor represents directories as labeled folders
and text documents as files. In graphical user inter-
faces (GUIs), the bitmap display and pointing devices
such as a mouse, a trackball, or a light pen are used
to create the metaphor: The bitmap display pres-
ents a virtual desk, where documents can be created,
stored, retrieved, reviewed, edited, and discarded.
Files, folders, the trash can (or recycle bin) and so

forth are represented on the virtual desktop by graph-
ical symbols called icons. Users manipulate these icons
using the pointing devices. With pointing devices, the
user can select, open, move, or delete the files or fold-
ers represented by icons on the desktop.
Users can retrieve information and read it on the
desktop just as they would read actual paper docu-
ments at a physical desk. The electronic document
files can be stored and organized in electronic
folders just as physical documents are saved and man-
aged in folders in physical file cabinets. Some of
the accessories one finds in an office are also present
on the virtual desktop; these include the trash can,
a clipboard, a calendar, a calculator, a clock, a
notepad, telecommunication tools, and so on.
The metaphor of the window is used for the
graphical boxes that let users look into informa-
tion in the computer. Multiple windows can be open
on the desktop at once, allowing workers to alternate
quickly between multiple computer applications (for
example, a worker may have a word processing ap-
plication, a spreadsheet application, and an Internet
browser open simultaneously, each in its own win-
dow). Computer users can execute, hold, and resume
their tasks through multiple windows.
BITMAP An array of pixels, in a data file or structure,
which correspond bit for bit with an image.
Beginning in the late 1970s, as personal computers
and workstations became popular among knowledge
workers (people whose work involves developing and
using knowledgeengineers, researchers, and teach-
ers, for example), the usability of the computers and
the productivity of those using them became im-
portant issues. The desktop metaphor was invented
in order to make computers more usable, with the
understanding that more-usable computers would
increase users productivity. The desktop metaphor
enabled users to work with computers in a more fa-
miliar, more comfortable manner and to spend less
time learning how to use them. The invention of the
desktop metaphor greatly enhanced the quality of
human-computer interaction.
DESKTOP METAPHOR 159
Historical Overview
In the 1960s and 1970s, several innovative con-
cepts in the area of HCI were originated and im-
plemented using interactive time-shared computers,
graphics screens, and pointing devices.
Sketchpad
Sketchpad was a pioneering achievement that opened
the field of interactive computer graphics. In 1963,
Ivan Sutherland used a light pen to create engineer-
ing drawings directly on the computer screen for his
Ph.D. thesis, Sketchpad: A Man-Machine Graphical
Communications System. His thesis initiated a totally
new way to use computers. Sketchpad was exe-
cuted on the Lincoln TX-2 computer at MIT. A light
pen and a bank of switches were the user interface
for this first interactive computer graphics system.
Sketchpad also pioneered new concepts of mem-
ory structures for storing graphical objects, rubber-
banding of lines (stretching lines as long as a user
wants) on the screen, the ability to zoom in and
out on the screen, and the ability to make perfect
lines, corners, and joints.
NLS
The scientist and inventor Doug Engelbart and his
colleagues at Stanford University introduced the oN
Line System (NLS) to the public in 1968. They also
invented the computer mouse. The NLS was
equipped with a mouse and a pointer cursor for the
first time; it also was the first system to make use
of hypertext. Among other features, the system pro-
vided multiple windows, an online context-sensitive
help system, outline editors for idea development,
two-way video conferencing with shared workspace,
word processing, and e-mail.
Smalltalk
In the early 1970s, Alan Kay and his colleagues at
Xeroxs Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) invented
an object-oriented programming language called
Smalltalk. It was the first integrated programming
environment, and its user interface was designed us-
ing the desktop metaphor. It was designed not only
for expert programmers of complex software, but
also for the novice users, including children: Its
160 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
designers intended it to be an environment in which
users learned by doing.
In 1981 Xerox PARC integrated the innovations
in the fields of human-computer symbiosis, personal
computing, objected-oriented programming lan-
guages, and local-area networks and arrived at the
Xerox 8010 Star information system. It was the
first commercial computer system that implemented
the desktop metaphor, using a mouse, a bitmap dis-
play, and a GUI. In interacting with the system, users
made use of windows, icons, menus, and pointing
devices (WIMP). Most of the workstations and per-
sonal computers that were developed subse-
quently, including Apple Computers Lisa (1983) and
Macintosh (1984) and Microsofts Windows (1985),
were inspired by Star; like the Star system, they too
adopted the desktop metaphor.
Apples Lisa was designed to be a high-quality,
easy-to-use computer for knowledge workers such
as secretaries, managers, and professionals in gen-
eral office environments. Its design goals were:
User friendliness: The developers of the Lisa
wanted users to use the computer not only because
doing so was part of their job, but also because it was
fun to use. The users were expected to feel comfort-
able because the user interface resembled their work-
ing environment.
Standard method of interaction: A user was pro-
vided with consistent look and feel in the system and
all applications, which meant that learning time could
be dramatically decreased and training costs lowered.
Gradual and intuitive learning: A user should be
able to complete important tasks easily with mini-
mal training. The user should not be concerned with
more sophisticated features until they are necessary.
Interaction with the computer should be intuitive;
that is, the user should be able to figure out what
he or she needs to do.
Error protection: A user should be protected from
obvious errors. For example, Lisa allowed users to
choose from a collection of possible operations that
were proper for the occasion and the object. By lim-
iting the choices, fatal errors and obvious errors could
be avoided. Any error from a user should be pro-
cessed in a helpful manner by generating a warn-
ing message or providing a way of recovering from
the error.
Personalized interaction: A user could set up
attributes of the system in order to customize the
interaction with the system. The personalized inter-
action did not interfere with the standard interaction
methods.
Multiple tasks: Because workers in office envi-
ronments perform many tasks simultaneously and
are often interrupted in their work, Lisa was designed
to be able to hold the current work while users at-
tended to those interruptions and to other business.
The idea was that the user should be able to switch
from one task to another freely and instantly.
Apples Lisa provided knowledge workers with a
virtual desktop environment complete with manip-
ulable documents, file folders, calculators, electronic
paper clips, wastebasket, and other handy tools. The
documents and other office-based objects were rep-
resented by naturalistic icons. The actions defined
for the icons, such as selecting, activating, moving,
and copying, were implemented by means of mouse
operations such as clicking, double-clicking, and
dragging. Lisa users did not have to memorize com-
mands such as delete (del), remove (rm),
or erase in order to interact with the system.
The first version of Microsoft Windows was in-
troduced in 1985. It provided an interactive software
environment that used a bitmap display and a mouse.
The product included a set of desktop applica-
tions, including a calendar, a card file, a notepad, a
calculator, a clock, and telecommunications pro-
grams. In 1990 Windows 3.0 was introduced, the first
real GUI-based system running on IBM-compatible
PCs. It became widely popular. The Windows oper-
ating system evolved through many more incarna-
tions, and in the early 2000s was the most popular
operating system in the world.
Research Directions
The desktop metaphor, implemented through a
graphical user interface, has been the dominate
metaphor for human-computer interfaces since the
1980s. What will happen to the human-computer
interaction paradigm in the future? Will the desktop
metaphor continue to dominate? It is extremely dif-
ficult to predict the future in the computer world.
However, there are several pioneering researchers

exploring new interaction paradigms that could
replace the desktop-based GUI.
OPERATING SYSTEM Software (e.g., Windows 98, UNIX,
or DOS) that enables a computer to accept input and
produce output to peripheral devices such as disk drives
and printers.
A Tangible User Interface
At present, interactions between human and com-
puters are confined to a display, a keyboard, and a
pointing device. The tangible user interface (TUI)
proposed by Hiroshi Ishii and Brygg Ullmer at MITs
Media Lab in 1997 bridges the space between human
and computers in the opposite direction. The user
interface of a TUI-based system can be embodied in
a real desk and other real objects in an office envi-
ronment. Real office objects such as actual papers
and pens could become meaningful objects for the
user interface of the system. Real actions on real ob-
jects can be recognized and interpreted as operations
applied to the objects in the computer world, so that,
for example, putting a piece of paper in a waste-
basket could signal the computer to delete a docu-
ment. This project attempts to bridge the gap between
the computer world and the physical office envi-
ronment by making digital information tangible.
While the desktop metaphor provides the users with
a virtual office environment, in a TUI the physical
office environment, including the real desktop, be-
comes the user interface.
Ishii and Ullmer designed and implemented
a prototype TUI called metaDESK for Tangible
Geospace, a physical model of landmarks such as the
MIT campus. The metaDESK was embodied in real-
world objects and regarded as a counterpart of the
virtual desktop. The windows, icons, and other graph-
ical objects in the virtual desktop corresponded to
physical objects such as activeLENS (a physically em-
bodied window), phicon (a physically embodied
iconin this case, models of MIT buildings such as
the Great Dome and the Media Lab building), and so
forth. In the prototype system, the activeLENS was
equivalent to a window of the virtual desktop and
was used in navigating and examining the three di-
DESKTOP METAPHOR 161
mensional views of the MIT geographical model.
Users could physically control the phicons by
grasping and placing them so that a two dimensional
map of the MIT campus appears on the desk surface
beneath the phicons. The locations of the Dome and
the Media Lab buildings on the map should match
with the physical locations of the phicons on the desk.
Ubiquitous Computing
In 1988 Mark Weiser at Xerox PARC introduced a
computing paradigm called ubiquitous computing.
The main idea was to enable users to access com-
puting services wherever they might go and when-
ever they might need them. Another requirement
was that the computers be invisible to the users, so
the users would not be conscious of them. The users
do what they normally do and the computers in the
background recognize the intention of the users and
provide the best services for them. It means that the
users do not have to learn how to operate comput-
ers, how to type a keyboard, how to access the
Internet, etc. Therefore, the paradigm requires
that new types of computing services and computer
systems be created. New technologies such as con-
text awareness, sensors, and intelligent distributed
processing. are required. Their interaction methods
must be based on diverse technologies such as face
recognition, character recognition, gesture recogni-
tion, and voice recognition.
OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE Open-source software per-
mits sharing of a programs original source code with
users, so that the software can be modified and redis-
tributed to other users.
As new computing services and technologies are
introduced, new types of computing environments and
new interaction paradigms will emerge. The desktop
metaphor will also evolve to keep pace with techno-
logical advances. However, the design goals of the user
interfaces will not change much. They should be de-
signed to make users more comfortable, more effec-
tive, and more productive in using their computers.
Jee-In Kim
162 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
See also Alto; Augmented Reality; Graphical User
Interface
FURTHER READING
Goldberg, A. (1984). Smalltalk-80: The interactive programming envi-
ronment. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Ishii, H., & Ullmer, B. (1997). Tangible bits: Towards seamless inter-
faces between people, bits and atoms. In Proceedings of CHI 97
(pp. 234241), New York: ACM Press.
Kay, A. (1993) The early history of Smalltalk. ACM SIGPLAN Notices,
28(3), 6995.
Kay, A., & Goldberg, A (1977). Personal dynamic media. IEEE
Computer, 10(3), 3142.
Myers, B., Ioannidis, Y., Hollan, J., Cruz, I., Bryson, S., Bulterman,
D., et al. (1996). Strategic directions in human computer inter-
action. ACM Computing Survey, 28(4), 794809.
Perkins, R., Keller, D., & Ludolph, F. (1997). Inventing the Lisa user
interface. Interactions, 4(1), 4053.
Shneiderman, B. (1998). Designing the user interface: Strategies for
effective human-computer interaction (3rd ed.). Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley.
Weiser, M. (1991). The computer for the 21st century. Scientific
American, 256(3), 94104.
DIALOG SYSTEMS
Speech dialog systems are dialog systems that use
speech recognition and speech generation to allow
a human being to converse with a computer, usually
to perform some well-defined task such as making
travel reservations over the telephone.
A dialog is a two-way interaction between two
agents that communicate. Dialogs are incremental
and can be adapted dynamically to improve the ef-
fectiveness of the communication.
While people communicate efficiently and effec-
tively using dialog, computers do not typically engage
in dialogs with people. More common are presen-
tation systems, which are concerned with the effec-
tive presentation of a fixed content, subject to a limited
number of constraints. Unlike dialogs, presentations
are planned and displayed in their entirety (with-
out intermediate feedback from the user) and thus
do not allow the system to monitor the effective-
ness of the presentation or allow the user to interrupt
and request clarification. Dialog systems have been
less common than presentation systems because they
are more resource intensive; however, despite the extra
costs, the need to reach a broader community of users
and the desire to create systems that can perform tasks
that require collaboration with users has led to a shift
toward more dialog-based systems.
Speech is a good modality for remote database
access systems, such as telephone information ser-
vices, which would otherwise require a human op-
erator or a tedious sequence of telephone keystrokes.
Spoken interaction is also useful when a users hands
are busy with other tasks, such as operating me-
chanical controls, or for tasks for which the sound
of the users speech is important, such as tutoring
speakers in oral reading. Speech interaction can also
make computers more accessible to people with
vision impairments.
Speech dialog systems have been used for tutor-
ing in oral reading; for providing information about
public transportation, train schedules, hotels, and
sight seeing; for making restaurant and real estate
recommendations; for helping people diagnose fail-
ures in electronic circuits; and for making travel reser-
vations. Spoken dialog is most successful when the
scope of the task is well-defined and narrow, such as
providing airline reservations or train schedules, be-
cause the task creates expectations of what people
will sayand the more limited the scope, the more
limited the expectations. These expectations are
needed for the system to interpret what has been said;
in most cases the same group of speech sounds
will have several different possible interpretations,
but the task for which the dialog system is used makes
one of the interpretations by far the most likely.
The Architecture of
Speech Dialog Systems
Speech dialog systems include the following
components or processes: speech recognition,
natural-language parsing, dialog management,
natural-language generation, and speech synthesis.
There is also an application or database that provides
the core functionality of the system (such as book-
ing a travel reservation) and a user interface to trans-
mit inputs from the microphone or telephone to
the speech-recognition component.

Speech Recognition
Understanding speech involves taking the sound in-
put and mapping it onto a command, request, or
statement of fact to which the application can re-
spond. Speech recognition is the first step, which in-
volves mapping the audio signal into words in the
target language. Early approaches, such as HEARSAY II
and HARPY, which were developed in the 1970s, were
based on rule-based artificial intelligence. They were
not very successful. Current approaches are based
on statistical models of language that select the most
probable interpretation of each sound unit given im-
mediately preceding or following ones and the con-
text of the task (which determines the vocabulary).
For spoken-dialog systems, the level of speech
recognition quality that is desired is known as tele-
phone quality, spontaneous speech (TQSS). This level
of recognition is necessary if spoken-dialog applica-
tions such as reservation services are to be success-
ful over a telephone line. TQSS is more difficult to
understand than face-to-face speech because over
the telephone the audio signal normally includes
background and channel noise, acoustical echo and
channel variations, and degradation due to band-
width constraints. Moreover, spontaneous speech
includes pauses, disfluencies (such as repetitions and
incomplete or ill-formed sentences), pronunciation
variations due to dialects, as well as context-dependent
formulations and interruptions or overlapping speech
(known as barge-in).
One way that speech recognition is made more
accurate is by limiting the vocabulary that the sys-
tem allows. To determine a sublanguage that will be
sufficiently expressive to allow people to use the ap-
plication effectively and comfortably, two techniques
are generally used: One approach is to observe or
stage examples of two people engaged in the domain
task; the other approach is to construct a simulated
man-machine dialog (known as a Wizard of Oz
[WOZ] simulation) in which users try to solve the
domain task. In a WOZ simulation, users are led to
believe they are communicating with a function-
ing system, while in reality the output is generated
by a person who simulates the intended functional-
ity of the system. This approach allows the design-
ers to see what language people will use in response
to the limited vocabulary of the proposed system and
DIALOG SYSTEMS 163
its style of dialog interaction. In either case, a vo-
cabulary and a language model can be obtained that
may only require a few thousand (and possibly only
a few hundred) words.
Natural-Language Parsing
Natural-language parsing maps the sequence of
words produced by the speech recognizer onto com-
mands, queries, or propositions that will be meaning-
ful to the application. There are a variety of approaches
to parsing; some try to identify general-purpose lin-
guistic patterns, following a so-called syntactic gram-
mar, while others look for patterns that are specific
to the domain, such as a semantic grammar. Some
systems use simpler approaches, such as word
spotting, pattern matching, or phrase spotting.
The output of the parser will typically be a slot-and-
filler-based structure called a case frame, in which
phrases in the input are mapped to slots correspon-
ding to functions or parameters of the application.
A key requirement of parsing for spoken dialog
is that the parser be able to handle utterances that
do not form a complete sentence or that contain the
occasional grammatical mistake. Such parsers are
termed robust. Syntactic and semantic parsers work
best when the input is well formed structurally.
Simpler methods such as pattern matching and
phrase spotting can be more flexible about structural
ill-formedness, but may miss important syntactic
variations such as negations, passives, and topical-
izations. Also, the simpler approaches have little
information about how to choose between two
different close matches. To be useful in practice, an-
other requirement is that the parser be fast enough
to work in real time, which is usually only possible
if the analysis is expectation driven. By the late 1990s,
most spoken-dialog systems still focused on get-
ting the key components to work together and had
not achieved real-time behavior (interpretation and
generation of speech)with only a few systems
using real-time behavior.
Dialog Management
Dialog management involves interpreting the rep-
resentations created by the natural-language
parser and deciding what action to take. This process
is often the central one and drives the rest of the
164 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
system. Dialog management may involve following
a fixed pattern of action defined by a grammar (for
example, answering a question, or it may involve rea-
soning about the users or the systems current knowl-
edge and goals to determine the most appropriate
next step. In this second instance, then, dialog man-
agement may also keep track of the possible goals of
the users and their strategies (plans) for achieving
them. It may also try to identify and resolve break-
downs in communication caused by lack of under-
standing, misunderstanding, or disagreement.
One factor that distinguishes dialog managers is
the distribution of control between the system and
the user. This has been referred to as initiative, or the
mode of communication, with the mode being con-
sidered from the perspective of the computer sys-
tem. When the computer has complete control, it
is responsible for issuing queries to the user, col-
lecting answers, and formulating a response. This
has been called directive mode. At the opposite ex-
treme, some systems allow the user to have complete
control, telling the system what the user wants to do
and asking the system to provide answers to specific
queries. This is known as passive mode. In the
middle are systems that share initiative with the user.
The system may begin by issuing a query to the user
(or receiving a query from the user) but control may
shift if either party wishes to request clarification or
to obtain information needed for a response. Control
may also shift if one party identifies a possible break-
down in communication or if one party disagrees
with information provided by the other. Dialogs have
been shown to more efficient if control can shift to
the party with the most information about the
current state of the task.
Natural-Language Generation
Natural-language generation is used to generate an-
swers to the users queries or to formulate queries
for the user in order to obtain the information needed
to perform a given task. Natural-language genera-
tion involves three core tasks: content selection (de-
ciding what to say), sentence planning (deciding how
to organize what to say into units), and realization
(mapping the planned response onto a grammati-
cally correct sequence of words).
Historically, natural-language generation com-
ponents have not run in real time, with the realiza-
tion component being an important bottleneck.
These systems can be slow if they follow an approach
that is essentially the inverse of parsingtaking a
structural description of a sentence, searching for
grammar rules that match the description, and then
applying each of the rules to produce a sequence of
words. As a result, many spoken-dialog systems have
relied on preformulated answers (canned text). More
recently, real-time approaches to text generation have
been developed that make use of fixed patterns or
templates that an application can select and thereby
bypass the need to perform a search within the
generation grammar.
Speech Synthesis
Speech synthesis allows the computer to respond to
the user in spoken language. This may involve se-
lecting and concatenating pieces of prerecorded
speech or generating speech two sounds at a time, a
method known as diphone-based synthesis. (Diphone
refers to pairs of sounds.) Databases of utterances to
be prerecorded for a domain can be determined by
analyzing the utterances produced by a human per-
forming the same task as the information system and
then selecting the most frequent utterances. Diphone-
based synthesis also requires a database of prerecorded
sound; however instead of complete utterances the
database will contain a set of nonsense words (that
have examples of all pairs of sounds), containing all
phone-phone transitions for the target output lan-
guage. Then when the synthesizer wants to gener-
ate a pair of sounds, it selects a word that contains
the sound-pair (diphone) and uses the correspon-
ding portion of the recording.
Although these basic components of speech
dialog systems can be combined in a number of
ways, there are three general approaches: pipelined
architectures, agent-based architectures, and hub-
and-spoke-based architectures. In a pipelined archi-
tecture, each component in the sequence processes its
input and initiates the next component in the
sequence. Thus, the audio interface would call the
speech recognizer, which would call the natural-
language parser, and so on, until the speech synthesis

component is executed. In an agent-based approach,
a centralized component (typically the dialog man-
ager) initiates individual components and deter-
mines what parameters to provide them. This may
involve some reasoning about the results provided
by the components. In a hub-and-spoke architecture
there is a simple centralized component (the hub)
which brokers communication among the other
components, but performs no reasoning. Since 1994,
a hub-and-spoke architecture called Galaxy
Communicator has been under development. It has
been proposed as a standard reference architec-
ture that will allow software developers to combine
plug-and-play-style components from a variety
of research groups or commercial vendors. The
Galaxy Communicator effort also includes an open-
source software infrastructure.
Dialog System Toolkits
Creating speech dialog systems is a major under-
taking because of the number and complexity of the
components involved. This difficulty is mitigated by
the availability of a number of software toolkits that
include many, if not all, of the components needed
to create a new spoken-dialog system. Currently such
toolkits are available both from commercial vendors
(such as IBM, which markets ViaVoice toolkits for
speech recognition and speech synthesis) and aca-
demic institutions. Academic institutions generally
distribute their software free for noncommercial use,
but sell licenses for commercial applications. Below,
we consider a few of the major (academically avail-
able) speech dialog toolkits. In addition to these
toolkits, a number of institutions distribute indi-
vidual components useful in building speech dialog
systems. For example, the Festival Speech Synthesis
System developed by the University of Edinburgh
has been used in a number of applications.
The Communicator Spoken Dialog Toolkit,
developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon Uni-
versity, is an open-source toolkit that provides a com-
plete set of software components for building and
deploying spoken-language dialog systems for
both desktop and telephone applications. It is built
on top of the Galaxy Communicator software
DIALOG SYSTEMS 165
infrastructure and is distributed with a working
implementation for a travel-planning domain. It can
be downloaded freely from the Internet. The group
also maintains a telephone number connected to
their telephone-based travel-planning system that
anyone can try.
The Center for Spoken Language Research (CSLR)
at the University of Colorado in Boulder distributes
the Conversational Agent Toolkit. This toolkit in-
cludes modules that provide most of the function-
ality needed to build a spoken-dialog system,
although code must be written for the application
itself. As a model, CSLR distributes their toolkit
with a sample (open-source) application for the travel
domain that can be used as a template; it is based on
the Galaxy Communicator hub architecture.
TRINDIKIT is a toolkit for building and exper-
imenting with dialog move engines (mechanisms for
updating what a dialog system knows, based on di-
alog moves (single communicative actions such as
giving positive feedback) and information states
(information stored by the dialog system). It has been
developed in the TRINDI and SIRIDUS projects, two
European research projects that investigate human-
machine communication using natural language.
TRINDIKIT specifies formats for defining informa-
tion states, rules for updating the information state,
types of dialog moves, and associated algorithms.
The Evaluation of
Speech Dialog Systems
Prior to 1990, methods of evaluating speech dialog
systems concentrated on the number of words that
the speech recognizer identified correctly. In the early
1990s, there was a shift to looking at the quality of
the responses provided by spoken-dialog systems.
For example, in 1991, the U.S. Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency community introduced a
metric that evaluates systems based on the number
of correct and incorrect answers given by the system.
Systems are rewarded for correct answers and
penalized for bad answers, normalized by the total
number of answers given. (The effect is that it is bet-
ter to give a nonanswer such as I do not understand
166 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
or please rephrase your request than to give an in-
correct answer.) This approach relies on the exis-
tence of a test database with a number of sample
sentences from the domain along with the correct
answer, as well as a set of answers from the system
to be evaluated.
Starting in the late 1990s, approaches to evalu-
ating dialog success have looked at other measures,
such as task-completion rates and user satisfaction
(as determined by subjective questionnaires).
Subjective factors include perceived system-response
accuracy, likeability, cognitive demand (how much
effort is needed to understand the system), habit-
ability (how comfortable or natural the system is
to use), and speed. There has also been success in
predicting user satisfaction or task completion on
the basis of objectively observable features of the di-
alog, such as task duration, the number of system
words per turn, the number of user words per
turn, the number of overlapping turns, sentence er-
ror rates, and perceived task completion. Statistical
methods such as multiple regression models and clas-
sification trees are then used to predict user satis-
faction and task-completion scores.
The Research Community for
Speech Dialog Systems
Research on speech dialog systems is interdiscipli-
nary, bringing together work in computer science,
engineering, linguistics, and psychology. There are
a number of journals, conferences, and workshops
through which researchers and developers of spoken-
dialog systems disseminate their work. Important
journals include Computer Speech and Language and
Natural Language Engineering. Conferences most fo-
cused on such systems include Eurospeech and
Interspeech (the International Conference on Spoken
Language Processing). In addition, the Special Interest
Group on Discourse and Dialog (SIGdial) organizes
an annual workshop. SIGdial is a Special Interest
Group (SIG) of both the Association for Com-
putational Linguistics and the International Speech
Communication Association (ISCA). SIGdial is an
international, nonprofit cooperative organization
that includes researchers from academia, industry,
and government. Among its goals are promoting,
developing, and distributing reusable discourse-
processing components; encouraging empirical meth-
ods in research; sharing resources and data among
the international community; exploring techniques
for evaluating dialog systems; promoting stan-
dards for discourse transcription, segmentation, and
annotation; facilitating collaboration between de-
velopers of various system components; and en-
couraging student participation in the discourse and
dialog community.
Susan W. McRoy
See also Natural-Language Processing, Open Source
Software, Speech Recognition, Speech Synthesis
FURTHER READING
Allen, J. F., Schubert, L. K., Ferguson, G., Heeman, P., Hwang, C. H.,
Kato, T., et al. (1995). The TRAINS project: A case study in
building a conversational planning agent. Journal of Experimental
and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, 7, 748.
Bernsen, N. O., Dybkjaer, H., & Dybkjaer, L. (1998). Designing inter-
active speech systems: From first ideas to user testing. New York:
Springer Verlag.
Fraser, N. (1997). Assessment of interactive systems. In D. Gibbon,
R. Moore, and R. Winski (Eds.), Handbook of standards and re-
sources for spoken language systems (pp. 564614). New York:
Mouton de Gruyter.
Grosz, B. J., & Sidner, C. (1986). Attention, intention, and the struc-
ture of discourse. Computational Linguistics, 12(3), 175204.
Haller, S., Kobsa, A., & McRoy, S. (Eds.). (1999). Computational mod-
els for mixed-initiative interaction. Dordrect, Netherlands: Kluwer
Academic Press.
Huang X. D., Alleva, F., Hon, H. W., Hwang, M. Y., Lee, K. F., and
Rosenfeld, R. (1993). The Sphinx II Speech Recognition System:
An overview. Computer Speech and Language, 7(9), 137148.
Jurafsky, D., & Martin, J. (2000). Speech and language processing: An
introduction to natural language processing, computational linguis-
tics, and speech recognition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Larsson, S., & Traum, D. (2000). Information state and dialogue man-
agement in the TRINDI Dialogue Move Engine Toolkit [Special
issue on best practice in spoken dialogue systems]. Natural Language
Engineering, 6(34), 323340.
Luperfoy, S. (Ed.). (1998). Automated spoken dialog systems. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
McRoy, S. W. (Ed.). (1998). Detecting, repairing, and preventing
human-machine miscommunication [Special issue]. International
Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 48(5).
McRoy, S. W., Channarukul, S., & Ali, S. S. (2001). Creating natural
language output for real-time applications intelligence. Intelligence:
New Visions of AI in Practice, 12(2), 2134.

McRoy, S. W., Channarukul, S., & Ali, S. S. (2003). An augmented
template-based approach to text realization. Natural Language
Engineering, 9(2), 140.
Minker, W., Bhler, D., & Dybkjr, L. (2004). Spoken multimodal
human-computer dialog in mobile environments. Dordrect,
Netherlands: Kluwer.
Mostow, J., Roth, S. F., Hauptmann, A., & Kane, M. (1994). A proto-
type reading coach that listens. In Proceedings of the Twelfth National
Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-94) (pp. 785792). Seattle,
WA: AAAI Press.
Pellom, B., Ward, W., Hansen, J., Hacioglu, K., Zhang, J., Yu, X., &
Pradhan, S. (2001, March). University of Colorado dialog systems
for travel and navigation. Paper presented at the Human Language
Technology Conference (HLT-2001), San Diego, CA.
Roe, D. B., & Wilpon, J. G. (Eds.). (1995). Voice communication be-
tween humans and machines. Washington, D.C.: National Academy
Press.
Seneff, S., Hurley, E., Lau, R. Pau, C., Schmid, P., & Zue, V. (1998).
Galaxy II: A reference architecture for conversational system de-
velopment. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Spoken
Language Processing, 931934.
Smith, R., & Hipp, D. R. (1995). Spoken natural language dialog sys-
tems: A practical approach. New York: Oxford University Press.
Smith, R., & van Kuppevelt, J. (Eds.). (2003). Current and new direc-
tions in discourse and dialogue. Dordrect, Netherlands: Kluwer.
van Kuppevelt, J, Heid, U., & Kamp, H. (Eds.). (2000). Best practice
in spoken dialog systems [Special issue]. Natural Language
Engineering, 6(34).
Walker, M., Litman, D., Kamm, C., & Abella, A. (1998). Evaluating
spoken dialogue agents with PARADISE: Two case studies.
Computer Speech and Language, 12(3), 317347.
Walker, M. A., Kamm, C. A., & Litman, D. J. (2000). Towards devel-
oping general models of usability with PARADISE [Special issue
on best practice in spoken dialogue systems]. Natural Language
Engineering, 6(34).
Wilks, Y. (Ed.). (1999). Machine conversations. Dordrect, Netherlands:
Kluwer.
DIGITAL CASH
The use of digital cash has increased in parallel with
the use of electronic commerce; as we purchase
items online, we need to have ways to pay for them
electronically. Many systems of electronic payment
exist.
Types of Money
Most systems of handling money fall into one of two
categories:
DIGITAL CASH 167
1. Token-based systems store funds as tokens that
can be exchanged between parties. Traditional
currency falls in this category, as do many types
of stored-value payment systems, such as sub-
way fare cards, bridge and highway toll systems
in large metropolitan areas (e.g., FastPass,
EasyPass), and electronic postage meters. These
systems store value in the form of tokens, either
a physical token, such as a dollar bill, or an elec-
tronic register value, such as is stored by a sub-
way fare card. During an exchange, if the full
value of a token is not used, then the remain-
der is returned (analogous to change in a cur-
rency transaction)either as a set of smaller
tokens or as a decremented register value.
Generally, if tokens are lost (e.g., if ones wallet
is stolen or one loses a subway card), the tokens
cannot be recovered.
2. Account-based systems charge transactions to
an account. Either the account number or a ref-
erence to the account is used to make payment.
Examples include checking accounts, credit card
accounts, and telephone calling cards. In some
instances, the account is initially funded and
then spent down (e.g., checking accounts); in
other instances, debt is increased and periodi-
cally must be paid (e.g., credit cards). In most
account-based systems, funds (or debt) are
recorded by a trusted third party, such as a bank.
The account can be turned off or renumbered
if the account number is lost.
The more complex an electronic payment sys-
tem is, the less likely consumers are to use it. (As
an example, a rule of thumb is that merchants of-
fering one-click ordering for online purchases en-
joy twice the order rate of merchants requiring
that payment data be repeatedly entered with each
purchase.)
Electronic Payment
Using Credit Cards
The most common form of electronic payment on
the Internet today is credit card payment. Credit cards
are account based. They are issued by financial
institutions to consumers and in some cases to
168 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
organizations. A consumer presents the credit card
number to a merchant to pay for a transaction. On
the World Wide Web credit card account numbers
are typically encrypted using the Secure Socket Layer
(SSL) protocol built into most Web browsers. The
merchant often attempts to verify the card holder by
performing address verification (checking numbers
appearing in an address) or by using a special veri-
fication code (typically printed on the reverse side
of the credit card). In the United States credit card
users typically enjoy strong rights and can reverse
fraudulent transactions.
Although the SSL protocol (in typical configu-
rations) provides strong encryption preventing third
parties from observing the transaction, risks still ex-
ist for the credit card holder. Many merchants apply
inadequate security to their database of purchases,
and attackers have gained access to large numbers of
credit cards stored online. Moreover, some merchants
charge incorrect amounts (or charge multiple times)
for credit card transactions. Although fraudulent
transactions are generally reversible for U.S. resi-
dents, time and effort are required to check and
amend such transactions. In some instances, crim-
inals engage in identity theft to apply for addi-
tional credit by using the identity of the victim.
To reduce these risks, some experts have proposed
a system that uses third parties (such as the bank that
issued the card) to perform credit card transactions.
A notable example of this type of system is Verified
by Visa. However, the additional work required to con-
figure the system has deterred some consumers, and
as a result Verified by Visa and similar systems remain
largely unused. The most elaborate of these systems
was the Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) pro-
tocol proposed by MasterCard International and Visa
International; however, the complexity of SET led to
its being abandoned. In these systems credit card pur-
chases are usually funded with a fee that is charged to
the merchant. Although rates vary, typical fees are fifty
cents plus 2 percent of the purchase amount.
Third-Party Payment Accounts
A merchant must be able to process credit card pay-
ments. This processing is often inconvenient for small
merchants, such as people who sell items in online
auctions. As a result, a market has opened for third-
party payment processors. Today, the largest third-
party payment processor is PayPal, owned by the
eBay auction service. Third-party payment proces-
sor systems are account based.
Consumers can pay for third-party purchases in
three ways: by paying from an account maintained
with the third party, by paying from a credit card
account, and by paying from a checking account.
Merchants rates for accepting funds from a credit card
account are slightly higher than their rates for ac-
cepting funds from a conventional credit card account.
Third-party payment accounts are convenient
because they are simple to use and provide consumers
with protection against being overcharged. However,
they tend not to provide the same degree of pro-
tection that a credit card-funded purchase provides.
Because third-party payment accounts are widely
used with auction systems, where fraud rates are un-
usually high, the degree of protection is a serious
consideration.
Smartcards and
Other Stored-Value Systems
Stored-value systems store value on a card that is
used as needed. Smartcards are a token-based pay-
ment system. Many smartcards use an integrated cir-
cuit to pay for purchases. They are widely used in
Europe for phone cards and in the GSM cellular tele-
phone system. Mondex is a consumer-based system
for point-of-sale purchases using smartcards. Use of
smartcards is limited in Asia and largely unused in
North America. (In North America only one major
vendor, American Express, has issued smartcards to
large numbers of users, and in those cards the smart-
card feature is currently turned off.)
Experts have raised a number of questions about
the security of smartcards. Successful attacks con-
ducted by security testers have been demonstrated
against most smartcard systems. Experts have raised
even deeper questions about the privacy protec-
tion provided by these systems. For example, in
Taiwan, where the government has been moving to
switch from paper records to a smartcard system for
processing National Health Insurance payments,

considerable public concern has been raised about
potential privacy invasions associated with the use of
health and insurance records on a smartcard system.
A number of devices function like a smartcard
but have different packaging. For example, some ur-
ban areas have adopted the FastPass system, which
allows drivers to pay bridge and highway tolls us-
ing radio link technology. As a car passes over a sen-
sor at a toll booth, value stored in the FastPass device
on the car is decremented to pay the toll. The state
of California recently disclosed that it uses the same
technology to monitor traffic flow even when no toll
is charged. The state maintains that it does not gather
personal information from FastPass-enabled cars,
but experts say that it is theoretically possible.
Anonymous Digital Cash
A number of researchers have proposed anonymous
digital cash payment systems. These would be token-
based systems in which tokens would be issued by
a financial institution. A consumer could blind
such tokens so that they could not be traced to the
consumer. Using a cryptographic protocol, a con-
sumer could make payments to merchants without
merchants being able to collect information about
the consumer. However, if a consumer attempted to
copy a cryptographic token and use it multiple times,
the cryptographic protocol would probably allow
the consumers identity to be revealed, allowing
the consumer to be prosecuted for fraud.
Anonymous digital cash payment systems have
remained primarily of theoretical interest, although
some tr ials have been made (notably of the
Digicash system pioneered by David Chaum).
Anonymous payment for large purchases is illegal
in the United States, where large purchases must be
recorded and reported to the government. Moreover,
consumers generally want to record their purchases
(especially large ones) to have maximum consumer
protection. Some researchers have demonstrated that
anonymous digital cash payment systems are not com-
patible with atomic purchases (that is, guaranteed ex-
change of goods for payment). The principal demand
for anonymous payment appears to be for transactions
designed to evade taxes, transactions of contraband,
and transactions of socially undesirable material.
DIGITAL CASH 169
Micropayments
One of the most interesting types of electronic pay-
ment is micropayments. In many instances consumers
wish to purchase relatively small-value items. For ex-
ample, consider a website that vends recipes. Each
recipe might be sold for only a few cents, but sold in
volume, their value could be considerable. (Similarly,
consider a website that offers online digital recordings
of songs for ninety-nine cents each.) Currently, mak-
ing small payments online using traditional payment
methods is not feasible. For example, as mentioned,
credit card companies typically charge merchants a
processing fee of fifty cents plus 2 percent of the pur-
chase amount for credit card transactionsclearly
making credit card purchases for items that cost less
than fifty cents impractical. Most merchants refuse to
deal with small single-purchase amounts and require
that consumers either buy a subscription or purchase
the right to buy large numbers of items. For example,
newspaper websites that offer archived articles typi-
cally require that consumers purchase either a sub-
scription to access the articles or purchase a minimum
number of archived articlesthey refuse to sell
archived articles individually.
To enable small single purchases, a number of
researchers have proposed micropayment systems
that are either token based or account based. An ex-
ample of an account-based micropayment system is
the NetBill system designed at Carnegie Mellon
University. This system provides strong protection
for both consumers and merchants and acts as an
aggregator of purchase information. When purchases
across a number of merchants exceed a certain thresh-
old amount, that amount is charged in a single credit
card purchase.
An example of a token-based micropayment sys-
tem is the PepperCoin system proposed by Ron Rivest
and Silvio Micali and currently being commercial-
ized. Peppercoin uses a unique system of lottery
tickets for purchases. For example, if a consumer
wishes to make a ten-cent purchase, he might use a
lottery ticket that is worth ten dollars with a prob-
ability of 1 percent. The expected value paid by the
consumer would be the same as the items he pur-
chased; but any single charge would be large enough
to justify being charged using a traditional payment
mechanism (such as a credit card).
170 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Despite the promise of micropayment systems,
they remain largely unused. Most merchants prefer
to support small-value items by using Web-based
advertising or subscriptions. Nonetheless, advocates
of micropayment systems maintain that such sys-
tems enable new classes of electronic commerce.
Challenges for Digital Cash
Although digital cash is being increasingly used, a
number of challenges remain. The principal chal-
lenge is associating payment with delivery of goods
(this challenge is often known as the atomic swap
or fair exchange problem.) Merchants also need to
be protected from using stolen payment information,
and consumers need to be protected from merchants
who inadequately protect payment information (or,
even worse, engage in fraud.) Finally, effective pay-
ment methods need to be developed and accepted to
support both large and small purchases. A balance
must be reached between consumers who want
anonymous purchases and government authorities
who want to tax or record purchases. These challenges
make digital cash a rapidly developing research area.
J. D. Tygar
See also E-business
FURTHER READING
Chaum, D., Fiat, A., & Naor, M. (1990). Untraceable electronic cash.
In G. Blakley & D. Chaum (Eds.), Advances in cryptolog y
(pp. 319327). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag.
Electronic Privacy Information Center. (2003). Privacy and human
rights 2003. Washington, DC: Author.
Evans, D., & Schmalensee, R. (2000). Paying with plastic: The digi-
tal revolution in buying and borrowing. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Kocher, P., Jaffe, J., & Jun, B. (1999). Differential power analysis. In M.
Weiner (Ed.), Advances in cryptology (pp. 388397). Heidelberg,
Germany: Springer-Verlag.
Mann, R., & Winn, J. (2002). Electronic commerce. Gaithersburg, MD:
Aspen Publishers.
OMahony, D., Peirce, M., & Tewari, H. (2001). Electronic payment sys-
tems for e-commerce (2nd ed.). Norwood, MA: Artech House.
Tygar, J. D. (1998). Atomicity in electronic commerce. Networker, 2(2),
2343.
Wayner, P. (1997). Digital cash: Commerce on the Net (2nd ed.). San
Francisco: Morgan-Kaufmann.
DIGITAL DIVIDE
There is both optimism and pessimism about the ul-
timate impact of the digital revolution on individ-
ual, societal, and global well-being. On the optimistic
side are hopes that access to information and com-
munication technologies, particularly the Internet,
will facilitate a more equitable distribution of social,
economic, and political goods and services. On the
pessimistic side are beliefs that lack of access to these
technologies will exacerbate existing inequalities,
both globally and among groups within societies.
The phrase digital divide was coined to refer to this
gap between the technology haves and have-nots
between those who have access to information and
communications technologies, most notably the
Internet, and those who do not. The overriding
concern is that a world divided by geographic, re-
ligious, political, and other barriers will become
further divided by differing degrees of access to dig-
ital technologies.
Evidence of a Digital Divide
Evidence supporting the existence of a global digi-
tal divide is overwhelming. Of the estimated 430 mil-
lion people online in 2001, 41 percent resided in the
United States and Canada. The remaining Internet
users were distributed as follows: 25 percent in
Europe, 20 percent in the Asian Pacific (33 percent
of this group in Asia, 8 percent in Australia and New
Zealand), 4 percent in South America, and 2 percent
in the Middle East and Africa. Even among highly
developed nations there are vast differences in
Internet access. For example, in Sweden 61 percent
of homes have Internet access compared to 20 per-
cent of homes in Spain.
In light of the global digital divide evidence
that Internet use is rapidly increasing takes on ad-
ditional significance. According to data compiled
by a variety of sources, the rise in Internet use
extends throughout both the developed and de-
veloping world. The rapidly increasing global reach
of the Internet intensifies concerns about its po-
tential to exacerbate existing global economic and
social disparities.

HomeNetToo Tries to Bridge Digital Divide
B e g u n i n t h e f a l l o f 2 0 0 0 , Hom e Ne t To o w a s a n
eighteen-month field study of home Internet use in low-
income families. Funded by an Information Technology
Research grant from the National Science Foundation, the
project recruited ninety families who received in-home
instruction on using the Internet, and agreed to have their
Internet use recorded and to complete surveys on their ex-
periences. In exchange, each family received a new home
computer, Internet access, and in-home technical support.
The comments of the HomeNetToo participants about
their computer use provide a broad range of views about
the pleasures and problems of computer interactions:
When somebodys on the computer what-
ever it is theyre doing on that computer at
that time, thats the world theyre inits
another world.
With the computer I can do thingswell,
I tell the computer to do things nobody else
will ever know about, you know what I am
saying? I have a little journal that I keep that
actually nobody else will know about un-
less I pull it up.
I escape on the computer all the time...I
like feeling connected to the world and I
can dream.
Evidence for a digital divide within the United
States is a bit more controversial, and has shifted
from irrefutable in 1995 to disputable in 2002.
In its first Internet repor t in 1995, the U.S.
Department of Commerce noted large disparities
in Internet access attributable to income, educa-
tion, age, race or ethnicity, geographic location,
and gender. In its fifth Internet report in 2002, all
disparities had shrunk substantially. However, only
a few disappeared entirely. Although 143 million
U.S citizens now have access to the Internet
(54 percent of the population), gaps attributable
DIGITAL DIVIDE 171
If Im stressed out or depressed or the day
is not going right, I just get on the computer
and just start messing around and I come
up with all sorts of things like okay, wow.
You get a lot of respect because you have
a computer in your house. I think people
view you a little differently.
A lot of times Im real busy, and it was hard
for me to get a turn on the computer too.
My best chance of getting time on the com-
puter is I get up at 6 AM and the rest of
the family gets up at seven. So if I finish my
bath and get ready quickly I can get on
before anyone else is up. And I can have an
hour space to do whatever I want while
theyre sleeping and getting up and dressed
themselves.
I feel like I dont have time ...who has time
to watch or play with these machines.
Theres so much more in life to do.
Instead of clicking, I would like to talk to
it and then say Can I go back please?
They talk in computer technical terms. If
they could talk more in laymans terms, you
know, we could understand more and solve
our own problems.
Source: Jackson, L. A., Barbatsis, G., von Eye, A., Biocca, F. A., Zhao, Y.,
& Fitzgerald, H. E. (2003c). Implications for the digital divide of
Internet use in low-income families. IT & Society., 1(5), 219244.
to the following factors have been observed in
all surveys to date:
Income: Income is the best predictor of Internet
access. For example, only 25 percent of house-
holds with incomes of less than $15,000 had
Internet access in 2001, compared to 80 per-
cent of households with incomes of more than
$75,000.
Education: Higher educational attainment is as-
sociated with higher rates of Internet use. For ex-
ample, among those with bachelors degrees or
172 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
better, over 80 percent use the Internet, compared
to 40 percent of those with only a high school
diploma.
Age: Internet use rates are highest between the
ages of twelve and fifty; they drop precipitously
after age fifty-five.
Race or ethnicity: Asian/Pacific Islanders and
whites are more likely to use the Internet (71 per-
cent and 70 percent, respectively) than are
Hispanics and African-Americans (32 percent
and 40 percent, respectively). However, growth
in Internet use has been greater among the lat-
ter than the former groups.
The gender gap so evident in the 1995 U.S.
Department of Commerce survey disappeared by the
2002 survey. However, gender-related differences re-
main. Among those over sixty years old, men had
higher Internet use rates than did women. Among
the twenty-to-fifty-year-old group, women had higher
Internet use rates than did men. Also diminishing if
not disappearing entirely are gaps related to geo-
graphic location. Internet use rates in rural areas
climbed to 53 percent in 2002, almost as high as the
national average, but use rates for central-city resi-
dents was only 49 percent, compared to 57 percent
for urban residents outside the central city.
In addition to the five Internet reports by the U.S.
Department of Commerce, a number of other or-
ganizations have been tracking Internet use and is-
sues related to the digital divide. The Pew Internet
and American Life Project devoted one of its several
reports to African-Americans and the Internet,
focusing on how African-Americans Internet use
differ from whites use. These differences are im-
portant to understanding the racial digital divide in
the United States and are potentially important to
understanding global digital-divide issues that
may emerge as access to the Internet becomes less
problematic. The Pew Internet and American Life
Project reported the following findings:
African-Americans are more likely than whites
to use the Internet to search for jobs, places to
live, entertainment (for example, music and
videos), religious or spiritual information and
health care information, and as a means to
pursue hobbies and learn new things.
African-Americans are less likely than whites to
say the Internet helps them to stay connected
to family and friends.
Women and parents are driving the growth of
the African-American Internet population.
Mirroring the pattern of gender differences in the
general population, African-American women
are much more likely than African-American men
to search for health, job, and religious informa-
tion online. African American men are much
more likely than African-American women to
search for sports and financial information and
to purchase products online.
Compared with older African-Americans, those
under age thirty are more likely to participate in
chat rooms, play games, and use multimedia
sources. Older African-Americans are more likely
to search for religious information than are
younger African-Americans.
The gap in Internet access between African-
Americans and whites is closing, but African-
Americans still have a long way to go. Moreover,
those with access to the Internet do not go on-
line as often on a typical day as do whites, and
online African-Americans do not participate on
a daily basis in most Web activities at the same
level as do online whites.
A number of researchers have also been inter-
ested in race differences in U.S. Internet access.
Thomas Hoffman and Donna Novak, professors of
management at Vanderbilt University, examined the
reasons for race differences in Internet access and
concluded that income and education cannot fully
explain them. Even at comparable levels of income
and education, African-Americans were less likely to
have home PCs and Internet access than were whites.
The psychologist Linda Jackson and her colleagues
have found race differences in Internet use among
college students who had similar access to the
Internet.
The United States is not the only country to re-
port a domestic digital divide. In Great Britain the
digital divide separates town and country, according
to a 2002 joint study by IBM and Local Futures, a re-
search and strategy consultancy. According to the
studys findings, Britains digital divide may soon

grow so wide that it will not be bridgeable. People in
Great Britains rural areas currently do not have
the same degree of access to new technologies,
such as cell phones, as do people in cities and the
areas surrounding them.
Why Is There a
Digital Divide?
The global digital divide appears to have an obvious
cause. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it
is reasonable to assume that the divide is attributa-
ble to differing degrees of access to digital tech-
nologies, especially the Internet. Of course there are
a host of reasons why access may be lacking, including
the absence of necessary infrastructure, government
policy, and abject poverty. Regardless of the specific
factor or factors involved, the access explanation as-
sumes that if access were available, then the global
divide would disappear. In other words, Internet ac-
cess would translate readily into Internet use.
Explaining the U.S. digital divide in terms of ac-
cess to digital technologies is a bit more problem-
atic. Indeed, some have argued that there is no digital
divide in the U.S. and that the so-called information
have-nots are really information want-nots. Those
advocating this perspective view the U.S. Department
of Commerce 2002 report as evidence that indi-
viduals without access have exercised their free choice
to say no to the Internet in favor of higher priorities.
Moreover, those who argue that the divide is dis-
appearing say that because the growth rate in Internet
use is much higher for low-income groups than it is
for high-income groups (25 percent as opposed to
15 percent), the gap between rich and poor will even-
tually be negligible without any intervention from
government or the private sector.
Those who argue that a digital divide persists
in the United States despite increasing low-income
access suggest that the divide be reconceptualized to
focus on use rather than access. This reconceptual-
ization highlights the importance of understanding
peoples motivations for Internet use and nonuse,
an understanding that will be even more impor-
tant if the global digital divide proves to be more
than a matter of access to digital technologies.
DIGITAL DIVIDE 173
The Divide between
Digital Use and Nonuse
Why do individuals choose to use or not use the
Internet, assuming they have access to it? A number
of studies have examined peoples motivations for
using or not using the Internet. According to the uses
and gratifications model of media use, individuals
should use the Internet for the same reasons they use
other media, namely, for information, communi-
cation, entertainment, escape, and transactions.
Research generally supports this view, although
the relative importance of these different motiva-
tions varies with demographic characteristics of the
user and changes in the Internet itself. For example,
older users are more likely to use the Internet for in-
formation, whereas younger users are more likely to
use it for entertainment and escape. Entertainment
and escape motives are more important today than
they were when the World Wide Web was first
launched in 1991.
A report issued in 2000 by the Pew Internet
and American Life Project focused specifically on
why some Americans choose not to use the Internet.
The authors noted that 32 percent of those currently
without Internet access said they would definitely
not be getting accessabout 31 million people.
Another 25 percent of non-Internet users said they
probably would not get access. Reasons for not go-
ing online centered on beliefs that the Internet is a
dangerous place (54 percent), that the online world
has nothing to offer (51 percent), that Internet ac-
cess is too expensive (39 percent), and that the on-
line world is confusing and difficult to navigate
(36 percent). The strongest demographic predictor
of the decision not to go online was age. Older
Americans apparently perceived few personal ben-
efits to participating in the online world; 87 percent
of those sixty-five and older did not have Internet
access, and 74 percent of those over fifty who were
not online said they had no plans to go online. In
contrast, 65 percent of those under fifty said they
planned to get Internet access in the near future.
Ipsos-Reid, a research firm, used an international
sample to examine peoples reasons for not going
online. Their findings, published in 2000, were sim-
ilar to the Pew report findings: Thirty-three percent
174 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
of respondents said they had no intention of going
online. Their reasons included lack of need for the
online world (40 percent), lack of a computer (33 per-
cent), lack of interest in going online (25 percent),
lack of necessary technical skills, and general cost
concerns (16 percent).
The Childrens Partnership, which also published
a report in 2000 on why people do not go online, of-
fered four reasons why low-income and underserved
Americans may choose to stay away from the
Internet. First, the Internet may lack the local infor-
mation of interest to low-income and underserved
Americans; second, there may be literacy barriers;
third, there may be language barriers; and fourth,
the lack of cultural diversity on the Internet may keep
them from participating. Lack of local information
disproportionately affects users living on limited
incomes. Literacy barriers come into play because
online content is often directed at more educated
Internet users, particularly users who have discre-
tionary money to spend online. Reading and un-
derstanding Web content may be especially difficult
for the less educated and those for whom English
is a second language (32 million Americas). An es-
timated 87 percent of the documents on the Internet
are in English. The lack of cultural diversity on the
Internet may be rendering the Internet less interest-
ing to millions of Americans.
Others have argued that access alone may not be
enough to produce equity in Internet use in the
United States. Gaps will persist due to differences in
education, interest in Web topics, and interpersonal
contact with others familiar with these topics. All of
these factors may affect how eagerly an individual
seeks out and consumes information on the Internet.
Whose Responsibility is the
Digital Divide?
Opinions vary about whose responsibility it is to ad-
dress the digital divide, whether it be the global di-
vide, the U.S. divide, or the divide between users and
nonusers. At the global level, in June 2002 the United
Nations telecommunications agency argued that it
would take concerted global action to keep the
digital divide from growing. The U.N. adopted a res-
olution to organize a world summit on the infor-
mation society, the first in Geneva in 2003, and the
second in Tunisia in 2005. The summits are expected
to promote universal access to the information,
knowledge, and communications technologies
needed for social and economic development.
In April 2002, Erkki Liikanen, the European com-
missioner for the Enterprise Directorate General and
the Information Society Directorate General, argued
that developing countries must be included in the
shift to a networked, knowledge-based global econ-
omy. He stressed the importance of strong political
leadership, top-level involvement and contributions
from both the public and private sectors. In 2000,
the European Commission launched an action plan,
the goal of which was to bring all of Europe online
by 2002. As a result of this action plan, decision mak-
ing on telecommunications and e-commerce regu-
lation accelerated and Internet access has moved to
the top of the political agenda in all European Union
member countries. In the coming years the focus will
move to the user and usage of the Internet. The goal
is to encourage more profound and inclusive use
of the Internet. In the United States a number of non-
profit organizations have looked to the federal
government to address the digital divide. For exam-
ple, upon release of the U.S. Department of Com-
merces fifth digital divide report in 2002, the Benton
Foundation issued a policy brief stating that
Targeted [government] funding for community
technology is essential to maintain national digital
divide leadership (Arrison 2002). The government,
however, continues to minimize the importance of
the digital divide, asserting that for the all intents
and purposes it no longer exists.
Thus, while some call for broad-based approaches
to eliminating the global digital divide and govern-
ment intervention to eliminate the U.S. digital di-
vide, others argue that nothing at all needs to be done,
that market forces will bridge the digital divide with-
out any other action being taken. Still others believe
that access to and use of digital technologies, par-
ticularly the Internet, are neither necessary for every-
day life nor solutions to social and economic
problems in the United States or elsewhere.
Linda A. Jackson
 DIGITAL GOVERNMENT 175

See also Economics and HCI; InternetWorldwide the twelfth International World Wide Web Conference, Budapest,
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DIGITAL GOVERNMENT
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Jackson, L. A., Ervin, K. S., Gardner, P. D., & Schmitt, N. (2001b). Electronic government (e-government) is intimately
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176 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
government and civic engagement to increasingly
computerized environments raises political, orga-
nizational, and social questions concerning use, the
appropriate contexts or environments for use, recip-
rocal adaptation mechanisms, learning and the de-
sign of government work, the design of political and
civic communities of interest, and the design of
nations themselves as well as international governance
bodies. Second, HCI focuses on human character-
istics and their relationship to computing. The sig-
nificant human characteristics of importance to
e-government include cognition, motivation, lan-
guage, social interaction, and ergonomics or hu-
man factors issues. The usability and feasibility of
e-government require a deep understanding by de-
signers of individual, group, and societal cognition
and behavior.
On the technological side HCI is concerned with
the outputs and processes of design and develop-
ment of systems and interfaces. Third, HCI and
e-government intersect is the design of computer
systems and interface architectures. Design questions
apply to input and output devices, interface archi-
tectures (including all types of dialogue interfaces
for individuals and shared spaces for multiple users),
computer graphics, maps, visualization tools, and
the effects of these systems and interface architec-
tures on the quality of interaction among individ-
uals, groups, and government. Fourth, HCI examines
the development process itself, ranging from how
designers and programmers work to the evaluations
of human-computer systems in terms of feasibil-
ity, usability, productivity and efficiency and, more
recently, their likelihood to promote and sustain dem-
ocratic processes.
These issues may be described separately; how-
ever, e-government projects require attention to sev-
eral of these issues simultaneously. For example,
user-friendly and socially effective applications that
cannot be implemented in a government setting for
reasons of privacy, fairness, cost, or user resistance
prove infeasible for e-government. Multiple con-
straints and demands therefore make this area chal-
lenging for governments.
Electronic government is typically defined as the
production and delivery of information and services
inside government and between government and the
public using a range of information and commu-
nication technologies (ICTs). The public includes
individuals, interest groups, and organizations,
including nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental
organizations, firms, and consortia. The definition of
e-government used here also includes e-democracy,
that is, civic engagement and public deliberation
using digital technologies. Governments in indus-
trialized and developing countries are experiment-
ing with interactive systems to connect people with
government information and officials. Many ob-
servers have claimed that interactive technologies
will revolutionize governance. We must wait to see
how and to what extent individuals and groups
will use computing to affect civic engagement and
how governments will use computing to influence
political and civic spheres.
Development Paths of E-government
Initial efforts by government agencies to develop
e-government entailed simply digitizing and post-
ing static government information and forms on the
World Wide Web using the language, displays, and
design of existing paper-based documents. Beginning
during the 1990s and continuing into the present
many government agencies have begun to adapt op-
erations, work, and business processes and their
interface with the public to simplify and integrate
information and services in online environments.
The federal governments of the United States,
Canada, Finland, and Singapore are among those at
the forefront of e-government in terms of the amount
of information and interactivity available to the
public and attention to system development and
interface architecture. The country-level Web por-
tal designed to help people navigate and search in-
formation for entire federal governments is one of
the key types of e-government initiatives. The U.S.
government Web portal (www.FirstGov.gov) is an
interface with a search tool meant to serve as a sin-
gle point of entry to U.S. government information
and services. The federal government of Singapore
developed a single Web portal, called Singov
(www.gov.sg), to simplify access to government in-
formation for visitors, citizens, and businesses.
Similarly, the Web portal for the government of

Canada (www.canada.gc.ca) was designed in terms of
three main constituents: Canadians, non-Canadians,
and Canadian business.
Organizational Redesign through
Cross-Agency Integration
During the 1990s several federal agencies and state
governments created virtual agenciesonline Relations, and the Census Web-casts its hearings and
sources of information and services from several agen-
cies organized in terms of client groups. For exam-
ple, during the early 1990s the U.S. federal government
developed the websites students.gov, seniors.gov, and
business.gov to organize and display information us-
ing interfaces designed specifically for these popula-
tions with a single point of entry into a government
portal focused on each populations interests. By the
end of the administration of President Bill Clinton
approximately thirty cross-agency websites existed
in the U.S. federal government.
Beginning in 2001, the U.S. federal government
continued this development path by undertaking
more than twenty-five cross-agency e-government
projects. The development path shifted from a
loose confederation of interested designers in the gov-
ernment to an enterprise approach to e-government
managed and controlled centrally and using lead
agencies to control projects. The desire for internal
efficiencies, as much as desire for service to the
public, drives these projects. Several payroll systems
are being consolidated into a few payroll systems for
the entire government. Multiple and abstruse (dif-
ficult to comprehend) requirements for finding
and applying for government grants are being stream-
lined into one federal online grants system called
e-grants. Myriad rulemaking processes in agencies
throughout the federal government, although not
consolidated, have been captured and organized in
the interface architecture of one Web portal, called
e-rulemaking. The website recreation.gov uses an
architecture that organizes recreation information
from federal, state, and local governments. System
design and interface architecture simplify search, nav-
igation, and use of information concerning recre-
ational activities, recreational areas, maps, trails,
tourism sites, and weather reports by location.
DIGITAL GOVERNMENT 177
Standardization, consolidation, and integration of
information, operations, and interfaces with the pub-
lic have been the key drivers for e-government in most
federal government efforts.
The ability to digitize visual government in-
formation is an additional development path for
e-government. To note one example: The U.S. House
Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee
on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental
makes testimony before the committee searchable
online. Previously, testimony was not searchable un-
til a transcript of a hearing was produceda process
that could take up to six months.
Considerable human, financial, and technical re-
sources are required to design, develop, build, and
maintain state-of-the-art e-government. For this rea-
son, many local governments in poor economic
areas or in cities and towns with small and medium
populations lack resources to build interactive
e-government unless resources are provided by fed-
eral and state governments. In the United States some
of the most developed state-level e-government sites
are in the states of Washington and Virginia. Municipal
government websites vary dramatically in quality
and level of development.
Interactivity and E-government
Interactive e-government services include online tax
payments, license applications and renewals, and
grants applications and renewals. The city of Balti-
more website (http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/) has
won awards for implementation of computing tech-
nology in government. The website allows citizens
to pay parking fines, property taxes, and water and
other bills. Users can search crime statistics by geo-
graphic area within the city and track several city
services, including trash removal and street clean-
ing. The city of Baltimore has implemented an on-
line version of the 311 service available in some other
large U.S. cities, which allows citizens to request city
information and services over the telephone. Citizens
can report and then track the status of a request
for city services, including removal of abandoned
vehicles, repair of potholes, removal of graffiti, and
requests for a change in traffic signs. These requests
178 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
not only provide interactivity but also promote gov-
ernment compliance and accountability to voters by
making provision of city services more transparent
to the public.
Interactivity is increasing as governments con-
tinue to develop systems and as citizens adapt to gov-
ernment online. To note a few trends: In the United
States the number of online federal tax filings in-
creased from 20,000 in 1999 to 47 million, or
about 36 percent of individual filings, in 2002. The
Environmental Protection Agency reports that it saves
approximately $5 million per year in printing and
mailing costs by providing information digitally to
the public. Public health agencies at all levels of gov-
ernment increasingly access centralized information
online through the Centers for Disease Control and
Protection of the U.S. Public Health Service.
Usability and E-government
Usability studies in HCI examine the ease and effi-
ciency with which users of a computer system can
accomplish their goals as well as user satisfaction
with a system. Usability in e-government is impor-
tant because it is likely to affect public participation
in ways that might result in unequal access or dis-
crimination due to biases built into design and
architecture.
One area of usability concerns disabled people.
Many governments around the world have passed
laws to ensure usability to the disabled. Section 508
of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), as
amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
(P.L. 105-220), 7 August 1998, mandates a set of re-
quirements for U.S. federal government sites to as-
sist disabled users. These requirements include
standards for Web-based software and applications,
operating systems, telecommunications products,
personal computers, video, and multimedia prod-
ucts. Major federal services initiatives have been
delayed and others upgraded to ensure compliance
with Section 508 requirements.
Disabilities increase as a population ages and
chiefly include visual impairment and decreases in
cognitive and motor skills important in an online
environment. A research initiative, Toolset for Making
Web Sites Accessible to Aging Adults in a Multi-
cultural Environment (http://www.cba.nau.edu/
facstaff/becker-a/Accessibility/main.html), focuses
on the development of tools for government agen-
cies to assess the usability of systems and sites for the
elderly as well as standards of measurement for eval-
uating such sites. Developers will use evaluation tools
to measure a sites accessibility in terms of reading
complexity and potential usability issues such as font
size and font style, background images, and text jus-
tification. Transformational tools will convert a
graphical image to one that can be seen by those users
with color-deficiency disabilities. Developers are cre-
ating simulation tools to model many of the prob-
lems that elderly users experience, such as yellowing
and darkening of images. Finally, compliance tools
will be designed to modify webpages to comply with
usability requirements for the elderly.
Other U.S. researchers are working with the Social
Security Administration, the Census Bureau, and the
General Services Administration to better provide for
their visually impaired users in a project entitled
Open a Door to Universal Access. Project researchers
are building and prototyping key technologies for
disabled employees at the partner agencies. These
technologies will later be transferred to the private
sector for wider dissemination in work settings.
Usability includes all elements of accessibility,
including look and feel, readability, and naviga-
bility. For example, usability research focused on
local government websites indicates that the read-
ing level required to comprehend information on
websites often exceeds that of the general popula-
tion, raising concerns about accessibility, compre-
hension, interpretation, and associated potential
for discrimination. Ongoing research regarding
e-government and usability focuses primarily on de-
velopment of tools for usability, including naviga-
bility and information representation in text, tabular,
graphical, and other visual forms.
Internet Voting
One of the most important developments in e-
government, with great significance for issues in HCI,
is Internet voting. People have debated three main
possibilities for Internet voting. First, computerized
voting can be used at polling places in a closed

system within a secure computer local area network
(LAN). Local votes would be recorded from indi-
vidual voting consoles and tallied at local polling sta-
tions. Second, voting consoles or kiosks can be located
in areas widely accessible to the general population,
such as public libraries or shopping malls. Third,
Internet voting might take place from remote loca-
tions, such as homes or offices.
Many observers predicted that Internet voting
would simplify voting processes and thereby increase
voter participation. These predictions are far from
reality at present. Current systems and architectures
lack the security and reliability required for Internet
voting of the third type. In addition to questions
of feasibility, experts are uncertain of how Internet
voting would affect participation and the cogni-
tive, social, and political process of voting itself.
A current research study, Human Factors
Research on Voting Machines and Ballot Design
(http://www.capc.umd.edu/rpts/MD_EVoteHuFac
.html), focuses on the human-machine interface in
voting. Given the prominence of issues surrounding
traditional voting methods during the 2000 U.S.
presidential election, researchers from the University
of Maryland are developing a process to evaluate
several automated voting methods and ballot de-
signs. The study compares technologies such as
optical scanning and digital recording of electronic
equipment and evaluates the effect of various vot-
ing methods and ballot designs on the precision with
which voters intentions are recorded and other crit-
ical variables.
Representing Complex
Government Information
Government statistics are a powerful source of in-
formation for policymakers and the public. Large,
democratic governments produce and distribute a
vast quantity of statistical information in printed
and electronic form. Yet, vital statistics continue to
be stored in databases throughout governments and
in forms that are not easily accessible, navigable, or
usable by most citizens. A U.S. project called Quality
Graphics for Federal Statistics (http://www.geovista
.psu.edu/grants/dg-qg/intro.html) focuses on de-
DIGITAL GOVERNMENT 179
velopment of graphical tools to simplify complex
information. This project will develop and assess
quality graphics for federal statistical summaries con-
sidering perceptual and cognitive factors in reading,
interaction, and interpretation of statistical graphs,
maps, and metadata (data about data). The project
addresses four areas: conversion of tables to graphs,
representation of metadata, interaction of graphs
and maps, and communication of the spatial and
temporal relationships among multiple variables.
The project uses Web-based middlewaresoftware
which connects applicationsto enable rapid de-
velopment of graphics for usability testing.
Another research project, Integration of Data
and Interfaces to Enhance Human Understanding
of Government Statistics: Toward the National
Statistical Knowledge Network (http://ils.unc.edu/
govstat/), takes a different HCI approach. Mem-
bers of the civically engaged public often struggle to
access and combine the vast and increasing amount
of statistical dataoften in a variety of formats
available from government agency websites.
Researchers working in cooperation with govern-
ment agencies are developing standardized data for-
mats and studying social processes to facilitate
integration of search results. In addition, the pro-
jects research team is developing a solutions archi-
tecture to accommodate users with a variety of
communications and hardware needs and provid-
ing for broad-based usability requirements.
Ways Forward
The technological potential exists for individuals,
groups, and communities to participate in and shape
government in new ways. Some observers specu-
late that increased access to government online
will lead to greater interest, knowledge, and discus-
sion of politics. The Internet might allow citizens to
organize and mobilize resources in powerful new
ways. The Internet enables groups and communities
to deliberate in new, possibly more effective ways.
Some observers have also speculated that comput-
ing will lead to direct democracy, with individuals
voting on a wide range of issues. Currently, little evi-
dence shows that this potential is being realized.
Those groups already civically engaged are using
180 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
computing to enhance their activities. The propen-
sity to simplify and distort information in public dis-
course is not abated by changes in media.
Unequal access to the Internet and a wide range
of computerized information and communication
tools, roughly divided between people with education
and people without, highly correlated with income
and political participation, creates a digital divide in
e-government in spite of advances in HCI. Lack of lit-
eracy and lack of computer literacy worsen the digi-
tal divide in access. Disparities among rich and poor
nations parallel digital-divide challenges within coun-
tries. Yet, innovations in several developing countries
and in rural areas invite some degree of optimism.
Rural farmers and craftspeople are beginning to con-
nect through the Internet to enhance their economic
well-being. Rural communities in China are using the
Internet, as yet on a modest scale, to decry local cor-
ruption and in some cases have forced the federal gov-
ernment to intervene in local affairs. Interfaces for
preliterate populations are being developed.
Human-computer interaction begins with the
study of the mutual adaptation of social and tech-
nical systems. We cannot predict the path or the out-
come of the many and varied complex adaptation
processes now in play. One of the chief sources of
learning for designers of e-government has been to
focus on tools for building and sustaining democ-
racy rather than to focus merely on efficiency. While
researchers learn more about human cognition,
social interaction, and motivation in computer-
mediated environments and while designers develop
new tools and interfaces to encompass a wider range
of activities and discourse in online environments,
large-scale adaptation continues between societies,
governments, and technology.
Jane E. Fountain and Robin A. McKinnon
See also Online Voting; Political Science and HCI
FURTHER READING
Abramson, M. A., & Means, G. E. (Eds.). (2001). E-government 2001
(ISM Center for the Business of Government). Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Alvarez, R. M. (2002). Ballot design options, California Institute of
Technology. Retrieved February 17, 2004, from http://www.capc
.umd.edu/rpts/MD_EVote_Alvarez.pdf
Ceaparu, I. (2003). Finding governmental statistical data on the Web:
A case study of FedStats. IT & Society, 1(3), 117. Retrieved February
17, 2004, from http://www.stanford.edu/group/siqss/itandsociety/
v01i03/v01i03a01.pdf
Conrad, F. G. (n.d.). Usability and voting technology: Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Retrieved February 17, 2004, from http://www.capc.umd
.edu/rpts/MD_EVote_Conrad.pdf
David, R. (1999). The web of politics: The Internets impact on the
American political system. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dutton, W. H. (1999). Society on the line: Information politics in the
digital age. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Dutton, W. H., & Peltu, M. (1996). Information and communication
technologiesVisions and realities. Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press.
Echt, K. V. (2002). Designing Web-based health information for older
adults: Visual considerations and design directives. In R. W. Morrell
(Ed.), Older adults, health information, and the World Wide Web
(pp. 6188). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Fountain, J. E. (2001). Building the virtual state: Information technol-
ogy and institutional change. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution
Press.
Fountain, J. E. (2002). Information, institutions and governance:
Advancing a basic social science research program for digital gov-
ernment. Cambridge, MA: National Center for Digital Government,
John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Fountain, J. E., & Osorio-Urzua, C. (2001). The economic impact of
the Internet on the government sector. In R. E. Litan & A. M. Rivlin
(Eds.), The economic payoff from the Internet re volution
(pp. 235268). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Harrison, T. M., & Zappen, J. P. (2003). Methodological and theo-
retical frameworks for the design of community information sys-
tems. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 8(3).
Retrieved February 17, 2004, from http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/
vol8/issue3/harrison.html
Harrison, T. M., Zappen, J. P., & Prell, C. (2002). Transforming new
communication technologies into community media. In N. W.
Jankowski & O. Prehn (Eds.), Community media in the informa-
tion age: Perspectives and prospects (pp. 249269). Cresskill, NJ:
Hampton Press Communication Series.
Hayward, T. (1995). Info-rich, info-poor: Access and exchange in the
global information society. London: K. G. Saur.
Heeks, R. (Ed.). (1999). Reinventing government in the information
age: International practice in IT-enabled public sector reform. London
and New York: Routledge.
Hill, K. A., & Hughes, J. E. (1998). Cyberpolitics: Citizen activism in the
age of the Internet. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Holt, B. J., & Morrell, R. W. (2002). Guidelines for website design
for older adults: The ultimate influence of cognitive factors. In
R. W. Morrell (Ed.), Older adults, health information, and the World
Wide Web (pp. 109129). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Internet Policy Institute. (2001). Report of the National Workshop on
Internet Voting: Issues and research agenda. Retrieved February
17, 2004, from http://www.netvoting.org
Kamarck, E. C., & Nye, J. S., Jr. (2001). Governance.com: Democracy in
the information age. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

Margolis, M., & Resnick, D. (2000). Politics as usual: The cyberspace
revolution. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nass, C. (1996). The media equation: How people treat computers,
televisions, and new media like real people and places. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide: Civic engagement, information poverty,
and the Internet worldwide. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press.
OLooney, J. A. (2002). Wiring governments: Challenges and possibili-
ties for public managers. Westport. CT: Quorum Books.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American
community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Rash, W. (1997). Politics on the nets: Wiring the political process. New
York: Freeman.
Schwartz, E. (1996). Netactivism: How citizens use the Internet.
Sebastapol, CA: Songline Studios.
Wilheim, A. G. (2000). Democracy in the digital age: Challenges to
political life in cyberspace. New York: Routledge.
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
For centuries the concept of a global repository of
knowledge has fascinated scholars and visionaries
alike. Yet, from the French encyclopedist Denis
Diderots LEncylopedie to the British writer H. G.
Wellss book World Brain to Vannevar Bushs (director
of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and
Development) Memex (a desktop system for storing
and retrieving information) to Ted Nelsons Project
Xanadu (a vision of an information retrieval system
based on hyperlinks among digital content con-
tainers), the dream of such an organized and ac-
cessible collection of the totality of human knowledge
has been elusive. However, recent technological
advances and their rapid deployment have brought
the far-reaching dream into renewed focus. The tech-
nologies associated with computing, networking,
and presentation have evolved and converged to
facilitate the creation, capture, storage, access, re-
trieval, and distribution of vast quantities of data,
information, and knowledge in multiple formats.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s the term
digital libraries emerged to denote a field of inter-
est to researchers, developers, and practitioners. The
term encompasses specific areas of development such
as electronic publishing, online databases, informa-
tion retrieval, and data miningthe process of in-
formation extraction with the goal of discovering
DIGITAL LIBRARIES 181
hidden facts or patterns within databases. The term
digital libraries has been defined in many ways. For
example:
The Digital Library is the collection of services
and the collection of information objects that
support users in dealing with information ob-
jects available directly or indirectly via electronic/
digital means (Fox and Urs 2002, 515).
Digital libraries are organizations that pro-
vide the resources, including the specialized staff,
to select, structure, offer intellectual access to,
interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of,
and ensure the persistence over time of collec-
tions of digital works so that they are readily avail-
able for use by a defined community or set of
communities(Fox and Urs 2002, 515).
A collection of information which is both dig-
itized and organized (Lesk 1997, 1).
Digital libraries are a set of electronic resources
and associated technical capabilities for creating,
searching, and using information . . . they are an
extension and enhancement of information stor-
age and retrieval systems that manipulate digi-
tal data in any medium (text, images, sounds,
static or dynamic images) and exist in distrib-
uted networks (Borgman et al. 1996, online).
Clifford Lynch, a specialist in networked infor-
mation, made a clear distinction between content
that is born digital and content that is converted into
digital format and for which an analogue counter-
part may or may not continue to exist.
The definitions of digital libraries have consider-
able commonality in that they all incorporate notions
of purposefully developed collections of digital in-
formation, services to help the user identify and ac-
cess content within the collections, and a supporting
technical infrastructure that aims to organize the col-
lection contents as well as enable access and retrieval
of digital objects from within the collections.
Yet, the term digital libraries may have constrained
development in that people have tended to restrict
their view of digital libraries to a digital version of
more traditional libraries. They have tended to focus
on textual content rather than on the full spectrum
of content typesdata, audio, visual images, simu-
lations, etc. Much of the development to date has
182 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
focused on building collections and tools for organ-
izing and extracting knowledge from them. Experts
only recently have acknowledged the role of the cre-
ators and users of knowledge and the contexts in which
they create and use. Dagobert Soergel, a specialist in
the organization of information, characterizes much
of the digital library activity to date as still at the stage
of horseless carriage; to fulfill its fullest potential, the
activity needs to move on to the modern automobile
(Soergel 2002, 1).
Key Concepts
Whereas researchers have expended considerable
effort in developing digital libraries, theoretical
Vannevar Bush on the Memex
S
cientist Vannevar Bushs highly influential essay As
We May Think (1945) introduced the idea of a device
he called the memexinspiring others to develop
digital technologies that would find and store a vast amount
of information.
The owner of the memex, let us say, is inter-
ested in the origin and properties of the bow and
arrow. Specifically he is studying why the short
Turkish bow was apparently superior to the
English long bow in the skirmishes of the
Crusades. He has dozens of possibly pertinent
books and articles in his memex. First he runs
through an encyclopedia, finds an interesting but
sketchy article, leaves it projected. Next, in a his-
tory, he finds another pertinent item, and ties the
two together. Thus he goes, building a trail of
many items. Occasionally he inserts a comment
of his own, either linking it into the main trail or
joining it by a side trail to a particular item. When
it becomes evident that the elastic properties of
available materials had a great deal to do with the
bow, he branches off on a side trail which takes
him through textbooks on elasticity and tables
of physical constants. He inserts a page of long-
hand analysis of his own. Thus he builds a trail
of his interest through the maze of materials avail-
able to him.
Source: Bush, V. (1945, July). As we may think. The Atlantic Monthly, 176(1).
Retrieved March 25, 2004, from http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/
flashbks/computer/bushf.htm
development has been elusive. Because of the mul-
tidisciplinary roots of the field, the different per-
spectives, and the lack of consensus on definition,
we can have difficulty understanding the basic
constructs of digital libraries. At its simplest inter-
pretation, the term digital libraries brings together
the notions of digital computing, networking, and
content with those of library collections, services,
and community. Researchers are giving attention to
the 5S framework developed by Edward A. Fox, di-
rector of Digital Libraries Laboratory at Virginia
Tech, Marcos Andr Gonlaves of Digital Libraries
Research, and Neill A. Kipp of Software Architecture.
This framework defines streams, structures,
spaces, scenarios, and societies to relate and unify
the concepts of documents, metadata (descrip-
tions of data or other forms of information content),
services, interfaces, and information warehouses that
are used to define and explain digital libraries:
Streams: sequences of information-carrying el-
ements of all typescan carry static content and
dynamic content
Structures: specifications of how parts of a whole
are arranged or organized, for example, hypertext,
taxonomies (systems of classification), user rela-
tionships, data flow, work flow, and so forth
Spaces: sets of objects and operations performed
on those objects, for example, measure, proba-
bility, and vector spaces (a form of mathemati-
cal representation of sets of vectors) used for
indexing, visualizations, and so forth
Scenarios: events or actions that deliver a func-
tional requirement, for example, the services that
are offereddata mining, information retrieval,
summarization, question answering, reference
and referral, and so forth
Societies: understanding of the entities and their
interrelationships, individual users, and user
communities
Digital Libraries Today
A report from the Presidents Information Tech-
nology Advisory Committee (PITAC) in 2001 ac-
knowledges the need for much more work to be
accomplished before we can think of digital libraries
as fully successful in the United States. The report

identifies deficiencies in digital content availability
and accessibility: Less than 10 percent of publicly
available information is available in digital form, and
less than 1 percent of the digital content is in-
dexed, and therefore identifiable, via Web search en-
gines. Thus, the visible Web is still small relative to
the total potential Web. The report goes on to ac-
knowledge the need to create digital library collec-
tions at a faster rate and much larger scale than are
currently available. The report also identifies the need
for improved metadata standards and mechanisms
for identifying and providing access to digital library
content and the need to advance the state of the
art in user interfaces so that digital library users with
different needs and circumstances can use interfaces
better suited to their contexts.
The PITAC report acknowledges that much of
the progress to date in digital libraries has resulted
from the federal governments investments through
multiagency digital-library research and develop-
ment initiatives and through provision of access to
libraries of medical and scientific data. In 1993 the
National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Mosaic,
the first Web browser to run on multiple plat-
forms, thereby encouraging widescale access to dig-
ital content via the Internet and the Web. In 1994 the
Digital Libraries Initiative (DLI)involving NSF,
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA), and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA)funded six university-led
consortia to conduct research and development to
make large distributed digital collections accessible
and interoperable. In 1998 the program was ex-
panded to include the National Institutes of
Health/National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM),
the Library of Congress, National Endowment for
the Humanities (NEH), Federal Bureau of Investi-
gation (FBI), National Archives and Records Admin-
istration (NARA), the Smithsonian Institution, and
the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
Other federal agencies compiled some of the
largest publicly accessible databases, such as Earth-
observing satellite data, weather data, climate data,
and so forth. Most recently, new forms of digital data
library collections have been initiated, including dig-
ital libraries of molecules, cells, genomes, proteins,
and so forth. The PITAC report calls for the federal
DIGITAL LIBRARIES 183
government to play a more aggressive and proactive
role in provision of digital content to all and to use
digital library technologies and content to transform
the way it services its citizens.
Another key area identified by the PITAC report
is the opportunities and challenges of digital libraries
and their long-term preservation. Experts see a slow
and steady leakage of digital content from the Web as
content is updated, archived, or removed. They also
see a need for both standards for digital preserva-
tion and archival processes for periodic transfer/trans-
formation to new formats, media, and technologies.
Finally, the PITAC report says the issue of in-
tellectual property rights needs to be addressed for
digital libraries to achieve their full potential. In par-
ticular, clarification was sought by the PITAC
Committee on access to information subject to copy-
right, the treatment of digital content of unknown
provenance or ownership, policies about federally
funded digital content, and the role of the private
sector.
The Signicance for HCI
The first decade of digital library research and de-
velopment provided ample evidence that our abil-
ity to generate and collect digital content far exceeds
our ability to organize, manage, and effectively use
it. We need not look further than our own experi-
ences with the growth of digital content and services
on the Web. Although the Web may be perceived
by the majority of the using public as a vast library,
it is not a library in several important aspects.
Experts acknowledge the importance of under-
standing how people interact with digital libraries,
how their needs relate to new types of information
available, and the functionality that is needed by these
new types of information. Numerous experts have
called for more user-centric approaches to the de-
sign and operation of digital libraries. However, these
same calls tend to still see the user involved only in
reaction to the development of certain collections.
Thus, user-centric seems to mean user involve-
ment rather than placement of the user and po-
tential user at the center of digital library activity.
For a truly user-centric approach to emerge,
we must start by understanding user need and
184 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

A meteorologist at the console of the IBM 7090 electronic computer in the Joint Numerical Weather Prediction
Unit, Suitland, Maryland, circa 1965. This computer was used to process weather data for short and long-range
forecasts, analyses, and reseach. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Weather Bureau.

context. This understanding includes recognizing especially in digital distributed environments in

users both as individuals and as part of their so-
cial context. Who the users are, what they are try-
ing to do, and how they interact with others are all
meaningful areas of discovery for future digital li-
brary development. Social groupsbe they fami-
lies, work groups, communities of practice, learning
communities, geographic communities, and so on
grow up with, create, structure, accept, and use in-
formation and knowledge. Digital library content,
tools, and services are needed to support these
groups and the individuals whom they encompass.
Issues of trust, reputation, belief, consistency, and
uncertainty of information will continue to prevail,
which people question assumptions about iden-
tity and provenance. Similarly, economic, business,
and market frameworks will complicate digital li-
brary use and development.
For people interested in human-computer in-
teraction, digital libraries offer a complex, wide-
spread environment for the research, development,
and evaluation of technologies, tools, and ser-
vices aimed at improving the connection of people
to d i g i t a l e nv i ro n m e n t s a n d to e a ch o t h e r
through those environments. Effective interac-
tion between human and computer is essential
for successful digital libraries.

Research
Digital-library research has made significant progress
in demonstrating our ability to produce digital
versions of traditional library collections and ser-
vices. However, what began as an effort to create dig-
ital libraries has been transformed into something
much more dynamic than was originally envisioned.
The idea of curated, network-accessible repositories
was (and remains) a fundamental need of schol-
arly inquiry and communication, as was the idea that
these repositories should support information in
multiple formats, representations, and media.
However, not until people made serious efforts to
build such resources, particularly for nontextual
digital content (audio, image, and video, for exam-
ple), did they realize that this venture would
stretch the limits of existing disciplinary boundaries
and require involvement of new interdisciplinary
collaborations.
The NSF recently sponsored a workshop of dig-
ital-library scholars and researchers to frame the long-
term research needed to realize a new scholarly inquiry
and communication infrastructure that is ubiquitous
in scope and intuitive and transparent in operation.
Five major research directions were recommended.
The first direction is expansion of the range of digi-
tal content beyond traditional text and multimedia to
encompass all types of recorded knowledge and ar-
tifacts (data, software, models, fossils, buildings, sculp-
tures, etc.). This content expansion requires improved
tools for identification, linkage, manipulation, and vi-
sualization. The second research direction is the use
of context for retrieving information. Such context
has two dimensions: the relationships among digital
information objects and the relationship between these
objects and users needs. In particular, because of con-
tinually accumulating volumes of digital content, such
context needs to be automatically and dynamically
generated to the extent possible. However, automated
tools could be supplemented with contextual addi-
tions from the using community (akin to reader in-
put to the Amazon.com website, for example).
Involvement of the using community in building the
knowledge environment will also build a sense of
ownership and stewardship relative to the particular
content and services of interest. The third research di-
rection is the integration of information spaces into
DIGITAL LIBRARIES 185
everyday life. Such integration requires customized
and customizable user interfaces that encompass
dynamic user models (with knowledge of the history,
needs, preferences, and foibles of the users and their
individual and social roles). The fourth direction is
the reduction of data to actionable information.
This reduction requires developing capabilities to re-
duce human effort and provide focused, relevant, and
useful information to the user; to do this again requires
an in-depth understanding of the users and their
individual and social contexts. The fifth research direc-
tion is to improve accessibility and productivity
through developments in information retrieval, im-
age processing, artificial intelligence, and data mining.
Realizing the Potential
The PITAC report offers a vision for digital li-
braries (universally accessible collections of hu-
man knowledge):
All citizens anywhere anytime can use an Internet-
connected digital device to search all of human
knowledge. Via the Internet, they can access knowl-
edge in digital collections created by traditional
libraries, museums, archives, universities, govern-
ment agencies, specialized organizations, and even
individuals around the world. These new libraries
offer digital versions of traditional library, museum,
and archive holdings, including text, documents,
video, sound and images. But they also provide
powerful new technological capabilities that enable
users to refine their inquiries, analyze the results,
and change the form of the information to inter-
act with it, such as by turning statistical data into a
graph and comparing it with other graphs, creat-
ing animated maps of wind currents over time,
or exploring the shapes of molecules.
Very-high-speed networks enable groups of digi-
tal library users to work collaboratively, commu-
nicate with each other about their findings, and
use simulation environments, remote scientific in-
struments, and streaming audio and video. No mat-
ter where digital information resides physically,
sophisticated search software can find it and pres-
ent it to the user. In this vision, no classroom, group
or person is ever isolated from the worlds great-
est knowledge resources. (PITAC 2001, 1)
Clearly underlying this vision is the notion of en-
gaged communities of both information providers
and information users. Sometimes called knowledge
186 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
communities, these communities, defined by a shared
interest in knowing or wanting to know about a sub-
ject area, are in constant flux. Understanding the dy-
namics of knowledge communities, why, when, and
how they form or cease to function, will be impor-
tant to the realization of the PITAC vision. Similarly,
researchers need to acknowledge the social con-
struction of knowledge and the roles of various mem-
bers in the communities over time. Traditional
publishers, libraries, museums, archives, and other
information collection and distribution entities that
are bound by the physicality of their collections
and audiences can clearly be represented in virtual
environments. However, the real power of the emerg-
ing technologies is their unleashing of human cre-
ativity, connection, and collaboration in their creation,
discovery, and sharing of new knowledge. Developing
technologies that are more human-centric in their
design and function is a critical element in achieving
this future.
Perhaps the greatest potential change that may
result from digital libraries of the future will be in
the institutional framework. When collection con-
tent no longer needs to be physically colocated,
when service providers no longer need to be phys-
ically close to their intended user communities, and
when the roles of provider and user blend, people
will question the continued need for physical insti-
tutions and information-professional roles. Such a
future may well see librarians, museum profession-
als, and others working within knowledge commu-
nities, not just as providers to those communities.
As digital libraries and their contents are dis-
persed across the Internet, and as permanent avail-
ability and access to those contents are assured,
the need for individual institutions to own and
house collections and service access points (the
means by which individuals can request and receive
service, i.e. an online catalog, a physical library, a
reference desk, or an online help desk) will dimin-
ish. For institutions whose reputations have
grown with the growth and maintenance of their
scholarly library collections, how will this future
play out? Although the opportunities are significant
and the technological developments astounding, the
abilities of institutions to change at a similar pace
are not clear. Issues of trust and control are likely to
constrain the kinds of institutional developments
that we envision.
Jos-Marie Griffiths
See also Information Organization; Information
Retrieval
FURTHER READING
Atkins, D. (1999). Visions for digital libraries. In P. Schauble & A. F.
Smeaton (Eds.), Summary report of the series of joint NSF-EU work-
ing groups on future directions for digital libraries research
(pp. 1114). Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.
Bishop, A. P., & Starr, S. L. (1996). Social informatics of digital library
use and infrastructure. Annual Review of Information Science
and Technology (ARIST), 31, 301401.
Borgman, C. L., Bates, M. J., Cloonan, M. V., Efthimiadis, E. N.,
Gilliland-Swetland, A., Kafai, Y., Leazer, G. H., & Maddox, A. B.
(1996). Social aspects of digital libraries: Final report to the National
Science Foundation. Los Angeles: Graduate School of Library &
Information Studies, UCLA. Retrieved January 26, 2004, from
http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/DL/UCLA_DL_Report.html
Bush, V. (1945). As we may think. In J. Nyce & P. Kahn (Eds.), From
Memex to hypertext: Vannevar Bush and the minds machine
(pp. 85110). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Diderot, D., & le Rond D Alembert, J. (Eds.). (17581776). Encyclopedie
ou dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des mtiers, par une
societe de gens de letteres (Encyclopedia or rational dictionary of
sciences, arts, and the professions, by a society of people of letters)
(2nd ed). Luca, Italy: Andr Le Breton.
Fox, E. A., Gonalves, M. A., & Kipp, N. A. (2002). Digital libraries. In
H. Adelsberger, B. Collis, & J. Pawlowski (Eds.), Handbook on in-
formation systems (pp. 623641). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Fox, E. A., & Urs, S. R. (2002). Digital libraries. Annual Review of
Information and Science and Technology (ARIST), 46, 503589.
Griffiths, J.-M. (1998). Why the Web is not a library. In B. Hawkins &
P. Battin (Eds.), The mirage of continuity: Reconfiguring academic
information resources for the twenty-first century (pp. 229246).
Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources,
Association of American Universities.
Lesk, M. (1997). Practical digital libraries: Books, bytes and bucks.
San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Lynch, C. A. (2002). Digital collections, digital libraries, and the dig-
itization of cultural heritage information. First Monday, 7(5).
National Science Foundation. (2003, June). Report of the NSF work-
shop on digital library research directions. Chatham, MA: Wave of
the Future: NSF Post Digital Library Futures Workshop.
Nelson, T. H. (1974). Dream machines: New freedoms through com-
puter screensA minority report (p. 144). Chicago: Nelson.
Presidents Information Technology Advisory Committee, Panel on
Digital Libraries. (2001). Digital libraries: Universal access to hu-
man knowledge, report to the president. Arlington, VA: National
Coordination Office for Information Technology Research and
Development.

Soergel, D. (2002). A framework for digital library research: Broadening
the vision. D-Lib Magazine, 8(12). Retrieved January 26, 2004 from
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december02/soergel/12soergel.html
Waters, D. J. (1998). The Digital Library Federation: Program agenda.
Washington, DC: Digital Libraries, Council of Library and
Information Resources.
Wells, H. G. (1938). World brain. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran.
DRAWING AND DESIGN
Ever since the Sketchpad system of computer graph-
ics pioneer Ivan Sutherland, designers have dreamed
of using drawing to interact with intelligent systems.
Built in the early 1960s, Sketchpad anticipated mod-
ern interactive graphics: The designer employed a
light pen to make and edit a drawing and defined its
behavior by applying geometric constraints such
as parallel, perpendicular, and tangent lines. However,
the widespread adoption of the windows-mouse
interface paradigm on personal computers in the
1980s relegated pen-based interaction to a special-
ized domain, and for many years little research was
done on computational support for freehand draw-
ing. The re-emergence of stylus input and flat dis-
play output hardware in the 1990s renewed
interest in pen-based interfaces. Commercial soft-
ware has mostly focused on text interaction (em-
ploying either a stylized alphabet or full-fledged
handwriting recognition), but human-computer
interfaces for computer-aided design must also sup-
port sketching, drawing, and diagramming.
Computer-aided design (CAD) is widely used in
every design discipline. CAD software supports mak-
ing and editing drawings and three-dimensional
computer graphics models, and in most design firms,
computer-aided design applications have replaced
the old-fashioned drawing boards and parallel rules.
Digital representations make it easier for a design
team to share and edit drawings and to generate com-
puter graphics renderings and animated views of a
design. The predominant use of computers in de-
sign is simply to make and edit drawings and mod-
els, leaving it to human designers to view, evaluate,
and make design decisions. However, computational
design assistants are being increasingly brought in
to help not only with creating drawings and mod-
DRAWING AND DESIGN 187
els, but also with design evaluation and decision
making. Despite the almost universal adoption of
computer-aided design software, it is typically used
in the laterdesign developmentphases of a de-
sign process, after many of the basic design decisions
have already been made. One reason for this, and a
primary motivation for supporting sketching, dia-
gramming, and drawing interfaces in computer-aided
design, is that during the conceptual phases many de-
signers prefer to work with pencil and paper.
The history of computers and human-computer
interaction shows a strong tendency to favor a
problem-solving approach, and computer languages
have quite properly focused on requiring pro-
grammers to state problems precisely and definitely.
This has, in turn, colored a great deal of our soft-
ware, including computer-aided design, which de-
mands of its users that they be able to precisely
articulate what they are doing at all times. Yet de-
signing in particular, and drawings more generally,
seem at least sometimes ill-suited to this historical
paradigm. Although the goal of designing is to ar-
rive at definite design decisions that make it possi-
ble to construct an artifact, during the process
designers are often quite willing to entertain (or tol-
erate) a great deal of uncertainty. This makes build-
ing human-computer interfaces for computer-aided
design an interesting challenge, and one that may
ultimately demand new forms of computational
representations.
The development of freehand interfaces for com-
puter-aided design will certainly depend on tech-
nical advances in pen-based interaction. However,
successful drawing-based interfaces for design will
ultimately also be informed by research on design
processes (how designing works and how people do
design) as well as by the efforts of cognitive psy-
chologists to understand the role of drawing and vi-
sual representations in thinking. Along with the
development of freehand-drawing software systems,
research on design and visual cognition has recently
enjoyed a resurgence of interest. In addition to
human-computer interaction, relevant work is be-
ing done in design research, artificial intelligence,
and cognitive science. An increasing number of con-
ferences, workshops, and journals are publishing
work in this growing research area.
188 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Drawing as an Interface to Everything
People sketch, diagram, and draw to compose,
consider, and communicate ideas. Information about
the ideas is coded in the lines and other drawing
marks and the spatial relationships among them.
Some people may think of drawings as belonging to
the realm of aesthetics, or as ancillary representa-
tions to real thinking carried out in words or math-
ematics, but many disciplinesfrom logic to sports,
from physics to music, from mathematics and bi-
ology to designemploy drawings, sketches, and di-
agrams to represent ideas and reason about them.
Many scientific and engineering disciplines use well-
defined formal diagram languages such as molecu-
lar structure diagrams, analog and digital circuit
diagrams, or user-modeling language (UML) dia-
grams in human-computer interactions. Drawing is
seldom the sole vehicle for communicating infor-
mation, but in many domains it is either a primary
representation or an important auxiliary one, as a
look at whiteboards in any school or company will
confirm.
Drawing plays a special role in design. In phys-
ical domains such as mechanics, structural engi-
neering, and architecture, and in graphic (and
graphical user interface) designs, a design drawing
correlates directly with the ultimate artifact: The
drawings geometry corresponds directly to the geom-
etry of the artifact being designed. For example, a
circle represents a wheel. In other disciplines, a di-
agram may correlate symbolically, for example a
supply-demand curve in economics. Even in domains
where a graphic representation only abstractly rep-
resents the artifact being designed, drawing supports
the supposing, proposing, and disposing process of
design decision making. For these reasons, drawing
can be an interaction modality to a wide range of
computational processes and applicationsdrawing
as an interface to everything.
Whats in a Drawing?
Drawings range from conceptual diagrams to rough
sketches to precisely detailed drawings. The purposes
of these representations differ, although designers
may employ them all in the course of designing:
Beginning with a conceptual diagram of an idea, they
develop it through a series of sketches, ultimately
producing a precise and detailed drawing. Both di-
agram and sketch are typically preliminary repre-
sentations used in early design thinking to capture
the essence of an idea or to rapidly explore a range of
possibilities. A diagram employs shapes and spatial
relations to convey essentials concisely. A sketch,
however, is often more suggestive than definitive, and
it may convey details while simultaneously avoiding
specificity. A schematic drawing involves more detail
and complexity than a diagram and is usually intended
as a more precise and definitive representation.
Features of a drawing that are potentially rele-
vant include shape and geometry, topology, curva-
ture and points of inflection of lines, absolute and
relative dimensions, positions of drawing marks and
spatial relationships among them, line weights, thick-
ness and color, speed and sequence of execution, and
relationships with nearby text labels. In any partic-
ular drawing only some of these features may be rel-
evant. For example, a diagram of digital logic is largely
indifferent to geometry but the drawing topology
(connections among the components) is essential to
its meaning. On the other hand, in a schematic draw-
ing of a mechanism or a sketch map, geometry and
scale are essential.
In addition to the information that a designer
decides deliberately to communicate, a drawing also
conveys information about the designers intent, that
is, metainformation about the designing process.
For example, the speed with which a sketch is exe-
cuted, the extent to which a designer overtraces draw-
ing marks, the pressure of the pen, or the darkness
of the ink all offer important information. Intense
overtracing in one area of the drawing may indicate
that the designer is especially concerned with that
part of the design, or it may reveal that the draw-
ing represents several alternative design decisions.
A quickly made sketch may reflect broad, high-level
thinking, whereas a slow drawing may reveal a
high degree of design deliberation.
During design brainstorming it is common to
find several sketches and diagrams on the same sheet
of paper or whiteboard; they may be refinements of
a single design, alternative designs, designs for dif-
ferent components of the artifact, or even represen-
tations of entirely unrelated ideas.

Input Issues
Two different approachesink based and stroke
basedto building pen-based interaction systems
are currently being followed, and each has certain ad-
vantages. An ink-based system registers the draw-
ing marks the user makes in an array of pixels
captured by a video camera or scanner, which serves
as input for an image-processing system to parse and
interpret. A stroke-based system records the mo-
tion of the users pen, usually as a sequence of x,y (and
sometimes pressure and tilt) coordinates. To an ink-
based system any drawing previously made on paper
can serve as scanned input, whereas one that is stroke-
based must capture input as it is produced. This makes
dynamic drawing information such as velocity, pen
pressure, and timing available to stroke-based sys-
tems. Many stroke-based systems, for example, use
timing information to segment drawing input into
distinct drawing elements, or glyphs.
Designers traditionally distinguish between free-
hand and hard-line drawings. Freehand drawings
are typically made with only a stylus, whereas hard-
line drawings are made using a structured interface,
previously a triangle and parallel rule, today the
menus and tool palettes of a conventional computer-
aided design program. The structured interface
has certain advantages: In selecting drawing elements
from a tool palette the designer also identifies them,
eliminating the need for the low-level recognition of
drawing marks that freehand drawing systems typ-
ically require. While this helps the computer pro-
gram to manage its representation of the design,
many designers feel that the structured interface im-
poses an unacceptable cognitive load and requires a
greater degree of commitment and precision than is
appropriate, especially during the early phases of de-
signing. Designers also complain that menus and
tool systems get in the way of their design flow. A
freehand drawing conveys more subtle nuances of
line and shape than a hard-line drawing. Freehand
drawings are often less formal and precise and more
ambiguous than hard-line representations, all ar-
guably advantageous characteristics in the early
phases of design thinking.
Some computer-based drawing systems auto-
matically replace hand-drawn sketchy shapes and
lines with beautified ones. Other systems retain the
DRAWING AND DESIGN 189
users original drawing, even if the system has rec-
ognized sketched components and could replace
them with precise visual representations. Many de-
signers consider the imprecise, rough, and sugges-
tive nature of a sketch or diagram to be of great value
and therefore prefer a hand-drawn sketch to a re-
fined, geometrically precise beautified drawing.
On the other hand, some users strongly prefer to
work with perfectly straight lines and exact right an-
gles rather than crude-looking sketches. This de-
pends at least in part on the users own experience
with drawing: Novices are more likely to feel un-
comfortable with their sketching ability and prefer
to work with beautified drawings, whereas seasoned
designers tend to see the nuances of their hand-drawn
sketches as positive characteristics. Whether beauti-
fication is considered helpful or harmful also de-
pends in part on the drawings intended purpose.
Recognition Issues
A great deal of research in interactive drawing
aims at recognizing sketches, diagrams, and draw-
ings for semantic information processing by intelli-
gent systems that apply domain knowledge to reason
about designs. After the system extracts from the
drawing the semantics of a proposed design, then
various knowledge-based design aids, such as sim-
ulation programs, expert systems, and case-based
reasoning tools, and other automated advisors can
be brought to bear. An interface that recognizes and
interprets the design semantics of sketches and di-
agrams enables a designer to employ these programs
in the early phases of designing. For example, a pro-
gram that recognizes the components and connec-
tions of a mechanical diagram can construct and
execute a computer simulation of the mechanism. A
program that recognizes the layout of an architec-
tural floor plan can retrieve from a database other
similar or analogous floor plans. A program that rec-
ognizes a sketched layout of a graphical user inter-
face can generate code to construct that interface.
A variety of recognition approaches have been
explored, including visual-language parsing and
statistical methods. Parsing approaches consider a
drawing as an expression in a visual language com-
posed of glyphs (simple drawing marks such as
190 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
arrows, circles, and rectangles) arranged in various
spatial relations into configurations. Typically a low-
level recognizer first identifies the glyphs. Some sys-
tems restrict glyphs to a single stroke, requiring,
for example, that a box be drawn without lifting the
pen; others allow multiple-stroke glyphs, allowing
the box to be drawn as four distinct strokes. After the
glyph recognizer has identified the basic drawing el-
ements, the parser identifies legal visual expressions
by matching the drawing against grammar rules.
Smaller visual unitsinitially glyphs, then configu-
rations arranged in specific spatial relationsmake
up more complex visual expressions. Each design
domain has its own visual language, so parsing ap-
proaches to general-purpose sketch recognition must
either be told which visual language to use or must
determine this information from the context.
Statistical methods such as Bayesian networks and
hidden Markov models have proved successful in other
kinds of recognition, notably speech recognition and
natural-language understanding. Statistical techniques
make it possible to build visual-language recognizers
without having to manually construct a grammar for
each domain-specific language.
Against sketch recognition the argument is lev-
eled that people are highly sensitive to recognizer
failure and will not tolerate imperfect recognizer per-
formance. Experience (for instance, with speech-to-
text systems and early handwriting recognizers)
shows that users become quite frustrated unless
recognition is extremely reliable, that is, has accu-
racy rates above 99 percent. On the other hand, un-
like speech and character recognitionwhere it can
be assumed that the input has only one intended in-
terpretationuncertainty in various forms may be
more acceptable in drawing, especially when a de-
signer wants to preserve ambiguity. Then for
sketch recognition, the methods of sustaining am-
biguity and vagueness would be at least as impor-
tant as accuracy.
An intermediate approach to recognition asks
the user to label the elements of a sketch rather than
attempt low-level glyph recognition. In this hybrid
approach the user enters a freehand drawing; then
after the user has labeled the elements (choosing
from a palette of symbols) the system can reason
about the drawings spatial organization.
Designers often sketch during the early stages of
design thinking, and therefore a sketch may serve the
dual purpose of (1) recording what the designer
already has decided and (2) exploring possible
alternatives. Sketches in general will vary along the
dimensions of ambiguity and precision, and even
within a single sketch some parts may record defi-
nite and precise design decisions while other parts
are vague, amorphous, and imprecise, representing
work-in-progress exploration. Recognition-based
drawing systems must be able to deal with these
extremes as well as with the range of representations
in between, and they must also be able to determine
autonomouslyfrom the drawing itselfwhat de-
gree of ambiguity and imprecision the designer in-
tended to convey. For example, a recognition-based
system might be able to distinguish between its own
failure to recognize precise input and a drawing that
is deliberately indeterminate. The ability of a system
to sustain ambiguous and imprecise representations
is for this reason especially important, and this
may pertain not only to the interface-recognition
algorithms, but also to any back-end processes behind
the interface that later represent or reason about
the designs.
A recognizer can support imprecision and ambi-
guity in several ways. Recognition-based interfaces
can catch, resolve, or mediate potential errors and am-
biguities at input time, for example, by presenting the
user with a sorted list of alternative interpretations.
Visual-language interpreters can employ fuzzy-logic
techniques, representing match probabilities in the
parse, or they may allow the parse to carry multiple
alternative interpretations. Rather than requiring an
entire drawing to represent a single visual sentence, a
recognizer may take a bottom-up approach that iden-
tifies some parts of the drawing while allowing others
to remain uninterpreted.
Avoiding Recognition:
Annotation and Multimodal Systems
Another response to the problem of recognition is
to avoid it entirely and simply manage drawings as
design representations independent of their seman-
tic content. This approach is taken in systems that

treat drawings as components of a collection of mul-
timodal conversations. Despite a popular myth of
the lone creative designer, real-world design typi-
cally involves a team of participants that includes ex-
perts from a variety of design disciplines as well as
other stakeholders, and a process that can range in
duration from weeks to years. The record of the
designing process (the design history) can therefore
include successive and alternative versions over time
and the comments of diverse participants, along with
suggestions, revisions, discussions, and arguments.
Sketches, diagrams, and drawings are important
elements in the record of this design history.
Design drawings are inevitably expressions in a
larger context of communication that includes spo-
ken or written information, photographs and video,
and perhaps computational expressions such as equa-
tions or decision trees. This gives rise to a wide range
of multimodalities. For example, a designer may (a)
mark up or redline a drawing, photograph, 3D
model, or video to identify problems or propose
changes, or add text notes for similar reasons; (b) in-
sert a drawing to illustrate an equation or descrip-
tive text or code; (c) annotate a drawing with spoken
comments, recording an audio (or video) track of
a collaborative design conversation as the drawing
is made or attaching audio annotations to the draw-
ing subsequently. Associated text and audio/video
components of the design record can then be used
in conjunction with the drawing; for example, text
can be indexed and used to identify the role, func-
tion, or intentions of the accompanying drawings.
From Sketch to 3D
Designers in physical domains such as mechanical,
product, and industrial engineering and architecture
often sketch isometric and perspective drawings to
describe three-dimensional artifacts. Therefore,
sketch-recognition research has long sought to build
systems that can generate three-dimensional mod-
els from two-dimensional sketches. Although this
goal has not yet been achieved in the general case of
arbitrary 2D sketches, a variety of approaches have
been pursued, each with particular strengths and
limitations, and each supporting specific kinds of
sketch-to-3D constructions. Recent representative
DRAWING AND DESIGN 191
efforts include SKETCH!, Teddy, Chateau, SketchVR,
and Stilton.
Despite its name, the SKETCH! program does
not interpret line drawings; rather, the designer con-
trols a 3D modeler by drawing multistroke gestures,
for example, three lines to indicate a corner of a rec-
tangular solid. Teddy enables a user to generate
volumes with curved surfaces (such as Teddy bears)
by inflating 2D curve drawings. It uses simple
heuristics to generate a plausible model from a sketch.
Chateau is a suggestive interface: It offers alter-
native 3D completions of a 2D sketch as the user
draws, asking in effect,Do you mean this? Or this?
SketchVR generates three-dimensional models from
2D sketches by extrusion. It identifies symbols and
configurations in the drawing in the 3D scene and
replaces them with modeling elements chosen from
a library. In Stilton, the user draws on top of the dis-
play of a 3D scene; the program uses heuristics about
likely projection angles to interpret the sketch.
The Future
Much of the personal computer era has been domi-
nated by interfaces that depend on text or on inter-
acting with mouse-window-menu systems. A renewed
interest in sketch-based interaction has led to a new
generation of systems that manage and interpret hand-
drawn input. Today, human-computer interaction re-
search is enabling computer-aided design software to
take advantage of sketching, drawing, and diagram-
ming, which have long been essential representations
in design, as well as in many other activities. Progress
in freehand-drawing interaction research will go hand
in hand with research in design processes and cog-
nitive studies of visual and diagrammatic reasoning.
Mark D. Gross
See also Evolutionary Engineering; Pen and Stylus Input
FURTHER READING
Davis, R. (2002). Sketch understanding in design: Overview of work
at the MIT AI lab. In R. Davis, J. Landay & T. F. Stahovich (Eds.),
Sketch understanding: Papers from the 2002 AAAI Symposium
192 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
(pp. 2431). Menlo Park, CA: American Association for
Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).
Do, E. Y.-L. (2002). Drawing marks, acts, and reacts: Toward a com-
putational sketching interface for architectural design. AIEDAM
(Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and
Manufacturing), 16(3), 149171.
Forbus, K., Usher, J., & Chapman, V. (2003). Sketching for military
courses of action diagrams. In International Conference on Intelligent
User Interfaces (pp. 6168). San Francisco: ACM Press.
Goel, V. (1995). Sketches of thought. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Gross, M. D., & Do, E. Y.-L. (2000). Drawing on the back of an enve-
lope: A framework for interacting with application programs by
freehand drawing. Computers and Graphics, 24(6), 835849.
Igarashi, T., & Hughes, J. F. (2001). A suggestive interface for 3-D draw-
ing. In Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software
and Technology (UIST) (pp. 173181). New York: ACM Press.
Igarashi, T., Matsuoka, S., & Tanaka, H. (1999). Teddy: A sketching in-
terface for 3-D freeform design. In Proceedings of the SIGGRAPH
1999 Annual Conference on Computer Graphics (pp. 409416). New
York: ACM Press/Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
Kurtoglu, T., & Stahovich, T. F. (2002). Interpreting schematic sketches
using physical reasoning. In R. Davis, J. Landay, & T. Stahovich.
(Eds.), AAAI Spring Symposium on Sketch Understanding
(pp. 7885). Menlo Park, CA: AAAI Press.
Landay, J. A., & Myers, B. A. (1995). Interactive sketching for the early
stages of interface design. In CHI 95Human Factors in Computing
Systems (pp. 4350). Denver, CO: ACM Press.
Larkin, J., & Simon, H. (1987). Why a diagram is (sometimes)
worth 10,000 words. Cognitive Science, 11, 6599.
Mankoff, J., Hudson, S. E., & Abowd, G. D. (2000). Providing inte-
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(SIGCHI) Conference (pp. 368375). The Hague, Netherlands:
ACM Press.
Negroponte, N. (1973). Recent advances in sketch recognition. In
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Pinto-Albuquerque, M., Fonseca, M. J., & Jorge, J. A. (2000). Visual
languages for sketching documents. In Proceedings, 2000 IEEE
International Symposium on Visual Languages (pp. 225232). Seattle,
WA: IEEE Press.
Saund, E., & Moran, T. P. (1994). A perceptually supported sketch ed-
itor. Paper presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface
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Suwa, M., & Tversky, B. (1997). What architects and students perceive
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Turner, A., Chapman, D., & Penn, A. (2000). Sketching space. Computers
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Proceedings (pp. 163170). New York: ACM Press.

E
E-BUSINESS
Although business challenges such as time and space
now matter less, new challenges arise when people
conduct electronic business (e-business). These chal-
lenges arise from two fundamental sources: global
customers cultural values and culturally sensitive
technology applications. Important cultural ques-
tions affect e-business and global customers. Such
questions include (1) why is culture important to
consider when conducting e-business? and (2)
how do companies leverage their information tech-
nology (IT) applications in light of cultural differ-
ences exhibited by global customers? Answering these
questions can help companies that use IT in a multi-
cultural market.
E-BUSINESS
EDUCATION IN HCI
ELECTRONIC JOURNALS
ELECTRONIC PAPER TECHNOLOGY
ELIZA
E-MAIL
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
ENIAC
ERGONOMICS
ERRORS IN INTERACTIVE BEHAVIOR
ETHICS
ETHNOGRAPHY
EVOLUTIONARY ENGINEERING
EXPERT SYSTEMS
EYE TRACKING
The Technological Revolution
A new landscape for conducting e-business has arisen
with the proliferation of technologies that facilitate
e-business, such as information communication tech-
nologies (ICT) (any communication device or ap-
plication encompassing radio, television, cellular
phones, satellite systems, etc.); enterprise resource
planning (ERP) (any software system designed to
support and automates the business processes of
medium and large businesses); electronic data inter-
change (EDI) (an information system or process
integrating all manufacturing and related applica-
tions for an entire enterprise; and manufacturing re-
source planning (MRP) (a system for effectively
managing material requirements in a manufacturing
process). Agility, flexibility, speed, and change are the
conditions for developing e-business models. In
193
194 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
addition, by using information and telecommunica-
tion systems, companies are able to communicate
with their global customers where barriers such as
time zones, currencies, languages, and legal systems
are reduced or eliminated. As a result, global cus-
tomers can be reached anywhere and at anytime.
Services and products can be obtained whenever,
wherever, and by whomever. The digital economy
is blazing a new path for doing business where the
notion of value through people becomes the
driving force for a successful model of e-business.
With the advent of the World Wide Web, busi-
ness is increasingly becoming an online environ-
ment. Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses have
evolved into click-and-mortar businesses.
Additionally, the Internet has changed from a
communications tool used mostly by scientists to a
business tool used by companies to reach millions
of customers across the globe. As a result, the Internet
has become a powerful business resource because its
technology enables firms to conduct business
globally (Simeon 1999). In addition, online sales eas-
ily penetrate global markets. Some companies treat
Web customers as a new type of audienceso united
in their use of the Internet that national differ-
ences no longer apply. Other companies, such as IBM,
Microsoft, and Xerox, have developed local versions
of their websites. These versions run off regional
servers, address technical issues (such as the need to
display different character sets), and provide infor-
mation about local services and products. Occasion-
ally they reflect aesthetic differencessuch as cultural
biases for or against certain colorsbut few com-
panies actively consider cultural variations that might
enhance the delivery of their products.
What Are E-business
and E-commerce?
The terms e-business and e-commerce have slightly
different meanings. E-business is . . . a broader term
that encompasses electronically buying, selling, serv-
icing customers, and interacting with business part-
ners and intermediaries over the Internet. Some
exper ts see e-business as the objective and
e-commerce as the means of achieving that objec-
tive (Davis and Benamati 2003, 8). In essence, e-busi-
ness means any Internet or network-enabled busi-
ness, for example companies can buy parts and
supplies from each other, collaborate on sales pro-
motion, and conduct joint research.
On the other hand, e-commerce is a way of do-
ing business using purely the Internet as a means,
whether the business occurs between two partners
(business to businessB2B), between a business and
its customers (business to customersB2C), be-
tween customers (C2C), between a business and em-
ployees (B2E), or between a business and government
(B2G).
According to Effy Oz (2002), an expert in infor-
mation technology and ethics, there are three cate-
gories of organizations that want to incorporate the
Web into their e-business: (1) organizations that have
a passive presence online and focus on online ad-
vertising, (2) organizations that use the Web to
improve operations, and (3) organizations that cre-
ate stand-alone transaction sites as their main or only
business.
In contrast, e-commerce is not exclusively about
buying and selling. Although the ultimate goal of
business is profit generation, e-commerce is not ex-
clusively about buying and selling. Instead, the real
goal of e-commerce is to improve efficiency by the
deployment of technologies. Factors that influence
the development of e-commerce are a competitive
environment, strategic commitment of the company,
and the required competencies. Thus, the definition
of e-commerce has a more restricted application than
that of e-business.
Understanding Cultural Concepts
Explained below are three different categories of cul-
ture. The first category is national culture in which
the differences of the cultural values are based on
four key dimensions. First is the individualism-
collectivism dimension, which denotes a cultures
level of freedom and independence of individuals.
Second is the power-distance dimension, which
denotes the levels of inequality expected and accepted
by people in their jobs and lives. Third is the un-
certainty-avoidance dimension, which denotes how
societies deal with the unknown aspects of a dif-

ferent environment and how much people are
willing to accept risks. Fourth is the masculinity-
femininity dimension, which denotes a cultures rank-
ing of values such as being dominant, assertive, tough,
and focused on material success.
The second category of culture is related to or-
ganizational culture. According to Edgar J. Schein,
an organizational psychologist, organizational cul-
ture is a property of a group. It arises at the level
of department, functional groups, and other orga-
nizational units that have a common occupational
core and common experience. It also exists at
every hierarchical level of the organizations and at
the level of the whole organization (Schein 1999,
1314). Thus, intense organizational culture can re-
sult in manifestations such as the phrases the way
we do things around here, the rites and rituals of
our company, our company climate, our com- this context. The most important goal is to ensure
mon practices and norms, and our core values.
A third category of culture can be called in-
formation technology culture. Information tech-
nolog y culture often overlaps national and
organizational cultures. Indeed, IT culture is part of
the organizational culture, which determines whether
the user (i.e., customer) accepts or resists the tech-
nology to be used. IT culture can be defined as the
sets of values and practices shared by those mem-
bers of an organization who are involved in IT-re-
lated activities, such as information system
professionals, and managers who are involved in IT-
related activities (i.e., programming, system analy-
sis and design, and database management).
Global Customers: Challenges
of Cultural Differences
IT applications in the context of e-business have
become more important because today companies
of all sizes and in all sectors are adopting the
principles of cultural diversity, as opposed to cul-
tural convergence, when reaching out to global cus-
tomers. Some questions that are worth considering
are why global customers resist new IT implemen-
tation, how organizational culture affects new cus-
tomers attitudes toward new IT implementation,
and why many companies fail to consider the role
E-BUSINESS 195
of culture when developing and implementing IT
applications. Companies have difficulty in under-
standing or even recognizing cultural factors at a
deeper level because the factors are complex and
subtle. Companies understanding of cultural fac-
tors is normally only superficial, which is why peo-
ple have difficulty observing the magnitude of the
impact of such factors on the success or failure of
e-business companies.
Although people have conducted an increasing
amount of research in global IT, this research has
been primarily limited to descriptive cross-cultural
studies where comparison analyses were made be-
tween technologies in different national cultures. A
universal interface should not be mistakenly con-
sidered as one interface for all customers. The con-
cept of universalism is somewhat misleading in
that customers feel at home when exploring the
Internet.
Fundamentally, cultural factors have strong in-
fluences on global customers preferences. Each cus-
tomer has his or her own culturally rooted values,
beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes. When loyal cus-
tomers are satisfied with the way they have been buy-
ing goods and services, they resist changes. Making
purchases online is less desirable to many customers.
The fact that customers cannot touch or smell the
products that they want makes some resistant to e-
business. Customers also can be resistant because
they lack the skills to use new technologies and an
understanding of how e-business is conducted.
Different ethnic cultures demonstrate different
cognitive reactions, requiring different environmental
stimuli (Tannen 1998). Similarly, Web-marketing
psychology depends on different mixtures of cogni-
tive and behavioral elements (Foxall 1997). Language,
values, and infrastructure can also be barriers to e-
business. For example, the preference of many
Chinese people for a cash-based payment system or
cash-on-delivery is the main obstacle to con-
ducting e-business in China. The phenomenon
can be explained by factors such as a lack of real credit
cards, a lack of centralized settlement systems (the
ability for credit cards to be used anywhere), and a
lack of trust in conducting business via the Internet
(Bin, Chen, and Sun 2003).
196 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
When people of Malaysia and Australia were
asked to evaluate eight websites from their countries,
the findings confirmed that the subjects had no pref-
erence for one-half the websites but had a preference
associated with subject nationality for the other one-
half (Fink and Laupase 2000). A study of mobile-
phone use in Germany and China showed that people
accepted support information and rated it as more
effective when it was culturally localized. Similar
studies have shown that cultural factors influence
how long customers stay on the Internet, how likely
they are to buy products online when the content
is presented in their native language, and the usability
of Web design elements.
Researchers believe that culturally specific ele-
ments increase international participation in con-
ducting e-business more than do genre-specific
elements. Interestingly, the role of culture in user in-
terface design can be identified as the localization el-
ements that could be considered as cultural markers.
These cultural markers are influenced by a specific
culture or specific genre (Barber and Badre 1998).
Examples of cultural markers are interface design el-
ements that reflect national symbols, colors, or forms
of spatial organization. After reviewing hundreds of
websites from different countries and in different
languages, Barber and Badre posited that different
cultural groups prefer different types of cultural
markers.
E-business Strategies
Because global customers come from all over the
world, their demands, needs, and values are more di-
vergent than similar. Cultural context and cultural
distance may have an impact on how goods and serv-
ices can be delivered to themthat is, on marketing
channels and logistics. Hence, e-business companies
must fully understand the values that affect cus-
tomers preferences. Companies need to tailor
their products to customers electronic requirements.
Selling products electronically means that
businesses must consider international channels of
distribution that fit with customers values. The elec-
tronic environment can become a barrier to suc-
cessful business endeavors. For example, in some
cultures a business transaction is best conducted face
to face. Customers can negotiate better with a
seller because such a setting allows the reciprocal
communication of interests and intentions. After
seller and customers establish rapport, this rapport
creates a more trusting relationship. This trusting
relationship could lead to repeated transactions.
Trusting the seller or buyer is crucial in certain
cultures.
Companies that conduct e-business need to find
new mechanisms and strategies that overcome such
cultural differences. In a situation such as the
study of Chinese customers, where credit cards were
not the common system of payment, a pragmatic
strategy might be to buy online and pay offline. The
findings in the research of customer interfaces for
World Wide Web transactions indicate that there are
significant cultural variations in why people used the
Internet (OKeefe et al. 2000). Their U.S. subjects
used the Internet solely to search for information,
whereas their Hong Kong subjects used the Internet
to communicate socially. A wise e-business strat-
egy for a company is thus to enhance personal com-
petence for Western values and to seek out social
relationships and shared loyalty for Eastern values.
Another e-business strategy emphasizes lever-
aging technology. Electronic businesses have two op-
tions when designing websites for customers in
different countriesdesign one website for all or
localized websites for each country. If the audience
crosses national borders, a single website may be ap-
propriate. For instance, websites exist for Arctic re-
searchers and astronomers. However, this strategy is
less likely to be successful when no overriding pro-
fessional or occupational focus unifies the audience.
The alternative is for companies to develop local ver-
sions of their websites. These local versions may be
run off regional servers to enhance performance
or to display different character sets. They also can
emphasize different product lines. Unfortunately,
unless the company is highly decentralized, varia-
tions in the basic message or mode of presentation
that might enhance delivery of its products to peo-
ple in another culture are rarely seen.
Melissa Cole and Robert OKeefe (2000) believe
that Amazon.com and Autobytel.com (an auto sales
website) have transcended global differences by em-
ploying a standardized transaction-oriented inter-

face. Such an interface may be practical for people
who have a limited goal (such as deciding which book
to buy) but may not be practical for people who
do not. Because different audiences use the Internet
for different purposes, standardized features may not
be practical for all the nuances of cultural values.
Designing interfaces for people who are searching
for social relationships, rather than seeking infor-
mation, imposes different requirements on Web
retailers and designers.
Culture has significant impacts on global cus-
tomers and software designers. The merging con-
cepts of culture and usability have been termed
cultural user interfaces by Alvin Yeo (1996) and
culturability by Barber and Badre (1998). Yeo talks
about cultures effect on overt and covert elements
of interface design. Tangible, observable elements
such as character sets and calendars are overt and
easy to change, whereas metaphors, colors, and icons
may reflect covert symbols or taboos and be difficult
to recognize and manipulate. Barber and Badre assert
that what is user friendly to one nation or culture
may suggest different meanings and understandings
to another. Therefore, efforts to build a generic global
interface may not be successful. Instead, cultural
markers should be programmatically changed to fa-
cilitate international interactions.
Implications
Because of globalization and competitiveness in in-
ternational business, many multinational and local
companies have considered implementing tech-
nologies to conduct e-business. Among the primary
factors that companies must consider are the effect
of culture on customers technology acceptance and
customers cultural values. Companies should ad-
dress the appropriateness of management policies
and practices across countries. For example, man-
agers need to make decisions concerning certain sit-
uations such as whether a global company can
override national cultural differences and when lo-
cal policies are best.
IT provides vast opportunities for companies to
compete in the global and electronic arena. At the
same time, customers from different cultures can
differ significantly in their perceptions, beliefs, at-
E-BUSINESS 197
titudes, tastes, selection, and participation in e-busi-
ness. Hence, companies need to fully understand cul-
tural variances in order to make decisions on which
e-business strategies work best. Some basic questions
for future research would be: (1) What makes for
universally appealing IT practices? (2) Does accept-
ability or familiarity drive global IT use? (3) How
does one successfully introduce technology applica-
tions that are unusual or not appropriate in a coun-
try? (4) How can cultural differences be considered
in the planning of IT practices? In a nutshell, com-
panies and Web designers need to be sensitive to the
different needs of global customers and to build
strategies and interfaces that consider cultural as-
sumptions and characteristics. Taking advantage of
national differences and preferences provides re-
source-based competencies and competitive advan-
tages for e-businesses. Companies need a more
innovative e-business model. With new e-business
practices, success is centered on peoples values,
agility, speed, flexibility, and change. Hence, the com-
mon business phrase Think globally, act locally
may not be as practical as Think locally, act glob-
ally. Reaching out to global customers means re-
flecting their local cultures, language, and currency.
Norhayati Zakaria
See also Anthropology and HCI; Ethnography;
Website Design
FURTHER READING
Barber, W., & Badre, A. (1998). Culturability: The merging of culture
and usability. Human Factors and the Web. Retrieved March 1, 2004,
from http://www.research.att.com/conf/hfweb/proceedings/barber/
index.htm
Bin, Q., Chen, S., & Sun, S. (2003). Cultural differences in e-commerce:
A comparison between the U.S. and China. Journal of Global
Information Management, 11(2), 4856.
Cole, M., & OKeefe, R. M. (2000). Conceptualizing the dynamics of
globalization and culture in electronic commerce. Journal of Global
Information Technology Management, 3(1), 417.
Cooper, R. B. (1994). The inertia impact of culture on IT imple-
mentation. Information and Management, 17(1), 1731.
Davis, W. S., & Benamati, J. (2003). E-commerce basics: Technology
foundations and e-business applications. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Fink, D., & Laupase, R. (2000). Perceptions of web site design char-
acteristics: A Malaysian/Australian comparison. Internet Research,
10(1), 4455.
198 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Foxall, G. R. (1997). Marketing psychology: The paradigm in the wings.
London: Macmillan.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences
in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Honald, P. (1999). Learning how to use a cellular phone: Comparison
between German and Chinese users. Technical Communication:
Journal of the Society for Technical Communication, 46(2), 196205.
Janssens, M., Brett, J. M., & Smith, F. J. (1995). Confirmatory cross-
cultural research: Testing the viability of a corporate-wide safety
policy. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 364382.
Johnston, K, & Johal, P. (1999). The Internet as a virtual cultural
region: Are extant cultural classifications schemes appropriate?
Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy,
9(3), 178186.
Kowtha, N. R., & Choon, W. P. (2001). Determinants of website de-
velopment: A study of electronic commerce in Singapore.
Information & Management, 39(3), 227242.
O'Keefe, R., Cole, M., Chau, P., Massey, A., Montoya-Weiss, M., &
Perry, M. (2000). From the user interface to the consumer inter-
face: Results from a global experiment. International Journal of
Human Computer Studies, 53(4), 611628.
Oz, E. (2002). Foundations of e-commerce. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education.
Rosenbloom, B., & Larsen, T. (2003). Communication in international
business-to-business marketing channels: Does culture matter?
Industrial Marketing Management, 32(4), 309317.
Ryan, A. M., McFarland, L., Baron, H., & Page, R. (1999). An inter-
national look at selection practices: Nation and culture as expla-
nations for variability in practice. Personnel Psychology, 52, 359391.
Sanders, M. (2000). World Net commerce approaches hypergrowth.
Retrieved March 1, 2004, from http://www.forrester.com/ER/
Research/Brief/0,1317,9229,FF.html
Schein, E. H. (1999). The corporate culture survival guide: Sense and
nonsense about cultural change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Simeon, R. (1999). Evaluating domestic and international web-sites
strategies. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and
Policy, 9(4), 297308.
Straub, D., Keil, M., & Brenner, W. (1997). Testing the technology
acceptance model across cultures: A three country study.
Information & Management, 31(1), 111.
Tannen, R. S. (1998). Breaking the sound barrier: Designing auditory
displays for global usability. Human Factors and the Web. Retrieved
March 1, 2004, from http://www.research.att.com/conf/hfweb/
proceedings/tannen/index.htm
Wargin, J., & Dobiey, D. (2001). E-business and change: Managing the
change in the digital economy. Journal of Change Management,
2(1), 7283.
Yeo, A. (1996). World-wide CHI: Cultural user interfaces, a silver lin-
ing in cultural diversity. SIGCHI Bulletin, 28(3), 47. Retrieved
March 1, 2004, from http://www.acm.org/sigchi/bulletin/1996.3/
international.html.
ECONOMICS AND HCI
See Denial-of-Ser v ice Attack; Digital Cash;
E-business; Hackers
EDUCATION IN HCI
Education in human-computer interaction (HCI)
teaches students about the development and use of
interactive computerized systems. Development
involves analysis, design, implementation, and
evaluation, while use emphasizes the interplay be-
tween the human users and the computerized sys-
tems. The basic aim of instruction in HCI is that
students learn to develop systems that support users
in their activities.
Education in HCI is primarily conducted in two
contexts: academia and industry. HCI is an impor-
tant element in such diverse disciplines as computer
science, information systems, psychology, arts, and
design. Key elements of HCI are also taught as in-
dustry courses, usually with more focus on the de-
sign and development of interactive systems.
Development of HCI as a Discipline
The first education programs in computer science
and computer engineering were developed in the
1970s and 1980s. They dealt extensively with hard-
ware and software; mathematics was the main sup-
porting discipline. As the field of computer science
has developed, other disciplines have been added to
accommodate changes in use and technology. HCI
is one such discipline; it has been added to many
computer science curricula during the 1990s and
early 2000s.
In order to promote a more unified and co-
herent approach to education in HCI, the Special
Interest Group on Human-Computer Interaction
(SIGCHI), part of the Association for Computing
Machinery (ACM), the worlds oldest and largest in-
ternational computing society, decided in 1988 to
initiate development of curriculum recommenda-
tions. The result of this work was published in
1992 under the title ACM SIGCHI Curricula for
Human-Computer Interaction. The report defined
the discipline and presented six main content areas.
The report also provided four standard courses: CS1
(User Interface Design and Development), CS2
(Phenomena and Theories of Human-Computer
Interaction), PSY1 (Psychology of Human-Computer
 EDUCATION IN HCI 199

A Personal StoryBringing HCI Into the Real World

In teaching HCI concepts, I often try to make connections to interaction with the real world.
One of the classrooms in which I teach is adjacent to a chemistry lab. A solid wooden door connects the two rooms.
Until recently, a large white sign with red lettering was posted on the door, visible to all in the classroom, reading, Fire
door. Do not block. I found nothing remarkable about this arrangement until one day I noticed that the door has no knob,
no visible way of opening it. Further examination showed that the hinges are on the inside of the door, so that it opens into
the classroom. A bit of thought led to the realization that the door is for the students in the chemistry lab; if a fire breaks
out in the lab they can escape into the classroom and then out into the corridor and out of the building.
All well and good, but where does that leave students in the classroom? Imagine a fire alarm going off and the smell
of smoke in the air. My students rush to what looks to be the most appropriate exit, and find that there's no way of open-
ing the door marked Fire door, and that pushing on it is not the solution in any case. When I describe this scenario to my
HCI students in the classroom, as an example of inadequate design in our immediate surroundings, it usually gets a few
chuckles, despite the context. Still, they can learn a few lessons about design from this example.
Messages are targeted at specific audiences, and messages must be appropriate for their audience. Here we have two po-
tential audiences, the students in each of the two adjoining rooms. For the students in the chemistry lab, the sign would be
perfectly appropriate if it were visible on the other side of the door. For the students in the classroom, less information
would actually improve the message: Important: Do not block this door would be sufficient. This avoids drawing at-
tention to the function of the door, functionality that is not targeted at those reading the sign. In general, conveying an un-
ambiguous message can be difficult and requires careful thought.
The sign no longer hangs on the door, which now stands blank.
Robert A. St. Amant

Interaction), and MIS1 (Human Aspects of Informa-
tion Systems).
CS1 and CS2 were designed to be offered in se-
quence in a computer science or computer engi-
neering department. CS1 focused on HCI aspects of
software, dealing primarily with practical develop-
ment of interfaces. It was defined as a general course
that complemented basic programming and soft-
ware engineering courses. CS2 was for students spe-
cializing in HCI, and it examined HCI in a broader
context, presented more-refined design and evalua-
tion techniques, and placed more emphasis on sci-
entific foundations.
The PSY1 course was designed to be offered in a
psychology, human factors, or industrial engineer-
ing department. It stressed the theoretical and em-
pirical foundations of human-computer interaction.
Here too the emphasis was more on design and eval-
uation techniques and less on implementation.
The MIS1 course was designed to be offered in
an information systems department. It focused on
use in order to contribute to consumer awareness of
interactive systems. It emphasized the role of com-
puters in organizations and evaluation of the suit-
ability of technological solutions. Although the
students were not thought of as system builders, the
ACM SIGCHI report recommended teaching pro-
gram design and implementation as well as the use
of tools such as spreadsheets and databases that have
considerable prototyping and programming
capability.
This classical curriculum has been very influen-
tial as a framework and source of inspiration for the
integration of HCI into many educational programs.
Several textbooks have been created to cover these
areas, including Prentice-Halls 1993 Human-
Computer Interaction, Addison-Wesleys 1994
Human-Computer Interaction, and Addison-Wesleys
1998 Designing the User Interface. A classical refer-
ence for the graduate level is Readings in Human-
Computer Interaction: Toward the Year 2000,
published in 1995 by Morgan Kaufmann.
200 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Typical Problems
HCI literature includes numerous guidelines and
methods for analyzing users work, for implemen-
tation, and for evaluation. There are also many dis-
cussions of specific designs for interactive systems,
since the systematic design of a user interface is an
essential activity in the development process. However,
although courses expose students to a rich variety of
systems, as soon as the students are confronted
with the task of designing a new system, they are
equipped with very little in the way of methodologies.
Current education in HCI also does not pay
enough attention to the interplay between design
and implementation. Design and implementation
can be seen as separate activities, but the tools used
for implementation support certain designs and im-
pede others. When the two activities are treated sep-
arately, this fundamental relation is ignored.
Another weakness of many introductory courses
is that they focus solely on design and implemen-
tation and fail to stress the importance of evalua-
tionof defining and measuring usability in a
systematic manner. Within a single course, it is im-
possible to master all the issues involved in the de-
velopment of a user interface, but students should
be exposed to all the issues and understand their im-
portance and how they are related. If they only learn
about design and implementation and not about
evaluating the usability of their products, we risk
ending up with systems that are attractive on the sur-
face but are of no practical use to a real user. The op-
posite approach is to focus primarily on evaluation
from the very beginning. Students learn to evaluate
the usability of an existing system through a course
in usability engineering, which they can take in the
first semester of an undergraduate program. Field
evaluations and other, more complicated, forms of
evaluations can then be introduced in later semesters.
New Challenges
HCI education continues to be challenged by new
technological developments. The PC revolution that
occurred in the middle of the 1990s and the wide-
spread use of graphical user interfaces required more
focus on graphical design. Many courses have adapted
to these developments.
Since the late 1990s, small mobile computers and
Web-based applications have presented new chal-
lenges. The design of interfaces for such technolo-
gies is only supported to a very limited extent by the
methods and guidelines that are currently taught in
many HCI courses. Textbooks that deal with these
challenges are beginning to appear. Web Site Usability,
published in 1999 by Morgan Kaufmann, teaches de-
sign of Web-based applications. HCI courses have
to some extent been adjusted to include brief de-
scriptions of novel systems and devices to inspire
students to use their imaginations, but most educa-
tion in HCI still focuses on designing and develop-
ing traditional computer systems.
Guidelines for developing interactive interfaces
typically include careful analysis of the context of
use, which has traditionally been work activities. Yet
the new technologies are used in a multitude of other
contexts, such as entertainment, and these new con-
texts must be taken into consideration for future
guidelines.
Integrating Practical Development
For students of HCI truly to understand the na-
ture of the field, they must try putting their knowl-
edge into action. There are two basically different
ways of giving students experience with practical de-
velopment: through course exercises and student
projects.
The ACM SIGCHI curriculum contains pro-
posals for limited development tasks that students
can solve as exercises in a course. CS1 encourages a
focus on design and implementation, using inter-
face libraries and tools. CS2 suggests having students
begin from less well-defined requirements, thereby
changing the focus more toward user work and task
analysis. It is suggested that the students also com-
plete design, implementation, and evaluation activ-
ities. The problem with such exercises is that they are
limited in time and therefore tend to simplify the
challenges of interface development. In addition, ex-
ercises are usually conducted in relation to just one
course. Therefore, they usually involve topics from
that one course only.
A more radical approach is to have students work
on projects that involve topics from a cluster of

courses. There are some courses of study in which
HCI is one element in a large project assignment that
student teams work to complete. These courses in-
troduce general issues and support work with the
project assignmentfor example, an assignment to
develop a software application for a specific organ-
ization might be supported with courses in HCI,
analysis and design, programming, and algorithmics
and data structures. This basic pedagogical approach
introduces students to theories and concepts in a
context that lets the students see the practical appli-
cations of those theories and concepts. Projects
undertaken during different semesters can be dif-
ferentiated by overall themes. Such themes might re-
flect key challenges for a practitionerfor example,
software development for a particular organiza-
tion or design of software in collaboration with users.
Using projects as a major building block in each
semester increases an educational programs flexi-
bility, for while the content of a course tends to be
static and difficult to change, the focus of the proj-
ects is much easier to change and can accommodate
shifting trends in technology or use. Thus while
courses and general themes of the projects can be
fixed for several years, the content of the projects can
be changed regularly, so that, for example, one year
students work on administrative application systems
and the next on mobile devices.
Managers from organizations that hire students
after graduation have emphasized the importance of
projects. The students get experience with large
development projects that are inspired by actual real-
world problems. In addition, the students learn to
work with other people on solving a task. The man-
agers often say that a student with that sort of train-
ing is able to become a productive member of a
project team in a very short time.
The Future
In the last decades of the twentieth century, HCI was
integrated into many educational programs, and
there are no signs that the subject will diminish in
importance in the years to come. On the contrary,
one can expect that many programs that have a ba-
sic focus on computing and information systems but
that lack courses in HCI will take up the subject.
EDUCATION IN HCI 201
There are a growing number of cross-disciplinary
programs that involve development and use of com-
puters. In several of these, HCI is becoming a key
discipline among a number of scientific approaches
that are merged and integrated in one institutional
setting.
Finally, multidisciplinary education programs
with an explicit and strong focus on design are be-
ginning to appear. These programs handle the chal-
lenge from emerging technologies by using an overall
focus on design to treat such diverse disciplines as
computer science, architecture, industrial design,
communication and interaction theory, culture and
organization theory, art, media, and aesthetics.
The goal is to educate students to think of themselves
as designers who posses a rich and constructive
understanding of how modern information tech-
nology can be used to support human interaction
and communication. HCI will be a core subject in
such programs.
Jan Stage
See also Classrooms
FURTHER READING
Baecker, R. M., Grudin, J., Buxton, W. A. S., & Greenberg, S. (Eds.).
(1995). Readings in human-computer interaction: Toward the
year 2000 (2nd ed.). Los Altos, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.
Dahlbom, B. (1995). Gteborg informatics. Scandinavian Journal of
Information Systems, 7(2), 8792.
Denning, P. J. (1992): Educating a new engineer. Communications of
the ACM, 35(12), 8397.
Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G., & Beale, R. (1993). Human-computer
interaction. Hillsdale, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Hewett, T. T., Baecker, R., Card, S., Carey, T., Gasen, J., Mantei, M.,
et al. (1992). ACM SIGCHI curricula for human-computer inter-
action. New York: ACM. Retrieved July 24, 2003, from http://www.
acm.org/sigchi/cdg/
Kling, R. (1993): Broadening computer science. Communications of
the ACM, 36(2), 1517.
Mathiassen, L., & Stage, J. (1999). Informatics as a multi-disciplinary
education. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 11(1),
1322.
Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability engineering. San Francisco: Morgan
Kaufmann.
Preece, J., Rogers, Y., Sharp, H., Benyon, D., Holland, S., & Carey, T.
(1995). Human-computer interaction. Reading, MA: Addison-
Wesley.
Rubin, J. (1994). Handbook of usability testing. New York: Wiley.
202 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Shneiderman, B. (1998). Designing the user interface (3d ed.). Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
Skov, M. B., & Stage, J. (2003). Enhancing usability testing skills of
novice testers: A longitudinal study. Proceedings of the 2nd
Conference on Universal Access in Computer-Human Interaction.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence-Erlbaum.
Spool, J. M., Scanlon, T., Schroeder, W., Snyder, C., & DeAngelo, T.
(1999). Web site usability. Los Altos, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.
ELECTRONIC JOURNALS
Scholarly journals, which include substantive re-
search articles and other materials, including letters
to the editor, book reviews, and announcements of
meetings, trace their origins back to 1665, with Les
Journal des Scavans (trans., Journal of the experts)
in Paris and Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
in London. These journals developed to share sci-
entific discoveries among interested parties and to
establish who was first to have made a given discov-
ery or to have advanced a given theory.
Peer review is an important part of publication
in scholarly journals. It is a system whereby scholars
who are experts in the same field as the author (the
authors peers) read, comment on, and recommend
publication or rejection of an article. This process is
usually single-blind (the author does not know who
the reviewers are, but the reviewers know who the
author is) or double-blind (the author does not know
who the reviewers are and the reviewers do not know
the identity of the author), which gives both readers
and authors increased confidence in the validity of
the published articles. Although it has been criticized
from time to time, peer review remains one of the
most valued aspects of publication in scholarly jour-
nals, which are also referred to as peer-reviewed jour-
nals, scholarly journals, or refereed journals.
Status of Electronic Journals Today
Today, according to Ulrichs Periodicals Directory,
there are approximately 15,000 peer-reviewed jour-
nals actively published in all fields. (This number
should be considered approximate, as new jour-
nals are constantly being launched and old ones con-
stantly ceasing publication. In addition, journals
sometimes change their titles, making it difficult to
arrive at an exact figure.)
Beginning in the 1960s, the first attempts were
made to convert scholarly journals or articles from
journals into digital format. As information tech-
nologies and telecommunications infrastructure de-
veloped, digital, or electronic, journals have become
a viable alternative to print. As of 2003, over 80 per-
cent (approximately 12,000) of peer-reviewed jour-
nals are available in some electronic form
Fulltext Sources Online, published twice a year by
Information Today, Inc., lists by title the scholarly
journals, magazines, newspapers, and newsletters
that are available in some digital form. The num-
ber of listings in Fulltext Sources Online grew from
about 4,400 in 1993 to over 17,000 by the end of 2002.
The formats of electronic journals (or e-journals)
vary considerably, however.
Electronic Journals: Journal
Focused or Article Focused
E-journals can be categorized as either journal fo-
cused or article focused. Journal-focused e-journals
are complete replacements for print, providing an
entire journal and, often, even more information
than is available in any extant print alternative ver-
sions. A journal-focused e-journal generally has a
recognizable journal title, an editorial process, a col-
lection of articles on related topics, and may even
have volumes and issue numbers. These complete e-
journals often permit browsing through tables of
contents and often feature a search engine that lets
readers search for specific information. Complete
electronic journals provide the same branding func-
tion that print journals provide. They are typically
available directly from the primary journal publisher,
usually for a subscription charge.
Article-focused e-journals are just databases of
separate articles extracted from print or electronic
versions of the complete journal. Commercial data-
bases of separate articles may be available either from
the primary publisher or from an aggregator service
such as ProQuest, InfoTrac, or EbscoHost. Article-
focused e-journals typically emphasize searching over
browsing and mix articles from many different jour-

nals. In these databases it is selected articles, rather
than complete journal titles, that are made available.
Even within a journal-focused e-journals, there
are many variations. The scholars Rob Kling and Ewa
Callahan describe four kinds of electronic jour-
nals: pure e-journals distributed only in digital form;
e-p-journals, which are primarily distributed elec-
tronically, but are also distributed in paper form in
a limited way; p-e-journals, which are primarily dis-
tributed in paper form, but are also distributed elec-
tronically; and p- + e-journals, which have parallel
paper and electronic editions.
Electronic journals may be mere replicas of a
print version, with papers presented in PDF for-
mat for handy printing, or they may provide a new
e-design with added functionality, color graphics,
video clips, and links to data sets. Both browsing and
searching may be possible, or only one or the
other. The availability of back issues also varies con-
siderably. The American Astronomical Society has
an advanced electronic-journals system, with added
functions, links to other articles and to data sets, and
extensive back files of old issues.
Aggregators of electronic-journal articles are
companies that act as third parties to provide access
to journal articles from a variety of publishers. The
advantage of an aggregator or a publisher that offers
many titles is, of course, the availability of many
articles from many journals in just one system.
The system may offer articles from a wide variety of
publishers and the originals may be print, electronic,
or both.
Publishers of Scholarly Journals
From their early days, scholarly journals were pub-
lished by scholarly societies, commercial publishers,
university presses, and government agencies. These
main categories of publishers continue today with
both print and electronic-journal publishing. The
number of journals published by each is not equally
distributed, however.
Societies may be the most visible to scholars, yet
only approximately 23 percent of scholarly journals
are published by societies. They have a core con-
stituency to serve, and publishing activities are al-
most always seen as a money-making venture to pay
E-JOURNALS 203
for member services. Members may receive a sub-
scription to a print or electronic journal with their
society membership or, increasingly, pay extra for it.
Society publishers' main revenue source is from sub-
scriptions paid for by libraries.
Some say that for-profit companies (commer-
cial publishers) should not publish scholarly pub-
lications because research and scholarship should be
freely available to all. A for-profit company owes
its primary allegiance to its shareholders and the
bottom line rather than only to the propagation
of knowledge. Subscription fees create a barrier that
means only those who can pay or who belong to
an institution that can pay, have access to important
research information. Still, in scholarly journal pub-
lishing, commercial publishers such as Elsevier
Science, Wiley, and Springer publish the largest per-
centage of the scholarly journals, and that percent-
age is growing. For-profit publishers range from those
giants to relatively tiny publishers, and together they
publish approximately 40 percent of all scholarly
journals. Libraries are the main subscribers to
both print and electronic journals and provide ac-
cess to library constituents either by password or
Internet protocol address (the address, given in num-
bers, that corresponds to an Internet location).
University presses mostly publish mono-
graphs, but universities and other educational insti-
tutions also account for about 16 percent of scholarly
journals. Other publishers, mostly government agen-
cies, contribute 21 percent of the titles published.
Many scientists and social scientists prefer
electronic journals for the convenience of desktop
access and additional functions, such as the ability
to e-mail an article to a colleague. E-journals also al-
low scholars to save time locating and retrieving ar-
ticles. Since almost all electronic journals have a
subscription charge, libraries are the main customers,
providing seamless access for faculty, students, staff,
or researchers.
Article-Focused Alternatives
to E-journals
Article-focused e-journals, being collections of
articles organized in subject-related databases,
204 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
are particularly good for in-depth reading over time
or for access to articles that come from unfamil-
iar sources. They extend, rather than replace, a li-
brarys journal collection and, like journals, are
provided to library constituents on a secure basis
through passwords or other authentication. Article
databases are changing the nature of scholarship:
In the late 1970s, scientists and social scientists read
articles from an average of thirteen journal titles
each year; with electronic-journal databases they
now read from an average of twenty-three journal
titles.
In addition to taking advantage of aggregators
article databases, readers can also choose to get in-
dividual articles from special electronic services, such
as the Los Alamos/Cornell arXiv.org service or those
linked to by the Department of Energy, Office of
Scientific and Technical Information PrePrint
Network (http://www.osti.gov/preprints/). These
services provide access to articles that may be
preprints of articles that will be submitted to peer-
reviewed journals by the author, postprints
(copies of articles that are also published in jour-
nals), or papers that will never be submitted to
traditional journals.
Individual electronic articles may also be ac-
cessed at an authors website or at institutional repos-
itories. The Open Archives Initiative has led the way
in alternatives to traditional journal publishing and
has inspired related initiatives that move the re-
sponsibility for distributing scholarship from pub-
lishers to the scholars themselves or to the scholars
institutions. Institutional repositories are now at the
early planning and development stage, but ideally
will include the entire intellectual capital of a uni-
versity faculty, including papers, data, graphics, and
other materials. The Open Archives Initiative pro-
motes software standards for establishing institu-
tional or individual e-print services (access to digital
preprints or postprints) so many institutions are review, for example, adds authority; editing adds
establishing OAI-compliant sites. E-print services
are well established in some academic disciplines,
in particular high-energy physics and astro-
physics. They are not as common in disciplines such
as medicine and chemistry, which rely heavily on
peer review.
The Impact of E-publishing
Alternatives
The fact that authors are now using a variety of pub-
lishing venues leads to worries about duplicate
versions, as it is hard to tell which is the definitive or
archival version of a paper when multiple versions
of the same paper are posted over time. Also, it
may be difficult to distinguish low-quality papers
from high-quality papers when it is so easy for all
papers to be posted. The positive impact of speedy
access to research literature overshadows these fears
in many scholars minds, however, and so far some
scholars and students report being able to assess the
definitiveness and quality of articles without too
much difficulty.
All of the new electronic models, formats, and
choices show us clearly that scholarly publishing is
at a crossroads. To understand what impact these
new options for reading and publishing scholarly
materials may have, it is useful first to consider what
the traditional structure and fundamental purposes
of scholarly publishing have been.
Traditionally, many people have been involved
in the business of moving scholarly ideas from the
hands of the author to the hands of the reader. If the
people and stages involved are seen as links in a chain,
the first link is the author and the last link is the
reader, but there are many intervening links
peer review, editing, distribution, indexing, sub-
scription, and so forth. Each link adds value, but it
also adds costs and time delays.
Some of the links are by-products of a print
distribution system and reflect the limitations
of print access. Electronic distribution may be one
way to cut out the intervening links, so an arti-
c l e m o ve s d i r e c t l y f ro m t h e a u t h o r t o t h e
reader. But it is important to remember the func-
tions of those links and the value they add. Peer
quality; distribution adds accessibility; and archiv-
ing adds longevity. Online alternatives that pro-
tect these functions to some degree will be the
most successful in the long run, although the rel-
ative value versus cost of these functions is
hotly debated.

The Future
Online journals today range from simplistic (and quite
old-fashioned-looking) ASCII texts (texts that rely on
the American Standard Code for Information
Interchange, or ASCII, for data transmission) of in-
dividual articles available from aggregator services
such as Lexis-Nexis to complex multimedia and in-
teractive electronic journals available on the publishers
website. Fully electronic journals without print equiv-
alents are still rare, but they are expected to become
more common in many disciplines. Fully electronic
journals can be highly interactive and can include mul-
timedia, links to data sets, and links to other articles;
they can also encourage a sense of community among
their readers. Therefore their impact on scholarship
in the future is likely to continue to grow.
Carol Tenopir
See also Digital Libraries
FURTHER READING
Borgman, C. L. (2000). From Gutenberg to the Global Information
Infrastructure: Access to information in the networked world.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Harnad, S. (2001). For whom the gate tolls? How and why to free the
refereed research literature online through author/institution self-
archiving, now. Retrieved July 28, 2003, from http://cogprints
.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/16/39/index.html
King, D. W., & Tenopir, C. (2001). Using and reading scholarly liter-
ature. In M. E. Williams (Ed.), Annual review of information sci-
ence and technology: Vol. 34. 19992000 (pp. 423477). Medford,
NJ: Information Today.
Fjallbrant, N. (1997). Scholarly communication: Historical development
and new possibilities. Retrieved July 28, 2003, from http://inter-
net.unib.ktu.lt/physics/texts/schoolarly/scolcom.htm
Ginsparg, P. (2001). Creating a global knowledge network. Retrieved
July 28, 2003, from http://arxiv.org/blurb/pg01unesco.html
Kling, R., & Callahan, E. (2003). Electronic journals, the Internet, and
scholarly communication. In B. Cronin (Ed.), Annual review of in-
formation science and technology: Vol. 37. 2003 (pp. 127177).
Medford, NJ: Information Today.
Meadows,A. J. (1998). Communicating research. New York: Academic Press.
Nature Webdebates. (2001). Future e-access to the primary literature.
Retrieved July 28, 2003, from http://www.nature.com/nature/
debates/e-access/
Page, G., Campbell, R., & Meadows, A. J. (1997). Journal publishing
(2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Peek, R. P., & Newby, G. B. (1996). Scholarly publishing: The electronic
frontier. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
ELECTRONIC PAPER TECHNOLOGY 205
Pullinger, D., & Baldwin, C. (2002). Electronic journals and user
behaviour. Cambridge, UK: Deedot Press.
Rusch-Feja, D. (2002). The Open Archives Initiative and the OAI pro-
tocol for metadata harvesting: Rapidly forming a new tier in the
scholarly communication infrastructure. Learned Publishing, 15(3),
179186.
Schauder, D. (1994). Electronic publishing of professional articles:
Attitudes of academics and implications for the scholarly com-
munication industry. Journal of the American Society for Information
Science, 45(2), 73100.
Tenopir, C., King, D. W., Boyce, P., Grayson, M., Zhang, Y., & Ebuen,
M. (2003). Patterns of journal use by scientists through three evo-
lutionary phases. D-Lib Magazine, 9(5). Retrieved July 29, 2003,
from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may03/king/05king.html
Tenopir, C., & King, D. W. (2000). Towards electronic journals: Realities
for scientists, librarians, and publishers. Washington, DC: Special
Libraries Association.
Weller, A. C. (2001). Editorial peer review: Its strengths and weaknesses.
Medford, NJ: Information Today.
ELECTRONIC PAPER
TECHNOLOGY
For nearly two thousand years, ink on paper has been
the near-universal way to display text and images on
a flexible, portable, and inexpensive medium. Paper
does not require any external power supply, and im-
ages and text can be preserved for hundreds of years.
However, paper is not without limitations. Paper can-
not be readily updated with new images or text se-
quences, nor does it remain lightweight when dealing
with large quantities of information (for example,
books). Nevertheless, although laptop computers
have enabled people to carry around literally thou-
sands of documents and images in a portable way,
they still have not replaced ink on paper.
Imagine a thin film that possesses the look and
feel of paper, but whose text and images could be
readily changed with the press of a button. Imag-
ine downloading an entire book or newspaper from
the web onto this thin medium, rolling it up, and
taking it to work with you. The technology to
make this and similar concepts possible is cur-
rently being developed. There are several different
approaches to creating what has become known as
electronic ink or electronic paper.
206 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Ink on paper is a very powerful medium for sev-
eral reasons. Not only is it thin, lightweight, and in-
expensive, but ink on paper reflects ambient light,
has extraordinary contrast and brightness, retains its
text and images indefinitely, has essentially a 180
viewing angle (a viewing angle is the angle at which
something can be seen correctly) is flexible, bend-
able, and foldable, and perhaps most importantly,
consumes no power. Objectively speaking, paper is
an extraordinary technology. Creating a new elec-
tronic technology that will serve as a successful pa-
per surrogate and match all the positive attributes of
paper is no easy task. In fact, it is one of the biggest
challenges facing technologists today.
Broadly defined, electronic display materials that
can be used in electronic paper applications can be
made from a number of different substances, reflect
ambient light, have a broad viewing angle, have a pa-
per-like appearance and most importantly, have
bistable memory. Bistable memorya highly sought-
after propertyis the ability of an electrically cre-
ated image to remain indefinitely without the
application of any additional electrical power. There
are currently three types of display technologies that
may make electronic paper or ink applications
possible. These technologies are bichromal rotat-
ing ball dispersions, electrophoretic devices, and cho-
lesteric liquid crystals.
Rotating Ball Technology:
Gyricon Sheets
A Gyricon sheet is a thin layer of transparent plas-
tic in which millions of small beads or balls, anal-
ogous to the toner particles in a photocopier
cartridge, are randomly dispersed in an elastomer
sheet. The beads are held within oil-filled cavities
within the sheet; they can rotate freely in those cav-
ities. The beads are also bichromal in nature; that is,
the hemispheres are of two contrasting colors (black
on one hemisphere and white on the other hemi-
sphere). Because the beads are charged, they move
when voltage is applied to the surface of the sheet,
turning one of their colored faces toward the side of
the sheet that will be viewed. The beads may rotate
all the way in one direction or the other, in which
case the color viewed will be one of the contrast-
ing colors or the other, or they may rotate par-
tially, in which case the color viewed will be a shade
between the two. For example, if the contrasting col-
ors are black and white, then complete rotation in
one direction will mean that black shows, complete
rotation in the other will mean white shows, and
partial rotation will mean a shade of gray. The im-
age that is formed by this process remains stable with
no additional electrical addressing on the sheet a
long time (even for days). This innovative technol-
ogy was pioneered at Xeroxs Palo Alto Research
Center and is currently being commercialized by
Gyricon Media.
Given contrasting colors of black and white, the
white side of each bead has a diffuse white reflecting
appearance that mimics the look and effect of paper,
while the other side of the ball is black to create
optical contrast. Gyricon displays are typically made
with 100-micrometer balls.
An important factor in this technologys success
is the fact that the many millions of bichromal beads
that are necessary can be inexpensively fabricated.
Molten white and black (or other contrasting col-
ors) waxlike plastics are introduced on opposite sides
of a spinning disk, which forces the material to flow
to the edges of the disk, where they form a large
number of ligaments (small strands) protruding
past the edge of the disk. The jets are black on one
side and white on the other, and quickly break up
into balls as they travel through the air and solidify.
The speed of the spinning disk controls the balls
diameter.
There are many applications envisioned for
this type of display technology. As a paper substitute
(electronic paper), it can be recycled several thou-
sand times; it could be fed through a copy machine
such that its old image is erased and the new one is
presented, or a wand can be pulled across the pa-
perlike surface to create an image. If the wand is given
a built-in input scanner, it becomes multifunctional:
It can be a printer, copier, fax, and scanner all in one.
This technology is very cheap because the materi-
als used and the manufacturing techniques are in-
expensive.

Electrophoretic Technology
Electrophoretic materials are particles that move
through a medium in response to electrical stimu-
lation. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology pioneered a technique to create mi-
crocapsules with diameters of 30300 micrometers
that encase the electrophoretic materials, which may
be white particles in a dark dye fluid or black and
white particles in a clear fluid. They have coined the
name electronic ink (or e-ink) to identify their tech-
nology. Material containing these microcapsules is
then coated onto any conducting surface. By encap-
sulating the particles, the researchers solved the long-
standing problem of electrophoretic materials
instability. (Electrophoretic materials have tenden-
cies toward particle clustering, agglomeration, and
lateral migration.) By having the particles encap-
sulated in discrete capsules, the particles cannot dif-
fuse or agglomerate on any scale larger than the
capsule size.
In the technology using white particles in a dark
dye, when a voltage of one polarity is applied to a
surface that has been coated with this material, the
tiny white encapsulated particles are attracted to the
top electrode surface so that the viewer observes a
diffuse white appearance. By changing the polarity
of the applied voltage, the white particles then mi-
grate back to the rear electrode where they are
concealed by the dye and the pixel appears dark to
the viewer. After migration occurs in both states the
white particles stay in their location indefinitely even
after the voltage is removed. Gray scale is possible by
controlling the degree of particle migration with ap-
plied voltage. This innovative technology is currently
being commercialized by E Ink.
In the system using black and white particles in
a clear fluid, each microcapsule contains positively
charged white particles and negatively charged black
particles suspended in a transparent fluid.When one
polarity of the voltage is applied, the white particles
move to the top of the microcapsule where they be-
come visible to the user (this part appears white). At
the same time, an opposite polarity pulls the black
particles to the bottom of the microcapsules where
they are no longer visible to the viewer. By reversing
this process, the black particles migrate to the top of
ELECTRONIC PAPER TECHNOLOGY 207
the capsule and the white particles to the bottom,
which now makes the surface appear dark at that spot.
Cholesteric Liquid Crystals
Cholesteric liquid crystal materials also have many
of the positive attributes of paper, and they have the
added advantage of being amenable to full color. The
optical and electrical properties of a cholesteric
liquid crystal material allow it to form two stable tex-
tures when sandwiched between conducting elec-
trodes. The first is a reflective planar texture with a
helical twist whose pitch, p, can be tuned to reject
a portion of visible light: When the material is placed
on a black background, the viewer sees a brilliant
color reflection. The second is a focal conic texture
that is relatively transparent. The reflection band-
width (Dl) in the perfect planar texture is approxi-
mately 100 nanometers (100 billionths of a meter).
This narrow selected reflection band is different from
the broadband white reflection of Gyricon and elec-
tronic ink reflective display renditions. Upon the ap-
plication of an applied voltage, V 1 , the planar
structure transforms into the focal conic state that
is nearly transparent to all wavelengths in the visible-
light range. The black background is then visible,
and an optical contrast is created between reflecting
color pixels and black pixels. In this state, the volt-
age can be removed and the focal conic state will re-
main indefinitely, creating a bistable memory between
the reflecting planar state and the transparent focal
conic state. In order to revert from the focal conic
state back to the planar reflecting texture, the mol-
ecules must transition through a highly aligned state,
which requires the application of voltage V2, which
is slightly higher than V1. Abruptly turning off the
voltage after the aligned state results in the planar
texture. There are ways in which the planar texture
can be altered to make it more paperlike in its re-
flectivity. Gray scale is inherent in cholesteric liq-
uid crystals technology since the focal conic domains
can be controlled with different levels of voltage.
Since cholesteric liquid crystal materials are trans-
parent, they can be vertically integrated to create a
true color addition scheme. Although stacking cre-
ates more complicated driving circuitry, it preserves
208 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
resolution and brightness levels since the pixels are
vertically integrated rather than spatially arranged
across the substrate plane, as is the case with con-
ventional liquid crystal displays. The technology was
developed at Kent State University and is now being
commercialized by Kent Displays. Cholesteric liquid
crystal materials are being developed for docu-
ment viewers, electronic newspapers and books, and
information signs.
Gregory Philip Crawford
See also Cathode Ray Tubes; Liquid Crystal Display
FURTHER READING
Comiskey, B., Albert, J. D., Yoshizawa, H., & Jacobson, J. (1998). An
electrophoretic ink for all-printed reflective electronic displays.
Nature, 394(6690), 253255.
Crawford, G. P. (2000). A bright new page in portable displays. IEEE
Spectra, 37(10), 4046.
Sheridon, N. K.; Richley, E. A.; Mikkelsen, J. C.; Tsuda, D.; Crowley,
J. C.; Oraha, K. A., et al. (1999). The gyricon rotating ball dis-
play. Journal for the Society for Information Display, 7(2), 141.
ELIZA
The computer program Eliza (also known as
Doctor) was created by the U.S. computer scien-
tist Joseph Weizenbaum (b. 1923) as an artificial in-
telligence application for natural language
conversation. Considered a breakthrough when pub-
lished, Eliza was named after the character Eliza
Doolittle, who learned how to speak proper English
in G. B. Shaw's play Pygmalion. Weizenbaum devel-
oped this program in the 1960s while a computer
scientist at MIT (19631988). Eliza is actually only
one specialized script running on a general conver-
sational shell program that could have various scripts
with different content. The Eliza script presents the
computer's conversational role as a mock Roger-
ian (referring to the U.S. psychologist Carl Rogers)
client-centered psychotherapist while the user plays
the role of a client. At the time the program was
so convincing that many people believed that they
were talking with a human psychotherapist.
Eliza as Psychotherapist
In client-centered sessions a psychotherapist reflects
back what the client says to invite further re-
sponses instead of offering interpretations. If a client
reports a dream about a long boat ride, Eliza might
respond with Tell me about boats. Most users would
not immediately assume that the program is igno-
rant of even the basic facts about boats. Weizenbaum
designed Eliza to take advantage of the user's pro-
jected illusion of understanding as a way of mask-
ing the program's profound lack of real-world
knowledge. He also carefully noted that the as-
sumption of a program understanding what the user
says is one made by the user.
In 1966 the popular understanding of mainframe
computers as electronic brains superior to human
capabilities was so strong that most people did in-
deed project vast knowledge and understanding onto
any computer. So, despite flaws and limitations
that later users would immediately notice, the first
users attributed so much credibility to Eliza's re-
sponses that some subjects have been very hard to
convince that ELIZA is not human (Weizenbaum
1966, 42).
Scientists were also impressed with Elizas po-
tentials. Nobel Prize winner Herbert Simon (econ-
omist, computer scientist, psychologist, and
philosopher of science) (19162001) suggested that
the U.S. Congress fund the development of Eliza as
a substitute for human psychotherapists, and some
psychoanalysts attempted to develop more sophis-
ticated scripts for the program. Such efforts inevitably
failed. In fact, Weizenbaum critiques Eliza's recep-
tion and popularity and asserts that such pro-
grams should not be used for sensitive interactions.
Eliza as Conversational Interface
Nevertheless, Eliza's computerized techniques for
conversational interaction were a significant im-
provement in human-computer interfaces. Eliza was
among the first artificial intelligence programs that

Talking with ELIZA
J
oseph Weizenbaum reports the following as a
typical conversation with ELIZA (Weizenbaum
1966).
CLIENT: Men are all alike.
ELIZA: IN WHAT WAY
They're always bugging us about something
or other.
CAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EXAM-
PLE
Well, my boyfriend made me come here.
YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME
HERE
He says I'm depressed much of the time.
I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU ARE DE-
PRESSED
It's true. I am unhappy.
DO YOU THINK COMING HERE WILL
HELP YOU NOT TO BE UNHAPPY
I need some help, that much seems certain.
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU IF YOU
GOT SOME HELP
Perhaps I could learn to get along with my
mother.
TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR FAMILY
My mother takes care of me.
allowed for a conversation between people and com-
puters. Eliza opened up the possibility of immedi-
ate user input and computer response in ways that
were much closer to natural human interactions. A
crucial property of human-computer interfaces dis-
closed by Weizenbaum's program is that they must
maintain the user's sense of being heard and un-
derstood (Weizenbaum 1966, 42). In that sense Eliza
satisfied one aspect of Alan M. Turing's (mathe-
matician and founder of computer science and cryp-
tology) test for artificial intelligence.
ELIZA 209
WHO ELSE IN YOUR FAMILY TAKES CARE
OF YOU
My father.
YOUR FATHER
You are like my father in some ways.
WHAT RESEMBLANCE DO YOU SEE
You are not very aggressive but I think you
don't want me to notice that.
WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I AM NOT
VERY AGGRESSIVE
You don't argue with me.
WHY DO YOU THINK I DON'T ARGUE
WITH YOU
You are afraid of me.
DOES IT PLEASE YOU TO BELIEVE I AM
AFRAID OF YOU
My father is afraid of everybody.
WHAT ELSE COMES TO MIND WHEN
YOU THINK OF YOUR FATHER
Bullies.
DOES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO
W I T H T H E FAC T T H AT YO U R
BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE
Source: Weizenbaum, Joseph. (1966, January). ELIZAA computer
program for the study of natural language communication between man
and machine. Communications of the ACM, 9(1). Retrieved March 22,
2004, from http://i5.nyu.edu/~mm64/x52.9265/january1966.html
Several features of the interactive environment
and conversational interface contributed to Eliza's
credibility. An environmental feature easily taken for
granted today was MIT's MAC (Multi-Access
Computer) time-sharing operating system, which
allowed multiple users to have quick response times
to their individual input. Eliza appeared to speak
back to the user the way another person would. A
user could generate input spontaneously at the tele-
type machine and have the program respond to that
specific input conversationally at the same teletype
210 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
not unlike today's Internet chat rooms, only with re-
sponses generated by a bot (robot). Compared to
submitting a stack of punched cards and waiting a
day for a printout, Eliza's interface was positively
friendly.
Interface Problems and
How Eliza Solves Them
Weizenbaum's program dealt with several specific
interface problems: identifying keywords, discov-
ering minimal context, choosing and calculating ap-
propriate responses (transformations), generating
responses for input without any keywords, and most
importantly, allowing for designing separate, change-
able scripts that encode the content, that is, the par-
ticular keywords and transformations for a given
conversational role. Thus, the shell program that
computes responses and a script provide an inter-
face to the content encoded in that script.
The program first scans the user's input sentence
to see if any of the words are in its dictionary of key-
words. If a keyword is found, then the sentence is
decomposed by matching it to a list of possible
templates. The design of the templates is what dis-
covers some minimal context for the user's input. In
one of Weizenbaum's examples, the sentence It
seems that you hate me is matched to a template for
the keywords YOU and ME:
(0 YOU 0 ME)
The 0 in the template stands for any number
of filler words. The template is used to break up
the input sentence into four groups:
(1) It seems that (2) YOU (3) hate (4) ME.
This decomposition is then matched to one of
several possible reassembly rules that can be used
to generate a response. In this case the one chosen is:
(WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I : 3 : YOU).
The response then substitutes the third part of
the input sentence, hate, into the response What
makes you think I hate you (Weizenbaum 1966, 38).
That is the basic operation of Eliza, although the
program has many more technical nuances. The real
ingenuity comes from designing the decomposition
and reassembly rules that make up the script. We can
easily see how merely reusing input words by put-
ting them into canned sentences leads to a loss of
meaning.
Achievements and
Continued Inuence
The program's real achievement was as an example
of a conversational interface for some useful content.
This kind of interface is successful for a narrow, the-
oretically well-defined, or foreseeable field of inter-
actions such as solving simple arithmetic problems.
Eliza quickly entered into intellectual and pop-
ular culture and continues to be discussed and cited
forty years later. The program has many variants, in-
cluding psychiatrists Kenneth Colbys Parry (short
for paranoid schizophrenic), the program Racter, de-
scribed as artificially insane, and many more so-
phisticated descendents.
William H. Sterner
See also Dialog Systems; Natural-Language Processing
FURTHER READING
Bobrow, D. G. (1965). Natural language input for a computer prob-
lem solving system (Doctoral dissertation, MIT, 1965), source num-
ber ADD X1965.
Colby, K. M., Watt, J. B., & Gilbert, J. P. (1966). A computer method
of psychotherapy: Preliminary communication. The Journal of
Nervous and Mental Disease, 142(2), 148152.
Lai, J. (Ed.). (2000). Conversational interfaces. Communications of the
ACM, 43(9), 2473.
Raskin, J. (2000). The humane interfaceNew directions for designing
interactive systems. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Rogers, C. (1951). Client centered therapy: Current practice, implica-
tions and theory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Turing, A. M. (1981). Computing machinery and intelligence. In D. R.
Hofstadter & D. C. Dennett (Eds.), The mind's IFantasies and
reflections on self and soul (pp. 5368). New York: Bantam Books.
(Reprinted from Mind, 49[236], 433460)
Turkle, S. (1984). The second selfComputers and the human spirit.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
Weizenbaum, J. (1966). ELIZAA computer program for the study
of natural language communication between man and machine.
Communications of the ACM, 9(1), 3645.
Weizenbaum, J. (1967). Contextual understanding by computers.
Communications of the ACM, 10(8), 474480.

Weizenbaum, J. (1976). Computer power and human reasonFrom
judgment to calculation. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.
Winograd, T. (1972). Understanding natural language. New York:
Academic Press.
E-MAIL
Electronic mail, also callede-mailor simplyemail,
is a system for exchanging text messages between com-
puters. First invented in 1971, e-mail came into
very widespread usage in the 1990s, and is considered
by many to be the most important innovation in per-
sonal communications since the telephone. E-mail
has changed the way businesses, social groups, and
many other kinds of groups communicate.
History of E-mail
E-mail was invented in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, who
was a scientist at BBN in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(The first-ever e-mail message, probably QWERTY
UIOP, was sent as a test between two computers on
Tomlinsons desk. Many, but not all e-mail messages
sent since then have been more informative.) This
was not the first text message sent via computer, but
the first-ever sent between computers using the now-
standard addressing scheme. The Internet, or Arpanet
as it was then called, had come into existence a few
years earlier, and was used by scientists at a few lo-
cations. Users of the Arpanet system already used
messaging, but one could only send messages to other
users at the same location (e.g. user TomJones at
State U might easily leave a message for SallySmith
at the same location). Tomlinson was working on a
way to send files between mainframes using file-
transfer program called CPYNET. He decided to also
extend the messaging system this so that users could
send messages to other users anywhere in the Arpanet
system.
One of the problems facing Tomlinson was ad-
dressing. How would TomJones at State U indicate
that he wanted to send a message to SallySmith at
TechU, not State U? Tomlinson chose the @ symbol
as the centerpoint for his new addressing system.
Information on the right of the @ would indicate the
E-MAIL 211
location, and information on the left would indi-
cate the user, so a message for SallySmith@TechU
would arrive at the right place. The @ symbol was
an obvious choice, according to Tomlinson, be-
cause it was a character that never appeared in names,
and already had the meaningat,so was appropriate
for addressing. All e-mail addresses still include this
symbol.
E-mail has grown exponentially for three decades
since. In the 1970s and 1980s it grew until it was a
standard throughout American universities. Starting
in 1988 it moved out into the nonuniversity popu-
lation, promoted by private companies such as
CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online. A study
of e-mail growth between 19921994 showed traf-
fic doubling about every twelve months279 mil-
lion messages sent in November of 1992, 508 million
the next year, and topping the 1 billion messages/
month mark for the first time in November of
1994 (Lyman and Varian 2004). Not only were more
people getting e-mail accounts, but the people
who had them were sending more and more mes-
sages. For more and more groups, there was enough
critical mass that e-mail became the preferred way
of communicating. By the early twenty-first century
e-mail was no longer a novelty, but a standard way
of communicating throughout the world between
all kinds of people.
Format of E-mail Messages
At its most basic, e-mail is simply a text message with
a valid address marked by To: Imagine that
TomJones@StateU.edu now wants to send an e-mail
address to joe@comtech.com. The part of the mes-
sage after the @ sign refers to an Internet Domain
Name. If the e-mail is to be delivered correctly, this
domain must be registered on the Internet Domain
Name Server (DNS) system, just as Web pages
must be. Likely, TomJoness university keeps a con-
stantly updated list of DNS entries (a DNS lookup
service) so that it knows where to sent Toms out-
going mail.
The computer receiving Toms message must have
an e-mail server or know how to forward to one, and
must have an account listed forjoe.If either of these
212 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

A Personal StoryThe Generation Gap

When I first went off to college, e-mail was something your university offered only to those savvy enough to take advan-
tage of it. It was an exclusive club: People who could send mail and have it arrive in seconds, rather than the usual two or
three days that the U.S. Postal Service required. And so, a freshman at college, I talked with my parents almost every day
for free, via e-mail, while my friends racked up large phone bills calling home. The formality of a written letter, or even a
phone call, was a treat saved only for a special occasion. But it took some time for my mother to warm to this interac-
tion; to her, e-mail was only on the computer, not personal like a letter could be. Even today, it is more like a second lan-
guage to her.
By the time I graduated from college, e-mail was commonplace and ubiquitous. Despite the diaspora of my college
friends across the country, my phone bill remained small, my e-mail rate high, until suddenly a new technology burst onto
the scene. In 1997 I started using Instant Messenger (IM), leaving a small window open on the corner of my screen. As
my friends slowly opted in we gravitated toward the peripheral contact of the buddy list and away from the more for-
mal interaction of e-mail. Gradually, I realized that long e-mail threads had been replaced by quick, frequent IM interac-
tion: a brief question from a friend, a flurry of activity to plan a night out.
But Ive become a bit of a fuddy-duddy; the technology has passed me by. Recently I added a young acquaintance to
my buddy list. He mystified me by sending brief messages: "Hi!" To this I would reply, "What's up? Did you have a ques-
tion?" This would confuse himwhy would he have a question? I finally realized that we used the medium in different
ways. To me, IM was a path for getting work done, a substitute for a quick phone call or a short e-mail. To him, the pres-
ence of friends on his buddy list was simply the warmth of contact, the quick hello of a friend passing by on the Web.
Observing his use is fascinating; he has well over a hundred friends on his list, and generally keeps a dozen or more con-
versations occurring simultaneously. No wonder I rated no more than a quick hello in his busy world! I tried to keep up
once, but found I could not match his style of use of the medium.
As new technologies arise, their new users will no doubt take to them with a gusto and facility that we cannot fully com-
prehend. It is our job as designers to ensure that we offer these users the flexibility and control to make of these new me-
dia what they will, and not limit them by the boundaries of our own imagination.
Alex Feinman

is not correct, the message will be bounced back to
the original sender. E-mail can be sent to multiple re-
cipients by putting multiple e-mail addresses in the
To field separated by commas or by using the cc
field or bcc field. CC stands for Carbon Copy, and
is a convention taken from office communications
long predating e-mail. If you receive an e-mail where
you are listed under the CC field, this means that you
are not the primary intended recipient of the mes-
sage, but are being copied as a courtesy. Recipients
listed in the CC field are visible to all recipients. BCC
in contrast stands for Blind Carbon Copy, and con-
tents of this field are not visible to message recipi-
ents. If you receive a BCC message, other recipients
will not see that you were copied on the message, and
you will not see other BCC recipients.
Standard E-mail messages also contain other,
nonessential fields usually including a From field
identifying the sender and a Subject field summa-
rizing the content. Other optional fields are:
Mime type: Describes the file format for attach-
ments
HTML formatting: Indicates that the message
contains formatting, graphics, or other elements
described in the standard Web html format
Reply-To: Can list a reply to address that may
be different from the sender. This is useful for
lists that want to avoid individual replies being
accidentally sent to the entire group.
SMS: Indicates that the e-mail can be sent to a
device using the Simple Messaging System pro-

tocol used by cell phones and other handheld
devices
Priority: Can be interpreted by some Web browser
to indicate different priority statuses
These are only a few of the more common op-
tional fields that may be included in an e-mail. When
an e-mail is sent using these optional features, the
sender cannot be sure that the recipients e-mail soft-
ware will be able to interpret them properly. No
organization enforces these as standards, so it is up
to developers of e-mail server software and e-mail
client software to include or not include these.
Companies such as Microsoft and IBM may also add
specialized features that work only within their
systems. E-mail with specialized features that are sent
outside of the intended system doesnt usually cause
undue problems, howeverthere will just be extra
text included in the e-mail header that can be disre-
garded by the recipient.
E-mail Lists
An important technological development in the his-
tory of e-mail was the e-mail list. Lists are one-to-
many distributions. A message sent to an e-mail list
address (e.g., dogtalk-l@listserv.stateu.edu) is sent
by an individual and received by everyone subscribed
to the list. One popular way of administering lists
is using ListServ software, which was first developed
in 1986 for use on IBM mainframes, and currently
marketed by Lsoft (www.lsoft.com). ListServ soft-
ware has the advantage that membership is self-
administeredyou dont need a moderators help
to subscribe, unsubscribe, or change membership
options, these are done by sending messages that are
interpreted and carried out automatically by the
server. For example, Tom Jones could subscribe him-
self to an open list by sending the message SUB-
SCRIBE dogtalk-l to the appropriate listserv address.
And, just as important, he could unsubscribe him-
self later by sending the e-mail UNSUBSCRIBE
dogtalk-l. There are also a wide variety of options
for list subscriptions, such as receiving daily di-
gests or subscribing anonymously.
Another popular way of administering groups is
through online services such as Yahoogroups. These
E-MAIL 213
groups are administered through buttons and
links on the group web page, not text commands.
These groups may also include other features such
as online calendars or chatrooms.
E-mail lists, like most other groups, have certain
group norms that they follow, and newcomers should
take note of them. Some of these are options that are
set by the list administrator:
Is the list moderated or unmoderated? In
moderated lists, an administrator screens all in-
coming messages before they are sent to the
group. In unmoderated lists, messages are im-
mediately posted.
Does the list by default Reply to all? When users
hit the Reply button to respond to a list mes-
sage, will they by default be writing to the indi-
vidual who sent the message, or to the entire
group? Not all lists are the same, and many
embarrassments have resulted in failure to no-
tice the differences. Users can always manually
override these defaults, simply by changing the
recipient of their messages in the To line.
Lists also have group norms that are not im-
plemented as features of the software, but are im-
portant nonetheless. How strictly are list members
expected to stick to the topic? Is the purpose of the
list social or purely informational? Are commercial
posts welcome or not? Listserv software can be con-
figured to send an automatic Welcome message to
new members explaining the formal and informal
rules of the road.
Social Characteristics
of E-mail
Academic researchers in the fields of communica-
tions, psychology, and human-computer interac-
tion were quick to recognize that this radical new
communications method could have effects on
both individuals and organizations. This re-
search area, which encompasses the study of e-mail
and other online media, is referred to as the
study of Computer-Mediated Communications,
abbreviated CMC. Some well-established charac-
teristics of e-mail are:
214 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Casual Style
Electronic mail was very quickly recognized to
have some unique effects on communication style,
and possibly have long-term effects on the groups
that use it. Casual style is one common marker of e-
mail communication. Many people use the verb
talk rather than write, as in Ill talk to you on e-
mail rather than Ill write you an e-mail. E-mail
never developed the formal salutations and bene-
dictions of lettersfew e-mails begin with Dear
Mr. Jones or end with Sincerely, Sally Smith. In
1978 one early e-mail user observed: One could
write tersely and type imperfectly, even to an older
person in a superior position and even to a person
one did not know very well, and the recipient took
no offense. The formality and perfection that most
people expect in a typed letter did not become as-
sociated with network messages, probably because
the network was so much faster, so much more like
the telephone (J.C.R. Licklider, quoted in Vezza
1978).
The casual style is partly a result of the unique
early-Internet hacker culture, but also partly a re-
sult of the medium itself. E-mail messages are of-
ten delivered in a few seconds, lending a feeling of
immediacy. The fact that e-mail is easily deleted
and not printed on paper lends a feeling of im-
permanence (although this is illusory, as many le-
gal defendants are now finding!) While in some
settings, such as when conducting corporate or
legal business, e-mails are now expected to be
formal and guarded in the manner of a letter, in
general the literary genre of e-mail remains one
of casualness and informality.
E-mail, along with other means of Computer-
Mediated Communications, also lends a feeling of
social distance. Individuals feel less close, and less in-
hibited via e-mail compared to being face-to-face
with message recipients. The social distance of e-mail
has a number of good and bad effects.
Self-Disclosure via E-mail
Online communication with strangers also leads
to a feeling of safety, because the relationship can be
more easily controlled. Many support groups for
highly personal issues thrive as e-mail lists. Indi-
viduals may use an online forum to disclose feelings
and share problems that they would be extremely re-
luctant to discuss with anyone face-to-face. Online
dating services often arrange e-mail exchanges prior
to phone or face-to-face meetings.
Lack of social cues may sometimes promotes an
artificial feeling of closeness that Joseph Walther calls
a Hyperpersonal effect (Walther, 1996). Individuals
may imagine that other are much closer to them-
selves in attitudes than they really are, and this
may lead to highly personal revelations being shared
online that would rarely be communicated face-
to-face.
Egalitarianism
Text-only communication does not convey status
cues, or other information that tends to reinforce so-
cial differences between individuals. E-mail is be-
lieved to promote egalitarian communication
(Dubrovsky, Kiesler, and Sethna 1991). Lower-level
employees can easily send e-mails to executives that
they would never think to phone or visit, loosen-
ing restraints on corporate communication and po-
tentially flattening corporate hierarchies. It has
also been observed that students who rarely con-
tribute verbally in classes will contribute more via
e-mail or other online discussion, probably because
of the increased social distance and reduced inhi-
bition (Harasim 1990).
Negative Effects: Flaming and Distrust
The social distance and lack of inhibition can have
negative effects as well. E-mail writers more easily
give in to displays of temper than they would in per-
son. In person, blunt verbal messages are often
presented with body language and tone of voice to
alleviate anger, but in e-mail these forms of com-
munication are not present. Recipients of rude e-
mails may more easily feel insulted, and respond in
kind. Insulting, angry, or obscene e-mail is called
flaming. In one early experimental study of com-
paring e-mail and face-to-face discussions, researchers
counted 34 instances of swearing, insults and name-
calling, which were behaviors that never occurred in
a face-to-face group performing the same task (Siegel
et al. 1986). For similar reasons, it is often harder
to build trust through e-mail. Rocco (1998) found
that groups using e-mail could not solve a social

dilemma that required trust building via e-mail
but groups working face-to-face could do so easily.
Beyond these interpersonal difficulties that can
occur online, there are some practical limitations of
e-mail as well. The asynchronous nature of e-mail
makes it difficult to come to group decisions (see
Kiesler and Sproull 1991). Anyone who has tried to
use e-mail to set up a meeting time among a large
group of busy people has experienced this difficulty.
Culture Adapts to E-mail
These observations about the effects of e-mail were
made relatively early in its history, before it had be-
come as widespread as it currently is. As with all new
technologies, however, culture rapidly adapts. It has
not taken long, for example, for high-level business ex-
ecutives to assign assistants to screen e-mails the way
they have long done for phone calls. It is probably still
the case that employees are more likely to exchange e-
mail with top executives than to have a phone or
personal meeting with them, but the non-hierarchi-
cal utopia envisioned by some has not yet arrived.
A simple and entertaining development helps e-
mail senders convey emotion a little better than
plain text alone. Emoticons are sideways drawings
made with ASCII symbols (letters,numbers and punc-
tuation) that punctuate texts. The first emoticon was
probably : ) which, when viewed sideways, looks like a
smiley face. This emoticon is used to alert a recipient
that comments are meant as a joke, or in fun, which
can take the edge off of blunt or harsh statements.
Most experienced e-mail users also develop per-
sonal awareness and practices that aid communi-
cation. Writers learn to reread even short messages
for material that is overly blunt, overly personal, or
otherwise ill conceived. If harsh words are exchanged
via e-mail, wise coworkers arrange a time to meet
face-to-face or on the phone to work out differences.
If a group needs to make a decision over e-mail, such
as setting a meeting time, they adopt practices
such as having the first sender propose multiple-
choice options (should we meet Tuesday at 1 or
Wednesday at 3?) or assigning one person to col-
lect all scheduling constraints.
Groups also take advantage of e-mails good char-
acteristics to transform themselves in interesting
E-MAIL 215
ways. Companies are experimenting with more vir-
tual teams, and allowing workers to telecommute
more often, because electronic communications
make it easier to stay in touch. Universities offer more
off-campus class options than ever before for the
same reason. Organizations may take on more dem-
ocratic decision-making practices, perhaps polling
employees as to their cafeteria preferences or park-
ing issues, because collecting opinions by e-mail is
far easier than previous methods of many-to-
many communication.
Future of E-mail
Electronic mail has been such a successful medium
of communication that it is in danger of being
swamped by its own success. People receive more
electronic mail than they can keep up with, and strug-
gle to filter out unwanted e-mail and process the rel-
evant information without overlooking important
details. Researchers have found that e-mail for many
people has become much more than a communica-
tion medium (Whittaker and Sidner 1996). For ex-
ample, many people do not keep a separate address
book to manage their personal contacts, but instead
search through their old e-mail to find colleagues
addresses when needed. People also use their over-
crowded e-mail inboxes as makeshift calendars,
to-do lists, and filing systems. Designers of high-
end e-mail client software are trying to accommo-
date these demands by incorporating new features
such as better searching capability, advanced filters
and threading to help users manage documents
(Rohall and Gruen 2002). E-mail software is often
integrated with electronic calendars and address
books to make it easy to track appointments and
contacts. And e-mail is increasingly integrated
with synchronous media such as cell phones, instant
messaging, or pagers to facilitate decisionmaking and
other tasks that are difficult to accomplish asyn-
chronously.
The Spam Problem
A larger, more insidious threat to e-mail comes in
the form of spam or junk e-mail. Spam refers
to unwanted e-mail sent to many recipients. The
216 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
term was first used to describe rude but fairly in-
nocuous e-mailings, such as off-topic comments
sent to group lists, or personal messages acciden-
tally sent to a group. But spam has taken on a more
problematic form, with unscrupulous mass-mar-
keters sending unsolicited messages to thousands
or even millions of e-mail addresses. These spam-
mers are often marketing shady products (video spy
cameras, pornographic websites) or worse, solicit-
ing funds in e-mail scams. These professional spam-
mers take advantage of two of the characteristics of
e-mail that have made it so popular: its flexibility
and inexpensiveness. Spammer usually forge the
from line of the e-mails they send, so that their
whereabouts cannot be easily blocked. (Messages
usually include Web addresses hosted in nations
where it would be difficult to shut them down.)
Spammers also take advantage of the fact that e-
mail is essentially free for senders. The only sig-
nificant cost of e-mail is borne by recipients, who
must pay to store e-mail until it can be read or
deleted. Low sending cost means that spammers can
afford to send out advertisements that get only a
miniscule fraction of responses. The effect of this
spamming is that users are often inundated with
hundreds of unwanted e-mails, storage requirements
for service providers are greatly increased, and the
marvelously free and open world of international
e-mail exchange is threatened.
What is the solution to spam? Many different
groups are working on solutions, some primarily
technical, some legal, and some economic or so-
cial. Software companies are working on spam fil-
ters that can identify and delete spam messages
before they appear in a users inbox. The simplest
ones work on the basis of keywords, but spammers
quickly developed means around these with clever
misspellings. Other filters only let through e-mails
from known friends and colleagues. But most
users find this idea distastefulisnt the possibility
of finding new and unexpected friends and colleagues
one of the great features of the Internet? Research
continues on filters that use more sophisticated al-
gorithms, such as Bayesian filtering, to screen out a
high percentage of unwanted e-mail. There are
also attempts afoot to outlaw spam. In December
2003 the U.S. Congress passed a bill (CAN-SPAM,
2004), designed to limit spamming. This bill would,
among other things, mandate that commercial e-
mailers provide opt-out options to recipients
and prohibit false e-mail return addresses and false
subject headings. This bill will not eliminate the prob-
lem, because most spam currently originates outside
of the United States. Similar multinational efforts
may eventually have an effect, however.
Individuals can also purchase antispam software
or antispam services that will delete some (but not
all) unwanted e-mails. The best way to avoid receiving
spam is never to list your e-mail address on your
website in machine-readable text. Many spam lists
are assembled by automatic spider software that
combs through webpages looking for the telltale @
sign. If you still want your e-mail to be available
on the Web, two simple ways around this are to re-
place the @ symbol in your e-mail address with the
word at or create a graphic of your e-mail ad-
dress and use it as a substitute for the text.
Despite these challenges, electronic mail has
carved itself an essential place in the social world
of the twenty-first century and should continue to
grow in importance and usefulness for many years
to come.
Nathan Bos
See also Internet in Everyday Life; Spamming
FURTHER READING
Bordia, P. (1997). Face-to-face versus computer-mediated communi-
cation. Journal of Business Communication, 34, 99120.
C A N - S PA M l e g i s l a t i o n . Re t r i e ve d Ma rch 3 1 , 2 0 0 4 , f ro m
http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/108s877.html
Crocker, D. E-mail history. Retrieved March 31, 2004, from www.
livinginternet.com
Dubrovsky, V. J., Kiesler, S., & Sethna, B. N. (1991). The equalization
phenomenon: Status effects in computer-mediated and face-to-
face decision-making groups. Human-Computer Interaction, 6,
119146.
Garton, L. & Wellman, B. (1995). Social impacts of electronic mail
in organizations: a review of the research literature. In B. R. Burleson
(Ed.), Communications Yearbook, 18. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Harasim, L. M. (Ed.). (1990). Online education: perspectives on a
new environment (pp. 3964). New York: Praeger.
Hardy, I. R. (1996). The evolution of ARPANET e-mail. History Thesis,
University of California at Berkeley. Retrieved March 31, 2004,
from http://www.ifla.org/documents/internet/hari1.txt

Kiesler, S., & Sproull, L. S. (1992). Group decision-making and
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EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
Embedded systems use computers to accomplish spe-
cific and relatively invariant tasks as part of a
larger system functionas when, for example, a com-
puter in a car controls engine conditions. Computers
are embedded in larger systems because of the ca-
pability and flexibility that is available only through
digital systems. Computers are used to control other
elements of the system, to manipulate signals directly
and in sophisticated ways, and to take increasing re-
sponsibility for the interface between humans and
machines in machine-human interactions.
Prior to this embedding of computers in larger
systems, any nontrivial system control required the
design and implementation of complex mechanisms
or analog circuitry. These special-purpose dedicated
mechanisms and circuits were often difficult to de-
sign, implement, adjust, and maintain. Once im-
plemented, any significant changes to them were
impractical. Further, there were severe limits on the
types of control that were feasible using this approach.
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS 217
The embedding of computers in larger systems
enables the implementation of almost unlimited ap-
proaches to control and signal processing. A com-
puter can implement complex control algorithms
that can adapt to the changing operation of a
larger system. Once a computer has been embedded
in a larger system, it can also be used to provide
additional functionality, such as communications
with other computers within or outside the larger
system that it serves. It can also be used to support
improved interfaces between machines and human
operators. In addition, an embedded computing sys-
tem can be updated or altered through the loading
of new software, a much simpler process than is
required for changes to a dedicated mechanism or
analog circuit.
People living in modern technological societies
come into contact with many embedded systems
each day. The modern automobile alone presents
several examples of embedded systems. Computer-
based engine control has increased fuel efficiency,
reduced harmful emissions, and improved automo-
bile starting and running characteristics. Computer-
based control of automotive braking systems has
enhanced safety through antilock brakes. Embedded
computers in cellular telephones control system man-
agement and signal processing, and multiple com-
puters in a single handset handle the human interface.
Similar control and signal-processing functions
are provided by computers in consumer entertain-
ment products such as digital audio and video play-
ers and games. Embedded computing is at the core
of high-definition television. In health care, many
people owe their lives to medical equipment and ap-
pliances that could only be implemented using
embedded systems.
Dening Constraints
The implementation and operation constraints on
embedded systems differentiate these systems from
general-purpose computers. Many embedded sys-
tems require that results be produced on a strict sched-
ule or in real time. Not all embedded systems face this
constraint, but it is imposed much more on em-
bedded systems than on general-purpose computers.
Those familiar with personal computers rarely think
218 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
of the time required for the computer to accomplish
a task because results are typically returned very
quickly, from the average users point of view. Some
personal-computing operations, such as very large
spreadsheet calculations or the editing of large, high-
resolution photographs, may take the computer a no-
ticeable amount of time, but even these delays are
rarely more than an inconvenience. In contrast,
embedded systems can operate at unimaginable
speeds, but if an embedded system violates a real-
time constraint, the results can be catastrophic. For
example, an automobile engine controller may need
to order the injection of fuel into a cylinder and the
firing of a sparkplug at a rate of thousands of injec-
tions and sparks each second, and timing that devi-
ates by less than one-thousandth of a second may
cause the engine to stall. Systems that involve control
or signal processing are equally intolerant of results
that come early or late: Both flaws are disruptive.
Limited electrical power and the need to remove
heat are challenges faced by the designers of many
embedded systems because many embedded appli-
cations must run in environments where power is
scarce and the removal of heat is inconvenient.
Devices that operate on batteries must strike a bal-
ance between demand for power, battery capacity,
and operation time between charges. Heat removal
is a related problem because heat production goes
up as more power is used. Also, embedded systems
must often fit within a small space to improve porta-
bility or simply to comply with space constraints im-
posed by a larger system. Such space constraints
exacerbate the problem of heat removal and thus
further favor designs that limit power consumption.
A cellular telephone, for example, features embed-
ded systems that are hampered by significant power
and space constraints. A less obvious example is the
avionics package for a general-aviation aircraft. Such
a system must not draw excessive power from the
aircrafts electrical system, and there may be little
space available for it in the aircraft cockpit.
Users of older personal computers learned to ex-
pect frequent computer failures requiring that the
users restart the computer by pressing a combina-
tion of keys or a reset button. Newer personal
computers are more robust, but many embedded
systems demand even greater robustness and can-
not rely on human intervention to address failures
that might arise. Users of personal computers accept
that software often includes bugs, but the same users
expect that their hardwarein this context, devices
such as household appliances, automobiles, and tele-
phoneswill operate without problems. Tradition-
ally, such devices have been very robust because they
were relatively simple. The embedding of comput-
ing into these sorts of devices offers potential for
greater functionality and better performance, but
the consumer still expects the familiar robustness.
Further, embedded computing is often found in
systems that are critical to the preservation of hu-
man life. Examples include railroad signaling devices
and medical diagnostic and assistive technology such
as imaging systems and pacemakers. These systems
must be robust when first placed in service and must
either continue to operate properly or fail only in
ways that are unlikely to cause harm. Further, as men-
tioned above, these systems must operate without
human intervention for extended periods of time.
Most current embedded systems operate in
isolation, but some perform their functions with lim-
ited monitoring and direction from other comput-
ers. As with general-purpose computing, there
appears to be a trend toward increasing the inter-
operability of embedded systems. While increasing
the interaction among embedded systems offers the
potential for new functionality, networking of em-
bedded computing devices also increases security
concerns.
An Illustrative Example
People tend instead to think of embedded systems
in conjunction with cutting-edge technology, such
as the various spacecraft developed and deployed by
NASA. The first embedded computer used by NASA
in a manned spacecraft was developed for the Gemini
program in the early 1960s. That computer was used
for guidance and navigation. (The Mercury program
preceding Gemini involved manned space flight, but
the flights were simple enough to be controlled from
the ground.) The NASA programs following Gemini
placed increasing reliance on embedded comput-
ers to accomplish a range of tasks required for the
successful completion of manned space missions.

Unmanned space flights have needed embedded
computers to provide flight control for spacecraft
too far away to tolerate control from Earth.
Closer to Earth, however, the modern auto-
mobile may contain a hundred embedded com-
puters, each with greater computational capabilities
than the single computer that traveled on the
Gemini space flights. Embedded computer engine
control was introduced in the late 1970s to satisfy
emissions requirements while maintaining good per-
formance. Those who have operated automobiles
from before the days of embedded systems will
recall that those automobiles were more difficult to
start when the weather was too cold or too hot or
too wet. Automobiles of that era were also less
fuel efficient, emitted more pollution, and had per-
formance characteristics that varied with driving
and environmental conditions more than is the case
today. Embedded computer engine control addresses
these variations by adapting the engine control in
response to sensed environmental and engine op-
eration data.
The next element in the automobile drive train
is the transmission. The first cars with auto-
matic transmissions typically suffered from poorer
performance and fuel economy than cars with
manual transmissions. Modern automatic trans-
missions controlled by embedded computers, by
comparison, compare favorably with manual trans-
missions in both performance and economy.
The computer control supports the selection of
different shifting strategies depending on whether
the driver prefers sports driving or economy driv-
ing. Further, manufacturers can match a single
transmission to a wide range of engines by chang-
ing the software in the transmission controller.
The embedded transmission system can also be
configured to communicate with the embedded
engine system to generate better performance and
economy than each system could achieve oper-
ating independently.
Other familiar automotive capabilities provided
through embedded systems include cruise control,
control of antilock brakes, traction control, active
control of vehicle suspension, and control of steer-
ing for variable power assist or four-wheel steering.
Automobile interior climate and accessories such as
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS 219
wipers and power windows may be controlled by
embedded systems. In some instances late-model
automobiles that have been recalled to the factory
have had the required repair accomplished entirely
through an embedded computer software change.
Embedded communication and navigation systems
for automobiles are now available, and these systems
are more complex than those used in the early space
program. In addition, the human interface between
the automobile and its driver is now managed by
one or more embedded systems. In the early
1980s, several automakers replaced analog human
interfaces with computer-based interfaces. Some
of those interfaces were not well received. Later-
model automobiles retained the computer control
of the interfaces, but returned to the more familiar
analog appearance. For example, many drivers
prefer the dial speedometer to a digital display, so
even though the speedometer is actually con-
trolled by a computer, auto designers reverted from
digital to analog display.
Increasing Dependence
Embedded computers can be used to implement far
more sophisticated and adaptive control for com-
plex systems than would be feasible with mechani-
cal devices or analog controllers. Embedded systems
permit the human user to interact with technology
as the supervisor of the task rather than as the
controller of the task. For example, in an automo-
bile, the engine controller frees the driver from hav-
ing to recall a particular sequence of actions to start
a car in cold weather. Similarly, the automatic trans-
mission controller releases the driver from track-
ing engine speed, load, and gear, leaving the driver
free to concentrate on other important driving tasks.
The computers ability to manage mundane tasks ef-
ficiently is one of the great assets of embedded sys-
tems. Unfortunately, the increased complexity that
embedded systems make possible and the increased
separation between the user and the machine also
introduce new potential dangers.
Embedded systems make previously impractical
applications practical. Prior to the late 1970s, mo-
bile telephone service was cumbersome and ex-
pensive because of limited capabilities to manage the
220 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
available radio communication channels. Embedded
computing initially made the modern cellular tele-
phone industry feasible because computers embed-
ded within the cellular telephone base stations
provided radio channel management and efficient
hand-offs as mobile users moved from cell to cell.
Newer digital cell phones include computers em-
bedded within the handsets to improve communi-
cation and power efficiency. Without embedded
computing, the explosive expansion of the cell phone
industry could not have occurred. Implanted pace-
makers help maintain the human hearts proper
pumping rhythm and have improved the quality and
duration of life for many people, but those people
are now dependent upon this embedded system.
The Future
Embedded systems will certainly expand in func-
tionality, influence, and diversity for the foreseeable
future. The digital technology required to implement
embedded systems continues to improve, and com-
puter hardware is becoming more powerful, less ex-
pensive, smaller, and more capable of addressing
electrical power considerations. In parallel, tech-
niques for the production of robust real-time soft-
ware are steadily improving. Digital communication
capability and access is also expanding, and thus fu-
ture embedded systems are more likely to exhibit
connectivity outside of their larger systems. Lessons
learned from early interfaces between humans and
embedded systems coupled with the improve-
ments in embedded computing should yield better
interfaces for these systems. Embedded systems are
likely to become so woven into everyday experi-
ence that we will be unaware of their presence.
Ronald D. Williams
See also Fly-by-Wire; Ubiquitous Computing
FURTHER READING
Graybill, R., & Melhwm, R. (2002). Power aware computing. New York:
Kluwer Academic Press/Plenum.
Hacker, B. (1978). On the shoulders of Titans: A history of Project Gemini.
Washington, DC: NASA Scientific and Technical Information Office.
Jeffrey, K. (2001). Machines in our hearts: The cardiac pacemaker, the
implantable defibrillator, and American health care. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press.
Jurgen, R. (1995). Automotive electronics handbook. New York: McGraw-
Hill.
Leveson, N. (1995). Safeware: System safety and computers. Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
Shaw, A. ( 2001). Real-time systems and software. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
Stajano, R. (2002). Security for ubiquitous computing. West Sussex, UK:
John Wiley & Sons.
Vahid, F., & Givargis, T. (2002). Embedded systems design: A unified
hardware/software introduction. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Wolf, W. (2001). Computers as components. San Francisco: Morgan
Kaufmann Publishers.
ENIAC
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer
(ENIAC), built at the University of Pennsylvania
between 1943 and 1946, was the first electronic dig-
ital computer that did useful work. Large analog
computers had existed since Vannevar Bush and
his team had built the differential analyzer in 1930.
Depending on one's definition, the first digital
computer may have been the exper imental
Atanasoff-Berry machine in 1940. Unlike its pred-
ecessors, ENIAC possessed many of the features of
later digital computers, with the notable exceptions
of a central memory and fully automatic stored
programs.
In terms of its goals and function, ENIAC was
the first digital supercomputer, and subsequent su-
percomputers have continued in the tradition of hu-
man-computer interaction that it established.
They tend to be difficult to program, and a techni-
cally adept team is required to operate them. Built
from state-of-the-art components, they involve a de-
manding trade-off between performance and reli-
ability. Their chief purpose is to carry out large
numbers of repetitious numerical calculations, so
they emphasize speed of internal operation and tend
to have relatively cumbersome methods of data input
and output. Remarkably, ENIAC solved problems of
kinds that continue to challenge supercomputers
more than a half-century later: calculating ballistic
trajectories, simulating nuclear explosions, and pre-
dicting the weather.
 ENIAC 221

A technician changes a tube in the ENIAC computer during the mid-1940s. Replacing a faulty tube required
checking through some 19,000 possibilities. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army.

Historians debate the relative importance of var-
ious members of the ENIAC team, but the leaders
were the physicist John W. Mauchly, who dreamed of
a computer to do weather forecasting, and the engi-
neer J. Presper Eckert. After building ENIAC for the
U.S. Army, they founded a company to manufac-
ture computers for use in business as well as in gov-
ernment research. Although the company was
unprofitable, their UNIVAC computer successfully
transferred the ENIAC technology to the civilian sec-
tor when they sold out to Remington Rand in 1950.
Both development and commercialization of digi-
tal computing would have been significantly delayed
had it not been for the efforts of Mauchly and Eckert.
The problem that motivated the U.S. Army to in-
vest in ENIAC was the need for accurate firing tables
for aiming artillery during World War II. Many new
models of guns were being produced, and working
out detailed instructions for hitting targets at vari-
ous distances empirically by actually shooting the
guns repeatedly on test firing ranges was costly in
time and money. With data from a few test firings,
one can predict a vast number of specific trajecto-
ries mathematically, varying such parameters as gun
angle and initial shell velocity. The friction of air re-
sistance slows the projectile second by second as it
flies, but air resistance depends on such factors as the
momentary speed of the projectile and its altitude.
222 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Thus, the accuracy of calculations is improved by di-
viding the trajectory into many short intervals of
time and figuring the movement of the projectile in
each interval on the basis of the output of the pre-
ceding intervals and changing parameters.
At the dedication ceremony for ENIAC in
1946, the thirty-second trajectory of an artillery shell
was calculated to demonstrate the machine's effec-
tiveness. Using desk calculators, people would take
three days to complete the job, compared with thirty
minutes on the best ballistics analog computer, the
differential analyzer. ENIAC did the calculation ac-
curately in twenty secondsless than the time the
shell would be in the air. Because World War II had
ended by the time ENIAC was ready, the first real job
it did was evaluating the original design for the ther-
monuclear (hydrogen) bomb, finding that the de-
sign was flawed and causing the atomic scientists
to develop a better approach.
Filling 167 square meters in a large room, 27-
metric ton ENIAC was constructed in a U shape,
with the panels and controls facing inward toward
an area where the operators worked. ENIAC was built
with about eighteen thousand vacuum tubes, con-
suming 174 kilowatts of electric power and keep-
ing the room quite hot. Many experts had been
skeptical that the machine could work because
vacuum tubes frequently burned out, but taking great
care in testing the tubes and running them below
their specifications kept failures in use to about six
hundred a year.
ENIAC had both an IBM card reader and an au-
tomatic card punch, used chiefly for output and
input of data calculated during one run that would
be used later in another run; the cards were not used
to enter programs. The computer was programmed
largely by plugging in equipment and connecting by
means of cables the twenty accumulators (electronic
adders) that performed the calculations. Hundreds
of flashing lights on the accumulators gave the op-
erators clues about how the work was progressing.
The calculations were done in the decimal system,
rather than binary, and parameters were input man-
ually by setting rotary switches. Switches also con-
trolled local program-control circuits. To set
parameters for a given run, the programmers held
paper instructions in one hand and used the other
hand to turn rotary switches on the tall function ta-
bles, one 09 switch for each digit. Arranged in rows
from head to ankle height, these switches had a sim-
ple color coding to reduce errors: Every fifth row
of knobs was red and the others black; the plates be-
hind the knobs alternated shinny with black, three
columns at a time. Multiplication, division, and
square-root calculation were handled by specially
built components that could be plugged in as needed.
A master programmer unit handled conditional (if-
then) procedures.
Programmers might require a month to write a
program for ENIAC and from a day to a week to
set up and run one, but this was not as inefficient
as it seems because after the machine was ready to
do a particular job, a large number of runs could
be cranked out rapidly with slight changes in the pa-
rameters. ENIAC continued to do useful work for
the military until October 1955. Parts of this pio-
neering machine are on display at the National
Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.,
along with videos of Presper Eckert explaining
how it was operated.
William Sims Bainbridge
See also Atanasoff-Berry Computer; Supercomputers
FURTHER READING
McCartney, S. (1999). ENIAC: The triumphs and tragedies of the world's
first computer. New York: Walker.
Metropolis, N., Howlett, J., & Rota, G.-C. (Eds.). (1980). A history of
computing in the twentieth century. New York: Academic Press.
Stern, N. (1981). From ENIAC to UNIVAC: An appraisal of the Eckert-
Mauchly computers. Bedford, MA: Digital Press.
Weik, M. H. (1961, January/February). The ENIAC story. Ordnance,
37.
ERGONOMICS
The field of human factors and ergonomics plays an
important and continuing role in the design of

human-computer interfaces and interaction. Re-
searchers in human factors may specialize in prob-
lems of human-computer interaction and system
design, or practitioners with human factors creden-
tials may be involved in the design, testing, and
implementation of computer-based information dis-
plays and systems.
Human factors and ergonomics can be defined
as the study, analysis, and design of systems in which
humans and machines interact. The goal of hu-
man factors and ergonomics is safe, efficient, effec-
tive, and error-free performance. Human factors
researchers and practitioners are trained to create
systems that effectively support human performance:
Such systems allow work to be performed efficiently,
without harm to the worker, and prevent the worker
from making errors that could adversely affect
productivity, or (more importantly), have adverse
affects on him or herself or others. Research and prac-
tice in the field involve the design of workplaces, sys-
tems, and tasks to match human capabilities and
limitations (cognitive, perceptual, and physical), as
well as the empirical and theoretical analysis of
humans, tasks, and systems to gain a better under-
standing of human-system interaction. Methodolo-
gies include controlled laboratory experimentation,
field and observational studies, and modeling and
computer simulation. Human factors and er-
gonomics traces its roots to the formal work de-
scriptions and requirements of the engineer and
inventor Frederick W. Taylor (18561915) and the
detailed systems of motion analysis created by the
engineers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (18681924,
18781972). As human work has come to require
more cognitive than physical activities, and as peo-
ple have come to rely on increasingly sophisticated
computer systems and automated technologies, hu-
man factors researchers and practitioners have
naturally moved into the design of computerized, as
well as mechanized, systems. Human factors engi-
neering in the twenty-first century focuses on the
design and evaluation of information displays, on
advanced automation systems with which human
operators interact, and on the appropriate role of
human operators in supervising and controlling com-
puterized systems.
ERGONOMICS 223
An Ergonomics Approach to
Human-Computer Interaction
When it comes to designing computer systems,
human factors and ergonomics takes the view that
people do not simply use computers; rather, they
perform tasks. Those tasks are as various as con-
trolling aircraft, creating documents, and monitor-
ing hospital patients. Thus, when analyzing a
computer system, it is best to focus not on how
well people interact with it (that is, not on how
well they select a menu option, type in a com-
mand, and so forth), but how well the system allows
them to accomplish their task-related goals. The qual-
ity of the interface affects the usability of the system,
and the more congruent the computer system is with
the users task- and goal-related needs, the more suc-
cessful it will be. David Woods and Emilie Roth (re-
searchers in cognitive engineering) describe a triad
of factors that contribute to the complexity of prob-
lem solving: the world to be acted on, the agents (au-
tomated or human), and how the task is represented.
In human-computer systems, the elements of the
triad are, first, aspects of the task and situation for
which the system is being employed; second, the hu-
man operator or user; and third, the manner in which
information relevant to the task is represented or
displayed. The role of the computer interface is to
serve as a means of representing the world to the hu-
man operator.
Research related to human factors and er-
gonomics has addressed numerous topics related to
human-computer interaction, including the design
of input devices and interaction styles (for example,
menus or graphical interfaces), computer use and
training for older adults, characteristics of textual
displays, and design for users with perceptual or phys-
ical limitations. Areas within human factors and er-
gonomics that have direct applicability to the design
of human-computer systems include those focused
on appropriate methodologies and modeling tech-
niques for representing task demands, those that deal
with issues of function allocation and the design of
human-centered automation, and those concerned
with the design of display elements that are relevant
to particular tasks.
224 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Methodologies and Modeling
Frameworks for Task And
Work Analysis
John Gould and Clayton Lewis (1985) claimed
that a fundamental component of successful com-
puter system design requires an early and contin-
ual focus on system users and the tasks that they need
to perform. In addition, Donald Norman (1988) has
suggested that for a computer system to be suc-
cessful, users must be given an appropriate model of
what the system does, and how; information on sys-
tem operation must be visible or available; and users
must have timely and meaningful feedback regard-
ing the results of their actions. Users should never
be unable to identify or interpret the state of the com-
puter system, nor should they be unable to identify
or execute desired actions. Therefore, human factors
and ergonomics research that focuses on human-
computer system design devotes considerable ener-
gies to analysis of system components, operator
characteristics, and task requirements, using task and
work analysis methods.
A hierarchical task analysis (HTA), as described
by Annett and Duncan (1967), decomposes a task
into a hierarchical chain of goals, subgoals, and ac-
tions. Plans are associated with goals to specify
how and when related subgoals and activities are car-
ried out, and can take on a variety of structures.
For instance, plans can have an iterative structure,
describing activities that are repeated until some cri-
terion is met. Plans may also describe a set of strictly
sequential activities, or they may describe activities
that can be done in parallel. In HTA, as in other forms
of task analysis, one can specify task demands, cri-
teria for successful completion, knowledge or skills
required, information needed, and likely errors as-
sociated with each step. In human-computer system
design HTA is used to help ensure that display in-
formation content corresponds to identified activi-
ties, that the organization of displays and control
activities matches task requirements, and to provide
additional support (in the form of better informa-
tion displays, training, or task requirements) to re-
duce the likelihood of error.
Another task-analytic framework that features
goal decomposition is GOMS, which stands for goals,
operators, methods, and selection rules, has been de-
veloped by Card, Moran, and Newell (1983) and
applied in subsequent research. Tasks are decom-
posed into task goals and the methods, or sequences
of operators (or actions) that can accomplish them.
Selection rules describe the means by which the op-
erator selects a particular method. GOMS models
have been used to describe, predict, and analyze hu-
man interactions with computing systems. For in-
stance, GOMS models that have been constructed
to describe user interactions with computer systems
have actions such as keystrokes or mouse move-
ments, along with more cognitive actions such as
reading the screen. The psychologist David Kieras
(1997) has described how GOMS models can be used
to predict learning and task execution times for soft-
ware systems; GOMS (along with a variation sup-
porting the modeling of parallel activities) has
also been used to model large-scale human-com-
puter systems in order to predict task times for a sys-
tem under design.
Christine Mitchell (1987) has developed a
third modeling framework, operator function mod-
eling, which has been applied to the design of in-
formation displays. In this framework, systems goals,
subgoals, and activities are represented as a set of in-
terconnected nodes; each node (corresponding to
a goal, subgoal, or activity) has the potential to change
its state in response to external inputs or the states
of higher-level goals. This technique makes it possi-
ble for researchers to model human operators ac-
tions in real time, which in turn helps them be
sure that the necessary information is displayed at
the appropriate time.
Other forms of analyses and modeling within
human factors, particularly in the subdiscipline of
cognitive engineering, have focused specifically on
the cognitive challenges associated with complex hu-
man-computer systems. By modeling the complex-
ities that cause decision-making and problem-solving
difficulties for human operators, researchers can de-
velop solutions, such as more-effective interfaces,
that mitigate those difficulties. Data collection meth-
ods frequently used in cognitive engineering work

and task analyses include interviews with experts
in the area under consideration and observation of
practitioners.
Some methods in cognitive task analysis focus
on the identification and explication of real-world
decisions made by experts. Other methods in-
clude cognitive work analysis, an iterative set of
analyses and modeling efforts that address goals and
resources relating to the tasks that must be per-
formed, strategies for performing the tasks, the
influence of the sociotechnical environment on sys-
tem performance, and the knowledge and skills
required of operators. (These methods have been
developed and described in monographs by Jens
Rasmussen, Annelise Mark Pejitsen, and L. P.
Goodstein; and Kim Vicente.) An important com-
ponent is identifying the complexities and con-
straints that adversely affect the behavior of actual
users of the system; those constraints are often rep-
resented using abstraction-hierarchy models.
Abstraction hierarchies are multilevel system mod-
els in which each level of the model corresponds to
a description of the system at a different level of ab-
straction. Higher levels of abstraction represent the
system in terms of its purpose and functions,
whereas lower levels represent the system in terms
of its physical implementation. Abstraction hier-
archy models lay out the purposes of the overall sys-
tem, the functions and systems available to
achieve those purposes, and the constraints on their
use or implementation. The cognitive work analy-
sis paradigm also uses decision-ladder descriptions
of tasks to be performed. A decision-ladder de-
scription represents stages of processing and re-
sultant knowledge states of either human or
automated agents, starting with the initial in-
stance of a need for response, moving through the
observation and classification of information, and
ending with the selection and execution of an ac-
tion. (The actual stages are activation, observation,
state recognition, goal selection, task and procedure
selection, and implementation.) The model provides
explicitly for shortcuts between knowledge states
and information-processing stages, allowing inter-
mediary steps to be bypassed. Such shortcuts might
be appropriate, for example, if an expert immedi-
ERGONOMICS 225
ately was able to select a course of action based on
recognition of a situation or state.
Methods in cognitive task and work analysis have
contributed to the design of information displays for
numerous types of complex systems, including
process control systems, military command and con-
trol systems, and information systems.
Function Allocation and
Automation Design
Another key research area within human factors and
ergonomics that has direct application to the design of
human-computer systems is the appropriate alloca-
tion of functions between human operators and au-
tomated systems. While early efforts in function
allocation tended to rely on fixed lists of functions bet-
ter suited to humans or machines and an either-or ap-
proach, more recent allocation schemes have
focused on a more human-centered approach.Within
these schemes, allocations can range from complete
human control to complete automation,and there can
be intermediate stages in which humans can over-
ride automated actions or choose from and implement
actions recommended by the automated system.Other
models have focused on the differing roles of human
operation and automation at different stages in the de-
cision process (the information gathering stage, the
analysis stage, the actual decision making, and the im-
plementation stage). Selection of an appropriate
level of automation may also be dynamic, changing
based on external task demands and circumstances.
Related to problem of function allocation are
considerations such as the degree of trust and re-
liance operators place on automated systems, the ex-
tent to which operators are aware of and understand
the functioning of the automation, and the degree
to which the use of information displays can miti-
gate any difficulties in these areas. For instance, re-
search has found that information displays showing
how well an automated decision-making element
functions can improve human operators judg-
ment with regard to using the aid. Other research
has studied how automation may also affect oper-
ators degree of awareness regarding system function
226 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
by keeping them effectively out of the loop, par-
ticularly for more complex systems.
Ergonomic Studies of
Display Elements
A third way in which human factors and ergonom-
ics have made specific contributions to the design of
human-computer interfaces is in the area of display
elements and their ability to convey task and goal-
related information to human operators. For instance,
one angle of human factors and ergonomics display
research has focused on how to represent uncertainty
(an important contributor to task complexity) in
graphical form. Researchers have investigated the use
of shapes such as ellipses or rings, linguistic phrases,
color, or sound to convey positional uncertainty and
blurred icons to convey state uncertainty.
A display-design methodology called ecological
interface design, developed by Kim Vicente, ap-
plies outcomes from cognitive work analysis to the
design of information displays for complex sys-
tem. This approach aims to design displays that sup-
port activities such as fault identification and
diagnosis, as well as normal system monitoring and
control, by making goal-relevant constraints and
properties in the system visible through the inter-
face. Principles in ecological interface design have
been applied and tested in a variety of applica-
tions, including process control and aviation. Military
command and control systems make use of inter-
faces that offer similar goal- and function-related
information.
Researchers have also studied properties of so-
called object displays, which integrate multiple
pieces of information into one graphical form.
Holistic properties, or emergent features, defined by
the values or configurations of individual elements
of the graphical form, are used to convey informa-
tion related to higher-level goals or system states. For
instance, a star (or polygon) display will graph the
values of system state variables graphed on individ-
ual axes. When the system is operating under nor-
mal conditions, a symmetric polygon is formed;
deviations from normal are easily identified (as
shown in Figure 1).
V1
V8 V2
V7 V3
V6 V4
V5
FIGURE 1. Example of an object display. When the
system is operating normally (solid line), based on
the state of variables V1V8, a regular polygon ap-
pears. Deviations (shown as a dashed line) are easily
perceptible.
Case Study: The Application
of Cognitive Analysis Methods
to Display Design
As noted above, methods in cognitive work and task
analysis have been employed in the design of nu-
merous complex human-machine systems, impact-
ing the design of information displays, allocation of
functions between humans and automated compo-
nents, and the design of tasks and training require-
ments. Cognitive analyses were used in the design of
a new naval surface vessel, as described by Ann W.
Bisantz (2003). Information sources for the analy-
ses included interviews with domain experts, design
documents and written operational requirements,
and other experts on the subject matter. The
analyses were part of a multiyear design effort and
were performed early in the design of the vessel. The
effort focused on information displays, manning re-
quirements, and human-automation function al-
location for the command-and-control center of the
ship. However, at the point of the design process
when the analyses took place, choices regarding man-
 ERGONOMICS 227

ning (the number of personnel that would be
available to run the ship), the use of automation, and
subsequent tasks that would be assigned to per-
sonnel were still to be determined. Thus, it was not
possible for the designs to focus on detailed plans
and specifications for the command-and-control
workstations. Instead, models and research findings
from cognitive engineering were used to make rec-
ommendations regarding display areas and con-
tent as follows.
Work Domain Models
As described above, functional abstractions of the
work domain can help significantly with the design
of information displays, because such abstractions
make the goals of the work domain, as well as the
functional and physical resources available to ac-
complish those goals, explicit. Additionally, work
domain models can be used to identify potential
conflicts, such as when a system might need to be
utilized to accomplish multiple goals simultaneously,
or when the use of a system to accomplish one
goal might negatively impact another goal. These
conflicts and interactions suggest requirements for
information displays that would let system con-
trollers recognize the conflicts and make appropri-
ate decisions.
For instance, Figure 2 shows a portion of a
work domain model of the naval environment. Notice
that the gun system (a physical system) may be re-
quired to accomplish multiple high-level goals: It may
be required for self defense against mines as well as
for support of on-shore missions (land attack).
Because different people may be responsible for co-
ordinating and implementing these two goals, this
potential conflict indicates the need for specific

Self Defense Against

Undersea Threats Self Defense Against
Mines Neutralize Mines

Land Attack Missions Naval Surface Fire

Suppor t

Counterbattery

Deliver Ordinance for Mine Neutralization

Land Attack Systems

Short Range Deliver y

Gun System

FIGURE 2. Work domain example showing how multiple goals can rely on one physical system, indicating re-
quirements for the contents of information displays for those selecting among goals or utilizing the gun system.
Figure reprinted from Bisantz et al. (2003)
228 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Defense of Systems
and Personnel
Signature
Maintenance
Use of some
sensors makes
ship detectable
Maneuverin g
Systems
Moving may
disambiguate
sensor data
FIGURE 3. Portion of a work domain analysis indicating potential goal interactions involved in sensor man-
agement that would need to be displayed to operators. Source: Bisantz et al. (2003)
information display content, such as alerts or mes-
sages to subsystem controllers if the gun system is un-
available or if there are plans for its use, as well as alerts
to higher-level commanders that if both the land-
attack and mine-defense goals are active, there may
be a constraint in the availability of the gun system.
Another example involves the management, use,
and configuration of sensor systems, as shown in
Figure 3. The configuration of certain types of sen-
sors depends on environmental factors such as ocean
conditions. In some circumstances it may be nec-
essary to maneuver the ship to disambiguate sen-
sor data. This movement may in turn make the ship
detectable to enemy forces, thus creating a conflict
between offensive and defensive ship goals. Again,
such conflicts indicate the need for information to
be displayed to sensor operators as well as to higher-
level commanders, who may need to prioritize these
potentially conflicting goals.
More generally, the work domain analyses led to
recommendations regarding display areas that
supported communication among controllers with
different areas of responsibility (for example, ship
Achieve
Assigned Missions
Battlespace
Awareness
Use of
sensors
necessary for
offensive
Battlespace Environmental functions
Sensors Sensors
Knowledge of environmental
conditions can impact choice
of sensor settings
defense and offensive support), display indications
regarding mission areas outside a controllers pri-
mary area of responsibility, and displays for higher-
level commanders regarding mission goals and
priorities (Bisantz et al. 2003).
Decision Ladder Descriptions
The application of the decision ladder formalism to
describe operators tasks also led to recommenda-
tions for display design. As noted above, the decision
ladder describes tasks in terms of the stages of acti-
vation, observation, state recognition, goal selection,
task and procedure selection, and implementation
and explicitly allows shortcuts and non-sequential
paths through this sequence. Application of this
method to the description of tasks in the undersea
warfare domain indicated that many of the tasks
comprised primarily observation and state recogni-
tion activities (rather than intensive goal selection
or task-planning activities), thus suggesting that in-
formation displays that highlighted potential pat-
terns and supported training or practice with pattern
recognition would be valuable.

Cross-linked Functional Matrices
A third form of analysis, cross-linked functional ma-
trices, also led directly to display-design recommen-
dations. As part of the ongoing design effort, systems
engineers were developing detailed functional de-
compositions of the functions and tasks that the
ship would be required to perform. These breakdowns
were utilized to make recommendations regarding au-
tomation and display requirements for each function,
as well as to document the cognitive tasks associated
with the function and to make recommendations on
the contents of workstation display areas that would
support those tasks and functions. For instance, one
ship function is to filter tracks, that is, to apply filter-
ing techniques to tracks (unknown contacts picked up
by radar or other sensing systems) and remove
tracks that are nonthreatening from the display. To fil-
ter tracks successfully, the primary display supporting
monitoring and supervisory control activities should
include an alert or indication that tracks are being
filtered. The display also must provide access to de-
tailed information, including, for example, the filter-
ing algorithms that have been employed to determine
the significance of the track. These requirements, as
well those of ship functions that support the task of
supervising the classification and identification of
tracks, were specified. Finally, when the display
needs of all the ships functions had been specified, a
set of workstation display areas and their content
was specified. Overall, eleven display areas were
identified; these included the local-area picture, the
task scheduling and status areas, the tactical picture
area,the communications area,and the goals and high-
level constraints area, among others. Interface proto-
types were then implemented and tested,and provided
early validation of the utility of the display area con-
cept. Importantly, this study focused on identifying
appropriate information content for the displays,rather
than on aspects such as interaction style, hardware re-
quirements, or screen organization or design.
The Future
As work continues to become more and more cog-
nitive in nature, and as workplaces become more and
more computerized, the field of human factors and
ERGONOMICS 229
ergonomics will no doubt continue to increase its fo-
cus on research and methodologies appropriate for
the design of complex human-computer systems. In
the early twenty-first century, common themes within
this work are the identification of system and task
demands on the operator, concern for overall hu-
man-system effectiveness, and optimal application
of methodologies and models to answer information
requirements with supportive information displays.
Ann M. Bisantz
See also Task Analysis
FURTHER READING
Annett, J., & Duncan, K. D. (1967). Task analysis and training design.
Occupational Psychology, 41, 211221.
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plays. Human Computer Interaction, 35, 7197.
Billings, D. E. (1997). Aviation automation: The search for a human-
centered approach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bisantz, A. M., Roth, E. M., Brickman, B., Lin, L., Hettinger, L.,
& McKinney, J. (2003). Integrating cognitive analysis in a large
scale system design process. International Journal of Human-
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ERRORS IN INTERACTIVE
BEHAVIOR
Designing interactive systems to reduce error and
increase error detection and recovery is an impor-
tantand often frustratinggoal. Human error
is an everyday term with different meanings for dif-
ferent communities of practitioners and researchers,
but the fact that different users of the same term may
refer to very different phenomena does not seem
to be widely recognized. A further difficulty is that
although many researchers collect error data, there
is no established research tradition to experimen-
tally manipulate and study error as a phenome-
non. In short, the subject of errors is broad, but
the study of errors is shallow. After reviewing the
state of the art in human error research, this article
examines studies of the cognitive processes that lead
to errors in interactive behavior.
Assessment of Current Research
Errors may affect productivity, user satisfaction, and
the safety of property and lives. Errors may be diag-
nosed as training problems, design problems, sys-
tem problems, or organizational problems, and the
diagnosis will determine the remediation. Training
problems are remediated by better documentation
or user training. Design problems are fixed by re-
design. Systems problems require a wider look at the
complete task environment of the user to determine
incompatibilities or conflicts between the design
of multiple devices used by the same worker or in
the functions and responsibilities of the worker.
Finally, organizational problems (for example, strong
pressures to reduce costs at the expense of all else,
including safety) may require remediations as di-
verse as the adoption of new procedures, changes in
organizational structure, or the replacement of top
management.
Although legitimate, the breadth of phenome-
non covered by the term human error has
tended to get in the way of understanding its nature,
detection, and correction. To some degree, these dif-
ferent meanings have caused communication diffi-
culties and have occasionally resulted in turf
battles in which different communities argue for the
primacy of their level of analysis (for instance,
cognitive, systems, or organizational). More gener-
ally, these various meanings muddy the waters be-
cause distinctions that are important within one level
of analysis are lost or blurred by attempts to cast
all error phenomena within the same framework.

To Err Is Technological
CHICAGO (ANS)Humans may err, but computers are
supposed to be accurate all the time. Except, of course,
they're not. And as humans rely more and more on tech-
nology, they have to make allowances for the error factor
of both the hardware and the people operating it, re-
searchers are finding.
In recent studies conducted in flight simulators, pi-
lots who relied solely on automated decision aidsde-
signed to reduce human erroroften found themselves
the victims of unintended consequences that might have
proved deadly in an actual flight.
According to University of Illinois at Chicago psy-
chologist Linda Skitka, who has been studying the phe-
nomenon with a teammate for five years, people working
with computerized systems are prone to two kinds of
errors.
First, when they are told by a computer to do a task,
many do it without double-checking the machine's ac-
curacy, despite the fact they've been told the system is not
fail-safe. The researchers dubbed this an error of com-
mission.
For example, the test pilots were told to go through
a five-step checklist to determine whether or not an en-
gine was on fire. One of the elements was a computerized
warning signal. When they received the signal, the pi-
lots all turned off the defective enginewithout running
through the other four steps.
It turned out that a completely different engine had
been on fire. When asked about their decision, all the
pilots said they had run through the entire checklist when
in fact they had not.
Most of these systems are being designed by engi-
neers who think the way to get rid of human error is to
engineer the human out of the equation, said Skitka.To
some extent, that's right. But to the extent that we still
have human operators in the system, we need to take a
This situation holds even among the communi-
ties of researchers and practitioners interested in hu-
man factors and human-computer interaction. As
ERRORS IN INTERACTIVE BEHAVIOR 231
look at the human-computer interaction and be more
sensitive to the human side.
The second common mistake, which researchers clas-
sified as an error of omission, takes place when a com-
puter fails to detect a mishap and human operators
miss it too because they haven't run through a manual
checklist.
It was an error of omission that led to the crash of a
Korean Air jet in 1983 after being shot down over
Soviet airspace, Skitka said. The pilot allegedly never dou-
ble-checked the autopilot program to make sure it was
following the correct flight path. It wasn't, she said.
Indeed, in studying anonymous near-accident reports
filed with the airlines by pilots, Skitka found that many
mistakes involved pilots programming the flight com-
puter to do specific tasks but not bothering to check that
it was performing those tasks.
The studies were conducted at the NASA Ames
Research Center in California and at the University of
Illinois and have left Skitka suspicious of any task that in-
volves highly technical systems that monitor events. That
includes work in the nuclear energy and shipping indus-
tries and even hospital intensive care units, where mon-
itors are relied on for life-and-death decisions, she said.
Better technical design and operator training are po-
tential solutions, she said. Perhaps the biggest problem is
that many of the tasks that need to be performed in au-
tomated situations are dull. Those tasks need somehow
to be made more interesting so humans don't go into
autopilot themselves, she said.
I'm still a fan of automation but now we've intro-
duced new possibilities for human error, said Skitka.
(Computers) are never going to be able to be programmed
for every possible contingency. We have to make sure we
keep that human factor in our equation.
Source: To err is technological, new research finds. American News
Service, October 5, 2000.
one of the most influential thinkers on the topic com-
plained, the need for human error data for vari-
ous purposes has been discussed for decades, yet no
232 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
To err is humanand to blame it on a computer is even
more so.
Robert Orben
acceptable human error data bank has emerged
(Rasmussen 1987, 23). However, even within the hu-
man factors and human-computer interaction com-
munities, these various purposes are somewhat
independent and attempts to shoehorn them into
one approach may not be the path to progress, but
an obstacle to progress. For example, major re-
views of human errors discuss the cognitive, systems,
and organizational perspectives on human error.
Although each perspective is important, it is diffi-
cult to know how progress in understanding the roots
of error at, for instance, the organizational level, will
either provide or be aided by insights into, for in-
stance, the errors encountered in the course of
routine interactive behavior.
Although a confusion of level of analysis is a
major obstacle to understanding human error, it is
not the only one. Perhaps equally damaging is the way
in which errors are collected and classified. Following
a tradition that goes back at least to William James,
the most famous error taxonomies simply amass a
large number of naturally occurring slips as reported
anecdotally by friends, colleagues, the current re-
searchers, and prior researchers. These errors are then
subjected to a largely informal analysis that sorts the
errors into the taxonomic categories favored by the
researchers. Attempts to compare how any given er-
ror is classified within or between taxonomies brings
to mind the complaint that cognitive theory is rad-
ically underdetermined by data (Newell 1992, 426).
Although some of these taxonomies rely on cog-
nitive theory as the basis of their classifications, all
lack the mechanisms to predict errors. Hence, their
explanatory power is only post hoc and incidental.
Indeed, a 1997 survey of the literature on errors
led the researchers to conclude that errors in routine
interactive behavior are regarded primarily as the re-
sult of some stochastic process. Such a view dis-
courages the systematic study of the nature and origin
of this class of errors.
Approaches to the Study of Error
in Interactive Behavior
An analysis of errors at the cognitive level avoids nei-
ther the confusion nor the shallowness endemic to
the study of human error. Arguably the dominant
cognitive account of errors distinguishes among
knowledge-based, rule-based, and skill-based errors.
Knowledge-based errors occur when a user lacks the
requisite knowledgefor example, if the only route
you know from your home to work is habitually
crowded during rush hour, you will undoubtedly
spend a lot of time waiting in traffic. If you do not
know an alternative route, then obviously you will
not be able to take it.
Rule-based errors result from learning a mal-rule
or applying the correct rule but on the wrong oc-
casion. For example, if you know two routes to work
and you also know that one is the fastest during rush
hour and the other is the fastest on the off hours,
taking the wrong route becomes a rule-based er-
ror. You have the correct knowledge, but you picked
the wrong rule.
An error is skill-based when knowledge is avail-
able, the correct rule is selected, but a slip is made in
executing the rule. For example, you intend to take
your rush-hour route to work, but at the critical
intersection you take the turn for the route that is
fastest during the off hours.
The same behavior, e.g., taking the wrong
route during rush hour, can result from lack of
knowledge, misapplication of a rule, or a slip. Hence,
the knowledge-based, rule-based, and slip-based ap-
proach to errors is neither as neat and clean nor as
theory-based as it may first appear. Whether an error
is classified as skill-based, rule-based, or knowledge-
based may depend more on the level of analysis than
on its ontogeny.
Unfortunately, the view that errors in routine in-
teractive behavior are stochastic is reinforced by the
difficulties of systematically studying such errors.
Indeed, it is almost a tautology to assert that errors
in routine interactive behavior are rare. This rarity
may have encouraged the naturalistic approach in
which researchers and their confederates carry
around notebooks with the goal of noting and

recording the occasional error. Naturalistic ap-
proaches have an important role to play in docu-
menting the importance and frequency of error.
However, they have not been particularly productive
in understanding the cognitive mechanisms that de-
termine the nature, detection, and correction of
errors in interactive behavior.
New Directions
The rarity of errors requires research programs that
will capture and document errors, not retrospec-
tively, but as they occur. The systematic study of such
errors of interactive behavior involves three interre-
lated paths. The first path entails creating a task
environment designed to elicit a particular type of
error. The second involves collecting errorful and er-
ror-free behaviors and subjecting both to a fine-
grained analysis. A cost of these two approaches is
that they require collecting vast amounts of cor-
rect behavior to amass a small database of errorful
behavior. For example, in 2000 cognitive re-
searcher Wayne Gray reported that out of 2,118 goal
events (either initiating or terminating a goal) only
76 or 3.6 percent could be classified as errors. The
third path entails building integrated models of cog-
nition that predict the full range of behavior, in-
cluding reaction time, correct performance, and
errors.
The study of the cognitive mechanisms that pro-
duce errors has been hampered by the long tradi-
tion in psychology of attempting to understand the
mind by studying each mental function in isola-
tion. Fortunately, contrasting trends exist. For ex-
ample, the pioneering researchers Stewart Card,
Thomas Moran, and Allen Newell are credited with
bringing to HCI the attempt to understand in de-
tail the involvement of cognitive, perceptual, and
motor components in the moment-by-moment in-
teraction a person encounters when working at a
computer (Olson and Olson 2003, 493). Indeed,
building on this work, the noted HCI investigator
Bonnie John developed a task analysis notation that
captures the ways in which embodied cognition
(cognitive, perceptual, and action) is responsive to
small changes in the task environment. This ap-
proach is called CPM-GOMS (CPMcritical path
ERRORS IN INTERACTIVE BEHAVIOR 233
method and cognitive, perceptual, and movement;
GOMSgoals, operators, methods, and selection
rules).
Despite a strong push from the cognitive HCI
community, within the larger cognitive community
the emphasis on an embodied cognition interacting
with a task environment to accomplish a task has
been a minority position. Fortunately, its status seems
to have changed as we now have six approaches to
embodied cognition and at least two mechanistic ap-
proaches capable of modeling the control of inter-
active behavior. The components of interactive
behavior can be studied by focusing on the mix-
ture of cognition, perception, and action that takes
approximately 13 of a sec to occur. As human ra-
tionality is bounded by limits to working memory,
attention, and other cognitive functions the exact
mix of operations depends on the task being per-
formed and the task environment. Understanding
how the task environment influences the mix of op-
erations is the key to understanding human error in
interactive behavior, as the following four examples
show:
A GOAL STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF THE NATURE,
DETECTION, AND CORRECTION OF ERRORS In 2000
Gray provided a goal structure analysis of errors
made programming a VCR. A cognitive model was
written that used the same goal structure as humans
with the goals and subgoals analyzed down to those
that take approximately 1-s to occur (three times
higher than required for the analysis of embodied
cognition). This level of analysis allowed second-by-
second comparisons of human behavior with model
behavior (that is, model tracing).
Places in which the model and a given human
on a given trial diverged were considered potential
errors. Each potential error was inspected to deter-
mine whether it represented a true error or a failure
of the model to capture the richness and diversity of
human goal structures. True errors were cataloged
according to the actions that the model would
have had to take to duplicate the error. This taxon-
omy avoided the use of more ambiguous terms such
as knowledge-based,rule-based, and slip-based,
or capture errors, description errors, and mode
234 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
errors. Thus, model tracing was used to provide a
rigorous and objective taxonomy with which to char-
acterize the nature, detection, and correction of
errors.
A MEMORY ACTIVATION ANALYSIS OF POSTCOMPLETION
ERROR Postcompletion errors are device-specific
errors made after the target task has been accom-
plished. A classic postcompletion error is making
copies of a paper but forgetting to remove the orig-
inal. Computational modelers Mike Byrne and Susan
Bovair showed that a model that was sensitive to
the working memory demands of the task environ-
ment could duplicate the pattern of human post-
completion errors.
LEAST-EFFORT TRADEOFFS BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE
IN-THE-WORLD AND KNOWLEDGE IN-THE-HEAD
Researchers Wayne Gray and Wai-Tat Fu were able
to show an increase of errors in interactive behavior
due to least-effort tradeoffs between reliance on
knowledge in-the-world and knowledge in-the-head.
Subjects in two conditions of a VCR programming
task could acquire show information either by look-
ing at a show information window (Free Access) or
by moving the mouse and clicking on the gray box
that covered a field of the window (Gray Box).
Subjects in a third condition were required to mem-
orize the show information before they began pro-
gramming (Memory Test). Results showed that the
Gray Box condition made the most errors, followed
by Free Access, and then the Memory Test. The re-
sults were interpreted to mean that the increased per-
ceptual-motor costs of information acquisition led
the Free Access and Gray Box groups to an increased
reliance on error-prone memory.
I N T E G R A T E D M O D E L O F C O G N I T I O N In a 2002 paper
researchers Erik Altmann and Gregory Trafton pro-
posed a goal-activation model of how people re-
member the states of the world they want to achieve.
In subsequent work, this model was applied to
yield predictions about the cognitive effects of inter-
ruptions on task performance (for instance, being in-
terrupted by the phone while writing a paper). For
the cognitive level of analysis, this work demonstrates
that the basic research agenda of producing integrated
models of cognitive processing is the key to under-
standing, detecting, and correcting human errors.
Applying a Bounded Rationality
Framework
Errors are infrequent, but not rare. Their infrequency
has discouraged many from studying errors within
the experimental laboratory and may have dis-
couraged a rigorous, theory-based approach to
understanding how cognitive processes interact with
the task environment to produce errors. The natu-
ralistic approach to errors is enticing, but a hundred
years of this approach has not yielded much progress.
Although the importance of errors must be judged
by their effect on everyday life, the study of the na-
ture, detection, and correction of errors must be pur-
sued in the laboratory.
For those concerned with human errors in HCI,
a fruitful path is to pursue the errors that emerge
from the interaction of embodied cognition with a
task being performed in a given task environment.
This bounded rationality framework focuses on the
mixture of cognition, perception, and action that
takes approximately 1/3 of a sec to occur. The goal
of this work is the creation of powerful theories that
would allow researchers and practitioners to predict
the nature and probable occurrence of errors within
a given task environment.
Wayne D. Gray
See also Cognitive Walkthrough; User Modeling
FURTHER READING
Allwood, C. M. (1984). Error detection processes in statistical prob-
lem solving. Cognitive Science, 8, 413437.
Allwood, C. M., & Bjorhag, C. G. (1990). Novices debugging when
programming in Pascal. International Journal of Man-Machine
Studies, 33(6), 707724.
Allwood, C. M., & Bjorhag, C. G. (1991). Training of Pascal novices
error handling ability. Acta Psychologica, 78(13), 137150.
Altmann, E. M., & Trafton, J. G. (2002). Memory for goals: an acti-
vation-based model. Cognitive Science, 26(1), 3983.
Anderson, J. R., Bothell, D., Byrne, M. D., & Lebiere, C. (2002). An in-
tegrated theory of the mind. Retrieved October 17, 2002, from
http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/papers/403/IntegratedTheory.pdf

Anderson, J. R., & Lebiere, C. (Eds.). (1998). Atomic components of
thought. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ballard, D. H., Hayhoe, M. M., Pook, P. K., & Rao, R. P. N. (1997).
Deictic codes for the embodiment of cognition. Behavioral and
Brain Sciences, 20(4), 723742.
Benzeev, T. (1995). The nature and origin of rational errors in arith-
metic thinking: Induction from examples and prior knowledge.
Cognitive Science, 19(3), 341376.
Berry, D. C. (1993). Slips and errors in learning complex tasks. In G.
M. Davies & L. R. H. (Eds.), Memory in everyday life. Advances in
psychology (pp. 137159). Amsterdam: North-Holland/Elsevier.
Byrne, M. D. (2001). ACT-R/PM and menu selection: applying a cog-
nitive architecture to HCI. International Journal of Human-
Computer Studies, 55(1), 4184.
Byrne, M. D., & Bovair, S. (1997). A working memory model of a com-
mon procedural error. Cognitive Science, 21(1), 3161.
Card, S. K., Moran, T. P., & Newell, A. (1983). The psychology of hu-
man-computer interaction. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Elkerton, J., & Palmiter, S. L. (1991). Designing help using a GOMS
model: An information retrieval evaluation. Human Factors, 33(2),
185204.
Gray, W. D. (1995). VCR-as-paradigm: A study and taxonomy of er-
rors in an interactive task. In K. Nordby, P. Helmersen, D. J. Gilmore,
& S. A. Arnesen (Eds.), Human-Computer InteractionInteract'95
(pp. 265270). New York: Chapman & Hall.
Gray, W. D. (2000). The nature and processing of errors in interactive
behavior. Cognitive Science, 24(2), 205248.
Gray, W. D., & Boehm-Davis, D. A. (2000). Milliseconds matter: An
introduction to microstrategies and to their use in describing and
predicting interactive behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Applied, 6(4), 322335.
Gray, W. D., & Fu, W.-t. (2001). Ignoring perfect knowledge in-the-
world for imperfect knowledge in-the-head: Implications of ra-
tional analysis for interface design. CHI Letters, 3(1), 112119.
Gray, W. D., & Fu, W.-t. (in press). Soft constraints in interactive be-
havior: The case of ignoring perfect knowledge in-the-world for
imperfect knowledge in-the-head. Cognitive Science.
Gray, W. D., John, B. E., & Atwood, M. E. (1993). Project Ernestine:
Validating a GOMS analysis for predicting and explaining
realworld performance. Human-Computer Interaction, 8(3),
237309.
Gray, W. D., Palanque, P., & Patern, F. (1999). Introduction to the
special issue on: interface issues and designs for safety-critical
interactive systems. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human
Interaction, 6(4), 309310.
Heckhausen, H., & Beckmann, J. (1990). Intentional action and ac-
tion slips. Psychological Review, 97(1), 3648.
James, W. (1985). Psychology: The briefer course. Notre Dame, IN:
University of Nortre Dame Press. (Original work published 1892.)
John, B. E. (1990). Extensions of GOMS analyses to expert perform-
ance requiring perception of dynamic visual and auditory infor-
mation. In J. C. Chew & J. Whiteside (Eds.), ACM CHI'90 Conference
on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 107115). New York:
ACM Press.
John, B. E. (1996). TYPIST: A theory of performance in skilled typ-
ing. Human-Computer Interaction, 11(4), 321355.
Kieras, D. E., & Meyer, D. E. (1997). An overview of the EPIC archi-
tecture for cognition and performance with application to human-
computer interaction. Human-Computer Interaction, 12(4),
391438.
ETHICS 235
Newell, A. (1992). Precis of unified theories of cognition. Behavioral
and Brain Sciences, 15(3), 425437.
Nooteboom, S. G. (1980). Speaking and unspeaking: Detection and cor-
rection of phonological and lexical errors in spontaneous speech. In
V.A. Fromkin (Ed.), Errors in linguistic performance: Slips of the tongue,
ear, pen, and hand (pp. 8795). San Francisco: Academic Press.
Norman, D. A. (1981). Categorization of action slips. Psychological
Review, 88(1), 115.
Ohlsson, S. (1996a). Learning from error and the design of task en-
vironments. International Journal of Educational Research, 25(5),
419448.
Ohlsson, S. (1996b). Learning from performance errors. Psychological
Review, 103(2), 241262.
Olson, G. M., & Olson, J. S. (2003). Human-computer interaction:
Psychological aspects of the human use of computing. Annual
Review of Psychology, 54, 491516.
Payne, S. J., & Squibb, H. R. (1990). Algebra mal-rules and cognitive
accounts of error. Cognitive Science, 14(3), 445481.
Rasmussen, J. (1987). The definition of human error and a taxonomy
for technical system design. In J. Rasmussen, K. Duncan, & J. Leplat
(Eds.), New technology and human error (pp. 2330). New York:
Wiley.
Reason, J. (1990). Human error. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Simon, H. A. (1956). Rational choice and the structure of the envi-
ronment. Psychological Review, 63, 129138.
Trafton, J. G., Altmann, E. M., Brock, D. P., & Mintz, F. E. (2003).
Preparing to resume an interrupted task: Effects of prospective
goal encoding and retrospective rehearsal. International Journal of
Human-Computer Studies, 58(5), 583603.
VanLehn, K. A. (1990). Mind bugs: The origins of procedural miscon-
ceptions. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Vicente, K. J. (2002). Ecological interface design: Progress and chal-
lenges. Human Factors, 44(1), 6278.
ETHICS
Philosophical interest in the ethical implications of
the development and application of computer
technology emerged during the 1980s, pioneered by,
among others, Terrell Ward Bynum, Deborah
Johnson, Walter Manerusually credited with coin-
ing the phrase computer ethicsand James Moor.
These philosophers and others laid the foundations
for a field of study that, for a number of years, en-
compassed three central lines of inquiry: (1) ethical
questions and challenges to social, moral, and po-
litical values raised by changes in society and indi-
vidual lives, (2) the nature of computer ethics itself,
and (3) ethical obligations of professional experts in
computer and information technologies and engi-
neering. More recently the field has broadened to in-
clude strands from neighboring disciplines.
236 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Ethics, Values, and the Impacts
of Computer and Information
Technologies
Incorporating most of the work in the field, this
line of inquiry focuses on the impacts of comput-
ing and information technologies that raise ethical
questions as well as questions about moral, political,
and social values in societies and in individuals lives.
Many of the issues that emerged early on, such as in-
tellectual property, responsibility, crime, privacy, au-
tonomy, free speech, and quality of life, have remained
important and have evolved alongside developments
in the technologies themselves. Philosophers engaged
in the study of impacts have approached their sub-
ject from at least two perspectives. In one they have
asked about the nature of moral obligations in light
of particular changes, thus being concerned with right
and wrong actions of people. In the other they have
been concerned with the status of particular values
in society and how these are affected by technol-
ogy-induced changes.
In the case of intellectual property, philosophi-
cal interest focused on moral obligations owed to the
creators and owners of software. Philosophers, like
their colleagues in law, recognized key metaphysical
(relating to a branch of philosophy that is concerned
with the fundamental nature of reality and being)
differences between computer software and tradi-
tional forms of intellectual property and sought to
understand whether and in what ways these differ-
ences affect the extent and nature of property pro-
tection that software deserves. By the mid-1990s and
into the present, as the Internet and World Wide Web
developed and increased in popularity, most of the
attention given to intellectual property has been fo-
cused on controversial questions concerning digital
representations of a wide range of intellectual and
cultural works (including text, images, music, and
video), peer-to-peer file sharing, and even Web-link-
ing (the use of Web hyperlinks to move from one
web page to another). From the perspective of val-
ues, philosophers have questioned social and legal
decisions that have shaped the relative strength
and standing of intellectual property in the face of
other values, such as freedom to share.
Computer technology raised questions about at-
tributing moral responsibility for harmful conse-
quences of action as philosophers and others
noted the increasing use of computer systems in con-
trol functions, sometimes replacing human con-
trollers, sometimes mediating human action,
sometimes automating complex sequences of tasks.
Ethical concerns went hand in hand with technical
concerns. Where computer scientists and engi-
neers worried about correctness, reliability, safety
and dependability, philosophers asked whether in-
creasing reliance on computer-controlled automa-
tion is warranted and whether, secondarily, it leads
to a diminishment of accountability for malfunc-
tions, dangers, and harms due to computerization.
Another intriguing line of questions was taken up
by philosophers such as Kari Coleman, Arthur Kuflik,
James Moor, and John Snapper. This line concerned
responsibility and was spurred by actual and pre-
dicted advances in artificial intelligence. It asked
whether aspects of human agency, such as life-
and-death decisions, should ever be delegated to
computers no matter what the relative competency
levels. A twist in this line of questions is whether a
time will come when humans will have moral obli-
gations to intelligent machines.
An issue related to that of responsibility is the
nature and severity of computer crime and the va-
riety of harms wrought on others in the context of
computer-mediated communications and transac-
tions. Philosophers participated in early debates over
whether actions such as gaining unauthorized access
to computer systems and networks should be judged
as crimes or whether such judgment should be re-
served for cases where clear damage results, as in the
cases of transmitting computer viruses and worms
and posting obscene or threatening materials.
Privacy has been one of the most enduring issues
in this category. Philosophers have focused attention
on privacy as a social, political, and individual
value threatened by developments and applications
of computer and information technologies.
Philosophers have participated in the chorus of voices,
which also includes scholars of law, policy, and social
science and privacy advocates, that has denounced
many of these developments and applications as dan-
gerously erosive of privacy. As with other issues, the

nature of the activities that raise concern shifts
through time as a result of evolving technologies and
their applications. The earliest applications to take
the limelight were large government and corporate
databases. Cries of Big Brother resulted in various
legal constraints, including, most importantly, the
U.S. Privacy Act of 1974. Through time dramatic re-
ductions in the cost of hardware and improve-
ments in the capacities to collect, store, communicate,
retrieve, analyze, manipulate, aggregate, match, and
mine data led to a proliferation in information gath-
ering throughout most sectors of society and an am-
plification of early concerns. In parallel with these
developments, we experienced an upsurge in identi-
fication and surveillance technologies, from video
surveillance cameras to biometric (relating to the sta-
tistical analysis of biological observations and phe-
nomena) identification to techniques (such as Web
cookies) that monitor online activities. Each of these
developments has attracted concern of a broad
constituency of scholars, practitioners, and activists
who have applied their areas of knowledge to par-
ticular dimensions of the developments. Philosophers,
such as Judith DeCew, Jeroen van den Hoven,
James Moor, Anton Vedder, and Helen Nissenbaum,
have taken up particularly two challenges: (1) im-
proving conceptual understanding of privacy and the
right to privacy and (2) refining theoretical under-
pinnings and providing a systematic rationale for pro-
tecting the right to privacy.
Finally, a category of questions concerning qual-
ity of life asks, more generally, about the ways com-
p u t e r a n d i n f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o g i e s h ave
impinged on core human values. We could include
in this category a variety of concerns, starting with
the digital dividethe possibility that computer tech-
nology has increased the socioeconomic gap between
those groups of people with power and wealth and
historically disadvantaged socialeconomic, racial,
and gender groups. Such questions concerning so-
cial justice within societies have been extended to
the global sphere and the vastly different levels of ac-
cess available in countries around the globe.
Another element in the category of quality of
life concerns the impacts on relationships, such as
those among friends, romantic partners, family mem-
bers, and teachers and students, made by computers
ETHICS 237
and digital networking technologies. Many re-
searchers have pointed to the enormous positive po-
tential of collaborating online and building
community and accessing vast troves of informa-
tion. However, some philosophers have asked whether
the intrusion of digital technologies debases these
spheres of lifereplacing the actual with the virtual,
replacing face-to-face communication with medi-
ated communication, replacing family and intimate
interactions with chat rooms and online games, and
replacing human teachers and mentors with com-
puterized instructionand deprives them of their
essentially human character and consequently de-
prives us of meaningful opportunities for emotional,
spiritual, and social growth. The influence of
Continental philosophers, including Edmund Husserl
and Emmanuel Levinas, is more apparent here than
in previously mentioned areas where Anglo-
American, analytical thought tends to dominate.
Metaethics of Computer and
Information Technology
Many philosophers leading the inquiry of ethics and
information technology have raised questions about
the nature of the inquiry itself, asking whether
anything is unique, or uniquely interesting, about
the moral and political issues raised by information
technology. The continuum of responses is fairly
clear, from a view that nothing is philosophically
unique about the issues to the view that settings and
capacities generated by computer and information
technologies are so novel and so distinctive that they
demand new theoretical approaches to ethics. The
more conservative approaches assume that we can
reduce the problems in computer ethics (for ex-
ample, any of those mentioned earlier) to the
more familiar terms of ethics and applied ethics, gen-
erally. From there the problems are accessible to stan-
dard ethical theories. For example, although
transmitting computer viruses is a novel phenom-
enon, after we cast it as simply a new form of harm-
ing others property, it can be treated in those familiar
terms. Other philosophers, such as Luciano
Floridi, have suggested that because these technolo-
gies create new forms of agency or new loci of value
238 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
itself, new ethical theories are required to resolve
problems. James Moor, in an essay entitled What Is
Computer Ethics?, offers something in between.
Computer ethics deserves attention because it raises
not only policy questions that are new (such as
Should we allow computer programs to be privately
owned?) but also novel conceptual questions about
the very nature of a computer program, whether
more like an idea, a process, or a piece of writing.
These conceptual puzzles, particularly acute in the
case of privacy, explain why we continue to struggle
to resolve so many of the controversial questions that
privacy raises.
Computer Ethics as
Professional Ethics
Some contributors to the field of computer ethics
have seen its greatest potential as a guide for com-
puter scientists, engineers, and other experts in the
technologies of computing and information, thus
placing it in the general area of professional ethics.
Early proponents of this idea, Donald Gotterbarn
and Keith Miller, added their voices to those of so-
cially concerned computer scientists and engineers
whostarting with Norbert Wiener and Joseph
Weizenbaum, followed by Terry Winograd, Peter
Neumann, and Alan Borningexhorted their col-
leagues to participate actively in steering social de-
liberation, decision, and investment toward socially,
politically, and morally positive ends and also to warn
of dangers and possible misuse of the powerful tech-
nologies of computation and information. In this
area, as in other areas of professional ethics, such
as legal and medical ethics, key questions included
the duties accruing to computer scientists and engi-
neers as a consequence of their specialized knowl-
edge and training. In the area of system reliability,
for example, computer engineers such as Nancy
Leveson have focused enormous energies to artic-
ulate the duty to produce, above all, safe systems,
particularly in life-critical areas.
Responding to calls for greater focus on pro-
fessional duties, at least two major professional or-
ganizationsthe Association for Computing
Machinery and the Institute of Electrical Engineering
and Electronicshave developed codes of profes-
sional ethics. Two issues remain controversial. One
issue deals with the nature and limits of professional
codes. The philosopher Michael Davis has provided
a thoughtful account of the role of codes of conduct
in encouraging ethical professional practice, in con-
trast to John Ladd, who has challenged the very pos-
sibility that professional codes of conduct can rightly
be thought of as codes of ethics. The other issue, spe-
cific to the professions within computer technolo-
gies, asks whether they are sufficiently similar to
traditional professions of law and medicine to
warrant the label of professions.
Porous Borders
Although the philosophical community pursuing
inquiry into ethical implications of information
technology remains relatively small, its intellectual
borders are fluid. Since the decades of its emergence,
it has been enriched by developments in the liter-
atures and methods of neighboring fields. In turn,
many of the works produced within those fields have
been influenced by the work of ethicists. A few ex-
amples, where cross-disciplinary flow has been par-
ticularly active, bear mentioning. One example is
information law, which emerged into prominence
roughly a decade after philosophical issues of pri-
vacy, intellectual property, free speech, and gover-
nance spurred many of its core works by legal
scholars such as Lawrence Lessig, Yochai Benkler,
James Boyle, Pamela Samuelson, Jerry Kang, and
Niva Elkin-Koren. As a result of these works, philo-
sophical studies have paid greater attention to is-
sues of public values, the direct effects of policy
on values, and the meaning for society of key
court rulings.
A second prominent influence has come from
the areas of philosophy and social study of science
and technology where theoretical writings and
empirical studies of scholars such as Langdon
Winner, Albert Borgman, Bruno Latour, Wiebe Bijker,
Andrew Feenberg, and Donald MacKenzie have in-
spired novel approaches to many of the substan-
tive issues of ethics and information technology. Ideas
such as the social shaping of technical systems and
the values embodied in system design have focused

philosophical attention on design and development
details of specific systems and devices, opening a line
of work that views the design of systems and devices
not as a given but rather as a dependent variable.
Although influenced by such ideas, ethicists approach
them with a different goal, not only seeking to de-
scribe but also to evaluate systems in terms of moral,
political, and social values. Philosophers who have
pursued these lines of inquiry include Deborah
Johnson, Jeroen van den Hoven, and Philip Brey, who
has interpreted many key works in social construc-
tivism (an approach to the social and humanistic
study of technology that cites social factors as the
primary determinants of technical development) for
philosophical audiences and developed a concept of
disclosive ethics (a philosophical approach which
holds that system design may disclose ethical im-
plications).
Interest in design as a dependent variable has
also led to collaborations among philosophers, com-
puter scientists, and researchers and designers of
human-computer interfaces who have been inspired
by the complex interplay between computer systems
and human values. These collaborations are im-
portant test beds of the idea that a rich evaluation
of technology can benefit from simultaneous con-
sideration of several dimensions: not only techni-
cal design, for example, but also, ideally, empirical
effects on people and an understanding of the val-
ues involved. For example, Lucas Introna and Helen
Nissenbaum studied a search-engine design from
the point of view of social and political values. Their
study tried to achieve an in-depth grasp of the work-
ings of the search engines system, which they
evaluated in terms of fairness, equality of access to
the Web, and distribution of political power within
the new medium of the Web. Other researchers who
reach across disciplines include Jean Camp and
Lorrie Cranor, as well as Batya Friedman, Peter Kahn,
and Alan Borning, who have developed value-sen-
sitive design as a methodology for developing com-
puter systems that take multiple factors into
consideration.
Helen Nissenbaum
See also Law and HCI; Privacy; Value Sensitive Design
ETHNOGRAPHY 239
FURTHER READING
Adam, A. (2002). Cyberstalking and Internet pornography: Gender
and the gaze. Ethics and Information Technology, 2(2), 133142.
Brey, P. (1997). Philosophy of technology meets social constructivism.
Techne: Journal of the Society for Philosophy and Technology, 2(34).
Retrieved March 24, 2004, from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejour-
nals/SPT/v2n3n4/brey.html
Bynum, T. W. (2001). Computer ethics: Its birth and its future.
Ethics and Information Technology, 3(2), 109112.
Dreyfus, H. L. (1999). Anonymity versus commitment: The dangers
of education on the Internet. Ethics and Information Technology,
1(1), 1521.
Elkin-Koren, N. (1996). Cyberlaw and social change: A democratic
approach to copyright law in cyberspace. Cardozo Arts &
Entertainment Law Journal, 14(2), 215end.
Floridi, L. (1999). Information ethics: On the philosophical founda-
tions of computer ethics. Ethics and Information Technology, 1(1),
3756.
Gotterbarn, D. (1995). Computer ethics: Responsibility regained. In
D. G. Johnson & H. Nissenbaum (Eds.), Computers, ethics, and so-
cial values (pp. 1824). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Grodzinsky, F. S. (1999). The practitioner from within: Revisiting the
virtues. Computers and Society, 29(1), 915.
Introna, L. D. (2001). Virtuality and morality: On (not) being dis-
turbed by the other. Philosophy in the Contemporary World, 8(1),
3139.
Introna, L. D., & Nissenbaum, H. (2000). Shaping the Web: Why the
politics of search engines matters. The Information Society,
16(3), 169185.
Johnson, D. G. (2001). Computer ethics (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Johnson, D. G. (2004). Computer ethics. In H. Nissenbaum & M. E.
Price (Eds.), Academy and the Internet (pp. 143167). New York:
Peter Lang.
Moor, J. H. (1985). What is computer ethics? Metaphilosophy, 16(4),
266275.
Nissenbaum, H. (2004). Privacy as contextual integrity. Washington
Law Review, 79, 119158.
Spinello, R. A., & Tavani, H. T. (Eds.). (2001). Readings in cy-
berethics. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
van den Hoven, J. (1994). Towards principles for designing politi-
cal-administrative information systems. Van den Hoven, J. (1994).
Towards principles for designing political-administrative infor-
mation systems. Information and Public Sector, 3, 353373.
ETHNOGRAPHY
Ethnography has several meanings. It means the
study and recording of human culture; it can also
mean the work produced as a result of that
studya picture of a people. Today, however, some-
one interested in human-computer interaction (HCI)
240 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
is more likely to encounter ethnography as a term
that describes a research method. As a research
method, ethnography is widely used in a multi-
tude of ways, but unfortunately also misused.
Principles of Ethnography
Ethnography is most properly understood as a re-
search methodology. This methodology, which can
be described as participant observation, or, more in-
formally, fieldwork, is rooted in the social science of
anthropology. Anthropology is the discipline that at-
tempts to develop a holistic account of everything
having to do with human beings and their activi-
tieshumankind in space and time.
Ethnography developed specifically as the chief
approach of cultural anthropology, one branch of
anthropology. Cultural and social anthropologists
use long-term participation and observation to de-
velop deeply contextualized accounts of contempo-
rary ways of life. This distinguishes them from, for
example, archaeological anthropologists, who aim
to construct similarly holistic understandings of past
cultures.
What is distinctive about ethnography is its par-
ticular way of knowing, what a philosopher would
call its epistemological approach. (Epistemology is
the philosophical study of how we come to know
what we know, or how we justify our belief that we
know.) Ethnographers pay as much attention to the
ways in which people (including ethnographers
themselves) perceive what they know as they do to
how people act because ethnographers believe that
the ways in which people act are affected by their cul-
tural milieu. Even when focused on actions, ethno-
graphers pay close attention to what those actions
reveal about what people take as known. That is,
ethnographic methodology accepts the impor-
tance of cultural construction to both ideas and
action. Further, ethnography attempts to incorpo-
rate this acceptance into both the generation and
representation of anthropological knowledge. This
approach differs from modernist or positivist ap-
proaches to knowledge, such as those informing sta-
tistical reasoning, which attempt to isolate facts
from their knowers and from knowers culturally de-
pendent acts of knowing.
At the same time, ethnographers generally ac-
cept the existence of a reality external to the con-
structs of the knower. In accepting this external
reality, and therefore also acknowledging the value
of talk regarding what is knowable about it, ethnog-
raphy differs from, for example, postmodernism,
which tends to limit discussion to human appre-
hensions rather than the effect of these apprehen-
s i o n s o n t h e wor l d . In te l l e c t u a l l y b e t we e n
postmodernism and positivism, ethnography is an
empirical research strategy that strives to account
satisfactorily for the dynamics of different cul-
tures, or of human culture in general, without try-
ing to construct transcendent laws of human action.
History of Ethnography
Historically, ethnography emerged out of late-nine-
teenth-century British anthropology. Historians of
anthropology credit the British anthropologist W.
H. R. Rivers (18641922) as the first full practitioner
of ethnography. Before Rivers, anthropologists gen-
erally relied entirely on data collected by missionar-
ies or colonial officials; at most, they had only brief
personal experience of the cultures they analyzed.
Rivers stressed the importance of long-term, depth
exposure to the culture of interest, so that the con-
texts of cultural facts such as kin terms or magical
practices could be more fully grasped.
The Polish expatriate Franz Boas (18581942)
brought ethnography to anthropology in the United
States, both by his own fieldwork and through teach-
ing his students, notably Ruth Benedict (18871948)
and Margaret Mead (19011978). Partly because
of the great variety characteristic of the Native
American cultures that were its principle foci, U.S.
ethnography came to emphasis the particularity of
each culture.
The anthropologist usually credited with in-
venting ethnography, however, is the Polish no-
bleman Branislaw Malinowski (18841942). His long
1925 introduction to Argonauts of the Western Pacific
is still presented as the classic statement of ethnog-
raphy. Of particular note in Malinowskis ap-
proach to ethnography was his stress on the need for
the ethnographer to develop an emotional de-
pendency upon the native informants. Only if the

ethnographer were cut off from regular contact with
his or her culture of origin could he or she hope to
develop the insider perspective still taken as the
hallmark of good ethnographic writing or film.
Under Malinowskis influence, the participa-
tive aspect of ethnographic observation developed
a particular quality. Even though the ethnographer
knows that his or her knowledge of the culture is not
yet complete, he or she tries to participate in cultural
activity, performing an indigenous role as well as
possible. The hope is that informants will critique
ethnographers performance and thereby accelerate
the pace of the ethnographers learning. This very
active form of research differs markedly from the ap-
proach of social scientists focused on minimizing
their impact on the society under observation.
Ethnographic perspectives blended with sociol-
ogys tradition of field research, especially in the
founding of new subfields such as community stud-
ies. After World War II it became popular to model
sociological studies as closely as possible on labo-
ratory science, but nonetheless ethnography main-
tained a vigorous and continuous presence in
important theoretical and empirical fields. For ex-
ample, ethnographic studies were a key part of the
1960s displacement of industrial sociology (with its
focus on bureaucracy), by the sociology of work
(which focused on the actual labor process).
Sociological ethnography did not retain all aspects
of anthropological ethnographys epistemology, how-
ever. For example, Malinoswki claimed that an
ethnographers position as an outsider gave special
insights, as he or she would be able to see aspects
of a culture less visible to insiders, who took the cul-
ture for granted. Sociological ethnographers who
were studying their own culture obviously could not
claim to have an outsiders insights.
Interestingly, while Malinowski stressed how cul-
ture influenced the ways of knowing of the targets
of ethnographic investigation, he believed the ethno-
graphic knowledge of the professional anthropolo-
gist to be fully scientific in the positivist sense. He
did not in general address the cultural biases and as-
sumptions the anthropologist brought to the field.
Such contradictions made ethnography vulnerable
to critiques in the 1980s. Not only did those critiques
spawn an interest in new, experimental forms of
ETHNOGRAPHY 241
ethnographic representation (including more lit-
erary forms, such as poetry), they also fed directly
into subaltern studiesthe study of oppressed peo-
ples. The trend, part of the critique of anthropol-
ogys role in colonialism, toward privileging the
natives cultural understanding over the outsiders
cultural understanding, is influential in contempo-
rary cultural studies.
Despite the internal anthropological critiques,
the cachet of ethnography grew considerably during
the 1980s in other fields. It was frequently featured
as the methodology of preference in feminist cri-
tiques of social science and was drawn on by those
advocating field studies in social psychology. Today,
most cultural anthropologists and many other schol-
ars continue to practice ethnography, drawing on
this long and rich tradition of practice and critique.
Ethnography Meets Human-
Computer Interaction
In research on computing, ethnography has been as
much a basis for critique as a methodology. The con-
structs of early HCIfor example, the notion of the
(individual) man [sic](individual) machine in-
terfacewere critiqued, and social scientists began
undertaking fuller, contextual ethnographic studies
of computing. In 1991, for example, the anthro-
pologist David Hakken argued that, instead of striv-
ing after human-centered computing, a better goal
would be culture-centered. That is, rather than try-
ing to design systems to meet universal character-
istics, they should be oriented toward specific cultural
frameworks.
Field study of actual computing encouraged some
computer scientists to broaden their conception of
the nature of interfaces by developing systems for
computer-supported collaborative (or collective)
work. Terry Winograd and Fernando Floress 1986
theoretical critique of positivism in computer sci-
ence (Understanding Computers and Cognition: A
New Foundation for Design) drew on ethnography.
Geoffrey Bowker is among the many computer-
science ethnographers who now refer to the an-
tiformalist trends in computer science as social
informatics.
242 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Anthropological ethnographers such as Henrick
Sinding-Larsen and Lucy Suchman were central to
perhaps the single most influential tradition of so-
cial informatics, variously referred to in Europe as
the Scandinavian approach or as user participation
in systems development and called participatory de-
sign in the United States. For a variety of practical as
well as political reasons, Nordic systems developers
wanted to broaden the influence of users over sys-
tems development, and ethnography seemed like a
good way to gain entry into the users world. Kristen
Nygaard, arguably the computer scientist with the
most sustained influence on this trend, under-
stood the potential value of ethnography. He re-
cruited Sinding-Larsen onto an Oslo hospital project
called Florence, one of the three projects recognized
as foundational to the Scandinavian approach.
T h ro u g h t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e a n nu a l
ksyen and IRIS (Information Research in Scan-
dinavia) and decennial Computers in Context
conferences, ethnographers like Suchman, Jeanette
Blomberg, and Julian Orr brought ethnography into
a continuing dialogue with Nordic and, later, U.S.
systems development.
From its inception in projects such as Florence,
however, the relationship between ethnography and
HCI studies has been complex. The relationship has
spawned a wide variety of approaches as well as mis-
understandings. For example, the frequent failure of
a computerized system to perform in the manner in-
tended might be a consequence of either its design
or of something in the context of its use. To figure
out which, one has to investigate the use context. One
could do this by making the laboratory more like the
use context (one approach to usability), or one
could examine how the system is actually used in the
real world, through ethnographic studies of use.
Because usability studies and use studies sound
similar and have some things in common, they were
sometimes glossed together, even though they have
very different epistemological underpinnings. What
one learned, or concluded could not be learned, de-
pended upon training and professionally preferred
reading style (Allwood and Hakken 2001). The med-
ical anthropologist Diana Forsythe has chronicled
how a different misunderstanding emerged from the
bizarre courting dance of ethnography and artificial
intelligence: Beginning in the mid-1980s, the former
moved from being an object of derision for those
trained in rigorous natural science to a privileged
technique, albeit distorted from its anthropologi-
cal form. In the process of domesticating ethnog-
raphy for informatics, some informaticians turned
themselves into self-trained ethnographers, while
other social scientists (e.g., Crabtree) developed a
quick and dirty ethnography. To build effective ob-
ject-oriented as opposed to relational databases, one
needs a good understanding of the notional things
relevant to a work process. After some initial ef-
forts to identify these themselves, informaticians
turned the task over to social scientists who, after a
week or so hanging out in a work site, could gen-
erate a list of apparently relevant notions. Such lists,
however, are likely to lack the depth of interrelational
and contextual understanding that would come from
longer, more intense participant observation.
In quick and dirty appropriations of fieldwork,
ethnography ceases to be an epistemology and is re-
duced to a technique, one of several qualitative re-
search tools. In the late 1990s, before her untimely
death, Forsythe despaired of these developments. The
computer scientist Jonas Lwgren and the cultural
anthropologist James Nyce have criticized HCI re-
searchers interested in ethnography for wanting to do
ethnography but only managing an ethnographic gaze.
This gaze, not ethnography in the full sense, has been
incorporated into practices as diverse as program eval-
uation and educational research, with uneven conse-
quences. When their limitations are understood, the
various appropriations of the ethnographic gaze
can be of substantial value, but it should not be
confused with ethnography in the full sense.
It is ironic that just when ethnography was un-
der attack in its home base of cultural anthropology,
its general popularity as a way of knowing was
spreading very widely. Too often, however, re-
search self-labeled as ethnographic violates one or
more of the epistemological premises at the core of
anthropological ethnography. As a result, the term
is used to cover such a broad array of approaches
as to have lost some of its meaning.
Its methods are often qualitative, but ethnog-
raphy is not just qualitative methods. Indeed, ethno-
graphers often also deploy quantitative methods in

their data collection and invoke numbers in their
analyses. Good ethnography integrates various kinds
of information, but particularly information derived
from active participation, which is at the center of
the idea of ethnography.
Current Ethnography of HCI
Fortunately, today there is a rich body of good ethno-
graphic HCI research. One type of study focuses
specifically on the work of people developing com-
puter systems. Forsythes 2001 Studying Those Who
Study Us: An Anthropologist in the World of Artificial
Intelligence includes several ethnographic studies of
computer scientists in the process of developing
artificial intelligence and knowledge-engineering sys-
tems. The cultural anthropologist Gary Downey uses
ethnography to study the education of computer en-
gineers, while the linguist and computer specialist
Stephen Helmreich focuses on computer scientists
who see themselves as developing artificial forms of
life in code. Hakkens Cyborgs@cyberspace? reports
on the results of his ethnographic study of Nordic
systems developers.
Another body of HCI ethnography looks at com-
puting among actual users in the general population.
The sociologist Susan Leigh Stars The Cultures of
Computing (1995) contains several good examples.
Hakkens The Knowledge Landscapes of Cyberspace
(2003) deals with knowledge management in com-
mercial organizations, social services, and schools.
A new group of design anthropologists are trying to
put this knowledge to work in product development.
A final body of HCI ethnography reaches back
to an earlier tradition by placing computing prac-
tices in broad social contexts. Computing Myths, Class
Realities (1993) is one example, as is The Internet: An
Ethnographic Approach (1999), which examines
Internet use in Trinidad. As computing becomes
more densely integrated into non-Western social for-
mations, studies such as Jonah Blanks Mullahs on
the Mainframe (2001) will provide well-considered
insights to those who seek to integrate technical and
economic development work.
In sum, there is reason to expect continuing
expansion of rich ethnography in the study of
HCI, as well as new appropriations of the ethno-
ETHNOGRAPHY 243
graphic gaze. In evaluating especially these latter, it
is useful to keep in mind that, to the cultural an-
thropologist, ethnography is more than an array of
methods; it is a way of knowing.
David Hakken
See also Anthropology and HCI; Sociology and HCI
FURTHER READING
Allwood, C. M., & Hakken, D. (2001). Deconstructing use: Diverse
discourses on users and usability in information system devel-
opment and reconstructing a viable use discourse. AI & Society,
15, 169199.
Blank, J. (2001). Mullahs on the mainframe: Islam and modernity among
the Daudi Borhas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Blomberg, J. (1998). Knowledge discourses and document practices:
Negotiating meaning in organizational settings. Paper presented
at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association,
Philadelphia, PA.
Bowker, G., Star, S. L., Turner, W., & Gasser, L. (1997). Introduction.
In G. Bowker, S. L. Star, W. Turner, & L. Glasser (Eds.), Social sci-
ence, technical systems, and cooperative work: Beyond the great di-
vide (pp. xxxiii). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Clifford, J., & Marcus, G. (Eds.). (1986). Writing culture: The poetics
and politics of ethnography. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University
of California Press.
Crabtree, A. (1998). Ethnography in participatory design. Paper pre-
sented at the Participatory Design Conference, Seattle, WA.
Downey, G. (1998). The machine in me: An anthropologist sits among
computer engineers. New York: Routledge.
Ehn, P. (1988). Work-oriented design of computer artifacts. Stockholm:
Almqvist & Wiksell.
Forsythe, D. (2001). Studying those who study us: An anthropologist in
the world of artificial intelligence. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University
Press.
Hakken, D. (1991). Culture-centered computing: Social policy and
development of new information technology in England and the
United States. Human Organization, 50(4), 406423.
Hakken, D. (1999). Cyborgs@cyberspace?: An ethnographer looks to the
future. New York: Routledge.
Hakken, D. (2003). The knowledge landscapes of cyberspace. New York:
Routledge.
Hakken, D., & Andrews, B. (1993). Computing myths, class realities.
Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Helmreich, S. (1999). Silicon second nature: Culturing artificial life in
a digital world. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press.
Miller, D., & Slater, D. (1999). The Internet: An ethnographic approach.
Oxford, UK: Berg.
Nyce, J., & Lwgren, J. (1995). Toward foundational analysis in hu-
man-computer interaction. In P. J. Thomas (Ed.), The social and
interactional dimensions of human-computer interfaces (pp. 3746).
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
244 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Orr, J. (1996). Talking about machines: An ethnography of a modern
job. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Sinding-Larsen, H (1987). Information technology and management
of knowledge. AI & Society, 1, 93101.
Star, S. L. (Ed.). (1995). The cultures of computing. Oxford, UK:
Blackwell.
Suchman, L. (1987). Plans and situated actions. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Van Mannen, J. (1983). The fact of fiction in organizational ethnog-
raphy. In J. Van Maanen (Ed.), Qualitative methodology (pp. 3755).
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Whyte, W. F. (1991). Participatory action research. Newbury Park, CA:
Sage.
Winograd, T., & Flores, F. (1986). Understanding computers and cog-
nition: A new foundation for design. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
EVOLUTIONARY
ENGINEERING
How can people make computers solve problems
without having to program them with every detail
needed for a solution? One answer is to endow the
computers with some form of artificial intelligence
that allows them to make judgments independently.
Another answer makes computers assist humans
in breeding solutions rather the way farmers breed
animals and plants. This is called genetic program-
ming, or evolutionary programming, and it opens
the possibility of very different relationships between
people and their machines.
Since the dawn of the agricultural age thou-
sands of years ago, people have understood that
artificial selection can gradually transform pop-
ulations of living creatures to make them more use-
ful for human beings. For example, people who
herd cattle might slaughter the cows that give lit-
tle milk, while allowing the best dairy cows to sur-
vive and have offspring. Over generations, this will
produce cows that give more milk. Genesis 3031
reports that Jacob fully understood how to breed
sheep and goats for desirable characteristics in bib-
lical times. In the mid-nineteenth century, Charles
Darwin developed the concept of natural selection,
which has become a key analytic principle in biol-
ogy. In the twentieth century, historians, social sci-
entists, and computer scientists began to apply
evolutionary ideas to technology.
Technological Evolution
People like to think that new technology is invented
by heroic geniuses such as Leonardo da Vinci and
Thomas Alva Edison, but many scholars argue that
innovation is more like a process of biological evo-
lution in which individuals play only minor roles. In
his classic 1922 study of social change, the sociolo-
gist William F. Ogburn acknowledged that inventors
tend to be more intelligent than the average. But, he
explained, inventions are collective additions to an
existing cultural base that cannot occur unless the
society has already gained a certain level of expert-
ise in the particular area. For example, the telegraph
was created by combining many existing elements,
such as electricity, coils, batteries, signaling, and al-
phabet codes. A personal computer connected to the
World Wide Web combines a television set (moni-
tor), telephone (Internet connection), and typewriter
(keyboard), plus a myriad of small electronic and
programming innovations, each of which has its own
heritage reaching back in time to earlier inventions
such as the telegraph and the electronic calculator.
Ogburn said that technical evolution takes place
in four interrelated steps: invention, accumulation,
diffusion, and adjustment. He devoted an entire chap-
ter of his influential book to a long list of inventions
and discoveries that were made independently by
two or more people, illustrating the fundamental
role of culture in preparing the way for such inno-
vations. These inventions accumulate, such that an
advancing culture possesses more of them each year,
and they diffuse from their original application and
geographic area to others. Finally, society must ad-
just to new technologies, often by innovating in other
fields, as happened in recent history when the spread
of the Web made new kinds of e-businesses possi-
ble, which in turn required both programming
and economic innovations.
From this perspective, invention is very much like
genetic mutation in biology. Many mutations are dis-
advantageous and die out, and the same is true for
inventions. From the vast menagerie of inventions
produced, only some survive, spread, and combine
with other successful inventions in a manner anal-
ogous to sexual reproduction, producing offspring
that in turn may combine with other inventions if
they survive in the harsh environment of the market-

place. Like living creatures, technological innovations
inherit characteristics from their predecessors, ex-
hibit great diversity caused by both mutation and re-
combination, and undergo selection that allows some
to survive while others become extinct.
Genetic Programming
In 1975 the computer scientist John Holland offered
an evolutionary approach to programming that he
called "genetic plans," but that today is known as ge-
netic algorithms. In biology, the genetic code is carried
by DNA molecules, which are long strings of nucleotide
bases denoted by four letters of the alphabet: A (ade-
nine), C (cytosine), G (guanine), and T (thymine). By
analogy, genetic algorithms typically employ strings
of letters or numbers that can be read by the soft-
ware system as if they were short programs specifying
a series of actions. For example, URDL might instruct
the cursor of the computer to go through a series of
moves on the screen: up, right, down, and left.
A genetic algorithm system contains many of
these strings, perhaps thousands of them. Each can
be interpreted as different instructions for solving
the same well-specified problem. The URDL code
might be instructions for moving the cursor through
a maze on the computer screen. (URDL would not
be a very good solution to the maze problem, how-
ever, because it merely returns the cursor to where
it started.) All the strings currently in the system are
tested to see how far each one takes the cursor
from the start of the maze toward the goal. That is,
the system evaluates the fitness of each string.
Then it performs selection, removing strings like
URDL that have very poor fitness and copying strings
that have high fitness.
Selection cannot be too harsh, or it will elimi-
nate all variation among the strings, and variation is
essential to evolution. One way to increase variation
is through mutationrandomly adding, subtract-
ing, or substituting a letter in a string. Suppose the
first four moves in the maze are UURR, and the path
then branches both up and down. Then both
UURRU and UURRD will have high fitness, and both
UURRL and UURRR will have lower fitness. After
repeating these steps many times, this process will
result in a population of long strings that represent
EVOLUTIONARY ENGINEERING 245
good paths through the maze, perhaps even many
copies of the one best solution.
Selection, reproduction, and mutation are
enough for evolution to take place as it does in mi-
croorganisms, but humans and many other complex
life forms have one more important process: sexu-
ality. From an evolutionary perspective, sex has
one great advantage. It combines genes from dif-
ferent lineages.
Imagine that you are breeding dairy cows. Per-
haps Bossie the cow produces lots of milk but is mean
and kicks you whenever you approach. Bertha is
sweet tempered but produces little milk. Assuming
these characteristics are genetically determined, you
let both Bossie and Bertha have many babies. Then
you breed the offspring of one with the offspring
of the other, hoping to get a variety of mixtures of
their characteristics. Perhaps one of Bossie's and
Bertha's granddaughters, Bessie, combines their
virtues of abundant milk and sweet disposition. She
becomes the mother of your herd of ideal dairy cows.
Another granddaughter, Bortha, is mean and un-
productive. She becomes roast beef.
The equivalent of sexual reproduction in genetic
algorithms is called crossover. After checking the fit-
ness of each string in the system, the program makes
some new strings by adding part of one high-fitness
string to part of another. In the maze example, UUDUU
and RLRRL could produce a string of higher fitness,
UURRU, through crossover. Adding crossover to a
genetic algorithm generally allows it to find better so-
lutions quicker, especially if the problem is difficult.
Each of the strings evolving through a genetic al-
gorithm is a kind of computer program, and this
method can actually be used to write software. In re-
cent years, experiments have shown the approach
can solve a very wide range of engineering problems,
in hardware as well as software.
Engineering Applications
A team led by the computer scientist John Koza at
Stanford University has been using genetic program-
ming to design electronic circuits, including filters for
audio systems optimized to block some frequencies
and pass others, controllers such as automobile cruise
control devices, and circuit generators that produce
246 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
desired outputs. In a way, designing electronic circuits
is the opposite of our maze example, because it in-
volves assembling electronic components into a maze
of circuits having the desired characteristics, rather
than finding the best path through a pre-existing maze.
A number of researchers have used genetic program-
ming to design the details of neural networks, a
kind of artificial intelligence approach that can be built
as analog electronic circuits but are usually expressed
digitally in software instead.
One of the classic challenges for genetic pro-
gramming was designing truss structure for use in
large machines and architectural buildings. The prob-
lem is to design an open structure of beams and gird-
ers that can reach horizontally out from a wall a given
distance and support a given weight, and to do so
with the minimum amount of material. This prob-
lem involves many variables, because beams and gird-
ers of various sizes can be connected in many
different ways to form the truss, so it is a nice com-
putational challenge. It is also relatively straight-
forward to test the quality of the solutions produced
by the computer, either through mathematical analy-
sis or through actually building a design and see-
ing how much weight it can support before breaking.
The same approach can be useful in chemical engi-
neering, for example to determine an optimum com-
bination of raw materials and temperature to produce
high quality plastics reliably at low cost.
A research team at Brandeis University, called
DEMO (Dynamical and Evolutionary Machine
Organization) and including the scientists Jordan
Pollack and Gregory Hornby, has used genetic pro-
gramming to design robots and virtual creatures.
DEMO believes that evolutionary engineering will
be greatly facilitated by two related technological de-
velopments: improvements in the quality of com-
puter aided mechanical design, including simulations,
and development of inexpensive methods for
rapid prototyping and manufacture of single items.
Together, these two innovations could achieve
both the cost-effectiveness of mass production and
the customer satisfaction of high-quality skilled
craftsmanship with unique designs. Combined with
genetic programming, these methods could produce
an evolutionary system in which machines constantly
improved over time, the better to serve the needs
of human beings.
In the GOLEM (Genetically Organized Lifelike
Electro Machines) project, the DEMO team has used
genetic programming to design populations of sim-
ple robots that are then actually built, so that their
characteristics can be compared in the real world,
rather than just in computer simulations. These very
simple robots have one task only: to creep across the
floor. They are constructed out of piston-like actu-
ators and bars that form a structure that can hinge
at the connection. In the computer, a population
of simulated robots evolves by means of genetic al-
gorithms through hundreds of generations. Mutation
occasionally adds or subtracts a bar or actuator at
a r a n d o m l y ch o s e n p o i n t i n t h e s t r u c t u re .
Selection tests how far each of the simulated ro-
bots could creep in a given period of time, and those
that could go the farthest have more offspring in the
next generation. A number of the robots have ac-
tually been fabricated and can indeed crawl
around the laboratory. The DEMO team set up the
computer and fabrication system, and established its
goal, but the robots' design was carried out auto-
matically by evolution.
Challenges and Opportunities
While evolutionary computing can solve many en-
gineering problems, it is used relatively seldom out-
side research studies. One reason is that the
calculations are time consuming, especially in fig-
uring the relative fitness of all the strings. Parallel
processing helps here, because it will allow all the fit-
ness evaluations to happen simultaneously, and John
Koza's team works with a cluster of a thousand com-
puters. But there is also a human-computer inter-
action barrier, because we do not yet have convenient
systems that professional engineers can use to tell
the genetic algorithm what kind of solution it is sup-
posed to evolve. A related problem concerns how to
give the computer the real-world information it can
use to evaluate the fitness of competing designs.
In the near future we can imagine that engineers
will be able to define problems through a comfort-
able multimedia computer interface, and highly

intelligible output will describe solutions as they
evolve. Manufacturing companies could unobtru-
sively use their customers to evaluate the fitness of
designs by abandoning mass production of standard
models in favor of near infinite variety. The result
could be an approach that radically enhances human
creativity at the same time it inspires people to think
about engineering design in a fresh way.
William Sims Bainbridge
See also Artificial Intelligence
FURTHER READING
Bainbridge, W. S. (in press). The evolution of semantic systems. Annals
of the New York Academy of Science.
Basalla, G. (1988). The evolution of technology. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Deb, K., & Gulati, S. (2001). Design of truss-structures for minimum
weight using genetic algorithms. Finite Elements in Analysis and
Design, 37(5), 447465.
Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin's dangerous idea. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
Gallagher, J. C., & Vigraham, S. (2002). A modified compact genetic
algorithm for the intrinsic evolution of continuous time recurrent
neural networks. In W. B. Langdon, E. Cant-Paz, K. Mathias, R.
Roy, D. Davis, R. Poli et al. (Eds.), GECCO 2002: Proceedings of the
Genetic and Evolutionar y Computation Conference (pp.
163170). San Francisco: Morgan-Kaufmann.
Goodman, E. D., Seo, K., Rosenberg, R. C., Fan, Z., Hu, J., & Zhang,
B. (2002). Automated design methodology for mechatronic sys-
tems using bond graphs and genetic programming. In 2002 NSF
Design, Service, and Manufacturing Grantees and Research
Conference (pp. 206221). Arlington, VA: National Science
Foundation.
Holland, J. H. (1975). Adaptation in natural and artificial systems.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hornby, G. S., & Pollack, J. B. (2002). Creating high-level components
with a generative representation for body-brain evolution. Artificial
Life, 8(3), 223246.
Hornby, G. S., & Pollack, J. B. (20012). Evolving L-systems to gener-
ate virtual creatures. Computers and Graphics, 25(6), 10411048.
Koza, J. R. (1992). Genetic programming. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Koza, J. R., Keane, M. A., & Streeter, M. J. (2003). Evolving inventions.
Scientific American, 288(2), 5259.
Li, Y., Rangaiah, G. P., & Ray, A. K. (2003). Optimization of styrene re-
actor design for two objectives using a genetic algorithm.
International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, 1, A13.
Miller, G. (2000). Technological evolution as self-fulfilling
prophecy. In J. Ziman (Ed.), Technological innovation as an evo-
lutionary process (pp. 203215). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
EXPERT SYSTEMS 247
Ogburn, W. F. (1922). Social change. New York: Huebsch.
Pollack, J. B., Lipson, H., Hornby, G., & Funes, P. (2001). Three gen-
erations of automatically designed robots. Artificial Life, 7(3),
215223.
EXPERT SYSTEMS
Expert systems (ES) are computer systems that cap-
ture and store human problem-solving knowledge
(expertise) so that it can be utilized by less knowl-
edgeable people. An alternate term is knowledge-based
expert systems. Expert systems imitate human ex-
perts reasoning processes in solving specific prob-
lems and disseminate scarce knowledge resources,
leading to improved, consistent results. As the knowl-
edge in an expert system is improved and becomes
more accurate, the system may eventually function
at a higher level than any single human expert can
in making judgments in a specific, usually narrow,
area of expertise (domain).
Expert systems are part of artificial intelligence
(the subfield of computer science that is concerned
with symbolic reasoning and problem solving).
They use a symbolic approach to representing
knowledge and simulate the process that experts
use when solving problems. Knowledge, once
captured through the knowledge acquisition
process, must be represented, typically as produc-
tion rules (knowledge representation methods
in which knowledge is formalized into rules con-
taining an IF part and a THEN part and,
optionally, an ELSE part). However, additional
knowledge representations (formalisms for repre-
senting facts and rules about a subject or a spe-
cialty) exist; each problem has a natural fit with
one or more knowledge representations. To be use-
ful, knowledge must be utilized through a reason-
ing process implemented in the inference engine
(the expert system component that performs
reasoning [thinking]). The structure of expert sys-
tems is important, as are the application areas to
which expert systems have been successfully
applied.
248 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Expertise, Experts, and
Knowledge Acquisition
Expertise is the extensive, task-specific knowledge
acquired from training, reading, and experience.
Through their expertise, experts make better and
faster decisions than nonexperts in solving complex
problems. A person requires much time to become
an expert. Novices become experts only incremen-
tally. Experts have a high skill level in solving specific
problem types. Experts generally are good at rec-
ognizing and formulating problems, solving prob-
lems quickly and properly, explaining their solutions,
learning from experience, restructuring knowledge,
breaking rules when necessary, and determining rel-
evant factors. When faced with new problems,
their solutions tend to be pretty good.
To mimic a human expert, we can implement an
ES that directly incorporates human expertise.
Typically, an ES can explain how it obtains solutions
and why it asks for specific information and estimate
its measure of confidence in its solutions, as would
an expert.
The objective of an expert system is to transfer
expertise from an expert to a computer system and
then to other nonexpert humans. This transfer in-
volves knowledge acquisition, knowledge repre-
sentation, knowledge inferencing, and, finally,
knowledge transfer to the user. Knowledge is
stored in a knowledge base and reasoned with by an
inference engine.
Knowledge acquisition is the process of extract-
ing, structuring, and organizing knowledge and
transferring it to the knowledge base and sometimes
to the inference engine. Formally, knowledge is a col-
lection of specialized facts, procedures, and judg-
ment rules.
A knowledge engineer applies AI methods to ap-
plications requiring expertise, including developing
expert systems. Knowledge engineering involves
knowledge acquisition, representation, validation,
inferencing, explanation, and maintenance.
Knowledge engineering also involves the coopera-
tion of human experts in explicitly codifying the
methods used to solve real problems.
The most common method for eliciting
knowledge from an expert is interviews. The knowl-
edge engineer interviews expert(s) and develops
an understanding of a problem. Then he or she iden-
tifies an appropriate knowledge representation and
inferencing approach.
Acquired knowledge must be organized and
stored in a knowledge base. A good knowledge
representation naturally represents the problem do-
main. People have developed many useful knowl-
edge representation schemes through the years. The
most common are production rules and frames.
Rules are used most frequently. Any number of rep-
resentations may be combined into a hybrid knowl-
edge representation.
Most commercial (called production) ES are rule
based. Knowledge is stored as rules, as are the
problem-solving procedures. Knowledge is presented
as production rules in the form of condition-action
pairs: IF this condition occurs, THEN some ac-
tion will (or should) occur. This action may include
establishing a fact to be true, false, or true to some
degree, which is known as a confidence level. For
example, a rule may state: IF the light bulb is off,
THEN move the switch to the ON position.
Each rule is an autonomous chunk of expert-
ise. When utilized by the inference engine, the
rules behave synergistically (relating to combined
action or operation). Rules are the most common
form of knowledge representation because they
are easily understood and naturally describe many
real situations.
A frame includes all the knowledge about a par-
ticular object. This knowledge is organized in a hi-
erarchical structure that permits a diagnosis of
knowledge independence. Frames are used exten-
sively in ES. Frames are like index cards that describe
conditions and solutions. Given a real problem, a
case-based reasoning (CBR) inference engine searches
the frames to identify a closest match to solve a prob-
lem. This procedure is similar to an expert remem-
bering a specific situation that is like or close to the
new one encountered.
Inferencing and Explanation
An expert system literally can reason (e.g., think).
After the knowledge in the knowledge base is at a
sufficiently high level of accuracy, it is ready to be

used. The inference engine is a computer program
that accesses the knowledge and controls one or more
reasoning processes.
The inference engine directs a search through
the knowledge base. It asks for facts (for the IF part
of rules) that it needs in order to fire rules and reach
their conclusions (the THEN part). The program de-
cides which rule to investigate, which alternative to
eliminate, and which attribute to match. The most
common inferencing methods for rule-based sys-
tems are backward and forward chaining.
Backward chaining is a goal-driven approach to
problem solving. One starts from an expectation
of what is to happen (hypothesis), then seeks evi-
dence (facts) to support (or contradict) the expec-
tation. An ES starts with a goal to be verified as either
true or false. Then it looks for a rule that has that
goal in its conclusion. It then checks the premise of
that rule in an attempt to satisfy this rule. When nec-
essary, the ES asks the user for facts that it needs to
know. If the search for a specific solution fails, the
ES repeats by looking for another rule whose con-
clusion is the same as before. The process continues
until all the possibilities that apply are checked or
until the initially checked rule (with the goal) is sat-
isfied. If the goal is proven false, then the next goal
is tried.
Forward chaining is a data-driven approach. It
starts with all available information (facts) and tries
to reach conclusions. The ES analyzes the problem
by looking for the facts that match the IF portion of
its IF-THEN rules. As each rule is tested, the program
works its way toward one or more conclusions.
Typically, backward chaining is utilized in di-
agnostic systems such as those for the medical or
equipment repair areas, whereas forward chaining
is utilized in financial and accounting applications.
Automatic control applications, such as those that
run steel mills and clay processing plants, typically
use forward chaining.
Human experts are often asked to explain their
decisions. Likewise, ESs must also be able to explain
their actions. An ES must clarify its reasoning, rec-
ommendations, or other actions. The explanation
facility does this. Rule-based ES explanation traces
rules that are fired as a problem is solved. Most ES
explanation facilities include the why? question
EXPERT SYSTEMS 249
(when the ES asks the user for some information);
advanced systems include the how? question (how
a certain conclusion was reached).
A key issue in expert systems is the fuzziness of
the decision-making process. Typical problems have
many qualitative aspects (the engine sounds funny),
and often when a rule reaches a conclusion, the ex-
pert may feel it is right only about seven times out
of ten. This level of confidence must be consid-
e re d . Ce r t a i n t y t h e o r y p e r f o r m s t h i s t a s k .
Certainty factors (CF) express belief in an event (fact
or hypothesis) based on evidence (or the experts as-
sessment) along a scale, for example, anywhere from
0 (completely false) to 1 (completely true). The cer-
tainty factors are not probabilities but rather indi-
cate how true a particular conclusion is.
Expert System Components and Shells
The three major components in every expert system
are the knowledge base, inference engine, and user in-
terface. An expert system may contain the following
additional components: knowledge acquisition sub-
system, blackboard (workplace), explanation subsys-
tem (justifier), knowledge refining system, and user(s).
Most expert systems do not contain the knowl-
edge refinement component. When a system
makes an error, the error is captured and examined,
and the knowledge base is updated through the
knowledge acquisition subsystem.
The knowledge base contains the relevant knowl-
edge necessary for understanding, formulating, and
solving problems. It includes facts such as the prob-
lem situation and theory of the problem area and
special heuristics (rules that direct the use of knowl-
edge to solve specific problems). The inference en-
gine may include general-purpose problem solving
and decision-making rules.
The inference engine is the brain of the ES. It is
also known as the control structure or rule in-
terpreter (in rule-based ES). The inference engine
provides a methodology for reasoning about infor-
mation in the knowledge base to reach conclusions.
It provides directions about how to use the sys-
tems knowledge by developing the agenda that or-
ganizes and controls the steps taken whenever
consultation is performed.
250 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Expert systems contain a language processor for
friendly communication between the user and the
computer. This communication can best be per-
formed through menus in a graphical user interface.
Some ESs use natural language processors.
Knowledge engineers generally use a software
tool called a shell. Expert system shells (com-
puter programs that facilitate the relatively easy im-
plementation of a specific expert system, similar to
the concept of a Decision Support System genera-
tor) include the major components of the expert sys-
tems (except for the knowledge itself). Generally a
shell can represent knowledge in only one or two
ways (for example, rules and frames) and manipu-
late them in a limited number of ways. Using a shell,
the knowledge engineer can focus on the knowledge
because the shell manages the knowledge, the inter-
face, the inferencing method(s), and the inferencing
rules. Only the knowledge need be added to build an
expert system. Examples of some commercial rule-
based shells are Corvid Exsys, Ginesys K-Vision,
CLIPS, and JESS. Most shells run directly on
World Wide Web servers. Users and knowledge en-
gineers access them with Web browsers.
Expert Systems Application Areas
Expert systems can be classified by their general prob-
lem areas. Expert systems classes include:
Interpreting: Inferring situation descriptions
from observations
Predicting: Inferring likely consequences of given
situations
Diagnosing: Inferring system malfunctions from
observations
Designing: Configuring objects under constraints
Planning: Developing plans to achieve goals
Monitoring: Comparing observations to plans,
flagging exceptions
Debugging: Prescribing remedies for malfunc-
tions
Repairing: Executing a plan to administer a pre-
scribed remedy
Instructing: Diagnosing, debugging, and cor-
recting student performance
Controlling: Interpreting, predicting, repairing,
and monitoring system behaviors
Successful expert systems examples include
MYCIN (medical diagnosis, Stanford University),
XCOM (computer system configuration, Digital
Equipment Corporation), Expert Tax (tax planning,
Coopers & Lybrand), Loan Probe (loan evaluation,
Peat Marwick), La-Courtier (financial planning,
Cognitive Systems), LMOS (network manage-
ment, Pacific Bell), LMS (production planning,
scheduling, and management, IBM), and Fish-Expert
(disease diagnosis, north China). The Nestle Foods
Corporation developed an expert system to provide
accurate information and advice on employee
pension funds. America Online utilizes an expert sys-
tem to assist its help desk personnel. Many help desks
incorporate expert systems that may be accessed
either by the organizations personnel or customers.
Expert systems enable organizations to capture
the scarce resource of expertise and make it available
to others. Expert systems affect an organizations bot-
tom line by providing expertise to nonexperts. Expert
systems often provide intelligent capabilities to other
information systems. This powerful technology will
continue to have a major impact on knowledge de-
ployment for improving decision-making.
Jay E. Aronson
See also Artificial Intelligence; Information
Organization
FURTHER READING
Allen, B. P. (1994). Case-based reasoning: Business applications.
Communications of the ACM, 37(3), 4042.
Aronson, J. E., Turban, E., & Liang, T. P. (2004). Decision support
systems and intelligent systems (7th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Awad, E. M. (1996). Building expert systems: Principles, procedures, and
applications. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: West Publishing.
Dean, T., Allen, J., & Aloimonos, Y. (2002). Artificial intelligence: Theory
and practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education POD.
Feigenbaum, E., & McCorduck, P. (1983). The fifth generation. Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
Giarratano, J. C. (1998). Expert systems: Principles and program-
ming. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole.
Hart, A. (1992). Knowledge acquisition for expert systems. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Jackson, P. (1999). Introduction to expert systems (3rd ed.). Reading,
MA: Pierson Addison-Wesley.

Kolonder, J. (1993). Case-based reasoning. Mountain View, CA: Morgan
Kaufmann.
Russell, S. J., & Norvig, P. (2003). Artificial intelligence: A modern ap-
proach (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Winston, A. (1992). Artificial intelligence (3rd ed.). Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley.
Zahedi, F. (1993). Intelligent systems for business. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
EYE TRACKING
Eye-movement-based, or gaze-based, interaction has
been suggested as a possible easy, natural, and fast
noncommand style of interaction with computers.
Indeed eye typing, in which the user gazes at letters
to type, has often been cited as the prototypical ex-
ample of an eye-based, noncommand, interactive
application. Such gaze-based interaction relies on
the interfaces ability to track the position and move-
ment of the users eyes.
In general, the purpose of eye tracking can be di-
agnostic or interactive. In diagnostic applications,
eye movements are recorded so that scene ele-
ments that the user looked at and possibly paid at-
tention to can be analyzed and evaluated later. Used
diagnostically, eye trackers help evaluate the users
attentive behavior. Interface usability studies can use
eye movement data to test the visibility of some fea-
ture of an interface display, such as desktop or
webpage elements. For example, the researcher Joseph
H. Goldberg and his colleagues reported in 2002 on
the use of eye movements to evaluate the design of
webpages, including the positioning of webpage por-
tals. In 1998 the psychologist Keith Rayner reviewed
a host of similar diagnostic eye-movement appli-
cations. This article concentrates on interactive, real-
time applications of eye tracking.
Eye-Tracking Devices
The movements of the eyes have been measured and
studied for more than a hundred years. Early tech-
niques, however, were either invasive (for example,
involving the embedding of a scleral coil in a contact
lens worn by the user), or not particularly precise,
such as early video-oculography, which relied on
EYE TRACKING 251
frame-by-frame study of the captured video stream
of the eye. Relatively recent advances in eye-tracking
technology, which have resulted in increasingly ac-
curate, comfortable, unobtrusive, and inexpensive
eye trackers, have made possible the adoption of
eye trackers in interactive applications. Todays eye
trackers typically employ a video camera to capture
an image of both the eyes pupil and the corneal re-
flection of a nearby on- or off-axis light source (usu-
ally infrared because infrared light is invisible to
the naked eye). Computer and video-processing hard-
ware are then employed to calculate the eyes point
of regard (defined as the point on the screen or other
stimulus display being looked at by the viewer) based
on these two optical features. Such video-based
corneal-reflection eye trackers have become the de-
vice of choice in interactive applications.
Interactive Control: Early Application Examples
Demonstrations of two early interactive uses of
eye trackers were published in 1990 by Robert Jacob
and by India Starker and Richard Bolt. Starker and
Bolt used eye movements to navigate in, and inter-
act with objects within, a graphical fantasy world.
Jacob used eye movements to enable the user to se-
lect objects on a desktop display (in this case Navy
ships that could be selected by gaze to obtain in-
formation about them). Both examples of interac-
tive eye-tracking applications exposed a key difficulty
with the use of eye movements for interaction, which
Jacob called the Midas-touch problem. When eye
movements are used for selection of objects shown
on a computer display, simulating a mouse-based
interface, selection confirmation may be problem-
atic. With a mouse, the user typically confirms se-
lection of interface features by clicking mouse
buttons. The eyes, however, cannot register button
clicks. The result is that, just as everything Midas
touched indiscriminately turned to gold, anything
gazed at can potentially be selected. To allow the user
to select objects via eye movements, Jacob proposed
a measure of dwell time to activate selection; that is,
the eyes would have to rest on an object for a certain
amount of timefor example, 500 milliseconds.
Starker and Bolt used a similar thresholding tech-
nique to zoom in on objects of interest in their vir-
tual 3D world.
252 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
The Midas-touch problem is related to a more
general concern associated with eye movements,
namely, eye movement analysis. During normal vi-
sual perception, the fovea (the retinal region of high-
est acuity) is moved about the visual field through
very fast eye movements known as saccades. Saccadic
eye movements are so fast, and as a result the scene
is so blurred during a saccade, that the viewer is ren-
dered effectively blind during these brief periods of
foveal repositioning. Areas or regions of interest are
inspected with more scrutiny during a relatively stead-
ier form of gaze known as a fixation. Characteristic
eye movements include pursuit of moving objects
(pursuit movements) and involuntary eye rotation
counteracting head movement (vestibular move-
ments), among others. For interactive uses, fixations
are usually of greatest interest, because fixated loca-
tions are highly correlated with locations to which
the user is devoting the greatest visual attention. Eye-
movement analysis is used to characterize the type of
eye movement recorded by the eye tracker. This is a
particularly important component of eye tracking
since w ithout analysis it may not be know n
whether regions in the visual field are simply being
glanced at, fixated, or passed over by saccades.
Several different techniques for eye movement
analysis are available; the two most popular are based
on the eyes position or its velocity. Both seek to iden-
tify fixations in the time course of eye movements.
Position-based methods typically classify fixations a
priori by measuring the deviation of sampled eye
movements from some recently calculated central lo-
cation. Velocity-based techniques, on the other hand,
start by defining saccades, since these are often eas-
ier to locate in the eye movement time course.
Fixations are generally then assumed to be composed
of eye movement points that lie outside the brief sac-
cadic periods. Just as in position-based techniques,
a threshold, this time of velocity, is used to locate sac-
cades in an effort to classify fixations. The impor-
tant point here is that regardless of which technique
is used, some form of eye movement analysis is usu-
ally required to make sense of eye movement patterns.
Interactive Control: Recent Advances
Eye-tracking equipment has improved greatly
from the early interactive applications of the 1990s
and earlier, fertilizing research in a variety of inter-
active scenarios. Eye typing is still an exemplary
interactive application, particularly since it provides
computer access and a means of communication for
certain disabled users, such as quadriplegics. Among
the research teams that have examined interactive
gaze-based object selection in virtual reality are
Vildan Tanriverdi (working with Robert Jacob) and
Nathan Cournia and his colleagues. In this interac-
tive situation, eye-based pointing, based on a ray-
casting approach (selecting objects in the virtual
world by shooting an invisible ray along the line of
sight) was found to be more efficient than arm-based
pointing when arm pointing relied on the arm ex-
tension approach (lifting the arm to point as if a laser
were attached to ones fingertip).
Research on general gaze-based selective eye-
tracking applications has also continued, with ad-
vances in applications in which gaze is used as an
indirect indicator of the users intent. Arguing that
gaze-based pointing is an interactive strategy that
inappropriately loads the visual channel with a mo-
tor control task, Shumin Zhai and his colleagues con-
tend that gaze-based functionality is fundamentally
at odds with users natural mental model, in which
the eye searches for and takes in information while
coordinating with the hand for manipulation of ex-
ternal objects. Zhai and colleagues provide an alter-
native to direct gaze-based selection of user interface
objects by using gaze as an indirect accelerator of the
mouse pointer.
Other gaze-based interaction styles use gaze
indirectly to manipulate interface objects without
necessarily requiring the users awareness of the
eye tracker. An example of this class of eye-track-
ing modality is gaze-contingent graphical rendering
of complex scenes. By exploiting knowledge of the
users gaze and the limited capacity of human pe-
ripheral vision, the system is able to focus its limited
resources on the display regions projected onto the
users fovea. This technique is particularly well suited
to applications burdened with rendering complex
graphical data. David Luebke and his colleagues have
developed a technique for gaze-contingent render-
ing in which 3D graphical objects are rendered at
high resolution only when the user is focusing on
them directly. These view-dependent level-of-detail

techniques thus aim to degrade the spatial resolu-
tion of 3D graphical objects imperceptibly. In a re-
lated method focused on degrading temporal
resolution, Carol OSullivan and her colleagues in-
teractively manipulated the precision of 3D object
collisions in peripheral areas so that the gap between
colliding objects in the periphery was larger due to
lower precision.
Indirect gaze-based pointing approaches have
also been developed to support computer-mediated
communication systems. A prevalent problem in
such systems is the lack of eye contact between
participants and the lack of visual deictic (look at
this) reference over shared media. In multiparty
teleconferencing systems, these deficiencies lead to
confusion over who is talking to whom and what
others are talking about. Roel Vertegaal and his fel-
low researchers offer a solution to both problems by
tracking each participants gaze. Their gaze-aware
multiparty communication system provides still im-
ages or video of remotely located participants in a
virtual teleconferencing and document-sharing sys-
tem. Containing pictures or video of participants
faces, 3D boxes rotate to depict a participants gaze
direction, alleviating the problem of taking turns
during communication. Furthermore, a gaze-directed
spot of light is shown over a shared document to in-
dicate the users fixated regions and thereby provide
a deictic reference.
Future Directions
While many interactive eye-tracking applications
have successfully been developed, current state-of-
the-art eye trackers suffer from the requirement of
calibration. In most cases, especially those requiring
high levels of accuracy, the eye tracker must be cal-
ibrated to each user before the device can be oper-
ated. Even more problematic, some eye trackers suffer
from calibration drift; that is, during interactive ses-
sions the eye-tracker accuracy degrades, requiring
recalibration. Eye trackers are steadily improving,
and not all eye trackers require extensive calibration.
Operating at a coarse resolution and utilizing fa-
cial recognition subsystems, some eye trackers
provide general gaze direction with a substantially
reduced calibration requirement. The current goal
EYE TRACKING 253
of eye-tracking technology research is to eliminate
the necessity for calibration altogether. An autocal-
ibrating eye tracker, possibly based on multiple cam-
era input, may soon be available.
Anticipating improved sensing technologies, such
as autocalibrating eye trackers, an emerging hu-
man-computer interaction strategy is concerned with
designing attentive user interfaces, or AUIs, in
which the interface is aware of the direction of the
users (visual) attention. By tracking the users eyes,
AUIs attempt to match the characteristics of computer
displays to certain characteristics of human vision,
such as the distinction in human vision between foveal
and peripheral vision. Such AUIs make better use of
limited resources by tailoring display content to that
which is useful to human vision (e.g., a small fraction
of the display at the point of regard is displayed at high
resolution while peripheral regions are displayed at
lower resolution, matching the resolvability of pe-
ripheral human vision while simultaneously con-
serving computational resources). As the technology
matures, eye trackers will endure as a significant com-
ponent in the design of interactive systems.
Andrew T. Duchowski
FURTHER READING
Baudisch, P., DeCarlo, D., Duchowski, A. T., & Geisler, W. S. (2003,
March). Focusing on the essential: Considering attention in dis-
play design. Communications of the ACM, 46(3), 6066.
Bowman, D. A., & Hodges, L. F. (1997). An evaluation of techniques
for grabbing and manipulating remote objects in immersive vir-
tual environments. In Proceedings of the Symposium on Interactive
3D Graphics (pp. 3538). Providence, RI: ACM.
Cournia, N., Smith, J. D., & Duchowski, A. T. (2003, April). Gaze-
vs. hand-based pointing in virtual environments. In Proceedings
of CHI 03 (Short Talks and Interactive Posters (pp. 772773).
Fort Lauderdale, FL: ACM.
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FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
The human face provides information that regulates a
variety of aspects of our social life.Verbal and non-ver-
bal communication are both aided by our perception
of facial motion; visual speech effectively compliments
verbal speech. Facial expressions help us identify our
companions and inform us of their emotional state.In
short,faces are windows into the mechanisms that gov-
ern our emotional and social lives.To fully understand
the subtlety and informativeness of the face and the
complexity of its movements,face perception and face
processing are becoming major topics of research by
cognitive scientists,sociologists,and most recently,re-
searchers in human computer interaction (HCI),com-
puter vision, and computer graphics.
The automation of human face processing by a
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
FLY-BY-WIRE
FONTS
computer will be a significant step towards devel-
oping an effective human-machine interface. To-
wards this end, it is important to understand the ways
in which a system with the ability to understand
facial gestures (analysis), and the means of au-
tomating this interpretation and/or production (syn-
thesis) might enhance human-computer interaction.
Also essential is understanding how meaning is de-
rived from the complex rigid and non-rigid motions
associated with the face; this is perhaps key to the
machine perception of human expression.
Psychological Importance
of Facial Expressions
The face is a multi-signal, multi-message response
system capable of tremendous flexibility and
255
256 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
specificity. It is the site for sensory inputs and the
communicative outputs. In 1978 Paul Ekman, a psy-
chologist at the University of California medical
school, described how faces convey information
via four general classes of signals:
static facial signals: permanent features of the
face like the bony structure and soft tissue masses
contributing to facial appearance;
slow facial signals: changes in facial appearance
over time, wrinkles, texture, and so on;
artificial signals: exogenously determined fea-
tures, such as eyeglasses, and cosmetics; and
rapid facial signals: phasic changes on neuro-
muscular activity leading to visible changes in
facial appearance.
All four of these classes contribute to facial recog-
nition; however,only the rapid signals convey messages
via emotions in a social context. The neuropsychology
of facial expressions supports the view that facial move-
ments express emotional states, and that the two
cerebral hemispheres are differently involved in the
control and interpretation of facial expressions.
Some of the initial work studying the relationship be-
tween facial expressions and emotions was undertaken
in the early nineteenth century by Charles Darwin and
C.B.Duchenne du Boulogne,a neurophysiologist.Their
work still has a strong influence on the research tech-
niques used to examine expression perception.
Until recently the majority of studies on facial
expressions have continued to examine the percep-
tion of posed expressions in static photographs. Most
of these studies suggest that seven universal cate-
gories of expressions can be recognized by members
of all cultures, both literate and preliterate. Re-
searchers are now beginning to study facial expres-
sions in spontaneous and dynamic settings to avoid
the potential drawbacks of using static expressions
and to acquire more realistic samples. The problem,
of course, is how to categorize active and sponta-
neous facial expressions in order to extract infor-
mation about the underlying emotional states.
Representations of Facial Motion
After the seminal nineteenth century work of
Duchenne and Darwin, the most significant work
on quantitative and qualitative analysis of facial
expressions was undertaken by Paul Ekman and
W. Friesen, who produced a widely used system for
describing visually distinguishable facial movements
in 1978. This system, called the Facial Action Cod-
ing System, or FACS, is based on the enumeration of
all action units that cause facial movements; the
combination of these action units results in a large
set of possible facial expressions.
FACS coding is done by individuals trained to
categorize facial motion based on the anatomy of fa-
cial activitythat is, how muscles singly and in com-
bination change facial appearance. Some muscles
give rise to more than one action unit, and the cor-
respondence between action units and muscle units
is approximate. A FACS coder, after undergoing
extensive training, codes expressions by dissecting
an expression, decomposing it into the specifics that
produced the motion. This coding is done by ana-
lyzing the relationship between components of the
expressions and judgments made by the coders from
static photographs and more recently from videos.
In 1978 John Bassili, a psychologist at the Uni-
versity of Toronto, argued that because facial mus-
cles are fixed in certain spatial arrangements, the
deformations of the elastic surface of the face to
which they give rise during facial expressions may
be informative in the recognition of facial expres-
sions. To verify his claim, Bassili conducted experi-
ments by covering the faces of actors with black
makeup and painting white spots in at random lo-
cations. Faces were divided into upper and lower re-
gions (to correlate with FACS data for upper and
lower regions) and recognition studies were con-
ducted. This study showed that in addition to the
spatial arrangement of facial features, the movement
of the surface of the face does serve as a source of in-
formation for facial recognition. This significant ob-
servation is that we use muscles and connected skin
to model facial action dynamically.
Recently the video-coding community has
proposed a new standard for the synthesis of facial
action called Facial Action Parameters (FAPs). FAPs
is a basic parameterization of facial movement
that resembles the efforts of the earlier facial ani-
mation systems. Underlying this parameterization
are implicit hooks into the FACS system. The FAPs

model does extend upon the earlier representations
by defining a set of sixty-eight parameters. Addi-
tionally, these parameters are lumped into two
separate levels, visemes (representing mouth pos-
ture correlated to a phoneme) and expressions (rep-
resenting expressions like joy, sadness, anger, disgust,
fear, and surprise with a single parameter). All the
FAPs are constructed by combining lower-level fa-
cial actions and are widely used to synthesize facial
motions, primarily for low-bandwidth telecommu-
nication applications.
Tracking Facial Motion
To support natural human-computer interaction,
there have been several attempts to track facial ex-
pressions from video sequences. Kenji Mase, while a
researcher at NTT and the ATR Media Integration
and Communications Research Laboratories in Ky-
oto, Japan, was the first to introduce an analysis of
video sequences and to present a method to track
action units using optical flow. The results of this
1991 approach showed the usefulness of motion es-
timation using optical flow for observing facial mo-
t i o n . A f e w ye a r s l a te r, Ir f a n E s s a a n d A l ex
Pentland at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology, employed a similar approach, but added a
muscle-based face model to extract finer facial move-
ments. Around the same time, M. J. Black from Xe-
rox PARC, working with Yaser Yacoob and Larry
Davis at the University of Maryland, extended this
approach to include the use of local parameterized
models of image motion to track faces; their method
required an affine model of the different regions of
the face for tracking. In 1996 D. DeCarlo and D.
Metaxes added a deformable model of the face to es-
timate motion and shape for tracking, which served
as a constraint in the measurement of motion. All
these approaches show that a more robust tracking
and estimation of facial movements is improved
by combining information about the model of the
face and very detailed measurements of facial move-
ment. They also show that the more detailed the
model (resulting in higher computational cost), the
better the tracking.
In 1993 Demetri Terzopoulos and Keith Waters
at the University of Toronto introduced a sophisti-
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS 257
cated method that tracked linear facial features to
estimate the corresponding parameters of a 3-D wire
frame face model, which made it possible to repro-
duce and recognize facial expressions. They used con-
tour tracking, which required that facial features
be highlighted with make-up for robust tracking. In
1996 Irfan Essa and his colleagues at the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia In-
stitute of Technology, developed a similar method.
At the cost of significantly higher computation, their
approach incorporated a more detailed model of the
face using finite element techniques and very fine
pixel-by-pixel measurements of image motion, cou-
pled with feature tracking to measure facial action.
To aid in the tracking and analysis of facial motions,
their approach combined the measurement of mo-
tion from a video with a model. Both approaches
generate very good interpretations and animations
of facial expressions, and researchers are currently
working on other methods that rely on simple fea-
ture tracking and color/motion tracking for track-
ing faces.
Recognition of Facial Motion
Recognition of facial expressions can be achieved by
categorizing a set of predetermined facial motions
as in FACS, rather than determining the motion of
each facial point independently. Black and Yacoob
use local parameterized models of image motion
to measure FACS and related parameters for
recognition. These methods show an 86 percent over-
all accuracy in correctly recognizing expressions over
their database of 105 expressions (which included
data from live subjects and television shows). Mase,
using a smaller set of data (thirty test cases), obtained
an accuracy of 80 percent. Both methods rely on
FACS combinations to recognize expressions.
A 1999 research project by Jeffrey Cohn and
his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University reported
91, 88, and 81 percent agreements for brow, eye, and
mouth movements, between manual FACS codes
and their automated system. Their system uses hi-
erarchical motion estimation coupled with feature
point tracking to measure facial movements. Their
database contains about a hundred university stu-
dents making expressions as instructed. In a 1999
258 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
paper, Marian Stewart Bartlett and her colleagues re-
ported an accuracy of 91 percent over eighty se-
quences (each sequence is six frames) containing six
upper-face FACS actions. They used a hybrid ap-
proach that combined spatial variation, feature track-
ing, and motion estimation within a neural network
framework. The last two methods are, however,
not recognizing expressions per se, but are compar-
ing them to FACS codes that were validated by hu-
man experts.
In 1991 Paul Ekman suggested that the timing
of expressions was an important cue in detecting the
difference between true and fake facial expressions
and emotions, and in the mid 1990s, Essa and his
colleagues proposed an approach based on a grow-
ing body of psychological research that argued that
it was the dynamics of the expression, rather than
detailed spatial deformations, that was important in
expression recognition. They moved away from a
static analysis of expressions (which is how the FACS
model was developed) towards a whole-face analy-
sis of facial dynamics in motion sequences, which
could only be achieved by an automated percep-
tion of facial motion in image sequences within a
dynamic estimation framework. Using over fifty-two
video sequences of twelve subjects, they were able to
achieve a recognition accuracy of 98 percent in
recognizing expressions of happiness, anger, disgust,
and surprise.
Several new methods for extracting FAPs (as op-
posed to FACs) from video have also been been in-
troduced to support automatic extraction of FAPS
parameters, which in turn could aid in the recog-
nition of facial expressions. An important aspect
of this new work is to aid in bandwidth limited com-
munication with 3D faces.
Expression and Emotions
While the relationship between emotions and ex-
pressions has been well studied in the psychological
literature, quantifiable representations that connect
what can be observed and modeled to what can be
inferred with knowledge from other sources (like
context and familiarity with the person being inter-
acted with) also play a major role. To this end, it is
important to rely on some of the other sensors (like
audio for affect) and to develop systems that allow
for extended interactions, so that a system can ob-
serve users for an extended time to get to know
them. Significant progress has been made in build-
ing systems that can recognize expressions in a non-
invasive manner. With the growth of robots and
interactive environments, it is easy to predict that
technology will soon be developed in which the real-
time interpretation of expressions will be key.
Irfan Essa
See also Affective Computing; Gesture Recognition
FURTHER READING
Bassili, J. (1978). Facial motion in the perception of faces and of emo-
tional expression. Journal of Experimental Psyschology, 4, 373
379.
Bartlett, M. S., Hager, J. C., Ekman, P., & Sejnowski, T. J. (1999). Mea-
suring facial expressions by computer image analysis. Psycho-
physiology, 36(2), 253263.
Black, M. J., & Yacoob, Y. (1997). Recognizing facial expressions in im-
age sequences using local parameterized models of image motion.
International Journal of Computer Vision, 25(1), 2348.
Bruce, V., & Burton, M. (1992) Processing images of faces. Norwood,
NJ: Ablex Publishing.
Cohn, J., Zlochower, A., Lien, J., & Kanade, T. (1999). Automated face
analysis by feature point tracking has high concurrent validity with
manual faces coding. Psychophysiology, 36, 3543.
Darrell, T., Essa, I., & Pentland, A. (1996). Task-specific gesture mod-
eling using interpolated views. IEEE Transaction on Pattern Analy-
sis and Machine Intelligence, 18(12).
Darwin, C. (1965). The expression of the emotions in man and animals.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
DeCarlo, D., & Metaxas, D. (2000). Optical flow constraints on de-
formable models with applications to face tracking. Interna-
tional Journal of Computer Vision, 38(2), 99127.
Duchenne, G.-B. (1990). The mechanism of human facial expression:
Studies in emotion and social interaction. Cambridge University
Press; Editions de la Maison des Sciences de lHomme.
Eisert, P., & Girod, B. (1998). Analyzing facial expression for virtual
conferencing. IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, 18(5).
Ekman, P. (1978). Facial signs: Facts, fantasies and possibilities. In T.
Sebeok, (Ed.), Sight, Sound and Sense. Bloomington: Indiana Uni-
versity Press.
Ekman, P. (1991). Telling lies: Clues to deceit in the marketplace, pol-
itics, and marriage. New York: Norton. Ekman, P., & Friesen, W.
(1978). Facial action coding system. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psy-
chologists Press.
Essa, I., Basu, S., Darrell, T., & Pentland, A. (1996). Modeling, track-
ing and interactive animation of faces and heads using input from
video. In Proceedings of Computer Animation Conference 1996 (pp.
6879). New York: IEEE Computer Society Press.

Essa, I., & Pentland, A. (1997). Coding, analysis, interpretation, and
recognition of facial expressions. IEEE Transaction on Pattern Analy-
sis and Machine Intelligence, 19(7), 757763.
Mase, K. (1991). Recognition of facial expressions for optical flow.
IEICE Transactions, Special Issue on Computer Vision and its Ap-
plications, E 74(10).
MPEG.(1999).Overview of the MPEG-4 standard.Technical Report ISO/
IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 N2725. International Organisation for Stan-
dardization (ISO), Seoul, South Korea. Retrieved April 8, 2004, from
http://drogo.cselt.stet.it/mpeg/standards/mpeg-4/mpeg-4.htm.
Parke, F., & Waters, K. (1996). Computer facial animation. Wellesley,
MA: AK Peters.
Pelachaud, C., Badler, N., & Viaud, M. (1994). Final report to NSF of
the standards for facial animation workshop. Philadelphia: National
Science Foundation, University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved April
8, 2004, from http://www.cis.upenn.edu/hms/pelachaud/workshop
_face/workshop_face.html.
Picard, R. (1997). Affective computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Tao, H., Chen, H., Wu, W., & Huang, T. (1999). Compression of mpeg-
4 facial animation parameters for transmission of talking heads.
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology,
9(2), 264.
Waters, K., & Terzopoulos, D. (1992a).The computer synthesis of ex-
pressive faces. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London, B, 335(1273), 8793.
Waters, K., & Terzopoulos, D. (1992b).Modelling and animating faces
using scanned data. The Journal of Visualization and Computer
Animation, 2(4), 123128.
Yacoob, Y., & Davis, L. (1994). Computing spatio-temporal repre-
sentations of human faces. In Proceedings of the Computer Vision
and Pattern Recognition Conference (pp. 7075). New York: IEEE
Computer Society.
FLY-BY-WIRE
Fly-by-wire is a phrase used to describe situations in
which computers are used as an indispensable me-
diating agent between a human operator and a
medium of transportation. As the term suggests, it
first saw the light of day in aircraft applications; now,
however, the term is also often taken to include
systems in which computers are used in the con-
trol of automobiles.
The traditional means of controlling an air-
craft is to connect the pilot controls to the control
surfaces by means of mechanical or hydraulic link-
ages. By contrast, in a fly-by-wire system, the oper-
ators commands are wholly or partially fed into a
computer, which then determines the appropriate
control settings.
Perhaps the first complete fly-by-wire system was
built at what is now the NASA Dryden Flight Research
FLY-BY-WIRE 259
Center in Edwards, California, in 1972: The test plat-
form was an F-8C Crusader aircraft. Since then,
fly-by-wire has been used widely in military aircraft;
it is currently also used in many civilian passenger
aircraft, including most Airbus models (starting with
the Airbus A320 in 1988) and the Boeing 777.
In the 1990s computers also came to be em-
bedded into the control of automobiles. Antilock
braking, in which the computer derives inputs from
the drivers brake pedal and rapidly pulses brakes
where necessary, is an example. Other drive-by-wire
approaches are in development, including mecha-
nisms that will allow cars to sense the distance to the
car in front and slow down to keep this spacing
sufficient for safety.
There are several advantages to using fly-by-wire
technology. First, the weight of a fly-by-wire control
system is generally much less than that of traditional
controls. In aircraft, this is no small advantage.
Second, since computers are so much faster than hu-
mans, fly-by-wire makes quicker reactions to rapid
changes in the controlled system or the operating
environment possible. This is especially useful in air-
craft applications where, to improve maneuver-
ability, changes are made to the airframe (structure
of the aircraft) that render it intrinsically less stable.
In such cases, the control must be extremely agile to
respond to the onset of instability before the insta-
bility becomes irrecoverable and the airplane crashes.
Another advantage to fast reaction is the potential
for reduced drag, as a result of an improved trim set-
ting of the controls. Third, a well-designed system
can reduce both the physical and mental workload
of the pilot. Removing the direct mechanical-hy-
draulic linkage from the cockpit controls to the con-
trol surfaces reduces the physical effort required to
handle them, and having a mediating system that
displays information in an appropriate way re-
duces the mental strain on the pilot.
Lives can be lost if fly-by-wire systems fail. For
this reason, a great deal of effort is spent in ensuring
that they are highly reliable. A commonly quoted re-
quirement for civilian aircraft is that the system
should not fail catastrophically at a rate of more than
once every billion ten-hour flights. This number is
so low that fault-tolerant techniques must be used
to ensure that even if some components of the system
260 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
fail, there is enough reserve capacity for the system
to continue operating. The system must also have
the intelligence to switch the more critical part of the
workload out of malfunctioning units to those
that are still running. (See the discussion of fault tol-
erance below.)
Basics of Fly-By-Wire Operation
When a pilot applies an input to a control, this is rec-
ognized and translated into a digital signal, which is
sent to the processors at the heart of the fly-by-
wire system. These processors then compute the ap-
propriate control output to be sent to the actuators
(for example, the ailerons, rudder, spoilers, and flaps).
The bulk of the complexity lies in the computation
of the control output: A fly-by-wire system does not
merely translate the pilot commands to actuator sig-
nals; it also takes the current aircraft state and the
safe-operating envelope into account as it makes
its calculations. From this arises one of the major
controversies in fly-by-wire control: To what ex-
tent must the fly-by-wire system protect the aircraft
from potentially incorrect or harmful inputs from
the pilot? One school of thought requires that the
pilot be empowered to override the system at will in
an emergency, to almost fly the wings off the air-
plane if that is what is required to maintain safety
and save lives. The argument in favor of this approach
is that the actual envelope of safe (or at least sur-
vivable) operation is somewhat broader than the for-
mal safety envelope. The pilot of a commercial jetliner
can be expected to have, through years of experience
and training, enough experience to make judgments
about what risks are worth taking in a grave emer-
gency, one that may not have been foreseen in its en-
tirety by the designers of the fly-by-wire system.
The other school of thought would have the fly-
by-wire system be the ultimate arbiter of what
control inputs are safe, and modulate the pilots com-
mands when this is deemed appropriate. Proponents
of this viewpoint may argue that the probability of
the pilots making a mistake is sufficiently large that
the system should be able to winnow out commands
that it believes to be dangerous.
Both schools would probably agree that when
the pilots input is obviously harmful, it should be
appropriately mediated by the system; the ques-
tion is where the line should be drawn. For example,
one significant source of danger to aircraft is pilot-
induced oscillations (PIOs). A PIO occurs when the
pilot and the aircraft dynamically couple in such a
way as to induce instability. For example, if the pilot
applies too great an input to attempt to correct a de-
viation from the desired-state trajectory, the system
can deviate in the other direction. The pilot might
then overcorrect for this second deviation; the sys-
tem can deviate some more, and so on. PIOs are a
known potential cause of loss of aircraft. One im-
portant application of fly-by-wire systems is to
recognize when such PIOs might occur and appro-
priately modulate the pilots commands to the
control surfaces.
Response Time: The Key Parameter
The response time of a fly-by-wire system is key to
the quality of control provided by the system. Fly-
by-wire systems may fail not only by providing the
wrong output (or no output at all), but also by
providing the correct output too late. The tasks that
run on the system must therefore be scheduled in
such a way that the real-time deadlines are met. Task-
scheduling algorithms are a very active area of re-
search in real-time computing. Typically, one assigns
tasks to processors and then the operating system of
each processor executes a scheduling algorithm to
schedule them (that is, to decide what task is to
run at what time). One example of a scheduling al-
gorithm is the earliest deadline first policy, in which,
as the term implies, the task with the earliest dead-
line is picked to run. The designer must ensure
that there are enough computational resources to
meet all task deadlines: To do this requires a care-
ful analysis that takes into account how long exe-
cution of each task will take in a worst-case scenario,
which tasks need to be run and at what rate, the ef-
ficiency of the scheduling algorithm, and the capa-
bilities of the individual processor.
Fault Tolerance
Since lives depend on the successful operation of fly-
by-wire systems, the systems must exhibit extraor-

dinarily low failure rates. We have already mentioned
the effective failure rate of one in ten billion per fly-
ing hour. These failure rates are far lower than those
of individual processors. For this reason, it is im-
portant that fly-by-wire systems be fault-tolerant.
Fault tolerance means that the system can toler-
ate a certain number of faults and still function ac-
ceptably. This requires the presence of redundancy,
that is, extra capacity in the system that can be uti-
lized whenever components fail. Redundancy can be
classified into four broad categories: hardware, soft-
ware, time, and information.
Hardware Redundancy
Hardware redundancy is the presence of addi-
tional hardware and the associated controls required
to manage it. Broadly speaking, there are two ways
in which faults can be recovered through hardware
redundancy: forward and backward. In forward
recovery, the system is able to mask the effects of fail-
ure so that no time is lost. Triple-modular redun-
dancy (TMR), in which there are three processors
and a voting circuit, is an example of hardware re-
dundancy that makes forward recovery possible. The
three processors execute the same code, and their
output is voted on. The majority result of the vote
that is, the output produced by the majority of
processorsis the output of the TMR module. It
is easy to see that if one of the three processors were
to fail, the two remaining processors would consti-
tute the majority output and would mask the in-
correct output of the faulty processor. Another
example of hardware redundancy is the use of
multiple actuators for the same control surface: If
one actuator fails and pushes in the wrong direction,
the remaining actuators should have enough phys-
ical capacity to overwhelm it and manage to config-
ure the surface correctly.
In backward recovery, the system recognizes a
faulty output and then reruns the program on a func-
tioning processor. The faulty output is typically rec-
ognized by means of an acceptance test. An acceptance
test alerts the system to a fault when it detects out-
put outside an acceptable range. For example, if the
pressure sensor in a submersible reports that the pres-
sure at a depth of 200 meters is 1 atmosphere, the ac-
ceptance test would flag an error.
FLY-BY-WIRE 261
Acceptance tests are not perfect. There is always
the chance that an erroneous output will fall within
the acceptable range of output or that an unusual
set of circumstances will cause a correct output to
fall outside what is designated as the acceptable
range. If the acceptable range is too narrow, the num-
ber of correct outputs falsely tagged as incorrect
tends to increase; if it is too wide, a larger number
of faulty outputs will slip through. Devising an ac-
ceptable compromise is a difficult and important
problem.
The designer of hardware redundancy must en-
sure that correlated failures are kept to a minimum.
For example, the control lines that connect the pilot
inputs to the elevator and rudder controls must be
spaced as far apart as possible, to make it less likely
that a single event, such as the collapse of a por-
tion of the floor, severs all of them. Also, the design
must be such that faults are prevented from spread-
ing. For example, a short circuit in one part of the
system should not trigger a chain reaction that burns
out a substantial number of units. Likewise, erro-
neous data must be kept from spreading. Fault- and
error-containment zones are generally established
to suitably isolate each subset of hardware from
the others.
Software Redundancy
Software redundancy is crucial because software in
high-performance systems tends to be far more com-
plex than hardware, and software faults can pose a
considerable risk to correct functioning. Modern
software-engineering techniques go a long way to-
ward reducing the number of faults per thousand
lines of code; however, this is still not sufficiently low
to meet the stringent requirements of fly-by-wire,
and redundancy techniques are often used. Software
redundancy consists of using multiple versions of
software to do the same function and then vote on
the results. One might, for example, have three in-
dependent teams of software developers write an en-
gine controller module, run each version on a
different member of a TMR cluster, and vote on
the results. The hope is that the number of coinci-
dent failures (i.e., multiple software versions fail-
ing on the same input) is small enough for the system
to be sufficiently reliable.
262 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Designers go to great lengths to reduce the
chances of coincident failure. The teams developing
the various versions are generally kept isolated from
one another to avoid mistakes being copied from one
team to another. Different programming lan-
guages may be used to reduce the chances of com-
mon errors being caused by a commonality of
language. They may also attempt to use different al-
gorithms to do the same function, to reduce the
chance of numerical instability striking multiple ver-
sions for the same input.
Time and Information Redundancy
Time redundancy means having enough time to re-
run failed computations. The vast majority of hard-
ware failures are transient: They go away after
some time. A powerfuland simpleapproach is
simply to wait for a while and then retry the same
computation on the same processor. If the failure
is transient and the waiting time has been long
enough for the transient effect to die away, this ap-
proach will work. Time redundancy is obviously also
necessary to effect backward recovery.
Information redundancy that relies on codes that
detect and correct errors is useful primarily in deal-
ing with faults in memory or in communication.
Memory is often subject to transient upsets. For ex-
ample, when energetic charged particles (like al-
pha particles) pass through a memory cell, they
can affect its contents. While the charged particles
do not usually cause permanent harm to the phys-
ical structure, the content has suffered a spurious
change. Communication is also subject to error
because of noisy channels. Noisy channels pose the
greatest problem in the case of wireless communi-
cation, less of a problem when electric cables are
used, and the least problem when optical fibers are
used. Codes render data more resilient by setting up
internal correlations that can be exploited to detect
(and possibly correct) erroneous bits.
Example: Boeing 777
Fly-By-Wire System
The Boeing 777 fly-by-wire system makes exten-
sive use of redundancy to ensure high reliability. The
pilot controls are received in analog form by four ac-
tuator control electronics (ACE) units, converted to
digital form, and sent to the primary flight computers
(PFC). The PFC complex (described in more detail
below), which also receives sensor data on altitude,
temperature, speed, and so forth, executes the flight
control algorithms and sends its outputs back to the
ACE units. These units then convert this digital out-
put to analogue outputs to specify the control sur-
face settings.
The PFC complex has three PFC channels: left,
center, and right. Each channel consists of three lanes,
which are full-fledged computational systems,
built around the AMD 29050, Motorola 68040,
and the Intel 80486 processors, respectively. Thus,
each channel uses a diversity of hardware to reduce
the chances of coincident failures. By contrast,
software diversity is not used: The same code (actu-
ally, with slight modifications to suit the three dif-
ferent processors), in the Ada programming language,
runs on each of the three channels.
Communication is over three bidirectional buses
of about 2-megabits-per-second capacity. Each PFC
channel can transmit on exactly one of these buses:
These buses are labeled left, center, and right, in-
dicating which channel is entitled to transmit on
that bus. Every lane on every channel monitors each
of the buses. Similarly, each ACE unit can broad-
cast on exactly one bus: two are permitted to use
the left bus, and one each on the center and right
buses.
The three lanes of each channel can be in one of
three states: command, standby, or monitor. Only
the command lane of each channel is permitted to
transmit on the bus. To reduce the chance of coin-
cident failures, the system tries to ensure that the
command lanes of each channel use a different
processor. For example, the command lanes may
be chosen such that the Intel lane of the first chan-
nel, the Motorola lane of the second channel, and
the AMD lane of the third channel are the designated
command lanes. Of course, failures among the lanes
may make it impossible to ensure such hardware di-
versity among the command lanes. If the command
lane processor is detected (by the other lanes in its
channel) to have failed four times, it is replaced by
another lane from its channel.

In normal functioning, therefore, each of the
three buses carries the output of its corresponding
channel. The input values used by each channel
are obtained by selecting the middle value of the
copies read on the buses. Each ACE has its own set
of actuators to which it relays the commands received
from the PFCs. For the sake of fault-tolerance, an in-
dividual control surface may be driven by more than
one actuator.
Analysis
The increasing capability and decreasing cost of mod-
ern processors has made fly-by-wire systems more
practical. Their original use was in military aircraft.
However, starting in the late 1980s, fly-by-wire has
been used in civilian aircraft as well. Sophisticated
fault-tolerant algorithms have to be used to meet the
stringent reliability requirements, and a suitable task
assignment and scheduling algorithm are used to en-
sure that critical tasks meet their deadlines.
The very high reliability requirements of fly-by-
wire systems pose a challenge to the process of es-
timating their reliability and certifying them as fit to
fly. Although many reliability models for software
exist in the literature, none of them is completely
convincing, and much more research needs to be
done in this area.
Fly-by-wire can provide control capability far
superior to traditional control techniques. One
intriguing application, in the wake of the 2001 ter-
rorist incidents involving aircraft, is using fly-by-
wire to implement no-fly zones around important
buildings. These zones can be made part of the
specified flight constraints, and the system pro-
grammed to ensure that pilot commands to breach
these zones are countermanded, while still retain-
ing flight safety.
C. M. Krishna
FURTHER READING
Aidemark, J., Vinter, J., Folkesson, P., & Karlsson, J. (2002). Experi-
mental evaluation of a time-redundant execution for a brake-
by-wire application. Proceedings of the International Conference
FLY-BY-WIRE 263
on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN02) (pp. 210218).
Cupertino, CA: IEEE CS Press.
Briere, D., & Traverse, P. (1993). AIRBUS A320/A330/A340 electri-
cal flight controls: A family of fault-tolerant systems. Proceedings
of the Fault-Tolerant Computing Symposium (FTCS-23) (pp.
616623). Cupertino, CA: IEEE CS Press.
Carter, J., & Stephenson, M. (1999). Initial flight test of the produc-
tion support flight control computers at NASA Dryden Flight Research
Center (NASA Technical Memorandum TM-1999-206581). Wash-
ington, DC: NASA.
Cataldo, A., Liu, X., & Chen, Z. (2002). Soft walls: Modifying flight
control systems to limit the flight space of commercial aircraft. Re-
trieved July 18, 2003, from http://buffy.eecs.berkeley.edu/Research
Summary/03abstracts/acataldo.1.html
deGroot, A., Hooman, J., Kordon, F., Paviot-Adet, E., Iounier, Lemoine,
M., et al. (2001). A survey: Applying formal methods to a software-
intensive system. In 6th IEEE International Symposium on High As-
surance Systems Engineering (HASE 01) (pp. 5564). Cupertino,
CA: IEEE CS Press.
Droste, C. S., & Walker, J. E. (2001). The general dynamics case study
on the F-16 fly-by-wire flight control system. Reston, VA: American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Fielding, C. (2001). The design of fly-by-wire flight control systems.
Retrieved July 18, 2003, from http://www.shef.ac.uk/acse/ukacc/
activities/flybywire.pdf
Johnson, B. (1989). The design and analysis of fault-tolerant digital sys-
tems. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Knight, J. C. (2002). Safety-critical systems: Challenges and directions.
In 24th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE
02) (pp. 547550). Cupertino, CA: IEEE CS Press.
Krishna, C. M., & Shin, K. G. (1997). Real-time systems. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Leveson, N. (1995). Safeware: System safety in the computer age. New
York: Addison-Wesley.
Littlewood, D., Popov, P., & Strigini, L. (2001). Modeling software
design diversity: A review. ACM Computing Surveys, 33(2), 177
208.
Perrow, C. (1999). Normal accidents. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Uni-
versity Press.
Peterson, I. (1996). Fatal defect: Chasing killer computer bugs. New
York: Vintage Books.
Riter, R. (1995). Modeling and testing a critical fault-tolerant multi-
process system. In Proceedings of the Fault-Tolerant Computing
Symposium (pp. 516521). Cupertino, CA: IEEE CS Press.
Schmitt, V., Morris, J. W., & Jenney, G. (1998). Fly-by-wire: A histori-
cal and design perspective. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automo-
tive Engineers.
Storey, N. (1996). Safety-critical computer systems. New York: Addi-
son-Wesley.
Thomas, M., & Ormsby, B. (1994). On the design of side-stick con-
trollers in fly-by-wire aircraft. ACM SIGAPP Applied Computing
Review, 2(1), 1520.
Voas, J. (1999). A world without risks: Let me out! In 4th IEEE Inter-
national Symposium on High Assurance Systems Engineering (HASE
99) (p. 274). Cupertino, CA: IEEE CS Press.
Yeh, Y.C. (1998). Design considerations in Boeing 777 fly-by-
wire computers. In 3rd IEEE High Assurance Systems Engineering
Conference (HASE) (pp. 6473). Cupertino, CA: IEEE CS
Press.
264 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
FONTS
Font terminology derives from letterpress print-
ing, and comprises the elements of printed language
(the letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other
items) called a character set. The traditional use of
the term font changed with digital technology. Font
once meant a character set at one size, in one style,
of one typeface, within one family. Helvetica bold
italic 12, for example, is the twelve-point font of the
bold style of the italic typeface from the Helvetica
family.
Font in todays common use generalizes the
more specific terms typeface (a character sets in-
trinsic design and visual properties), type style (a
typeface variation), and typeface family (font char-
acter sets, components, and variations that com-
prise a group through shared identifying
characteristics). This article uses font in the general
common usage.
Historical Background
Language is the unified and systematic means of com-
munication by standardized sounds and signs that
function through convention. For European culture
and its offshoots in the New World, this means al-
phabetic sign groups, written and read horizon-
tally from left to right.
History identifies a three-stage development to-
ward the alphabet. At first there are forms for ob-
jects, called pictograms; then there are forms for
ideas, called ideograms; finally there come to be forms
for sounds, called phonograms. These signs and sym-
bols evolved from nonstandard forms without an
organizational system to standard forms and systems
and thence to the alphabet.
The visual form of Western European written
languages derives from the Roman monumental cap-
itals, or majuscules, that date from about 100 CE, and
the Carolingian minuscules that dates from about
800 CE. These writing styles evolved and varied widely
from about 1350 to 1500, when Renaissance
scribes formalized them as the humanistic minus-
cule, or roman style, and the humanistic cursive or
italic style.
Johannes Gutenberg (c. 13951468) invented the
first reliable means of casting individual, move-
able, and reusable metal printing type. The first print-
ers intended printed books to rival scribes
manuscripts, and so the printed roman type repli-
cated the humanistic minuscule and the humanistic
cursive writing styles.
Printed books replaced manuscripts, and de-
signed fonts replaced pen-based replications. Fonts
that evolved in Italy, France, and England from about
1470 to about 1815 weathered critical evaluation over
time and remain standards. Fonts designed after
about 1815 generally were extensions, revivals, or
variations of these earlier models.
Style Properties
Style properties of fonts are width (the character
width excluding serifs, serifs being the horizontal ter-
mination to vertical strokes), weight (the vertical
stroke thickness), contrast (the horizontal stroke
thickness compared to the weight), serif form (brack-
eted, unbracketed, or none), x-height (the height
of the small letters), and curve axis (either inclined
or vertical). Table 1 gives the style properties of four
common fonts.
Font size is the body height measured in points
and is not the letter size. In digital type, one point
is one seventy-second of an inch. A metal type piece
is an elongated rectangle. The body end shows the
character in high relief for making the stamp-like
ink transfer onto paper. Most languages require a
uniform character line, and so require a uniform
height system.
Type characters and type bodies vary in width
but not in height, and do not take up the entire body
surface. Letter size varies among fonts in the same
point size. Garamond, for example has a smaller x
height than Helvetica, and so appears smaller at
the same font size. Digital font size retains the defi-
nition that font size is body size, although the font
bodyalso called the bounding boxis no longer
physical.
Normative text sizes range from eight points to
twelve points and headings usually start at fourteen
points but can be larger. Most current software can set
font sizes in point decimals, enabling fine adjustments.
 FONTS 265

TABLE 1. Style Properties in Approximate Percentages for the Respective Letter

property

width 78.0% h 83.5% h 80.0% h 76.5% h

weight 19.0% h 12.5% h 13.5% h 15.3% h

contrast 18.5% v 48.0% v 88.9% v 42.5% v

serif form unbracketed bracketed none (sans serif) bracketed

x height 59.3% h 60.0% h 73.0% h 68.0% h

curve axis vertical rotated left vertical rotated left

h=capital letter height; v = vertical stroke thickness (weight)

Font Design the mid-1980s, Adobe Systems, Apple Computer,

Knowledge of font style evolution and the visual
properties of the written and printed archetypes pro-
vides a formal understanding of font design. A sense
of font design aesthetics differs with the intellect and
sensibility of the designer, and the design and visual
challenges of creating a new font are the same as they
always were. Only technological factors have changed.
Drawing is the traditional approach to visual in-
vestigation and the design process, and font design
oftenbeginswithdrawingsonpaper.Designdrawings
resolve intercharacter and intracharacter visual prob-
lems.Whilenosinglecharacter,orglyph,isperfect,the
designer strives for balanced compromise that yields
anaestheticandfunctionalwhole.Designersmanually
markfinaloutlinedrawingsforanchorpointsandspac-
ing side bearings. Technicians then plot anchor
points and side bearings into a font-specific applica-
tion designed to compile digital font formats and de-
scriptor files. Testing and editing follow and continue
until the font is approved for release and distribution.
Digital Font Formats
Originally, digital typesetting required markup lan-
guage to control expensive raster image proces-
sors (RIP) and photo-based output equipment. In
and Monotype Corporation collaborated to offer
PostScript fonts on the LaserWriter printer. When
combined with the Macintosh WYSIWYG (what
you see is what you get) display and Aldus Page-
Maker, which was the first desktop publishing pro-
gram, digital graphics and typesetting became widely
accessible.
Though PostScript fonts, also known as Type 1
fonts, are widespread, OpenType and Unicode are
emerging industry standards. OpenType is a one-file
format developed in the mid-1990s jointly by Adobe
and Microsoft. It has two main advantages: cross-
platform compatibility, and extended Latin and non-
Latin language application. OpenType combines
existing formats with additional extensions com-
patible with operating systems for Mac, Windows,
and Unix (with FreeType an open source font en-
gine). OpenType also replaces ISO-Latin encoding
with Unicode encoding (the mapping of character
codes to glyphs). (Unicode is an international en-
coding standard that assigns a unique code number
to each glyph. A glyph is a visual representation of a
character.) Unicode enables OpenType to have mul-
tiple and multilingual character sets, some with more
than 65,000 characters, and OpenType is compati-
ble with PostScript Type 1 fonts. Other font formats
266 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

A Personal StoryOur Most Memorable Nightmare

Many participants in a digital workflow experience unforeseen problems, and most clients, writers, editors, designers,
developers, and publishers have a most memorable project storytheir worst nightmare. Here is an anecdote to exemplify
such a situation concerning fonts.
Several years ago, a client in Asia contracted us to design an English-language publication produced in Europe. We
exchanged the files by e-mail without incident between the client in Asia and our studio in America. We were careful about
cross-platform issues such as: Mac to PC conversion, different software packages and versions, even different font pub-
lishers and versions. Throughout the project stages, we had no content or file problems, and the client approved the
project for production in Europe.
After several weeks we got a call from the frantic client that the project was on hold due to massive typographic er-
rors! Text letters had changed to different letters, letters had transposed, and so on. We could not imagine how such a sit-
uation could happen. However, it was true.
Everyone set aside finding fault, and worked together for a solution.
In review, we determined that the project began on a PC for writing and editing, changed to a Mac for design, changed
back to PC for client approval, and then was e-mailed to a European service provider who probably ran a language
translation program on the project. Still, cross-platform projects can work. While we do not know the true cause of the
problem, we suspect changes in text encoding caused the changes in letter assignments.
We learned that human-to-human interaction together with human-computer interaction is good business. We learned
to plan for technical problems, and that early and frequent communication with everyone throughout the workflow
does reduce risk and increases resolution when problems do happen.
Thomas Detrie and Arnold Holland

serve specific computing platforms, purposes, and
devices. These font formats include ClearType,
that improves font legibility on liquid crystal display
(LCD) screens; GX fonts, that improve font handling
in interactive graphics; and TrueType fonts, that con-
tain complete font information in one file.
PostScript Fonts
In 1984 Adobe Systems introduced the programming
language PostScript to define shapes in outline us-
ing Bezier curves (curves defined by two anchor-
ing end points and two middle points that can be
moved to change the shape of the curve). PostScript
fonts have no specific size. A PostScript output de-
vice renders the characters in specific sizes as des-
ignated. Because mathematical terms specify outline
fonts, they require less memory than visual bitmap-
font data. Outline fonts retain smooth contours when
slanted, rotated, or scaled to any size.
Two main components comprise PostScript fonts,
a screen font (bitmap file) and PostScript printer font
(outline file). The two files are necessary because the
technology used for video screen display is different
from the technology used for a printed reproduc-
tion. The screen font is a low-resolution screen pixel,
or picture element representation of the printer font.
Despite a technique that uses a grayscale to make the
letter edges appear smooth, the limited digital in-
formation of a screen font prevents high-resolution
output.
The screen-font file contains screen font sizes
and styles. Standard sizes are nine point, ten point,
twelve point, fourteen point, eighteen point, and
twenty-four point. Standard styles are roman, italic,
bold, and bold italic.
Multiple-Master Fonts
Artisans adjusted early fonts to be optimal for each
point size. Giambattista Bodoni (17401815) dis-
plays 144 cuts of his roman type in the first vol-
ume of Manuale Tipografico. Creating optimal
designs for each font declined early for economic

reasons, despite the development of machines like
Bentons pantograph punch cutter (1885), which
made it easier to cut master patterns.
Standard digital fonts have traditional style vari-
ationthe attributes of weight and width. In 1989
Adobe Systems introduced multiple-master tech-
nology, which allowed for the manipulation of fonts
along multiple axes (in this case the term axis repre-
sents qualities such as the weight, width, and optical
size of a character). The master designs determine
the dynamic range for each axis in a font, and Post-
Script technology enables interpolation between the
master designs. The dynamic range of a multiple-
master font with two axes, weight and width, cov-
ers permutations from light condensed through bold
expanded. Multiple-master fonts with an optical-size
axis can improve legibility in smaller-sized fonts
by, for example, opening closed letter parts, reduc-
ing contrast, strengthening serifs, and increasing
width. For larger-sized fonts, the optical-size axis can
add refinements such as increased contrast, thin-
ner serifs, and decreased width.
TrueType Fonts
TrueType is outline font technology that combines
the screen font and the printer font into one file.
TrueType fonts have no specific sizes and can have
benefits in a mixed-platform environment. However,
TrueType fonts seldom print well on PostScript out-
put equipment. TrueType technology is different
from PostScript technology, so a PostScript printer
must interpret a TrueType font or substitute a Post-
Script font. This often increases raster image proces-
sor time.
Because of their incompatibility, TrueType and
PostScript fonts are best not used in the same doc-
ument. Some fonts may print as bitmaps or not at
all. Even when a PostScript font and a TrueType font
have the same name, their metrics (the size and spac-
ing limits) are different. This can create type ID con-
flicts, and if the font does print, it may reflow and
cause different line breaks.
Font Management
Font management reduces font problems to improve
computer performance, usability, and project work-
FONTS 267
flow. Common font problems are font organization,
font omission, and pseudo fonts.
A font filing system makes it easier to collect and
send the fonts associated with a document, or to re-
construct a document if problems occur. A font
filing system also helps prevent errors caused by us-
ing the wrong font, mixing font formats, or mixing
font publishers.
The Mac operating system (OS) and Microsofts
Windows operating system handle fonts. On ma-
chines using a UNIX operating system, however, fonts
are part of a Windows application installed widely
on UNIX machines. Many fonts available in Win-
dows are not available for UNIX, so cross-platform
documents need font formats accessible to both
systems.
Generally, it is good to keep system folder fonts
to a minimum. Each font added to your system is ac-
tive and takes up random-access memory (RAM),
the short-term memory the computer uses to store
information in process. (This is as opposed to using
storage memory, called read-only memory, or ROM).
When there are many fonts using up RAM, there is
less RAM available for applications.
Many digital font publishers supply standard
fonts. However, standard fonts from different pub-
lishers are not identical. It is best to avoid mixing
publishers within the same font family. Computers
do not distinguish fonts with the same name from
different publishers, or always substitute one pub-
lisher for another. This can alter document ap-
pearance and increase processing times. Therefore,
computer users are advised to create separate font
folders and to file each font by name. Then one
can have subfolders for different publishers versions
of the same font. (For example, in a folder for Gara-
mond typefaces, one might have subfolders labeled
Adobe Garamond and Agfa Garamond for ver-
sions of that font from those two publishers.)
Missing fonts, missing font components, and
pseudo fonts are common font problems. Consider,
for example, the calligraphy font Apple Chancery.
Users can use the toolbar style buttons B (bold)
and I (italic) to create Apple Chancery Bold Italic.
However, Apple Chancery Bold Italic is only a screen
representation. Apple Chancery Bold Italic does not
exist as a printer font. A non-PostScript printer may
268 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
emulate the font for printing but a PostScript out-
put device will substitute a default font or not print
the font. Only active PostScript fonts will print on
PostScript equipment.
Font utility programs add convenience and pro-
ductivity to font tasks and can help reduce font man-
agement problems. In addition to handling the
problems mentioned above, font utility programs
can create bitmapped fonts from PostScript out-
line fonts for accurate display. They can interpo-
late missing font sizes and help improve fonts printed
on non-PostScript output devices.
Font utility programs can list the font style vari-
ations together on a menu. Normally, the applica-
tion font menu displays active fonts alphabetically
by attribute, not alphabetically by name. This in-
creases the tendency to make style variations with
the font style buttons located on the application tool
bar. A font family list helps avoid pseudo fonts,
and makes it easier to select active fonts.
Font utility programs also enable easier font ac-
tivation or deactivation, as well as the designation of
font sets. Font sets provide job-specific font lists.
When a supplier requests the font list for a docu-
ment, that list is the same as the font set.
Although we have discussed fonts from a techni-
cal angle and, for the purposes of this encyclopedia,
focused on digital fonts, fonts can also be discussed
from an aesthetic, cultural, or linguistic perspec-
tive. Typography, a subject closely connected to fonts,
places heavy emphasis on readability issues, usually
in the context of traditional printing technology. Font
work associated with computer printing and display
focuses mainly on legibility issues in the generation
of new letter designs.
Thomas Detrie and Arnold Holland
See also Laser Printer; Unicode
FURTHER READING
Adobe Systems. (1999). PostScript language reference, 3E. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley.
Baecker, R. M., & Marcus, A. (1990). Human factors and typography
for more readable programs. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Berry, W. T., & Poole H. E. (1966). Annals of printing. London: Bland-
ford Press.
Bigmore, E. C., & Wyman, C. W. H., (Eds.). (1978). A bibliography of
printing. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books.
Bringhurst, R. (1992). The elements of typographic style. Vancouver,
Canada: Hartley and Maerks.
Carter, R., Day, B., & Meggs, P. (2002). Typographic design: Form and
communication. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Mller-Brockman, J. (1985). Grid systems in graphic design. New York:
Hastings House.
Dowding, G. (1961). An introduction to the history of printing types.
London: Wace.
Frutiger, A. (1980). Type, sign, symbol. Zrich, Switzerland: ABC
Verlag.
Frutiger, A. (1989). Signs and symbols: Their design and meaning. New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Gerstner, K. (1974). Compendium for literates: A system of writing.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jaspert, W., Pincus, B., Turner, W., & Johnson, A. F. (1970). The en-
cyclopaedia of type faces. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble.
Johnson, A. F. (1966). Type designs: Their history and development.
London: Deutsch.
Karow, P. (1994). Digital typefaces: Description and formats. New York:
Springer-Verlag.
Karow, P. (1994). Font technology: Methods and tools. New York:
Springer-Verlag.
Lawson, A. S. (1971). Printing types: An introduction. Boston: Bea-
con Press.
McLean, R. (1980). The Thames & Hudson manual of typography. New
York: Thames & Hudson.
McGrew, M. (1993). American metal typefaces of the twentieth century.
New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books.
Morison, S. (1999). A tally of types. Boston: David R. Godine.
Moxon, J. (1958). Mechanick exercises on the whole art of printing,
168384. London: Oxford University Press.
Muir, P. H., & Carter, J. (Eds.). (1983). Printing and the mind of man.
Munich, Germany: Karl Pressler.
Prestianni, J. (Ed.). (2002). Calligraphic type design in the digital age:
An exhibition in honor of the contributions of Hermann and Gudrun
Zapf. Corte Madera, CA: Gingko Press.
Prust, Z. A. (1997). Graphic communications: The printed image.
Tinley Park, IL: Goodheart-Willcox.
Ruegg, R., & Frlich, G. (1972). Basic typography. Zrich, Switzerland:
ABC Verlag.
Ruder, E. (1981). Typographie: A manual of design. New York: Hast-
ings House.
Shneiderman, B. (1998). Designing the user interface: Strategies for
effective human-computer interaction. Reading, MA: Addison-
Wesley.
Steinberg, S. H. (1996). Five hundred years of printing. New Castle, DE:
Oak Knoll Books.
Sutton, J., & Bartram, A. (1968). An atlas of typeforms. New York: Hast-
ings House.
Updike, D. B. (1980). Printing types: Their history, forms, and use. New
York: Dover.

G
GAMES
Games are activities that are designed to entertain
players and that are governed by rules. Games are
competitive, usually pitting players against each other
or against tasks set by the rules. Typically the rules
define ways to win and lose.
The elements common to all games are:
Competition: Games involve competition be-
tween two or more players or at least a challenge
to a single player.
Rules: Games must have rules; after all, a game
is its rules.
Goals: Players must have a drive to play a
game, be it for a high score, personal gain, phys-
ical survival, exploration, or just entertainment.
GAMES
GENDER AND COMPUTING
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
GESTURE RECOGNITION
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
GRID COMPUTING
GROUPWARE
Purpose: Games must have a point, no matter
how banal. The point is to some extent a goal
in itself.
Modern types of games are computer or video
games. They are a type of interactive entertainment
in which the player controls electronically generated
images that appear on a video display screen. Such
games include video games played in the home on
special machines or home computers and those played
in arcades.
A computer game is not always a video game or
vice versa. The usual distinction today is subtle; a game
is a computer game if it is played on a general-
purpose computer; game is a video game if it is
played on a computer that is specialized for game play.
Computer games feature a large collection of direct
controls exploiting the full computer keyboard,
269
270 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
whereas video games tend to use more layers of menus
or activity sequences via a game controller.
One difference between computer games and
video games arises from the fact that computers have
high-resolution monitors, optimized for one person
watching at close range, whereas video game con-
soles use a much lower-resolution commercial tel-
evision as their output device, optimized for watching
at a greater distance by more than one person. As a
result, most computer games are intended for sin-
gle-player or networked multiplayer play, whereas
many video games are intended for local multiplayer
play, with all players viewing the same TV set.
Games History
To understand the concept of games and its relation
to computer technologies we should know how
games have shaped the games industry so far.
In 1951 Ralph Baer, senior engineer at Loral
Electronics, suggested creating an interactive game
that people could play on their television sets. His
idea was not developed at the time, but it is the first
example of anyone considering new technology as
a medium for playing games. In fact, ten years passed
before the first real computer game was created. In
1961 students at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) designed and programmed the
game Spacewar. Spacewar ran on the universitys pro-
grammed data processor (PDP-1), a computer that
took up the floor space of a small house. The track-
ball was invented to control the game. For a further
decade Spacewar was the limit of video gaming,
and therefore video gaming was available to a only
select few people with access to large-scale comput-
ing resources such as the PDP series machines.
In 1971 Nutting Associates released Computer
Space, a game based on Spacewar and developed
by Nolan Bushnell. It was the first arcade video game,
but it was not very popular, and only fifteen hundred
units were sold. Bushnell attributed this failure to
the game being too complicated, noting that people
werent willing to read instructions (Winter 2004).
He decided to go into business for himself, calling
his new company Atari. In 1972, only a year after
Computer Space, Atari released Pong, Bushnells sec-
ond arcade video game.
That year also brought the release of the first home
games console, the Magnavox Odyssey, developed by
Ralph Baer based on the idea hed had twenty-one
years previously at Loral Electronics. The Odyssey
connected to a television set and came with twelve
games and two hand controls. More than 100,000
units were sold during its first year, but its success was
short lived.
In 1974 Atari released Home Pong. It used a new
technology, the microchip. Ataris approach meant
that a single chip could be used to perform all the
operations required to play the game; this game
became known as Pong on a chip. The Odyssey
used separate discrete circuits for each operation
(collision detection, on-screen scoring, etc.), which
meant that it was much more expensive to produce.
The Odyssey is the first example of a killer tech-
nology (an application for the technology so inno-
vative and fascinating that a large number of people
would be compelled to buy it), but it was soon priced
out of the market as a succession of games using
large-scale integrated (LSI) chips similar to Ataris
was released by numerous competing companies.
The number of Pong-type games on the market
continued to increase until the arrival of the next killer
technology. In 1976 the Fairchild company released
its Video Entertainment System (later renamed
Channel-F). This system was a programmable con-
sole, meaning that it was not limited to a specific game
or set of games preprogrammed into it. Atari released
its own programmable console, the Atari 2600, in 1977.
Both consoles ran games from plug-in cartridges.
Other consoles followed based on this model.
The first single-circuit board computer, the
Apple I, also was released in 1976. This computer
began a surge in the popularity and availability of
home computers, and by the early 1980s a number
of competing systems had emerged, including the
now-ubiquitous IBM PC. This was a time when
many companies were trying to predict what the
next killer technology would be. Some believed that
the answer was a fusion of games console and
personal computer. Mattel and Coleco released up-
grade packs to convert their consoles into personal
computers. Neither product was successful.
The belief that personal computer technology
would kill games consoles led most manufacturers to

abandon games consoles. Atari switched from games
to manufacturing its own line of personal comput-
ers, and Mattel and Coleco bowed out of the com-
puter industry altogether in order to manufacture
their own games console. These actions turned out
to be in poor judgment because the relatively high
cost of personal computers led many who wanted
just a games console to look elsewhere. In 1985 the
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) provided ex-
actly what games players wanteda low-cost dedi-
cated games console. It was quickly followed in 1986
by the rival Sega Master System.
In 1989 Nintendo released the Game Boy, a hand-
held games console. By 1991 the Game Boy had been
joined by competition from the Atari Lynx and the
Sega Game Gear, both technically superior to the
Game Boy. The Game Boy had an eight-bit proces-
sor (a computer circuit able to process data of eight-
bit length that can be addressed and moved between
storage and the computer processor) and a mono-
chrome LCD screen with no built-in lighting. Its ri-
vals both featured full-color backlit screens, and the
Lynx featured even a sixteen-bit processor at a
time when sixteen-bit games consoles were new.
However, both the Lynx and the Game Gear fell by
the wayside, and the Game Boy remained popular
for twelve years until its successor, the Game Boy
Advance, was released in 2001. The Game Boys real
killer technology was its portability. Its rivals were
heavy and cumbersome by comparison, and their
backlit screens used up so much power that they had
a limited battery life.
Also in 1989 Sega released its sixteen-bit games
console, the Genesis (known as the MegaDrive in
Japan and Europe). Nintendo replied in 1991 with
the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
By the mid-1990s these sixteen-bit consoles, com-
bined with the growing success of multimedia PCs
(driven by the widespread adoption of the CD-ROM
drive), combined to kill off the midrange personal
computers such as the Atari ST and Commodore
Amiga, which could not compete with the games
consoles in price and could no longer compete with
IBM PCs and Apple Macs in performance.
Since then progress has been driven by the move
toward faster processors and larger storage space, but
a move toward technological convergence also has
GAMES 271
occurred. Most PCs and games consoles can now
play movies and music as well as video games.
Game Design
In interactive entertainment all games are de-
signed to create an enjoyable, involving, challenging
experience for the player. The interactive enter-
tainment industry classifies its game titles by
genre. Genres are important concepts for game de-
sign and can often influence the technologies used
in a game. Some of the common genres are action,
adventure, strategy, role-playing, and simulation.
Other taxonomies (systems of classification) exist.
Game design is a broad process that involves every-
thing from the target audience to game play mechanics
to the atmosphere exhibited by a games content. It is
a complex process that requires a complete under-
standing of technology, game theory, storytelling, mar-
keting, team leadership, and project management.
The objective is for a design to be as complete as
possible but also flexible to unexpected changes
designers make in the game specification. Designers
lay out the design in a primary document called the
game specification, which is used as the main
reference in the development process.
Game Development Process
When computer games first became mainstream dur-
ing the 1980s one person usually designed and pro-
grammed a game, and that process is still the case for
simple games for low-end platforms such as mobile,
personal digital assistant (PDA), or even simple two-
dimensional games for PCs. However, to create a
competitive game with a three-dimensional engine,
an involving story, and hundreds of megabytes of
media content, a game studio employing many mul-
titalented people must work for four or five years.
Teams work simultaneously to create the game
according to the game specification. An average game
studio will have three main teams: programming,
art, and level design (the creation of environment,
stages, or missions playable by a gamer in any type
of computer or video game).
Programmers work on coding the game engine
(the core software component of a computer
272 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
game) and level-designing tools. Level designers
use these tools to lay out the structure of the game,
including content from the artists and storytelling
from the game specification. The art team creates
game objects (the components of games which can
be rendered and with which the player can react;
today they mostly occur in three dimensions3D)
from concept sketches.
The nature of game programming most often is
governed by the current standards in game technol-
ogy. This scenario is common to such a point that
game engines might undergo upgrades even during
the development of the games. Game implementa-
tion is as dependent on the technological standards
of the games industry as it is on the requirements of
a game specification.
During the past decade interactive entertainment
has made huge advances in computing. The best
known of these advances are in 3D rendering
hardware and software. Equally important are other
advances in game technology, such as artificial in-
telligence, algorithms (detailed sequences of actions
or procedures to perform or accomplish some task
or solve a problem) for multiplayer networked games,
software and hardware for sound media, and input
peripherals such as controllers. Computer games
have had a profound effect on computing and hu-
man-computer interaction (HCI). Computer games
have been sources of innovations in several areas, in-
cluding platforms (computers and consoles), appli-
cation programming interfaces (API), graphics
and sound hardware and software, peripherals, game
logic, and artificial intelligence.
Platform and Language
To date more than sixty-five video game systems have
been marketed. Recent and well-known systems
include Dreamcast, GBA, GameCube, Nintendo 64,
Playstation, Playstation 2, Xbox, PSP, and NGage.
New systems are introduced almost each year.
The most popular programming languages for
computer game implementation are C and C++ lan-
guages. They are fast, compiled (an executable pro-
gram is created from source code), high-level
languages that work on practically all platforms. The
most accepted platform for computer games is
Microsoft Windows, namely the Win32 program-
ming environment. The main reason for this ac-
ceptance is the availability of the Microsoft
DirectX game development API, which together with
C++ is the industry standard.
On console platforms such as the Playstation 2,
the GameCube, or even the GBA, C++ is again used
as the programming language. However, specialized
console hardware devices, such as the Playstation 2s
vertex processing unit (a graphics processing unit able
to apply programs that process pixels by applying shad-
ing, lighting, or other rendering effects to every ver-
tex to be processed), are often accessed by low-level
assembly (a symbolic language that is converted by
a computer into executable machine-language pro-
grams) calls rather than by higher level APIs.
Video Technology and 3D Graphics
Computer games are best known for graphics be-
cause such visuals are the most important aspect
of human-computer interaction, and computer
games succeed largely in their exploitation of a com-
puter interface.
From the early days of the PC until the Super VGA
(Video Graphics Array) era, video cards were meas-
ured by their 2D visual quality, the number of colors
they could display, and the resolutions they supported.
2D games render animated sprites (small bitmap
images often used in animated games, but also used as
a synonym for icon) and a background directly to a
video cards screen buffer (an area in the computers
memory (RAM) where a small amount of data is stored
for a short amount of time before it is used). Early 3D
games, such as Flight Simulator, Descent, and iD
Softwares Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, used software-
rendered raytracing (a technique for producing views
of a virtual three-dimensional scene on a computer)
to calculate the pixel (the smallest picture element of
a digital image) values rendered to the screen buffer.
Unfortunately, software 3D rendering could not
handle a scene with more than a few hundred poly-
gons, limiting games to relatively low screen resolu-
tions, and was not powerful enough to remove many
visual flaws from the raytracing process.
3D games soon evolved to the point that they
needed more complex scenes with higher numbers

of polygons. Although software raytracing engines
worked, they were not fast enough. Thus, engi-
neers became interested in implementing common
3D algorithms in hardware. During the mid-1990s
several 3D APIs were candidates for hardware im-
plementation.
OpenGL (based on SGIs (Silicon Graphics
Incorporated) IRIX GL) was a successful standard
API because of its ease of use and extensive indus-
try support. Microsofts Direct3D was new to graph-
ics but was supported by Windows 95. Hardware
vendors also proposed their own APIs, such as NECs
PowerVR (used in the Sega Dreamcast) and 3Dfx
Glide. The game that revolutionized 3D graphics was
iD Softwares Quake, the first 3D shooter (a game
that presents a lot of violent fighting and shooting
and depicts the action from the perspective of the
characters-players) to feature entirely 3D objects us-
ing polygon-modeled characters instead of sprite
players. Although Quake ran on most computers
with its excellent software renderer, iD Software also
developed a version called GLQuake that rendered
using OpenGL. This development occurred around
the same time that Microsoft released a hardware-
OpenGL driver for Windows 95 and 3Dfx shipped
its first Voodoo 3D accelerator card (a special printed
circuit board, usually plugged into one of the com-
puters expansion slots, that makes the computer
work faster). For the first time consumer-level hard-
ware ran a 3D software API that could be used for
real-time 3D graphics.
When graphics accelerators first hit the mar-
ket, the main visual improvements were smooth tex-
t u re s a n d l i g h t i n g e f f e c t s . To d ay h a rdw a re
supports many more features.
As hardware progresses the capabilities of real-
time 3D graphics are quickly approaching those of
prerendered raytracing software as opposed to real-
time raytracing software. Although real-time 3D is
still raytraced, a variety of texturing and rendering
methods is used to produce lifelike, surreal, and im-
pressive effects. Many advanced rendering techniques
devised to improve realism, and allowing photo-
realistic quality, are now standard in most graphics
engines.
OpenGL and Direct3D are the only APIs left on
the playing field of PC graphics.
GAMES 273
Articial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) in games generally differs
from artificial intelligence in academic computer sci-
ence. Much of this difference has to do with differ-
ent goals. In games AI typically needs to exhibit only
enough realism that its actions are consistent with
the game world and rules. AI as a computer sci-
ence discipline has a broader goalto pass the Turing
test (a behavioral test conceived by Alan Turing in
1950 designed to test whether or not a system is
intelligent), in other words, to behave indistin-
guishably from a human. Sometimes game logic (the
internal mechanism of a game that performs all
the tasks needed for it to work) and AI share this
goal. However, games are less strict about what is ac-
cepted as artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence in games is limited by the
constraint to perform as quickly as possible, leaving
time for other game logic (e.g., collision detection
and response) and rendering while maintaining a
smooth frame rate. This constraint does not allow
for complex AI systems, such as a neural network (a
general-purpose program that has applications out-
side of potential fields, including almost any prob-
lem that can be regarded as pattern recognition in
some form), genetic algorithms, or even advanced
knowledge-based systems. As a result, behavior for
AI game agents tends to be determined by relatively
simple finite state machines (FSM) (abstract ma-
chines that have only a finite, constant amount of
memory) with cleverly designed, predefined rules.
Regardless of the differences, many concepts from
academic AI are used in games. Chief among the con-
cepts is the rules-based system, a fairly generic
concept considering that all AI characters, as play-
ers in a game, must adhere to game rules and formu-
late their own rules by which to play. AI players are
equally goals based; however, often their goals are
different from those of the human player, depend-
ing on whether the game is competitive or cooper-
ative. AI systems can be implemented using FSM,
which analyze scenarios on a per-context basis. FSMs
are often paired with fuzzy logic (an approach to
computing based on degrees of truth rather than
the usual true or false Boolean logic on which
the modern computer is based), which quantizes fac-
tors in decision making.
274 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
The most sophisticated aspects of game AI are
often better termed game logic. Specifically,
pathfinding (the problem of determining a path in
a complex environment) is a challenging problem,
particularly for enemy bots in first-person shoot-
ers and movable units in real-time strategy games.
The most commonly used algorithms in pathfind-
ing are Dijkstras algorithm for simple pathfinding
in static mazelike environments, and A* for pathfind-
ing in more open areas, particularly with obstacles
moving dynamically.
In role-playing games involving nonplayer char-
acters (NPCs), the human player interacts with AI
whose rules are defined by a script. These NPCs use
prewritten dialogues. A well-scripted NPC can often
act more appropriately, if not realistically, in the con-
text of a game than can a simple artificial life agent (a
virtual creature controlled by software, such as a crea-
ture in Black & White), which can understand the raw
logic of game theory but can only poorly grasp the
players relationship with the game world. NPC script-
ing plays an even greater role in defining AIs rules-
based system. For example, NPCs in Biowares
role-playing game Baldurs Gate use a rules-based
script to determine which weapons to use in which
combat situations.
Networking
Overall, games have not changed networking nearly
as much as networking has changed games. The mul-
tiplayer aspect, particularly on the PC, is essential to
modern computer gaming in practically all genres.
The most prominent game network software is
Microsofts DirectPlay, part of the DirectX API. It
builds a wrapper (a library of software programs which
hide low-level details of a programming language)
on top of TCP/IP and other network protocols, allow-
ing programmers to quickly connect game boxes on
a network and exchange packets (one unit of binary
data capable of being routed through a computer
network) without having to code a sophisticated
communication system from scratch.
With broadband Internet finally starting to spread
to the consumer mainstream, online gaming is start-
ing to really take off. Market research has suggested
that as many as 114 million people could be play-
ing online games by 2006.
Online games fall into a number of games gen-
res. At its simplest level an online game could be an
interactive website that allows visitors to play simple
games against each other, but many video games now
come with an online competitive element to them,
allowing a player to connect to the Internet and chal-
lenge friends or complete strangers. Online com-
munities have grown up around such games, and
developers often expend significant resources
catering to them.
Controller Interaction with
Games and Health Issues
Since the early years of computer games and console
gaming systems, the game controller has played an
important role in human-computer interaction by
allowing users to directly interact with video games.
A game controller is a computer input device that
takes data from the user and transfers it to the com-
puter or gaming console, where the software inter-
prets the data and performs the action that the
user wanted. Examples of controllers are the typical
gamepad, the flight simulator controller, the ana-
logue joystick, the light gun (a pointing device for
computers that is similar to a light pen), and
Sonys EyeToy.
These devices all work in the same way: They take
movement and action cues from the user, translate
them into tiny electrical pulses that a computer
can understand, and send them to the machine on
which the game is being played. Controllers mostly
have been designed to provide only input. However,
now companies are designing controllers that pro-
vide feedback or output in the form of force feed-
back, also known as haptic feedback, which is a
rumble or vibration of the controller. For example,
players can now feel when they are being tackled in
Madden NFL or feel the force of being shot in UT.
This feature adds to the fun of the game.
Game controllers were originally developed to
bring the arcade experience to the home, either
through video games on the computer or through

console gaming systems. When designing arcade cab-
inets, companies could create custom sticks and pads
for each individual game, but building a new con-
troller for every game that is designed for home con-
soles or computers would not be feasible. When the
Atari 2600one of the first gaming consoleswas
released in 1977 it was bundled with a couple of
square-based broomstick-like joysticks, each with an
eight-position lever and an action button. These joy-
sticks were some of the first game controllers. The
Atari joystick was built with economy and durability
in mind but not ergonomics. A major problem
with such a joystick is the way in which it is operated.
The constant movement of the players wrist neces-
sary to operate such a joystick can cause painful irri-
tation of overused muscles and tendons, leading to
RSI (repetitive strain injury) and other pathologies
such as carpal tunnel syndrome. To avoid this health
issue, developers began to design controllers with
smaller, thumb-operated joysticks. Before thumb-
operated joysticks were developed, developers used
directional pads on game controllers. These direc-
tional pads were used on such controllers as the orig-
inal Nintendo controller. A directional pad had
four directions of movement on it. A person could
move up or down, left or right. Today controllers use
combined efforts of directional pads, thumb-con-
trolled joysticks, and many combinations of buttons
to allow the user to play games safely.
Games as Educational Tools
People increasingly use games for education in busi-
ness, management, marketing, medicine, schools;
they even use detective games. Many video and com-
puter games seek to provide a realistic 3D visual expe-
rience. Training simulators for people such as pilots,
tanker captains, soldiers, and law enforcement offi-
cers similarly seek to provide a realistic experience.
The U.S. Army puts soldiers through simulated
training and missions, teaching not only tactics, but
also teamwork and military principles. The U.S. Navy
has found that use of Microsofts Flight Simulator
game improves the performance of flight cadets.
Games and training simulations are converging
as techniques and technology from games are being
GAMES 275
adapted for use in training simulations for the mili-
tary, law enforcement, air traffic controllers, and op-
erators of all kinds of physical equipment.
Abdennour El Rhalibi
See also Artificial Intelligence; Multiagent Systems;
Three-Dimensional Graphics
FURTHER READING
Adams, J. (2002). Programming role playing games with DirectX.
Indianapolis, IN: Premier Press.
Anderton, C. (1998). Digital home recording. San Francisco: Miller
Freeman Books.
Barron, T., & LostLogic. (2002). Multiplayer game programming. Rose-
ville, CA: Prima Tech.
Bates, B. (2001). Game design: The art and business of creating games.
Roseville, CA: Prima Tech.
Binmore, K. (1997). Fun and games: A text on game theory. Lexington,
MA: D. C. Heath.
Chapman, N. P. (2003). Digital media tools. Chichester, UK; Hoboken,
NJ: Wiley Ed.
Crooks, C. E., & Crooks, I. (2002). 3D game programming with Direct
X 8.0. Hingham, MA: Charles River Media.
Danby, J. M. A. (1997). Computer modeling: From sports to space flight,
from order to chaos. Richmond, VA: William-Bell.
DeLoura, M. (Ed.). (2000). Game programming gems. Hingham, MA:
Charles River Media.
Deloura, M. (Ed.). (2001). Game programming gems II. Hingham, MA:
Charles River Media.
Dempski, K. (2002). Real-time rendering tricks and techniques in
DirectX. Indianapolis, IN: Premier Press.
Engel, W. F. (Ed.). (2002). Direct3D ShaderX: Vertex and pixel shader
tips and tricks. Plano, TX: Wordware Publishing.
Hallford, N., & Hallford, J. (2001). Swords and circuitry: A design-
ers guide to computer role-playing games. Roseville, CA: Prima
Tech.
Mulholland, A., & Hakal, T. (2001). Developer's guide to multiplayer
games. Plano, TX: Wordware Publishing.
Preece, R. S. (2002). Interaction design: Beyond human-computer inter-
action. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Rasmusen, E. (2001). Games and information: An introduction to game
theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Rollings, A., & Morris, D. (2000). Game architecture and design. Scotts-
dale, AZ: Coriolis Group.
Rouse, R. (2001). Game design, theory and practice. Plano, TX: Word-
ware Publishing.
Thomas, L. C. (1984). Games, theory, and applications. New York:
Halsted Press.
Walsh, P. (2001). The Zen of Direct3D game programming. Roseville,
CA: Prima Tech.
Watt, A., & Policarpo, F. (2001). 3D games: Real-time rendering and soft-
ware technology, 1. New York: ACM Press.
276 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
GENDER AND
COMPUTING
There is ample evidence of relationships between gen-
der and computer attitudes, computer self-efficacy,
computer anxiety, and computer use. In general, females
have less favorable attitudes, lower self-efficacy, greater
anxiety, and lower levels of use than do males. These
gender differences are pervasive and persistent. They
have been observed in the United States, the United
Kingdom, Israel, Romania, Hong Kong, and other
countries and in children and adults of all ages. They
have been observed for at least three decades and us-
ing a variety of measuring instruments.
Given persistent and pervasive gender differences
in attitudes, feelings, and behavior regarding com-
puters, it is no surprise that women are underrepre-
sented in computing majors and computing
careers. Of the 24,768 bachelor of science degrees in
computer and information sciences awarded in the
United States in 19961997, less than 7,000 went to
women. Fewer than one in six doctorates in computer
science go to women. Moreover, the gender gap has
been increasing despite considerable efforts to reduce
it. In Europe, for example, female enrollment in com-
puter science courses declined from 28 percent in 1978
to 13 percent in 1985 and to 9 percent in 1998. In con-
trast, women's representation in other previously male-
dominated fields, such as medicine and veterinary
medicine, has increased dramatically.
Women who have entered computing tend to be
concentrated in the soft areas such as marketing
and sales and support functions such as help desk
and customer serviceareas requiring good inter-
personal skills, which are deemed more likely in
women than men. Men dominate in technical areas,
such as systems analysis and programming.
Explaining the Relationship between
Gender and Computing
Scholars from various disciplines and practitioners
in various computer science industries have offered
a variety of explanations for the relationship between
gender and computing. Some explanations focus on
gender role socialization, which deters women from
choosing careers that society deems atypical for
females, such as computing. Other explanations
focus on stereotypes about computing and how
the social construction of computing as masculine
may be keeping women away. Still others consider
how gender differences in values may be implicated
in women's decisions not to engage in computing
activities or computing careers. Discrimination in
the classroom and workplace, either blatant or in-
direct, is yet another explanation for the under-rep-
resentation of women in computing.
Gender Role Socialization
Research indicates that women and girls are sys-
tematically steered away from technical fields through
school culture, traditional gender roles, and other
societal pressures. Gender role socialization, partic-
ularly during the high school years, works against
young womens interest in computing. Females en-
counter traditional attitudes about computing among
their peers, parents, and teachers. Computing envi-
ronments, such as computer labs and clubs, are typ-
ically female-unfriendly. Not only are women in the
minority in these settings, they are also less likely to
be included in discussions there, especially informal
conversations. When girls receive career advice, coun-
selors may not mention or may actively discourage
them from pursuing nontraditional career choices.
Parents contribute to gender role socialization in
the technology they make available to their children.
In the United States, five times as many boys as girls
have computers to use at home, with parents spend-
ing twice as much money on technology products for
their sons as for their daughters.
Video games, an important pathway to interest in
computing, are played and made primarily by males.
In addition emphasizing competition and violence,
which run counter to female socialization, video games
typically relegate female characters to limited roles as
damsels in distress or sideshow prostitutes. When
women are the main characters in video games,
they are usually provocatively dressed in ways that em-
phasize their sexuality (as, for example, with Lara Croft
in the video game Tomb Raider.

Computer Girl Site Offers
Support for Young Women
C
alling itself a bridge from high school to the com-
puter world, the Computer Girl website (www.com-
putergirl.us) is sponsored by ACM-W (the Association
for Computing Machinerys Committee on Women in
Computing). Moderated by Amy Wu, a high school stu-
dent with a keen interest in computer science, the site of-
fers advice from women in computing and connects girls
with mentors and big sisters in the field. There are also
links to relevant articles and information on scholarships
for women in computing. Below is a typical question and
answer exchange from the site:
Q: What kind of pre-college experience should I
have?
A: Before college, make sure you have a computer
at home, even if it means saving for months or
buying a used one. Unless you are using a com-
puter frequently (constantly), you do get rusty.
Join a computer club or, better yet, start one of
your own, particularly a girl-only club for both
fun and for helpful support. Try to meet successful
women in computing. Write letters, send emails,
visit officeswhatever you can do to get advice
and gain support for your interests. Take an intern-
ship with a technology company and even try to
target a woman-owned tech company. Do your
research, do your homework and don't give up!
The situation appears somewhat better in Eastern
Europe than it does in Western Europe and the
United States. The former Communist countries
of Eastern Europe have historically produced pro-
portionately more female technologists, engineers,
and physicists than Western Europe or the United
States. Soviet industrialization efforts, which em-
phasized both gender equality and the importance
of technology, created a relatively gender-neutral
view of technology. Thus, as late as the 1980s, as many
if not more females than males were studying to be
engineers in those countries. The majority of chil-
dren in math and computing in Bulgaria and
Romania are female, comprising more than double
the proportion of females in similar courses in the
United Kingdom.
GENDER AND COMPUTING 277
It is therefore unsurprising that gender differ-
ences in computer attitudes, self-efficacy, anxiety,
and use are smaller in Eastern European countries
than in the West. What is surprising is that gender
differences exist at all, and in the same direction as
in the West. Although the evidence is by no means
as overwhelming as it is for the United States and
Western European countries, females in Eastern
European countries appear to have less computer
self-efficacy and more computer anxiety than their
male counterparts, and use computers less often than
do their male counterparts.
Stereotypes and the Social Construction
of Computing
There exists a stereotype of computer users as my-
opically obsessed with computing to the exclusion
of everything else, including people and relation-
ships. Although both male and female computer users
consider this stereotype to be not me, the image
is more threatening for females than males because
of the importance of people and relationships in the
gender role socialization of females.
The scholars Sherry Turkle and Seymour Papert
argued in a 1990 paper that women and men may have
different computer styles, and that the male style is
more strongly supported by the computer culture.
Females computer style is relational and character-
ized by efforts to connect and interact with objects
to have a relationship with objects and with the
computer itself (for example, by anthropomorphiz-
ing the computer, giving it a personality). Males com-
puter style is impersonal and characterized by efforts
to distance oneself from objects, to command and
conquer, to avoid relationships, either between ob-
jects or between self and objects, including the com-
puter. The social construction of computing favors
impersonal-style users.
Studies of elementary and high school children
reveal that girls have accepted the masculine view of
computing. Girls are more likely than boys to believe
they will not be good at computing, that they are
not qualified for computing, that they will not enjoy
computing, and that they will not be able to obtain
a good position in computing. Girls believe that com-
puting work is done in isolation, that it involves sit-
ting at a computer screen all day, and that the primary
278 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Narrowing the Gap
(ANS)Two journal entries by 13-year-old Liliana
Guzman capture the idea behind TechGYRLS, a national
program designed to narrow the knowledge and skills gap
between girls and boys in the realm of technology.
I like TechGYRLs because when you make a mistake
there are no boys to laugh at you, Guzman wrote in a
journal recording her experiences in the program in Dallas
last year, when she was in sixth grade. Her second entry
said: I think if you try you may get it, but if you give
up, you won't get it.
Girls are not keeping up with boys when it comes to
computers and other technologies, say experts in the field.
If technology is going to play a significant role in our
future, something most experts agree is inevitable, and
women are to be equal partners in shaping that future, we
must find ways to capture and maintain girls' interest in
computers and technology, said Marla Williams, exec-
utive director of the Women's Foundation of Colorado.
Williams' group recently released a report reviewing
various computer games and software marketed to boys
and girls and found a significant gap in their educational
value. Boys' products develop their computer literacy and
programming skills, it found, while products for girls
emphasize fashion and hairdos. The report encouraged cre-
ation of higher-quality software titles of interest to girls.
Capturing and maintaining girls' interest in computers
is a goal shared by the founders of the YWCA-affiliated
activity is either programming or office administra-
tion. They also believe that computing requires math-
ematics, and girls tend to feel less competent in
mathematics than do boys.
Similar findings regarding the nature of com-
puting work were obtained in a 1998 study of
adults in Australia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom,
and the United States. Women were more likely than
men to believe that computing careers involved soli-
tary work in front of a computer screen and would
not involve teamwork. They were more likely than
men to believe that computer work would not involve
travel, and that the profession required technical,
mathematical, and management skills. Though both
TechGYRLS and similar programs. They strive to expose
girls to technologyand professional women who use it
in an all-girl setting.
[]
Pamela Cox, an elementary school teacher and
TechGYRLS leader, said the 14-week, after-school program
for 9- to 13-year-olds focuses on using a computer ani-
mation program as well as robotics construction kits.
The animation program requires them to do some
basic programming, Cox said.They start by creating geo-
metric figures, then they can add a picture to it. It's really
neat. What's great is when they get to the point where they
can help each other. All you have to do is get them started.
The Dallas program is one of seven around the coun-
try, all affiliated with the YWCA of the USA. . . .
We're working with girls coming into a phase of
life where their decision may be to paint their nails or
hang out in a mall, said Khristina Lew, a YWCA
spokeswoman. Or they can focus on something that will
have a positive effect on their lives. Girls can be shy or em-
barrassed about pursuing traditionally masculine careers.
TechGYRLS is a program that can make them more com-
fortable with that idea and hopefully will stay with
them as they grow up.
Karen Pirozzi
Source: Girls get help in keeping up with boys in computer skills.
American News Service, 2000.
genders believed that a computing career would re-
quire a continual updating of skills, women believed
this more strongly than did men. Other findings from
this study indicated that both genders assigned
gendered preferences in computing subdisciplines.
For example, both believed that women preferred
multimedia and documentation to programming.
In discussing the social construction of computing,
feminist scholars have suggested three reasons why
women are staying away from computing: commu-
nicative processes that handicap women (e.g., exclud-
ing them from informal communications), social
networks that favor men, and male claims to knowledge
overlaid by gendered power relations (men having more

power than women). Feminists assert that it is this mas-
culine discourse, embedded in a masculine comput-
ing culture, that is the major deterrent to women.
Some feminist scholars have suggested that more
sophisticated theorization about computing is needed
to encourage women into the field. They point out that
computing is a new and amorphous field consisting
of a set of disparate and complex practices and tech-
nologies. Academic computing does not accurately re-
flect the field. It relies too heavily on mathematical
formalism and ignores the creative approaches to com-
puting that are needed in the workplace. Moreover, the
image of the computer scientist as antisocial and un-
interested in the end users is actually contrary to the
requirements of most computing work for strong
interpersonal skills and attention to the end user.
Gender Differences in Values
The gender gap in computing may reflect gender differ-
ences in work values. Women place greater value than
do men on interpersonal relationships at work and on
work that helps others. The masculine construction of
computing may lead women to perceive computing
careers as incompatible with their work values. Research
supports this view. Women state that they are ac-
tively rejecting computing careers in favor of careers
that better satisfy their values. For example, previously
male-dominated careers such as medicine and law have
experienced a dramatic increase in the number of fe-
male participants, due at least in part to the con-
strual of these professions as compatible with women's
valuing of relationships and service to others.
Other work values that have been implicated in
women's decisions not to enter computing fields are
the value of pay and job status, particularly when these
values conflict with the family values. Women value
high pay and job status less than do men, and value
work flexibility to accommodate family more than do
males. Thus, the promise of high-paying, high-status
computing jobs will be less attractive to women
who are making career decisions than it will be to men.
Discrimination
From elementary school to the workplace, comput-
ing environments have been characterized as unfriendly
if not outright hostile to women. Females receive less
encouragement to engage in computing activities,
GENDER AND COMPUTING 279
their contributions are less likely to be acknowledged
and valued, and they are more likely to be discour-
aged and even ridiculed for engaging in computing
activities. While the downplaying of women's contri-
butions is frequently unintentional, the cumulative
effect is lower self-esteem and self-confidence, espe-
cially about the likelihood of success in computing. By
adolescence females express less self-confidence about
computing than do males, even when faced with ob-
jective evidence of equivalent performance.
Women who do enter computing careers face sub-
tle and sometimes not-so-subtle discrimination in
the workplace. They are often assigned less-chal-
lenging work, passed over for promotion, and less of-
ten acknowledged for their contributions than are
men with similar qualifications and job experience.
The Internet: A Special Case?
The Internet, once the almost exclusive domain of
males, is now an equal-opportunity technology, but
only in the United States. Females comprise just over
half of the U.S. Internet users, a dramatic change
from their 5 percent representation in 1995. However,
males are the predominant Internet users in all other
countries. For example, 75 percent of Brazilian, 84
percent of Russian, 93 percent of Chinese, and 96
percent of Arab Internet users are male. Within the
U.S. evidence it appears that although women are as
likely as men to access the Internet, they do so less
often, for shorter periods of time, visit fewer Web
domains, and engage in fewer and different Internet
activities than males. For example, women are more
likely than men to use the Internet to communi-
cate with family and friends, consistent with womens
stronger interpersonal orientation.
Some researchers have argued that aspects of
the online world discourage women from using the
Internet. Pornography and sexual predators can make
the Internet seem dangerous. Flamingsending or
posting abusive, hostile remarks electronicallyis a
form of direct aggression of the sort that women are
socially conditioned (if not biologically predisposed)
to avoid. Gender differences in communication dy-
namics in the real world may be replicated online.
Women get less respect and acknowledgement for
their contributions; men dominate online discussions.
280 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Is the Relationship between Gender
and Computing a Problem?
There are at least two reasons for believing that
the declining number of women in computing is a
problem. First, for women, the decision to refuse to
consider computing careers closes off potentially re-
warding futures for them. Women typically work in
jobs that pay less, have fewer benefits, and offer fewer
opportunities for advancement than the jobs typi-
cally held by men, including computing jobs.
Excluding such careers from consideration is par-
ticularly troublesome at a time when women are
more likely to be the main or sole providers for their
families. Computing careers generally pay well, pro-
vide good benefits for families, and offer opportu-
nities for personal growth and advancement. For
women to dismiss computing, especially if dismissal
is based on misperceptions or misinformation about
computing, puts them at a disadvantage in terms of
their own needs as workers and family providers.
Second, the computing field needs women work-
ers. Currently, and into the foreseeable future,
there is a strong and unmet need for qualified work-
ers in computing. One way to meet this need is to
encourage more women to enter the field.
Characteristics of Women
in Computing
There are of course some women who have overcome
gender socialization, gender stereotypes, the mascu-
line construction of computing, and overt and subtle
discrimination to find satisfying careers in comput-
ing. A considerable amount of research has focused
on identifying what characteristics set these women
apart, both from men in computing and from women
in other careers. When asked their reasons for choos-
ing computing as a career, these women gave responses
that in some cases reflected their personal attributes
and in some cases reflected external factors.
Personal Attributes
Women who enter computing often do so because they
perceive it as related to their other interests, which
are often (but not always) people-oriented (medi-
cine, for example). In contrast, men who enter comput-
ing tend to be focused on computing itself. Women's
interest in computing appears to develop more slowly
and much later than men's interest: Men's interest
often develops in early childhood as a result of play-
ing video games, while women's interest often devel-
ops in high school as a result of using computers
in as a means to an end (for example, as a tool for com-
pleting school projects such as science reports).Women
are more likely than men to begin their computing
careers at a later stage (generally after age thirty), often
following a first career or a career break. Women in
computing often regard themselves as having high
ability in math and science. They enjoy logical think-
ing and problem solving, and see computing careers
as a good fit with their abilities.
External Factors
Women in computing report having family, friends,
and teachers who supported their interest and deci-
sion to enter computing. Institutional support also ap-
pears to be a factor: The availability of high-quality,
affordable education at a desired location influenced
some women's decisions to enter computing. In par-
ticular, recruiting strategies that emphasize the high
quality and low cost of the institution's computing
programs and that emphasize geographic factors such
as nearness to family have been more successful than
strategies that do not explicitly mention these factors.
Finally, the high pay, favorable job prospects, and
opportunities for challenging work and advancement
that careers in computing offer are all reasons that
women cited as important in their decision to enter
computing.
Increasing the Representation
of Women in Computing
A number of recommendations are available on how
best to increase the representation of women in com-
puting. First, the image of computing needs to be re-
constructed to reflect the diversity of skills and
approaches that are desirable in the field today more
accurately. In both curriculum design and pedagogy,
greater emphasis should be placed on interpersonal,
business, and multitasking management skills, all of

which are needed in today's computing careers, along
with technical skills.
Second, both boys and girls need to be provided
with positive computing experiences early on (in el-
ementary school or earlier). Computing environments
should be made more welcoming to girls. For exam-
ple, environments could focus more on cooperation
as a means of problem solving than on competition
to determine who has the best solution. Computing
activities should take into account female socializa-
tion and stereotypic influences on interests and pref-
erences. For example, multimedia computing activities
or activities that involve cooperation and collabora-
tion, particularly among same-gender others, have
been shown to be well received by girls. Less clear is
whether video games targeting girls are helping to
achieve gender equity in computing.
Third, young women need more complete and
accurate information about computing careers. The
diversity of skills and approaches needed in comput-
ing and connections between computing and
other fields should be highlighted when educating
students about computing careers. It should also be
made clear how computing careers can satisfy a di-
verse set of values.
Fourth, role models and mentors need to be as
available to girls and women as they are to boys and
men. Research on gender and computing has stead-
fastly and uniformly advocated the use of mentors and
role models for recruiting and retaining women. Taken
together, these recommendations may help more
women discover satisfying careers in computing.
Linda A. Jackson
See also Digital Divide; Sociology and HCI
FURTHER READING
American Association of University Women (AAUW). (2000). Tech-
savvy: Educating girls in the new computer age. Washington, DC:
AAUW Educational Foundation.
Balka, E., & Smith, R. (Eds.) (2000). Women, work and computeriza-
tion. Boston, Kluwer.
Blair, K., & Takayoshi, P. (Eds.). (1999). Feminist cyberspace: Mapping
gendered academic spaces. Stamford, CT: Albed.
Brosnan, M. J. (1998). Technophobia: The psychological impact of in-
formation technology. London: Routledge.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS 281
Brosnan, M. J., & Lee, W. (1998). A cross-cultural comparison of gen-
der differences in computer attitudes and anxiety: The U.K. and
Hong Kong. Computers in Human Behavior, 14(4), 359377.
Cassell, J., & Jenkins, H (Eds.). (1998). From Barbie to Mortal Kombat:
Gender and computer games. Cambridge: MIT.
Cone, C. (2001). Technically speaking: Girls and computers. In P. O'Reilly,
E. M. Penn, & K. de Marrais (Eds.), Educating young adolescent girls
(pp. 171187). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Durndell, A., & Haag, Z. (2002). Computer self-efficacy, computer
anxiety, attitudes toward the Internet and reported experience with
the Internet, by gender, in an East European sample. Computers in
Human Behavior, 18, 521535.
Gorriz, C., & Medina, C. (2000). Engaging girls with computers through
software games. Communications of the Association of Computing
Machinery, 43(1), 4249.
Jackson, L. A., Ervin, K. S., Gardner, P. D., & Schmitt, N. (2001). Gender
and the Internet: Women communicating and men searching. Sex
Roles, 44(56), 363380.
Kirkpatrick, H., & Cuban, I. (1998). Should we be worried? What the
research says about gender differences in access, use, attitudes and
achievement with computers. Educational Technology, 38(4), 5661.
Margolis, J. & Fisher, A. (2002). Unlocking the clubhouse: Women in com-
puting. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Morahan-Martin, J. (1998). Males, females and the Internet. In
J. Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the Internet (pp. 169198).
San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Panteli, N., Stack, J., & Ramsay, H. (2001). Gendered patterns in com-
puting work in the late 1990s. New Technology, Work and Employ-
ment, 16(1), 317.
Robertson, M., Newell, S., Swan, J., Mathiassen, L., & Bjerknes, G.
(2001). The issue of gender within computing: Reflections from the
UK and Scandinavia. Information Systems Journal, 11(2), 111126.
Sanger, J., Wilson, J., Davies, B., & Whittaker, R. (1997). Young chil-
dren, videos and computer games. London: Falmer.
Schott, G., & Selwyn, N. (2000). Examining the male, antisocial
stereotype of high computer users. Journal of Educational Comput-
ing Research, 23(3), 291303.
Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the Net generation.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Teague, G. J. (2002). Women in Computing: What brings them to it,
what keeps them in it? SIGCSE Bulletin, 34(2), 147158.
Turkle, S., & Papert, S. (1990). Epistemological pluralism: Styles and
cultures within the computer culture. Signs: Journal of Women in
Culture and Society, 16(1), 128148.
GEOGRAPHIC
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
A geographic information system (GIS; the abbre-
viation is used for the plural, geographic information
systems, as well) is capable of performing just about
any conceivable operation on geographic infor-
mation, whether editing and compilation, analysis,
282 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
mining, summarizing, or visualization and display.
Geographic information is a particularly well-defined
type of information, since it refers specifically to the
surface and near-surface of Earth and links observa-
tions and measurements to specific locations (for all
intents and purposes the term geospatial is synony-
mous with the term geographic). Maps are the most
familiar form of geographic information, so a GIS can
be considered simplistically as a computerized col-
lection of maps, but a far wider assortment of types
of information can be included in a GIS than are in-
cluded on a map, including customer records (e.g.,
records that a mail order company might keep on
its customers) that are tagged with geographic loca-
tions such as street addresses, or images of Earth's sur-
face from remote sensing satellites, or information
gathered using the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Today GIS development is a major application of
computing technology, with an annual market for soft-
ware, data, and services totaling on the order of $10 bil-
lion. The general public is likely to encounter GIS
through Web-based services such as MapQuest that of-
fer maps and driving directions computed from digi-
tal maps. Most municipal governments will use GIS to
track, manage, and plan the use of their geographically
based assets and activities, as will utility and telecom-
munication companies, resource management agen-
cies, package delivery companies, and departments of
transportation. GIS is extensively used in the military
for tasks such as targeting missile systems, planning bat-
tlefield tactics, and gathering intelligence.
GIS Representations
Two major forms of data representation are used
in GIS: raster and vector. In raster form, an area is
represented as an array of rectangular cells, and vari-
ation of some phenomenon of interest over the area
is expressed through values (e.g., degrees of light or
darkness, colors, or numeric values representing such
properties as annual rainfall) assigned to the cells.
This form is used for remotely sensed images from
satellites, and today GIS users have easy access to a
wide range of such images, from government sources
such as NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, to
commercial sources such as IKONOS and Quickbird.
Images of interest to GIS users will have spatial reso-
lutions (cell sizes) ranging down to 1 meter or less.
Raster data is also the preferred format for digital el-
evation models (DEMs), which represent Earth's
topographic surface through measurements at reg-
ular intervals. DEM data is available for most of
the United States at 30-meter resolution, and for the
world at 1-kilometer resolution.
In vector representation, phenomena are repre-
sented as collections of points, lines, or areas, with
associated attributes. Vector representation is widely
used to disseminate data from the U.S. Census, for
example, providing summary statistics for states,
counties, cities, or census tracts, and representing each
reporting zone as an area. Lines and areas are most
often represented as sequences of straight-line seg-
ments connecting points, and as such are termed poly-
lines and polygons respectively. Vector representation
is also used for the street centerline databases that de-
scribe the locations of streets, roads, and highways,
and are widely used to support way finding.
A vector GIS is also capable of representing rela-
tionships between objectsfor example, between points
representing incidents of crime and the neighborhoods
in which the crimes occurred. This capability allows
places of work to be linked to workers' home locations,
or connections to be made between bus routes. Because
relationships are in general unaffected by stretching or
distortion of the geographic space, they are generally
termed topological data, to distinguish them from geo-
metric data about object positions and shapes.
A GIS database makes use of both raster and vec-
tor formats, and typically will contain several distinct
layers, or representations of different phenomena
over the same geographic area.For example,layers might
include representations of maps of topography, soils,
roads,rivers and lakes,and bedrock geology.By including
all of these layers in a single database, it is possible to use
the GIS to explore relationships and correlations, for ex-
ample between soils and bedrock geology, and to com-
bine layers into measures of suitability for various types
of land use or vulnerability to pollution.
GIS Functions
The most important parts of a GIS are those that sup-
port its basic functions, allowing users to compile,
edit, store, and display the various forms of geographic

information. Defining location on Earth's surface can
be a complex task, given the large number of alter-
native coordinate systems and projections available
to mapmakers. A GIS thus needs the ability not only
to convert between raster and vector representations,
but also to overcome differences between coordi-
nate systems (such as the latitude-longitude coordi-
nate system), between map projections (such as the
Mercator projection or the Lambert Conformal Conic
projection), and between the various mathematical
figures used to approximate the shape of Earth. In the
United States, for example, geographic data may use
either of two mathematical figures: the North
American Datum of 1927, based on the Clarke el-
lipsoid of 1886, or the newer North American Datum
of 1983, based on a unified global geodetic system.
Many distinct coordinate systems are in use, rang-
ing from the high-accuracy State-Plane Coordinate
systems defined by each U.S. state to the lower-ac-
curacy Universal Transverse Mercator system origi-
nally devised for military applications.
Once the foundation for such basic operations has
been built, a GIS developer can quickly add a vast ar-
ray of functions and capabilities. These may include
sophisticated algorithms for designing and printing
hard-copy maps, algorithms to identify optimum
routes for vehicles through street networks or opti-
mum locations for new retail outlets, methods for com-
puting correlations between data in different layers or
for combining layers into measures of suitability,
and methods for evaluating potential land use deci-
sions. All these uses are termed spatial analysis; when
applied to extremely large data sets in an exploratory
mode they are termed data mining.
The list of supported forms of spatial analysis is
huge, and an industrial-strength GIS will offer liter-
ally thousands. In addition, there is an active market
in extensions to basic GIS products, offered by third
parties and designed to be compatible with a spe-
cific vendor's base product.
GIS as Human-Computer Interaction
The original motivation for the development of GIS
in the 1960s came from the need to automate cer-
tain basic operations. One was map editing, which
is very difficult and time-consuming if performed
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS 283
by hand, given the technical issues involved in mov-
ing or deleting hand-drawn lines on paper maps. The
other was the measurement of the area of arbitrar-
ily shaped zones on maps, as required, for exam-
ple, in the task of inventorying land use, or the
planning of new subdivisions. This use of GIS as a
personal assistant that can perform tasks on geo-
graphic data that the user finds too tedious, expen-
sive, inaccurate, or time-consuming to perform by
hand, drove almost all of the first thirty years of GIS
development. It required modes of human-computer
interaction (HCI) that were suited to the task, pro-
viding a comparatively skilled user with easy access
to information and the results of analysis.
More recently, however, a number of other re-
quirements have come to dominate developments
in GIS-driven HCI. A GIS that is used in a vehicle to
provide the driver with instructions on reaching his
or her destination must convey the information with-
out distracting the driver from the driving task. Many
of the in-vehicle navigation systems that are now be-
ing installed in cars, either as original equipment or
as optional accessories, provide for auditory in-
structions as well as visual output, and may in-
clude voice-recognition functions for input as
well. HCI issues also arise when GIS must be de-
signed for use by people with visual impairment, and
there have been several interesting developments
along these lines in the past ten years.
Advanced GIS use requires a high level of skill
and training on the part of its user. Courses in GIS
often include advanced work in map projections and
in spatial statistics. Thus another set of HCI issues
arise in GIS applications that are designed for use by
children, or by other groups whose knowledge of ad-
vanced GIS concepts is limited. Encarta, Microsofts
CD-ROM encyclopedia, for example, offers a
number of functions associated with geographic
information, including simple mapmaking, and
retrieval of information using maps as organizing
frameworks. A child cannot be expected to under-
stand map projections, so it is common for such sys-
tems to display information on a three-dimensional
globe rather than on a flattened or projected
Earth. A child cannot be expected to understand the
cartographer's concept of scale or representative frac-
tion, so such systems resort to clever metaphors as
284 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION;;
Geographic Information Systems Aid Land Conservation
(ANS)Technology that helps a firm like Sears, Roebuck
and Co. find a good department store location or steers a
developer to an ideal housing site is also proving useful to
nonprofit organizations concerned with land stewardship
issues such as conservation, environmental justice and
sustainable development.
The technology is known as Geographic Information
Systems, and computer giant Hewlett Packard and soft-
ware maker Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc.
have awarded grants totaling $6 million to put it in the
hands of land preservation groups.
While GIS analyzes large amounts of complicated in-
formation about an area of terrain and turns it into easily
understood maps and graphics, it is costly and requires
trained users and hefty computer hardware.
According to Hewlett Packard executive Forrest Whitt,
some people in the computer industry wanted to even
the playing field by putting GIS technology employed by
mineral exploiters and private developers into the hands
of nonprofit groups.
The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG)
used grant money awarded in 1998 to help voters track
the basis for specifying level of detail, for example
by allowing the user to raise or lower the view-
point relative to Earth's surface, revealing less and
more detail respectively.
Virtual Reality and Uncertainty
A GIS contains a representation of selected aspects
of Earth's surface, combining raster and vector
formats to achieve a representation using the binary
alphabet of digital systems. When used at the office
desk, as is typical of the vast majority of GIS applica-
tions, the representation in effect replaces the real
world, limiting its user's perception of reality to
the information contained in the database. The
real geographic world is infinitely complex, reveal-
ing more detail the closer one looks apparently ad
infinitum, so it follows that any database represen-
tation must be at best a generalization, abstraction,
the impact of political issues on their neighborhoods. For
example, it can project graphic overlays on maps that il-
lustrate land use issues affecting a neighborhood and
sources of campaign dollars in a city election.
We were able to use this technology to depict the trends
in pesticide use in the state, said Steven Romalewski, the
program's director, as well as (mapping) where the ma-
jority of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's campaign contribu-
tions were coming from. He said many New York City
voters seemed interested to learn it didn't come from one
of the city's five boroughs.
The Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, an alli-
ance in six states from Virginia to Alabama, used GIS tech-
nology to raise awareness of old-growth forest preservation
and to identify remaining wild areas. The California Wild-
lands Project is using its GIS grant to create a statewide
map for habitat conservation.
John Maggio
Source: Land Conservation Groups Benefit from Development
Technology. American News Service, March 9, 2000.
approximation, or sampling of the real thing that
it purports to represent. Only in certain very limited
circumstances, such as the representation of objects
that are truly mathematical, including the straight
lines of land surveys, is it possible to achieve close to
perfect representation.
This fundamental principle of GIS representa-
tions has led to great interest in the topic of uncer-
tainty, which can be defined as the difference between
what the database tells the user about the real world
and what the real world would reveal to the user if
visited directly. In some cases uncertainties can be
resolved from the user's own memory, particularly
if the user has visited the area that is represented in
the database. GIS use is thus always most success-
ful if combined with personal knowledge.
There are many sources of uncertainty, includ-
ing measurement error (it is impossible to meas-
ure location on Earth's surface exactly), generalization

(the omission of local detail from representations in
the interests of simplicity or limiting data vol-
ume), vagueness in the definitions of key terms (for
example, there are variations in the way soil and land
cover are classified, and confusion on the part of the
user about what the data are intended to represent.
This last type of uncertainty commonly arises when
the user of a certain collection of data misunder-
stands the intent of the creator of the data, perhaps
because of poor documentation.
Uncertainty has been studied within several the-
oretical frameworks, including geostatistics, spatial
statistics, and fuzzy-set theory. Each has its benefits,
and each is suited to particular settings. Statistical ap-
proaches are most appropriate when uncertainty
arises because of measurement error, or when it
can be characterized using probabilistic models. Fuzzy
sets, on the other hand, appear to be more appro-
priate when dealing with imperfect definitions, or
when experts are uncomfortable making precise clas-
sifications of geographic phenomena.
Augmented Reality and Mobile GIS
In recent years the development of wireless networks
and miniaturized devices has raised the possibility
of a fully mobile GIS, no longer confined to the desk-
top. Laptop computers now have virtually the
same computational power and storage capacity as
desktop workstations, and wireless networks can pro-
vide bandwidths approaching those available via
Ethernet and other local-area networks. Laptops are
relatively cumbersome, however, with heavy battery
consumption, and personal data assistants (PDAs)
offer better mobility with some sacrifice in com-
putational power and storage capacity. Wearable
computers are increasingly practical; with wear-
able computers a central processing unit and stor-
age devices are packed into a cigar-box-sized package
to be worn on the belt, and visual output is provided
through devices clipped to eyeglasses. In summary,
then, we are approaching a point at which it will
be possible to use GIS anywhere, at any time. This
clearly has the most significant implications when
GIS is used in the subject area, allowing the user to
be in direct sensory contact with the phenomena be-
ing studied and analyzed.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS 285
Mobile GIS is already in use in many applications.
Utility company workers, surveyors, and emergency
incident managers already routinely have access to
GIS capabilities through suitably configured PDAs,
although these devices are more likely to be used for
data input than for analysis. Information technolo-
gies are routinely used by scientific workers in the field
to record observations, and GPS transponders are used
to track animals to develop models of habitat use.
For those uses of mobile GIS, the user is in con-
tact both with the database and with the reality
represented by the database. The term augmented re-
ality (AR) is often used to describe those uses, since
sensory reality is being extended through informa-
tion technology, allowing the user to see things that
are for one reason or another beyond the senses.
AR can be used to see under the surface of the
street when digging to install new pipes, allowing the
construction crew to avoid accidentally damaging ex-
isting facilities. AR can be used to address the inability
of visually impaired people to see their surroundings,
and exciting developments have occurred recently in
the development of systems to aid such personal way
finding. AR can be used to superimpose historic views
on the field of view, creating interesting opportuni-
ties in tourism. The ability of a cell phone user to see
the locations of nearby businesses displayed in map
form on the cell phone screen is also a form of AR.
The long-term implications of AR are profound,
since they give people the ability to sense aspects of
their surroundings that are beyond their senses. AR
also presents concrete problems for HCI. The dis-
plays provided by laptop computers and PDAs are
adversely affected by the strong light conditions typ-
ical of the outdoors. Displays that clip on eyeglasses
offer comparatively high resolution (similar to a
PDA), but make it very difficult to implement point-
and-click interaction. Displays on cell phones are too
small for many GIS applications, which tend to re-
quire large display areas for suitable resolution (it is
difficult, for example, to annotate street maps with
names on a cell phone screen). Reference has already
been made to the problems of visual display for driv-
ers. Input devices, such as one-handed keyboards, are
also difficult to use. Finally, heads-up display, in which
information from the GIS is superimposed directly
on the field of view, requires head-mounted displays
286 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
that are much more cumbersome and difficult to use
than a display clipped to the eyeglasses.
GIS and Data Sharing
Traditional paper maps are very efficient reposito-
ries of geographic information, and as such repre-
sent major investments. The typical national
topographic map sheet of the U.S. Geological Survey,
for example, covering an area approximately 15 kilo-
meters on a side at a scale of 1:24,000 costs on the
order of $100,000 to create, and must be regularly
updated with new information if it is to remain cur-
rent. It takes some fifty thousand such sheets to cover
the forty-eight contiguous states, and if the entire
series were to be recreated today the total investment
would be in excess of $5 billion. Remote sensing satel-
lite programs require investments in the hundreds
of millions; a 1993 study by the U.S. Office of Man-
agement and Budget found total annual investment
in geographic information by federal agencies to ex-
ceed $4 billion. Not surprisingly, then, society has
traditionally relied on national governments to make
these kinds of investments, through national map-
ping agencies and national space programs. Only na-
tional governments have been able to afford the cost
of the complex systems needed to create maps.
Today, this picture is changing radically. Anyone
with $100 can purchase a GPS receiver capable of
determining location to better than 5 meters and can
use it to make digital maps of local streets or prop-
erty boundaries. Mapping software is available for
the average PC, with the result that today virtually
anyone can be a cartographer, making and pub-
lishing maps on the Internet.
Moreover, national governments find it increas-
ingly difficult to justify the kinds of annual expendi-
tures needed to maintain mapping programs. In 1993
the U.S. National Research Council began to advocate
the concept of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure
(NSDI), a set of institutional arrangements and stan-
dards that would coordinate a new form of decen-
tralized production of geographic information. The
NSDI is intended to support a patchwork approach,
replacing uniform, government-produced series of
maps with coverage at varying scales produced as ap-
propriate by local, state, or federal agencies. The NSDI
provides the format standards to ensure sufficient uni-
formity in these data sets as well as the metadata stan-
dards to allow parts of the patchwork to be described
effectively.
Since 1993 the United States has made enormous
investments in information technology infrastruc-
ture for data sharing. In accordance with U.S. law, the
vast bulk of geographic information produced by the
federal government is in the public domain, free of
copyright restrictions, and available for no more than
the cost of reproduction. Today the amount of such
data available from websites is on the order of
petabytes (quadrillions of bytes), and growing rap-
idly. This free resource has in turn stimulated the de-
velopment of a wide range of applications and an
industry dedicated to adding value to data by mak-
ing it easier to use, more current, or more accurate.
The term geolibrary has been coined to de-
scribe the websites that provide geographic infor-
mation. By definition a geolibrary is a library that can
be searched based on geographic locationthat is
capable of answering queries of the form What have
you got about there? The National Research Council
has explored the concept and status of geolibraries
in one of a series of reports pertaining to the NSDI.
Geolibraries present interesting issues of user inter-
face design. All allow users to display a world map
and to zoom in to an area of interest, refining the
search criteria with additional requirements. But the
area of interest for many users is defined not by a loca-
tion on a map or by coordinates, but by a place-name,
and many users will not be able to easily locate that
place-name on a map. This issue is solved through
the use of a gazetteer, an index that converts place-
names to coordinates. But most gazetteer entries pro-
vide only a point reference, which is problematic for
extended features of complex shape, such as rivers or
mountain ranges.
The U.S. National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse
is an example of a geolibrary that allows search
and retrieval across a distributed archive, in effect
allowing its users to visit and search several libraries
simultaneously and with minimal effort. Such ca-
pabilities are made possible by metadata, the infor-
mation that describes the contents of data sets in
standard form, allowing vast catalogs of data to be
searched quickly and easily. The dominant metadata

standard for geographic information is the Federal
Geographic Data Committee's Content Standard for
Digital Geospatial Metadata. It provides hundreds
of potential fields for the description of the contents,
lineage, quality, and production details of a data set.
Web-Based GIS
Early efforts to build geolibraries, beginning in the
mid 1990s, focused on the need to distribute data
sets, by analogy to the traditional library whose re-
sponsibility ends when the book is placed in the
hands of the reader. Under this model each user was
required to maintain a full GIS capability, since all
transformation and analysis occurred at the users
end. Since the advent of the Web and the widespread
popularity of Web browsers, more and more serv-
ices have been developed by servers, with a conse-
quent reduction in the complexity of the software
the user must have to use the data sets. Today, a user
of a standard Web browser can access services for
many basic GIS operations. The task of geocoding,
for example, which consists of converting street mail-
ing addresses to coordinates, is now available from
a number of sites, including MapQuest. Similarly
it is possible to access remote services for converting
place-names to coordinates, and it is expected that
more and more GIS services will be available in
this form by 2010.
To be automatic and transparent, such Web serv-
ices require adherence to standards, and many
such standards have been developed in recent
years by such organizations as the Open GIS
Consortium. They allow a user's client GIS to request
data from a geolibrary or a geocoding service from
a provider, taking care of such issues as coordinate
system transformation and clipping of data to match
a user's study area. A vast range of mapping, geoli-
brary, and other services are now available and fully
interoperable with popular GIS software. For ex-
ample, a user of ArcGIS, a family of GIS software
products created by ESRI (Environmental Systems
Research Institute), might determine that a needed
data set is not available on the desktop computer's
hard drive, and might search ESRI's Geography
Network website for suitable data. The search would
be initiated over a distributed archive of registered
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS 287
contributors and would return suitable hits. The user
would then be able to use a chosen data set, but rather
than copying it to the users client GIS, the data set
would be accessed transparently over the Internet.
Most GIS vendors now offer software to support
the development of GIS services and Web-based map-
ping. Some services are available free, and others on
a subscription basis. But it remains to be seen whether
the provision of services is capable of providing suf-
ficient cash flow to a company, and whether Web-based
GIS is a viable long-term commercial proposition.
The IT Mainstream
The history of GIS has been one of specialized appli-
cation of information technology. The development
of the first GIS in the 1960s required many original
developments and inventions, including the first map
scanner, the first topological data structure, and the
first algorithm for map overlay. Today, however, the
majority of the software in a GIS is industry standard,
implementing mainstream solutions for operating
systems, application development, object-oriented
database design, and graphic interfaces. Undoubtedly
GIS has become closer over the years to the IT main-
stream, and today it is common for records in large
database solutions to be tagged with geographic loca-
tion. For example, the locations of credit card transac-
tions are routinely tagged with location in space and
time to support mining for evidence of misuse through
the detection of anomalous behavior. Mainstream
solutions are attractive to software developers be-
cause they allow massive economies of scale through
the adoption of standard technologies that can serve
many disparate applications.
On the other hand it is clear that GIS applica-
tions will always be to some degree distinct from
the mainstream. Cell phone mapping applications,
for example, push the limits of available screen area
and resolution. GIS database applications raise dif-
ficulties when the phenomena to be represented are
fundamentally continuous rather than discrete: for
example, roads and rivers are continuous features,
not easily broken into the discrete chunks of data-
base records. Topography deals with continuous sur-
faces not easily broken into squares or triangles for
discrete representation. In all of these cases the need
288 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
for discrete representation causes downstream is-
sues for applications (for example, representing
continuously curved streets as straight lines with
sharp bends leads to difficulties in simulating driver
behavior).
Moreover, GIS is about the representation of
an infinitely complex real world, and its effective use
will always require an understanding of the nature
of that world, and the consequences of the inevitable
generalization, approximation, and sampling that
occur in digital representation.
Michael F. Goodchild
See also Navigation
FURTHER READING
Chrisman, N. R. (1997). Exploring geographic information systems.
New York: Wiley.
Clarke, K. C. (1999). Getting started with geographic information sys-
tems (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
DeMers, M. N. (2000). Fundamentals of geographic information sys-
tems (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Duckham, M., Goodchild, M. F., & Worboys, M. F. (2003).
Fundamentals of geographic information science. New York: Taylor
and Francis.
Hearnshaw, H. M., & Unwin, D. J. (Eds.). (1994). Visualization in
geographical information systems. New York: Wiley.
Kennedy, M. (1996). The Global Positioning System and GIS: An
introduction. Chelsea, MI: Ann Arbor Press.
Leick, A. (1995). GPS satellite surveying. New York: Wiley.
Longley, P. A., Goodchild, M. F., Maguire, D. J., & Rhind, D. W. (Eds.).
(1999). Geographical information systems: Principles, techniques,
management and applications. New York: Wiley.
Longley, P. A., Goodchild, M. F., Maguire, D. J., & Rhind, D. W. (2001).
Geographic information systems and science. New York: Wiley.
MacEachren, A. M. (1995). How maps work: Representation, visu-
alization, and design. New York: Guilford Press.
Medyckyj-Scott, D., & Hearnshaw, H. M. (Eds.). (1993). Human
factors in geographical information systems. London: Belhaven
Press.
National Research Council. (1993). Toward a coordinated spatial data
infrastructure for the nation. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press.
National Research Council. (1999). Distributed geolibraries: Spatial
information resources. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
O'Sullivan, D., & Unwin, D. J. (2002). Geographic information analy-
sis. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Peng, Z. R., & Tsou, M. H. (2003). Internet GIS: Distributed geographic
information services for the Internet and wireless networks.
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Peuquet, D. J. (2002). Representations of space and time. New York:
Guilford.
Raper, J. (2000). Multidimensional geographic information science.
New York: Taylor and Francis.
Snyder, J. P. (1997). Flattening the earth: Two thousand years of
map projections. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Worboys, M. F. (1995). GIS: A computing perspective. New York: Taylor
and Francis.
Zhang, J. X., & Goodchild, M. F. (2002). Uncertainty in geographi-
cal information. New York: Taylor and Francis.
GESTURE RECOGNITION
The use of gesture, particularly hand gesture, as a
means of communicating with computers and
machines is attractive for several reasons. First, many
researchers observe that humans possess great facil-
ity in performing gestures and appear to do so spon-
taneously. Second, the hands and arms always comes
attached to the human end of the humancomputer
interaction exchange. There is no need to hunt for the
missing remote control or to equip the human with a
communications device if the computer could observe
the user and react accordingly. Third, as the space in
which we interact extends from one screen to many,
from small screen to large, and from the confines
of the two-dimensional panel surface into the three-
dimensional space beyond it, gestures present the
promise of natural interaction that is able to
match both the added expanse and dimensionality.
Organizing Concepts
One may think of the human end of the interactive
chain as being able to produce three key interactive
signals: things that can be heard, seen, and felt (ignor-
ing taste and smell as currently far-fetched for HCI).
In this sense the computers input devices can be
thought of as the sensory organs detecting the signals
sent by its human partner. Under this formulation
speech interfaces require auditory computer input,
and the plethora of input devices by which the user
moves a mouse or joystick or depresses keys would
constitute the computers tactile sense. The sensory
receptor for gesture is vision. One might relax this
vision requirement to allow the use of various glove
and magnetic, acoustic, or marker-based tracking
technologies. For this discussion we shall include

these approaches with the caveat that they are in-
tended as waypoints toward the goal of vision-based
gesture understanding.
To move beyond promise to practice, one needs
to understand what the space of gestures is and what
it can afford in interaction. We organize our discus-
sion around a purpose taxonomy. Interactive ges-
ture systems may be divided into three classes: (1)
manipulative, (2) semaphoric, and (3) conversational.
The human hands and arms are the ultimate multi-
purpose tools. We use them to modify objects around
us (moving, shaping, hitting, etc.) to signal one an-
other and in the general service of language. While
the psychology and psycholinguistics of gesture is a
very involved field our tripartite segmentation ade-
quately covers the use of gesture in HCI. These dis-
tinctions are not perfunctorythey have great
significance for the vision-based processing strat-
egy employed as well as the design of the interac-
tive system that utilizes the gesture.
Manipulative Gesture Systems
Manipulative gesture systems follow the tradition of
Richard Bolts Put-That-There system, which per-
mits direct manipulation. The user interacted with
a large wall-size display moving objects around the
screen, with the movements tracked by an electro-
magnetic device. As will be seen later, this work may
also be classified as conversational since cotemporal
speech is utilized for object manipulation.
We extend the concept to cover all systems of di-
rect control. The essential characteristic of manipu-
lative systems is the tight feedback between the
gesture and the entity being controlled. Since
Bolts seminal work there has been a plethora of sys-
tems that implement finger tracking/pointing, a va-
riety of finger flyingstyle navigation in virtual
spaces or direct-manipulation interfaces, such as con-
trol of appliances, computer games, and robot
control. Other manipulative applications include in-
teraction with wind tunnel simulations, voice syn-
thesizers, and an optical flowbased system that
detects one of six gross full-body gestures (jumping,
waving, clapping, drumming, flapping, marching)
for controlling a musical instrument. Some of these
approaches use special gloves or trackers, while oth-
ers employ only camera-based visual tracking. Such
GESTURE RECOGNITION 289
manipulative gesture systems typically use the shape
of the hand to determine the mode of action (e.g.,
to navigate, pick something up, point, etc.), while the
hand motion indicates the path or extent of the con-
trolled motion.
When used in a manipulative fashion, gesture in-
terfaces have a lot in common with other direct
manipulation interfaces, the only distinction being
the device that is used. As such, many of the same
design principles apply in building manipulative ges-
ture interfaces. These include ensuring rapid enough
visual feedback for the control, size of, and distance
to targets of manipulation and considerations for
fatigue and repetitive stress order (as when one has
to maintain hand positions, poses, and attitudes by
maintaining muscle tension).
Gestures used in communication/conversation
differ from manipulative gestures in several signifi-
cant ways. First, because the intent of the latter is ma-
nipulation, there is no guarantee that the salient
features of the hands are visible. Second, the dynamics
of hand movement in manipulative gestures differ
significantly from those in conversational gestures.
Third, manipulative gestures may typically be aided
by visual, tactile, or force feedback from the object
(virtual or real) being manipulated, while conversa-
tional gestures are typically performed without such
constraints. Gesture and manipulation are clearly
different entities sharing between them possibly the
feature that both may utilize the same body parts.
Semaphoric Gesture Systems
Semaphores are signaling systems in which the bodys
poses and movements are precisely defined to desig-
nate specific symbols within some alphabet. Tradi-
tionally, semaphores may involve the use of the
human body and limbs, light flashes, flags, and the
like. Although semaphore use inhabits a miniscule
portion of the space of human gestures, it has attracted
a large portion of vision-based gesture research and
systems. Semaphore gesture systems predefine some
universe of whole gestures g i G. Taking a cate-
gorial approach,gesture recognition boils down to
determining if some presentation pj is a manifesta-
tion of some g i . Such semaphores may be either static
gesture poses or predefined stylized movements. Note
that such systems are patently not sign language
290 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
recognition systems in that only isolated symbols are
entertained. Sign languages include syntax, gram-
mar, and all the dynamics of spoken language sys-
tems. Some attempts have been made to recognize
isolated sign language symbols (e.g., finger spelling),
but the distance between this and sign language un-
derstanding is as far as that between optical char-
acter recognition and natural language understanding.
Semaphoric approaches may be termed as
communicative in that gestures serve as a universe of
symbols to be communicated to the machine. A prag-
matic distinction between semaphoric gestures and
manipulative ones is that the former do not require
the feedback control (e.g., handeye, force feedback,
or haptic) necessitated for manipulation. Semaphoric
gestures may be further categorized as being static or
dynamic. Static semaphore gesture systems interpret
the pose of a static hand to communicate the intended
symbol. Examples of such systems include color-based
recognition of the stretched-open palm where flex-
ing specific fingers indicates menu selection, the
application of orientation histograms (histograms of
directional edges) for hand shape recognition, graph-
labeling approaches where labeled edge segments are
matched against a predefined graph of hand poses
that simulate finger spelling, a flexible-modeling
system in which the feature average of a set of hand
poses is computed and each individual hand pose is
recognized as a deviation from this mean, the ap-
plication of global features of the extracted hand (us-
ing color processing) such as moments and aspect
ratio to determine a set of hand shapes, model-based
recognition using three-dimensional model predic-
tion, and neural net approaches.
In dynamic semaphore gesture systems, some or
all of the symbols represented in the semaphore li-
brary involve predefined motion of the hands or
arms. Such systems typically require that gestures be
performed from a predefined viewpoint to deter-
mine which semaphore is being performed.
Approaches include finite state machines for
recognition of a set of editing gestures for an aug-
mented whiteboard, trajectory-based recognition
of gestures for spatial structuring, recognition of
gestures as a sequence of state measurements, recog-
nition of oscillatory gestures for robot control, and
space-time gestures that treat time as a physical
third dimension.
One of the most common approaches for the
recognition of dynamic semaphoric gestures is based
on the Hidden Markov Model (HMM). First applied
by Yamato, Ohya, and Ishii in 1992 to the recogni-
tion of tennis strokes, it has been applied in a myr-
iad of semaphoric gesture recognition systems.
The power of the HMM lies in its statistical rigor and
ability to learn semaphore vocabularies from exam-
ples. A HMM may be applied in any situation in
which one has a stream of input observations for-
mulated as a sequence of feature vectors and a finite
set of known classifications for the observed se-
quences. HMM models comprise state sequences.
The transitions between states are probabilistically
determined by the observation sequence. HMMs are
hidden in that one does not know which state
the system is in at any time. Recognition is achieved
by determining the likelihood that any particular
HMM model may account for the sequence of in-
put observations. Typically, HMM models for dif-
ferent gestures within a semaphoric library are rank
ordered by likelihood, and the one with the great-
est likelihood is selected.
In a typical HMM application, Rigoll, Kosmala,
and Eickeler (1997) were able to train a system to
achieve 92.9 percent accuracy in recognizing twenty-
four dynamic semaphores using manually segmented
isolated semaphores. This study illustrates the weak-
ness of such approaches, in that some form of pre-
segmentation or other constraint is needed.
Semaphores represent a miniscule portion of the
use of the hands in natural human communication.
A major reason for their dominance in the literature
is that they are the low-hanging fruit.
Conversational Gestures
Conversational gestures are those gestures performed
naturally in the course of human multimodal com-
munication. This has been variously termed ges-
ticulation or coverbal gestures. Such gestures are part
of the language and proceed somewhat unwit-
tingly (humans are aware of their gestures in that
they are available to subjective description after they
are performed, but they are often not consciously

constructed) from the mental processes of language
production itself. The forms of these gestures are de-
termined by personal style, culture, social makeup
of the interlocutors, discourse context, and other fac-
tors. There is a large body of literature in psychol-
ogy, psycholinguistics, neurosciences, linguistics,
semiotics, and anthropology in gesture studies that
lies beyond the scope of this article. We will list
just two important aspects of gestures here. First,
hand and arm gestures are made up of up to five
phases: preparation, prestroke hold, stroke, post-
stroke hold, and retraction. Of these, only the stroke
that bears the key semiotic content is obligatory.
Depending on timing there may or may not be the
pre- and poststroke holds. Preparations and re-
tractions may be elided depending on the starting
and termination points of strokes (a preparation may
merge with the retraction of the previous gesture
phrase). Second, there is a temporal synchrony be-
tween gesture and speech such that the gestural stroke
and the peak of the tonal phrase are synchronized.
There is a class of gestures that sits between pure
manipulation and natural gesticulation. This class
of gestures, broadly termed deictics (or pointing ges-
tures), has some of the flavor of manipulation in
its capacity of immediate spatial reference. Deictics
also facilitate the concretization of abstract or dis-
tant entities in discourse and so are the subject of
much study in psychology and linguistics. Following
Bolt, work done in the area of integrating direct ma-
nipulation with natural language and speech has
shown some promise in such combination. Earlier
work involved the combination of the use of a point-
ing device and typed natural language to resolve
anaphoric references. By constraining the space of
possible referents by menu enumeration, the deictic
component of direct manipulation was used to aug-
ment the natural language interpretation. Such
systems have, for example, been employed for query-
ing geographic databases. A natural extension of this
concept is the combination of speech and natural
language processing with pen-based gestures. The
effectiveness of such interfaces is that pen-based ges-
tures retain some of the temporal coherence with
speech as with natural gesticulation, and this cotem-
porality was employed to support mutual disam-
GESTURE RECOGNITION 291
biguation of the multimodal channels and the is-
suing of spatial commands to a map interface. Others
have developed systems that resolve speech with
deixes in regular video data.
In Kendons (1980) parlance, a class of conven-
tionalized gestures that may or may not accompany
speech are termed emblems. The North American
OK hand gesture is a typical emblem. While the
temporal speechemblem relationship is different
from that of free-flowing gesticulation, emblem-
atic gestures in conjunction with speech have been
proposed for such applications as map interaction.
Another approach to coverbal gesticulation is to
parse hand movements into gesture phases. Wilson,
Bobick, and Cassell (1996), for example, developed
a triphasic gesture segmenter that expects all gestures
to be a rest-transitionstroke-transition-rest sequence
(ignoring pre- and poststroke holds). They required
that the hand return to rest after every gesture. In
another work Kettebekov, Yeasin, and Sharma (2003)
fused speech prosody and gesticular motion of a tel-
evision weather reporter (in front of a green screen)
to segment the phases and recognize two classes of
gestures (deictics and contours). All gestures are con-
strained to have separate preparations and retrac-
tions. They employed a HMM formalization.
Sowa and Wachsmuth (2000) describe a study
based on a system for using coverbal iconic gestures
for describing objects in the performance of an
assembly task in a virtual environment. In this work
subjects wearing electromagnetically tracked gloves
describe contents of a set of five virtual parts (e.g.,
screws and bars) that are presented to them in wall-
size display. The authors found that such gestures
convey geometric attributes by abstraction from the
complete shape. Spatial extensions in different di-
mensions and roundness constitute the dominant
basic attributes in [their] corpus geometrical
attributes can be expressed in several ways using
combinations of movement trajectories, hand dis-
tances, hand apertures, palm orientations, hand-
s h a p e s , a n d i n d e x f i n g e r d i re c t i o n ( w w w
.techfak.unibielefeld.de/~tsowa/download/Porto.pdf)
. In essence, even with the limited scope of their
experiment in which the imagery of the subjects was
guided by a wall-size visual display, a panoply of
292 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
iconics relating to some (hard-to-predict) attrib-
utes of each of the five target objects were produced
by the subjects.
This author and colleagues approach conversa-
tional gestures from the perspective of the involve-
ment of mental imagery in language production. The
idea is that if gesticulation is the embodiment of the
mental imagery that, in turn, reflects the pulses
of language production, then one might be able to
access discourse at the semantic level by gesture-
speech analysis. They approach this using the psy-
cholinguistic device of the catchment by which
related discourse pieces are linked by recurrent
gesture features (e.g., index to a physical space and
a specific hand shape). The question becomes
what computable features have the semantic range
to carry the imagistic load. They demonstrate dis-
course segmentation by analyzing hand use, kinds
of motion symmetries of two-handed gestures, ges-
tural oscillations, and space-use distribution.
Possibilities of Gesture Use
Gesture use in human-computer interaction is a tan-
talizing proposition because of the human capacity
for gesture and because such interfaces permit direct
access to large and three-dimensional spaces. The user
does not even need to manipulate an input device
other than the appendages with which they come.
We have laid out a purpose taxonomy by which we
can group gesture interaction systems and by which
design may be better understood.
Francis Quek
FURTHER READING
Bolt, R. A. (1980). Put-that there. Computer Graphics, 14, 262270.
Kendon, A. (1980). Gesticulation and speech: Two aspects of the process
of utterance. Relationship Between Verbal and Nonverbal
Communication, 207227.
Kettebekov, A., M. Yeasin, & Sharma, R. (2003). Improving continu-
ous gesture recognition with spoken prosody. Proceedings of the
IEEE Conference on CVPR, 1, 565570.
McNeill, D. (1992). Hand and mind: What gestures reveal about
thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McNeill, D., Quek, F., et al. (2001). Catchments, prosody and dis-
course. Gesture 1, 933.
Quek, F. (in press). The Catchment Feature Model: A device for multi-
modal fusion and a bridge between signal and sense. EURASIP
Journal of Applied Signal Processing.
Quek, F., McNeill, D., et al. (2002). Multimodal human discourse:
Gesture and speech. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human
Interaction, 9(3), 171193.
Rigoll, G., Kosmala, A., & Eickeler, S. (1997). High performance
real-time gesture recognition using hidden Markov Models. In
Proceedings of the International Gesture Workshop. Bielefeld,
Germany, September 1997.
Sowa, T., & Wachsmuth, I. (2000). Coverbal iconic gestures for object
descriptions in virtual environments:
An empirical study. Post-Proceedings of the Conference of
Gestures: Meaning and Use. Porto, Portugal, April 2000.
Wilson, A. D., Bobick, A. F., & Cassell, J. (1996). Recovering tempo-
ral structure of natural gesture. Proceedings of the International
Conference on Face and Gesture Recognition. Killington, VT
Yamato, J., Ohya, J., & Ishii, K. (1992). Recognizing human action in
time-sequential images using hidden Markov Model. Proceedings
of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern
Recognition, 379385.
GOVERNMENT AND HCI
See Digital Government; Law Enforcement; Online
Voting; Political Science and HCI
GRAPHICAL USER
INTERFACE
A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a style of human-
computer interaction that presents computer objects
and actions as images on the screen. Graphical
user interfaces are mostly operated with a pointing
device such as a mouse. It could be argued that with-
out graphical user interfaces personal computers
would not have become as successful and popular as
they are today. The history of GUIs is usually traced
back to the Xerox Star user interface introduced in
1981, but the underlying technology goes back fur-
ther. The first graphics program was Sketchpad, de-
veloped by Ivan Sutherland in 1963. The first
mouse-driven interface was developed by Douglas
Engelbart in 1968. Another key innovator was
Alan Kay, who developed the concept of the

Dynabookan icon-driven notebook computer
in the 1970s. Kay also developed the Smalltalk-80
language and system (made available for public
use in 19791980), which was the first wholly graph-
ical user interface environment. At the time that
Smalltalk-80 was developed, the main form of user
interface was the command line, which required
skilled users to type in complex command sequences.
The users needed to know the names of the com-
mands and the syntax of the commands for what-
ever computer operating system they were using.
Operating systems such as Microsoft Windows
and Linux still make a command line interface avail-
able, but most people seldom use it.
The Macintosh Finder
The early GUIs ran on specialist hardware that was
not available to the general user. It took develop-
ments in cheap microelectronics in the early 1980s
to allow the production of affordable personal com-
puters. The first of these was the Apple Lisa. Prior to
producing the Lisa, the newly formed Apple
Computer had produced the Apple II, which had a
command-line-driven interface. The Lisa adopted
some of the interface concepts from the Xerox Star
interface to become the first personal computer with
a graphical interface. However, the GUIs memory
requirements, demands on the central processing
unit, and required hard-disk speed kept the Apple
Lisa from becoming a commercial success. Apple fol-
lowed the Lisa in 1984 with the more successful Apple
Macintosh. The first Macintosh was an all-in-one
unit with an integrated 9-inch (22.5-centimeter),
black-and-white screen. The Macintosh Finder in-
terface had all the GUI components we are famil-
iar with today:
A mouse for selecting graphical objects. The
Apple mouse had one button for all actions.
A toolbar of menus for each application, with
common menus such as File, Edit, and Help ap-
pearing in each application.
Menuslists of items that represent commands
to be carried out on computer objects.
Iconspictorial representations of computer
objects, such as files and disks.
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE 293
Windowscollections of icons that represent the
contents of a folder, directory, or an applica-
tion.
A trash or wastebasket icon for the removal of
objects.
Scrollbars, which make it possible to view large
numbers of icons in a window by moving hor-
izontally or vertically through the window.
Graphical display of text in different fonts and
styles, text which the user can edit directly.
In addition to the graphical elements on the
screen, the Macintosh Finder interface intro-
duced the following supporting concepts:
The Edit menu, which supported a common cut,
copy, and paste functions for all applications.
This was supported in turn by the scrapbook,
which made possible the exchange of informa-
tion between applications via the Copy buffer.
Dragging as a means of copying or moving items
from one folder to another, or from a folder to
the wastebasket.
The ability to undo operations via the Undo
menu item. This made it possible to correct mis-
takes. Similarly, items in the trash could be re-
trieved, as they were not immediately deleted.
Multiple selection of items either by dragging an
area around them or using keyboard modifiers
with mouse selection.
Resizable and moveable windows. The screen was
treated as a virtual desktop and the windows as
virtual sheets of paper that could be placed on
top of one another or moved around the virtual
desktop.
Taken together, the above features provided an
interface that supported users in carrying out their
tasks quite effectively. Unlike with a command line
interface, users did not have to learn and remember
command names or command syntax. Nor did users
have to learn and remember complex hierarchies in
order to find files and folders. Just as important, soft-
ware developers had access to the components of the
Finder user interface so that they could build graph-
ical user interfaces for the Macintosh. Today there are
many other GUI toolkits, including Windows API,
Java Swing, which help programmers build interfaces.
A GUI toolkit gives the programmer access to buttons,
294 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
check boxes, windows, text boxes, scrollbars, menus,
and icons for building the graphical interface for an
application. Apple also provided a set of user inter-
face guidelines so that developers could produce
interfaces that were consistent with the Finder and
with other Macintosh applications.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft introduced its first version of a desktop
graphical user interface in 1985. It was not as full-
featured as the Macintosh Finder interface, but it had
the advantage of running on the cheaper hardware
of IBM-compatible personal computers and was thus
available to more people. There has been an ongo-
ing debate concerning the relative merits of the Apple
and Microsoft Desktop user interfaces. Usability pro-
fessionals generally believe that Microsoft caught up
with the quality of the Macintosh interface with the
release of Windows 95. Microsoft Windows uses a
two-button mouse with the left button used for selec-
tion and the right button used for pop-up menus,
depending on the context.
The X Windows System
At the same time as the Macintosh appeared, re-
searchers at MIT were developing a graphical user
interface for the UNIX operating system, called the
X Windows system. This was another important de-
velopment in the evolution of GUIs, and the de-
scendants of the X Windows system can be seen today
on Linux. X Windows had some of the features of
the Macintosh but also exploited the power of UNIX.
UNIX is a multitasking operating system, which
means that it can run several applications at the same
time. An X Windows user could thus run several ap-
plications at the same time, each in their own win-
dow. This feature was later included in Apple and
Microsoft user interfaces; it enables users to switch
UNIX is simple. It just takes a genius to understand its
simplicity.
Dennis Ritchie
between tasks without having to stop and restart their
work. X Windows uses a three-button mouse, with
the user customizing the action of each button.
The Design of
Graphical User Interfaces
All the applications that we use todayword pro-
cessing, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, e-mail
tools, Web browsers, and so forthare built on the
same common WIMP elements: windows, icons,
menus, and pointers. However, although GUIs pro-
vide the potential for improved interaction, it is pos-
sible to produce poor ones. The keys to successful
graphical user interface design are attention to the
sizing and layout of graphical items, particularly as
these relate to Fittss Law, the appropriate use and
combination of colors, the correct sequencing of ac-
tions and mouse events, and the involvement of end-
users in the design process.
Fittss Law states that the speed and accuracy with
which a user can select an on-screen object depends
on the size of the object and how far the user has
to move the pointer. The implications for the us-
ability of graphical interfaces are that graphical
features should be as large as practically possible
given display constraints and that frequently used
features should be grouped near one another to min-
imize the distance that the user has to move the cur-
sor to activate them.
Appropriate use and combination of colors is
important for graphical user interfaces. Overuse
of bright colors can be distracting; similarly, using
the wrong combination of colors can result in color
combinations that lack contrast and make text hard
to read.
Graphical user interfaces give users freedom to
choose the order in which they carry out tasks.
Certain interactions require a mode or state in the
interface that alerts the user when there is a problem
or confirms an action such as a permanent deletion.
However, the incorrect use of modes can lock
users in an unwanted state when they should be per-
mitted to make their own choices. Such mode errors
can be avoided by constructing dialogue diagrams
of the state of the GUI.

The same graphical interfaces that help the
majority of users also help the software developers
who build them. The new techniques of visual
programming, using such tools as Visual Basic or
Macromedia Flash, enable developers to develop the
graphical user interface rapidly and to add actions
to the graphical elements as required. This capabil-
ity supports rapid prototyping of the user interface
and enables end users to get an early look at the
developing application. At this point end users can
experiment and discuss the interface with the de-
veloper so that it more closely matches their needs.
Accessible Graphical Interfaces
Popular and useful though they are, GUIs have the
potential to cause problems for users with visual and
motor impairment. Such impairment may range
from mild visual problems to complete blindness
and includes color blindness and inability to use stan-
dard pointing devices. To avoid problems for such
users, graphical user interfaces need to be augmented
with accessibility features. For example, screen read-
ers are a computer common tool for the visually im-
paired. Graphical user interfaces needed to be built
with appropriate text labels and audio cues to sup-
port such users. Keyboard shortcuts are also neces-
sary to support those who have difficulty using the
mouse and similar pointing devices. For people with
color blindness, certain color combinations should
be avoided, as people with the condition cannot dis-
tinguish the colors if they are next to each other. The
most common form of color blindness is red-
green (inability to distinguish red from green), fol-
lowed by blue-green (inability to distinguish blue
from green).
Along with advances in microelectronics and
telecommunications, graphical user interfaces are
one of the cornerstones of the current digital revo-
lution. Graphical user interfaces remove the bar-
rier of complexity from computer use: People can
work through the graphical interface on the task at
hand rather than on the task of operating a com-
puter. Graphical user interfaces have evolved from
the 1960s from specialized workstations to every-
ones desktop; now they are spreading to personal
devices and everyday household appliances. If they
GRID COMPUTING 295
are carefully designed, GUIs can make all manner of
devices easier to use. With careful attention to the
needs of the intended users, GUIs can greatly assist
us all in our lives, whether at work or play.
David England
See also Alto; Mouse
FURTHER READING
Dix, A. (1997). Human-Computer interaction. New York: Prentice-
Hall.
Neilsen, J. (1994). Usability engineering. Boston: Academic Press.
Preece, J., Rogers, Y., & Sharp, H. (2002). Interaction design. New York:
John Wiley.
Shneiderman, B. (2003). Designing the user interface (4th ed.). Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
GRID COMPUTING
As the Internet ushered humanity into the Infor-
mation Age, communication and access to comput-
ing resources and data have become an integral part
of life in the developed world. Scientists are at-
tempting to harness the considerable resources made
available through the Internet to offer computing,
communication and data solutions for those who
require massive amounts of computer processing
power. One such solution is grid computing, also
known as Internet computing, adaptive computing,
meta-computing, global computing, and even plan-
etary computing, referring to the much-acclaimed
SETI@home Project, which depends on Internet-
connected computers to Search for Extra-Terrestrial
Intelligence (SETI).
History and Denition
Ian Foster, a computer scientist at the University of
Chicago, and Carl Kesselman, of the Information
Sciences Institute at the University of Southern
California, earned world recognition by proposing
a new paradigm in distributed computing in the mid
1990s, which they referred to as grid computing.
296 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Grid computing made it possible to use the vast
array of new networks, including the Internet, to
bring globally dispersed computing resources to-
gether. Grid computing provides computing
power in much the same way that a power grid
creates a single, reliable, pervasive source of energy
by utilizing electricity generated from many suppli-
ers, dispersed through many geographical regions.
Fran Berman, Geoffrey Fox, and Tony Hey, editors
of Grid ComputingMaking the Global Infrastruc-
ture a Reality, defined grid computing as follows: [It]
integrates networking, communication, compu-
tation and information to provide a virtual platform
for computation and data management, in the same
way that the Internet integrates resources to form a
virtual platform for information (9). In essence, grid
computing refers to a set of common standards, pro-
tocols, mechanisms, and tools that could be imple-
mented to harness idle computing resources, data
resources, specialized scientific instruments, and appli-
cations in order to create a coordinated and collabo-
rative virtual supercomputer that would offer almost
infinite processing power and storage space.
Grid Computing Applications
Although grid computing traces its inception to wide-
area distributed supercomputing, today it is used to
support the needs of myriad disciplines that need
dispersed data resources and high computational
power, such as high-energy physics, biophysics, mo-
lecular biology, risk analysis and modeling, financial
modeling, scenario development, natural disaster
modeling, geophysics and astrophysics, weather fore-
casting, computer simulation, and first-response co-
ordination of emergency services.
One major U.S. grid computing project is the
National Science Foundations $53 million Tera-Grid,
which connects computing resources and provides
one of the largest grids available. The Tera-Grid per-
forms calculations at a speed of 13.6 teraflops (13.6
trillion floating-point operations per second), offers
over 0.6 petabytes (millions of gigabytes) of disk space,
and has a dedicated network interconnecting all the
nodes at 40 gigabits per second. The high-energy
physics lab of the European Organization for Nuclear
Research (CERN) created a data grid to dissemi-
nate over 10 petabytes of the data they expect to gen-
erate from the new particle accelerator due to begin
operations in 2006. SETI@home uses the principles
of grid computing to harness the idle computing re-
sources donated by almost 5 million personal com-
puter users throughout the world. Commercial
enterprises find grid computing a viable option for
addressing their fluctuating computing needs.
Organizations have found that subscribing to a
grid network and sharing resources is more eco-
nomical than investing in new resources. Many hard-
ware vendors, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard,
and Dell offer solutions to commercial clientele
that include such services as computing-on-demand,
storage-on-demand, and networking-on-demand.
Theses services, coupled with specialized applications
and value-added services, make grid solutions very
desirable to the commercial sector. Grid computing
also has the capacity to offer its commercial customers
end-to-end systems integration, management and
automation, end-to-end security solutions, disaster
recovery, higher performance levels, and reduced up-
front investments.
Fundamentals of Grid Computing
A grid computing network consists of three core
functionality areas that create a seamless computing
environment for the user: grid fabric, grid middle-
ware, and grid portals and applications. The grid fab-
ric comprises all hardware components connected
to the grid. These could range from personal com-
puters to supercomputers that run on diverse soft-
ware platforms like Windows or UNIX. The grid
fabric could also include storage devices, data banks,
and even specialized scientific instruments like ra-
dio telescopes. The grid fabric would also contain
resource management systems that keep track of the
availability of resources across the grid.
The next layer of components on a grid network,
known collectively as the grid middleware, may be
further divided into two categories core grid mid-
dleware and user-level grid middleware. Core grid
middleware programs like Globus and Legion pro-
vide the basic functionality for the grid network.
They include resource allocation and process man-
agement tools, resource identification and registra-

tion systems, and basic accounting and time man-
agement systems. Most importantly, core grid
middleware also includes the core security compo-
nents of the grid, which include local usage policy
management and authentication protocols. The user-
level grid middleware includes programming tools
and resource management and scheduling tools to
efficiently utilize globally dispersed grid resources.
Programming environments such as GrADS help
computing users develop and execute programs that
suit their unique requirements. Middleware sched-
ulers like AppLeS and Condor-G provide task sched-
uling to efficiently manage the available computing
resources to complete queued tasks.
The final functionality areas of the grid are the
portals and applications used to access and utilize
the grid resources. Web-enabled portals allow
users to interact with distributed grid resources and
choose the resources that are most compatible
with their task requirements while adhering to their
security and financial constraints. Most grids
available today offer a suite of applications that are
fully integrated into the grid network. These appli-
cations can be used to harness the vast computa-
tional power of the grid or to access remote data sets
dispersed throughout the world in order to conduct
simulations and data mining projects or to perform
other complex calculations.
A number of available grids cater to specific user
groups with applications that address niche needs.
For instance, the European Data Grid operated by
CERN offers specialized computational and data re-
sources to the high-energy physics community.
Monash Universitys Virtual Laboratory project
(http://www.gridbus.org/vlab/) offers applications
and data resources for research in the area of mo-
lecular biology. NASAs Information Power Grid
(http://www.ipg.nasa.gov/) provides computational
resources for aerospace research communities, while
the Earth System Grid (https://www.earthsystem-
grid.org/) caters to geoscientists working on eco-sys-
tems and climatic modeling.
Most grid computing networks could be cate-
gorized into three main classifications based on
applications and user demands: computational grids,
data grids, and service grids. Computational grids
cater to consumers who require arbitrary levels of
GRID COMPUTING 297
processing power. When a complex mathematical
model or a simulation, which requires immense com-
puting power, has to be processed, a consumer could
use the vast distributed computation power avail-
able on the grid to perform the task.
Data grids, on the other hand, are massive data
repositories that often also integrate discipline-based
applications. The par ticle physics data grid
(www.ppdg.net), for example, provides high-energy
and nuclear physicists distributed data and com-
putational resources. Since moving extremely large
data sets over networks is cumbersome and ineffi-
cient, many data centers offer high-performance
computing resources and specialized applications,
which make data mining and analysis more effective
thus strengthening the global pervasiveness of data
grids. Finally, service grids provide organizations
with the ability to adopt Web service technologies to
optimize their business processes. Especially in busi-
ness-to-business environments, these service grids
are crucial in creating interoperable, stable, secure
interfaces for businesses to communicate and stream-
line their operations. Similar to a dynamic Web host,
a service-grid-based Web host will be able to trans-
fer resources and accommodate peak demand pe-
riods, ensuring that servers will not crumble under
high demand.
Grid Computing Issues
Interoperability and scalability are two concepts fun-
damental to grid computing. Thus a standards-based
open architecture that fosters extensibility has
been found to be most successful in implementing
a grid network. A standard set of protocols is fun-
damental to the way resource owners and grid users
access, utilize, and share resources. These protocols
govern all aspects of interaction between various
components and consumers while preserving local
autonomy and the control of the resource owners.
Resource owners could exercise control over their
resources by prescribing various limitations and re-
strictions on when, how, and by whom the resources
could be utilized.
The grid should be able to integrate a range of tech-
nologies manufactured by various component man-
ufacturers and running on diverse software platforms
298 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
to create a single seamless entity that can handle the
work demands of multiple users. A grid could in-
clude a few integrated resources and grow to include
millions more. With such a complex network, the
probability of a resource failing is high. Thus grids
should be dynamic, resilient, and adaptive to de-
tect failed resources and make necessary changes
to accomplish the assigned tasks using the avail-
able resources effectively and efficiently. This dy-
namic nature of the grid creates a challenge for
resource management and the scheduling applica-
tions that have to keep track of the ever-changing
composition of the grid.
Grid computing is a collaborative effort that
brings together distributed computing resources to
meet the high computational and data demands of
consumers efficiently. It differs from other forms of
high-performance computing systems in several ways.
Supercomputers are often a single entity running on
a single platform under one administrative domain
that can be dedicated to a single task. While they pos-
sess the capacity for high-throughput, they are not
efficient in assembling dispersed data resources nor
can they be easily integrated with other technologies.
Even though grid computing can offer virtually
endless computing power, supercomputers are more
effective for tasks requiring low-latency and high-band-
width communications. Cluster computing often uses
homogenous interconnected PCs and workstations
within a single administrative domain for high-
throughput applications. While cluster computing
works much the same way as grids, they are usually ge-
ographically restricted, smaller in the number of sys-
tems utilized, and rarely made available for public use.
How the Grid Works
Dispersed computing resources, or the grid fabric
(including computers, data bases, and specialized in-
struments), are integrated to the grid through the
deployment of core middleware programs like
Globus that support the basic access requests and
authentication protocols. The core middleware on
these machines is then able to recognize and respond
to authorized users on the grid. At the same time,
user-level grid middleware like GrADS can be used to
create grid-enabled applications or tools to harness
necessary data and computing power to accomplish
the desired task. The user then accesses the grid
through a portal, and upon authentication to the
grid interacts with a resource broker.
The resource broker is then capable of identify-
ing the resources that match the computational
and data needs. Upon identification of these resources,
the data and program are transported, scheduled for
execution, processed, and the final results are then
aggregated and delivered to the consumer. The re-
source broker follows the progress of the application
and data process, making necessary changes to ac-
commodate changing grid dynamics and resource
failures. All these activities transpire seamlessly across
different technologies and software and hardware
platforms, and the consumer receives the final ag-
gregated results, unaware of all the machines and tools
that cooperated to deliver the final product.
Grid computing makes it possible for a user to con-
nect to a grid, access programs, data, and instruments
dispersed throughout the globe, and interact with them
seamlessly across diverse software and hardware plat-
forms. Grid computing is a viable option to meet the
growing computer needs of a world that is increasingly
dependent on information acquisition and processing.
Cavinda T. Caldera
FURTHER READING
Berman, F., Fox, G., & Hey, T. (2002). Grid computingMaking the
global infrastructure a reality. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley.
Buyya, R. (2002). Economic based distributed resource manage-
ment and scheduling for grid computing. Retrieved February 2,
2004, from http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~raj/
Buyya, R., Abramson, D., & Giddy, J. (2000a). An economy driven re-
source management architecture for global computational power
grids. Proceedings of the 2000 International Conference on Parallel
and Distributed Processing Techniques and Applications (PDPTA
2000). Las Vegas, NV: CSREA Press.
Buyya, R., Abramson, D., & Giddy, J. (2000b). Nimrod-G: An archi-
tecture for a resource management and scheduling system in a
global computational grid. The 4th International Conference on
High Performance Computing in Asia-Pacific Region (HPC Asia
2000). New York: IEEE Computer Society Press.
Chetty, M., & Buyya, R. (2002). Weaving computational grids: How
analogous are they with electrical grids? Computing in Science
and Engineering, 4, 6171.

Foster, I., & Kesselman, C. (Eds.). (1999). The grid: Blueprint for a fu-
ture computing infrastructure. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufman.
Foster, I., & Kesselman, C. (2003). The grid (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA:
Morgan Kaufmann.
Foster, I., Kesselman, C., & Tuecke, S. (2001). The anatomy of the grid:
Enabling scalable virtual organizations. International Journal of
Supercomputer Applications, 15(3).
Hagel, J., & Brown, J. S. (2002). Service grids: The missing link in web
services. Retrieved February 2, 2004, from http://www.john-
hagel.com/paper_servicegrid.pdf
Information power grid: NASAs computing and data grid. (2002).
Retrieved February 2, 2004, from http://www.ipg.nasa.gov/ip-
gusers/globus/1-globus.html
National and international grid projects. Retrieved February, 2, 2004,
from http://www.escience-grid.org.uk/docs/briefing/nigridp
.htm
Waldrop, M. M. (2002). Grid computing could put the planets in-
formation-processing power on tap. Technology Review, May 2002.
GROUPWARE
Groupware refers to any software system that is
designed to facilitate group work and interaction.
Groupware has been around since the 1970s. In par-
ticular, e-mail and chat-based groupware have
long histories. E-mail, mailing lists, bulletin boards,
newsgroups, and wikis (collaboratively created web-
sites) are examples of asynchronous groupware sys-
tems (that is, there can be a time delay between a
message being sent, read, and then responded to).
Chat systems, multiuser games, group editors, shared
whiteboards, and teleconferencing tools are exam-
ples of synchronous groupware (comments that one
participant sends are instantly visible to other par-
ticipants, and multiple responses can be made in-
stantly and simultaneously.
Most groupware systems are designed with the
different place assumption; that is, they assume
that the users are distributed across the Internet, in-
teracting with one another only through the group-
ware itself. There has been some work in developing
same place groupware systems for users who are
present in the same physical space. Two good ex-
amples of such collocated groupware systems are
the Brown XMX shared editor for use in elec-
tronic classrooms and the MIT Intelligent Room
project.
GROUPWARE 299
Early Groupware Systems: E-mail,
Chat, and the Web
The first e-mail system was created by the computer
engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971 and became gen-
erally available on the Arpanet (Advanced Research
Projects Agency Network, the precursor to the
Internet) in 1972. It rapidly gained popularity as the
Internet grew during the 1970s and 1980s. Although
e-mail generally facilitates one-on-one interaction,
the development of mailing list tools enabled it to
support widely distributed group projects. The
first newsgroups were developed in the early 1980s;
they were similar to archived mailing lists except that
users would send their text directly to a newsgroup
rather than a list of users.
The first chat-based groupware was the Arpanet
talk command, released in 1972, three years after
the establishment of the Arpanet in 1969. This com-
mand allowed one user to connect to another and to
communicate by sending lines of text back and forth.
It is still available in most UNIX operating sys-
tems. Multiuser chat became popular in 1984 with
Compuserve's CM Simulator. This software was
modeled after citizens band radios and provided a
collection of chat rooms called channels that users
could join. These early groupware systems led di-
rectly to Internet Relay Chat (IRC), ICQ, America
Online Instant Messaging (AIM), and other in-
stant messaging systems.
From its inception, the World Wide Web was
viewed as a tool for supporting group work. Tim
Berners-Lee, the World Wide Webs inventor, de-
scribed it as a distributed heterogeneous collabo-
rative multimedia information system (Berners-Lee
1991). The collaborative aspect referred to the idea
that anyone with access to a Web server could create
webpages and thereby help build this web of mul-
timedia information.
This vision of collaboration has been further real-
ized with the rise of wikis and related systems.Wikis are
websites that visitors to the site can edit simply by click-
ing on the edit link at the bottom of each page and
providing user or password data (if required). The
Wikipedia, a wiki encyclopedia, is a good example of
the use of wiki technology. By 2004, it had more than
300 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
The Wide World of Wikis
From Wiklopedia, which bills itself as a multilingual free-
content encyclopedia that will always belong to everyone.
Key Characteristics
A WikiWikiWeb enables documents to be authored collec-
tively in a simple markup language using a web browser.
Because most wikis are web-based, the term wiki is usu-
ally sufficient. A single page in a wiki is referred to as a wiki
page, while the entire body of pages, which are usually highly
interconnected, is called the wiki.
Wiki wiki means fast in the Hawaiian language, and
it is the speed of creating and updating pages that is one
of the defining aspects of wiki technology. Generally,
there is no prior review before modifications are accepted,
and most wikis are open to the general public or at least
to all persons who also have access to the wiki server. In fact,
even registration of a user account is not often required.
History
Wiki software originated in the design pattern community
for writing pattern languages. The Portland Pattern Repos-
itory was the first wiki, established by Ward Cunningham in
1995. Cunningham invented and named the wiki concept, and
150,000 articles in English and was being translated into
a dozen languages.Anyone who visits the Wikipedia can
edit existing pages or create new articles, and each ar-
ticle contains a link to all of its previous versions.
Another successful web-based system is the Source-
Forge site, an open-source software development site.
Software developers can come to the site and com-
municate asynchronously with other developers about
their code; they can also check out and store multi-
ple versions of their programs at the site. By 2004,
SourceForge was hosting over 65,000 projects and
700,000 registered developers. All visitors to the site
have access to the current code base, but only develop-
ers are allowed to make changes to it.
produced the first implementation of a wiki engine. Some
people maintain that only the original wiki should be called
Wiki (upper case) or the WikiWikiWeb. Ward's Wiki re-
mains one of the most popular Wiki sites.
In the final years of the 20th century, wikis were in-
creasingly recognized as a promising technology to develop
private and public knowledge bases, and it was this poten-
tial that inspired the founders of the Nupedia encyclopedia
project, Jimbo Wales and Larry Sanger, to use wiki tech-
nology as a basis for an electronic encyclopedia: Wikipedia
was launched in January 2001. It was originally based on the
UseMod software, but later switched to its own open source
codebase which has now been adopted by many other wikis.
Wiki Bus Tours
There are virtual guided bus tours taking visitors to var-
ious wiki sites. These consist simply of a page on each
participating wiki called TourBusStop, which gives the link
to the next bus stopbasically, a type of web ring. Each bus
stop page gives some info about that wiki, and one can
choose to explore that particular wiki (thus getting off the
bus), or continue to the next wiki in the tour.
Source: Wiklopedia. Retrieved March 10, 2004, from http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/WikiWiki
Design Issues
The design of a groupware system has a definite ef-
fect on the interaction of the people using it. If the
users do not like the resultant interaction, they may
be severely hampered in performing the task that the
groupware was supposed to help them with. In some
cases they may be unable to perform their task at all,
or they may rebel and refuse to use the system.
To design successful groupware, one must un-
derstand the impact the technology will have on the
task the group is trying to perform. Fundamentally,
designing groupware requires understanding how
people behave in groups. It also requires a good grasp
of networking technology and how aspects of that

technology (for instance, delays in synchronizing
views) can affect the user experience. Shortcomings
in technology can render an otherwise promising
tool useless, as minor issues of system responsive-
ness and reliability can become very significant when
coupled with the dynamics of group interaction.
Traditional issues of user interface designfor
example, striving for a consistent interface and of-
fering helpful feedbackare still relevant, since
the technology still involves individuals. However,
because the target users are groups, there are addi-
tional considerations. For instance, million-person
groups behave differently from five-person groups,
and the performance parameters of the technologies
required to support the two types of groups are quite
different. Likewise, groupware must be easier to use
than software for single users, because the pace of
use of an application is often driven by the pace of
other users. Consequently, a difficult interface will
accentuate disparities in user expertise, which can
lead to frustrating delays and serious reductions in
group productivity.
Coordination and Community
Because groupware necessarily supports a commu-
nity of users performing some task, it must ad-
dress not only the work the users perform that relates
directly to the task, but also the work that users per-
form to stay coordinated during execution of that
task. Users need ways to exchange information about
the task at hand. They need to establish and follow
conventions for activity, and they must be aware of
what other users are doing. Users spend a portion of
their time maintaining common ground. One
method for minimizing disparity between users'
viewpoints, WYSIWIS (what you see is what I see),
creates systems that give users a similar viewpoint
on the task. Another approach is to design groupware
features that help the users be more aware of each
other's actions.
Groupware designers must also keep in mind the
various social issues that arise in collaboration. When
people are dealing with one another remotely, estab-
lishing and maintaining identity can become a diffi-
cult security issue that the groupware designer must
GROUPWARE 301
take into account. Designers need to know how
homogeneous the users are, the roles people are likely
to play, and who key decision makers are and what
influence they have on the decision-making process.
Groupware designers should investigate the effect
the technology will have on the sense of group iden-
tity, culture, and environment that emerge in long-
term collaboration. Additionally, groupware designers
must consider how the system will deal with sensi-
tive social issues such as anonymity and accounta-
bility of actions.
Observational studies, usage studies, surveys, and
prototyping are all important tools in designing suc-
cessful groupware. Good development may require
a spiral model of user-centered or participatory de-
velopment, wherein developers observe users using
a prototype version of the groupware system, collect
and analyze data from that study, and redesign the
software accordingly. Multiple cycles of design and
testing are usually necessary to produce quality group-
ware. Strong analysis tools can help reduce devel-
opment tasks by allowing the designer to understand
difficulties that users encounter while trying to per-
form their tasks using the groupware. Methods such
as ethnomethodology (where the social interaction
between participants is examined in the context of
their work) and various forms of discourse analysis
have been successfully adapted as methods to study
the interaction that emerges. By carefully examining
the recurring problems of coordination that users en-
counter, the designers can identify what parts of
the system need to be redesigned, and they can
then create a system that effectively supports the users.
A Case Study: Instant Messaging
Instant messaging (IM) is, as its name implies, a tech-
nology that lets people communicate with one an-
other synchronously, in real time, as stated on
the home page of America Online's Instant Messen-
ger. After installing client software, a user of IM tech-
nology connects to a central server. The server then
informs those users as to the online availability of those
others included in his or her contact (or buddy)
list. Likewise, the server informs others who have in-
cluded the user in their contact list as to the online
302 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
presence of the user. Typically, a contact list may con-
tain as many as two hundred screen names.
When connected, a user can click on the name of an-
other user who is also online, opening a window to
that person which permits direct, real-time exchanges
of messages between them. (Communication is typ-
ically in the form of text messages, although the tech-
nology permits audio and visual exchanges as well.)
When a user disconnects from the server, others who
include him or her in their contacts lists are informed
that the person is no longer online.
Different types of users utilize instant messaging
in different ways. In a 2000 study, the scholars
Bonnie Nardi, Steve Whittaker, and Erin Bradner re-
ported that in the workplace coworkers used IM tech-
nology to quickly ask and answer questions and to
clarify issues about ongoing tasks. It was also used to
keep in touch with family and friends through brief
exchanges. In addition, it was used to inquire about
the availability of others for communication in other
media as well as to arrange for offline meetings, al-
though in a 2002 study the researcher Ellen Issacs and
her associates reported that most of the IM conver-
sations they studied, also in the workplace, remained
in IM. Instant messaging is now rapidly spreading in
the work world, as evidenced by mention in newspa-
per accounts, by conferences organized to promote its
adoption, and by its inclusion in corporate culture.
Technological Subversion:
Away Messages
In a 2001 study for the Pew Internet and American
Life project, researchers Amanda Lenhart, Lee Rainie,
and Oliver Lewis describe contemporary teenagers
as the instant-message generation, noting that 74
percent of U.S. teens with Internet access use instant
messaging, often to stay in touch with friends and
relatives who do not live nearby. Many others have
also reported on the popularity of IM technology
among teenagers. Interestingly, these studies do
not discuss away messages, a remarkable feature of
IM technology.
The away feature can inform others that,
while the user remains online and connected to the
Away Messages
A
way messages are perceived to be a necessity for many
users of instant messaging. For those who dont want
to think up an original message, websites such as
AIMawaymessages.com offer a variety of messages on top-
ics from friendship and food to homework and finals.
You helped me laugh, you dried my tears,
Because of you, I have no fears.
Together we live, together we grow,
Teaching each other what we must know.
You came in my life, and I was blessed.
I love you girl, you are the best.
Release my hand, and say good-bye,
Please my friend don't you cry.
I promise you this, it's not the end,
Cause like I said you're my best friend
I am not currently available right now.
However, if you would like to be transferred to
another correspondent, please press the number
that best fits your personality:
If you are obsessive compulsive, please press
1 repeatedly.
If you are codependant, please ask some-
one to press 2.
If you have multiple personalitites, please
press 3, 4, and 5.
If you are paranoid delusional, we know who
you are and what you want. Just stay on the line
so we can trace your call.
If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and
the little voice will tell you which number to press.
If you are manic depressive, it doesn't mat-
ter what number you press, no one will answer.
Source: AIMAwayMessages. Retrieved March 10, 2004. from http://aimaway-
messages.com/
IM server, he or she is either not near the computer
or wishes to remain undisturbed currently. In such
a case, the IM client acts like an answering machine:
It records messages left by others while providing
feedback in the form of an automated away mes-
sage sent to those who attempt to contact the
user. On some clients, this message is visible when-
ever a user is away, allowing users to stay appraised
of each others' status without needing to contact
each other directly.

In AIM, the default away message is I am away
from my computer right now. However, users go to
great lengths to expand the kinds of messages they
post and the uses to which such messages are put.
Users, and especially college students who have ac-
cess to broadband connections, employ away mes-
sages as a kind of bulletin board to inform, to
entertain, and to manage social relationships.
The possibilities of away messaging as well as
its popularity are evident in a number of websites
that collect and categorize away messages, serving as
a resource on which users may draw. There is also
software that enables users to keep track of those who
are reading his or her away messages. In addition to
having these communicative and social uses, the away
message feature of IM may also serve a psychologi-
cal function, providing users a sense of presence and
of attachment.
Although synchronous communication is still the
primary function of IM, it is unlikely that its devel-
opers anticipated the extensive and varied uses of asyn-
chronous away messages. Like the telephone, which
was developed as a business tool, and like the Internet
itself, which was developed by the military and ini-
tially used as a means of communication by a small
handful of academic researchers, IM has developed
in ways not necessarily foreseen or intended by its de-
signers. It is another reminder of the difficulties in
predicting how technology will affect society.
While the general public tends to believe that a
given technology dictates its uses, sociologists of tech-
nology argue that the uses of technology are socially
shaped rather than being determined solely by the
materiality of technological artifacts or the inten-
tions of their designers. Technologies are often sub-
verted by users and employed in ways quite different
from those for which they were originally intended.
The case of IM technologies, and especially of IMs
away message capability, illustrates the social shap-
ing of technological change as well as the difficulty
in predicting societal impacts of technology.
Timothy J. Hickey and Alexander C. Feinman
See also Chatrooms; Computer-Supported Cooper-
ative Work
GROUPWARE 303
FURTHER READING
Alterman, R., Feinman, A., Introne, J., & Landsman, S. (2001, August).
Coordinating Representations in Computer-Mediated Joint
Activities. Paper presented at the 23rd Annual Conference of the
Cognitive Science Society, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Retrieved
August 7, 2003, from http://www.hcrc.ed.ac.uk/cogsci2001/pdf-
files/0015.pdf
Berners-Lee, T. (1991). World Wide Web seminar. Retrieved August
7, 2003, from http://www.w3.org/Talks/General.html
Bijker, W. E., & Law, J. (Eds.). (1992). Shaping technology/building
society: Studies in sociotechnical change. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Bodker, S., Gronbaek, K., & Kyng, M. (1993) Cooperative design:
Techniques and experiences from the Scandinavian scene. In D.
Schuler and A. Noamioka (Eds.), Participatory design: Principles
and practices (pp. 157176). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Clark, H., & Brennan, S. (1991) Grounding in communication. In
L. B. Resnick, R. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (Eds.), Perspectives on
socially shared cognition (pp. 127149). Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
Ellis, C. A., Gibbs, S. J., & Rein, G. L. (1991) Groupware: Some issues
and experiences. Communications of the ACM, 34(1), 3858.
Erickson, T., & Kellogg, W. (2000) Social translucence: An ap-
proach to designing systems that support social processes. ACM
Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 7(1),
5983.
Fischer, C. S. (1940). America calling: A social history of the telephone
to 1940. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Grudin, J. (1990) Groupware and cooperative work. In B. Laurel (Ed.),
The art of human-computer interface design (pp. 171185). Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
Hauben, M. (2003). History of ARPANET. Retrieved August 7,
2003, from http://www.dei.isep.ipp.pt/docs/arpa.html
Hutchby, I. (2001). Conversation and technology: From the telephone to
the Internet. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Issacs, E., Kamm, C., Schiano, D., Walendowski, A., & Whittaker S.
(2002, April) Characterizing instant messaging from recorded logs.
Paper presented at the ACM CHI 2002 Conference on Human Fac-
tors in Computing Systems, Minneapolis, MN. Retrieved August 7,
2003, from http://hci.stanford.edu/cs377/nardi-schiano/CHI2002.
Isaacs.pdf
Lenhart, A., Rainie, L., & Lewis,O., (2001) Teenage life online: The
rise of instant-message generation and the Internet's impact
on friendships and family relations. Retrieved August 7, 2003,
from http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Report
.pdf
Nardi, B. A., Whittaker, S., & Bradner E. (2000). Interaction and out-
eraction: Instant messaging in action. In Campbell, M. (Ed.), Pro-
ceeding of the ACM 2000 conference on computer-supported
cooperative work (pp. 7988). Philadelphia: ACM.
Schiano, D. J., Chen C. P., Ginsberg, J., Gretarsdottir, U., Huddleston,
M., & Issacs, E. (2002, April). Teen use of messaging media. Paper
presented at the ACM CHI 2002 Conference on Human Factors
304 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
in Computing Systems, Minneapolis, MN. Retrieved August 7,
2003, from http://hci.stanford.edu/cs377/nardi-schiano/CHI2002.
Schiano.pdf
Suchman, L., & Trigg, R. (1992) Understanding practice: Video as a
medium for reflection and design. In J. Greenbaum & M. Kyng
(Eds.), Design at work: cooperative design of computer systems
(pp. 6589). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shneiderman, B. (1992). Designing the user interface: Strategies for ef-
fective human-computer interaction. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Tyson, J. (2003). How instant messaging works. Retrieved August 7,
2003, from http://www.howstuffworks.com/instant-messaging.htm

H
HACKERS
A computer hacker was originally defined as some-
one who was expert at programming and solving
problems with a computer; later it came to identify a
person who illegally gained access to a computer sys-
tem, often with the intent to cause mischief or harm.
The idea of computer hacking started out with a simi-
larly benign meaning: A computer hack was a solu-
tion to a hardware or programming problem. One
could argue that the first digital computer, composed
of two telephone relays switches, two light bulbs, a
battery, and a tin can keyboard, was itself a hack.
When the mathematician and inventor George Stibitz
(19041995) put together that device in 1937, he was
doing what generations of computer enthusiasts would
continue to do for decades to come, using materials
HACKERS
HANDWRITING RECOGNITION AND RETRIEVAL
HAPTICS
HISTORY OF HCI
HOLLERITH CARD
HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION
HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA
at hand to invent or reinvent technology for novel
uses or to solve an immediate problem at hand.
Each of the following generations of computer
hackers has developed its own culture, its own sense
of style, and, perhaps most importantly, its own sense
of ethics. These various cultures have generally been
shaped as oppositional or resistant cultures within
broader institutional contexts. There have been sev-
eral primary contexts for the development of hacker
culture from the mid-1960s to the present.
The Original Hacker Ethic
In the United States, the origins of hacker culture
can be traced back to the universities and colleges of
the 1960s and 1970s. Fueled by government research
funding, primarily from the U.S. Department of
Defenses Advanced Research Projects Agency
305
306 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
(DARPA), the first generation of computer hackers
were students working during off-hours in computer
labs. The group that the engineer Joseph Weizenbaum
called compulsive programmers and that the sociolo-
gist Sherry Turkle and the journalist Steven Levy doc-
ument as the first generation of hackers was composed
almost exclusively of computer science students at
major U.S. universities in the 1960s and 1970s.
For the first generation of hackers, hacking was
a means to come up with clever or unusual solutions
to seemingly intractable problems. Accordingly,
the notion of hacking was contrary to what most
computer science programs were teaching: struc-
tured programming. Where the curriculum of com-
puter science instruction followed the philosophy of
finding the single best answer to each problem and
structuring that into code, the hacker ethic preached
just the oppositetrying unusual and innovative
approaches to discover new ways of handling a prob-
lem. The hacker ethic rejected conventional wisdom,
favoring a more hands-on, bottom-up approach.
This early generation established the basic ethos
for hacker culture, best exemplified in Steven Levys
characterization of the Hacker Ethic:
1. Access to computers should be unlimited and
total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative.
2. All information should be free.
3. Mistrust authorityPromote Decentralization.
4. Hackers should be judged by their hacking,
not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race,
or position.
5. You can create art and beauty on a computer.
6. Computers can change your life for the bet-
ter. (Levy 1984, 3949)
This ethic underlay the development of many of
the subsequent major technological advances in com-
putation, including the creation of the personal com-
puter (PC) and the Internet. The hacker ethic, as
originally practiced, was blind to the surrounding
political climate. Through the late 1960s and 1970s,
the vast majority of money that went into funding
computer science and technological development in
the United States was given by the military.
During the same period that some students
were writing code in university labs, their more polit-
ically minded peers were deploying technology to a
different end. The Youth International Party was per-
haps the most representative of these politically ori-
ented students. Led by Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin,
and others, the Youth International Party used tech-
nology for personal empowerment and activism.
The Youth International Party created a newslet-
ter called Technological Assistance Program (or TAP)
to provide technological knowledge to people who
would otherwise have to pay companies what the
group believed were unfair rates for technological
services. TAP set out to teach people how the tech-
nology worked and how it could be exploited. Initially
it provided details on how consumer services and
utilities could be used for free as well as on how tech-
nology such as voice conferencing on the phone could
be used for long-distance political organizing.
As the PCs began to emerge as hobby electronics
in the 1970s, small groups of hackers began having
meetings to share programming ideas and to learn
how to build and modify hardware. These groups,
best represented by San Franciscos Homebrew Com-
puter Club, embraced the hacker ethic and began ap-
plying it to PC culture, sharing software and code and
continually finding new ways to innovate and cre-
ate new technology and software. In 1976 two of them,
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, founded Apple
Computer and, along with a host of other early com-
puter manufacturers, ushered in the age of the per-
sonal computer as consumer electronics.
These three dimensionsthe desire to invent,
create and explore (taken from the original hacker
ethic); an engaged hands-on approach, which fo-
cused on personal empowerment (borrowed from
the political-activist hackers of the 1960s and 1970s);
and the idea of community and sharing in the
context of the personal computer (in the tradition
of Homebrew)came together in the 1980s in the
second generation of hackers.
Computer Network Hacking
The emergence of this new group of hackers was the
result of the widespread availability of the personal
computer, as well as the popularization of the figure
of the hacker in the mainstream media. With the re-
lease of the film War Games in 1982, thousands of
young, inspired hackers went online looking for those

who were similarly inclined. The hackers of the 1980s
found their meeting place online, in the form of
newly emerging computer bulletin board systems
(BBS). Many of them founded BBS, usually run on
a spare phone line and set up in the basement or a
teenagers bedroom.
Using a dial-up modem, hackers could access the
bulletin board, and once there, they could swap files
and trade gossip as well as read the latest technical in-
formation about hacking. Because access to computer
networks was limited, gaining access to computers of-
ten required breaking into systems (usually owned by
universities) and then using those computers to ac-
cess others. Through BBS, loose confederations of
hackers formed. With names like Legion of Doom and
Masters of Deception, they made names for them-
selves by posting files with the latest network exploits
or files documenting their latest hacks as trophies.
As the hacker scene grew larger, two hackers who
called themselves Knight Lightening (Craig Neidorf)
and Taran King (Randy King), respectively began to
document the underground hacker culture in an on-
line journal called Phrack (an amalgam of phreak,
a term used to describe telephone hacking and hack,
which was more specific to computers). Phrack pub-
lished articles of interest to the hacker community
on such topics as how to hack your local telephone
company control office and how to pick locks. The
journal also included information about the hack-
ers themselves. In sections such as Phrack Prophiles
and Phrack World News, hackers wrote about the
personalities and events that has special significance
for them.
This generation of hackers embraced the ethic of
open and free information, but found they had in-
herited a world in which computers and networks
were proprietary and expensive. In order to ex-
plore, hackers found they needed to invade other
peoples systems. There was no alternative. The vast
majority of such hacking was merely exploratory and
harmless. Indeed, it was customary for system ad-
ministrators of the systems that got hacked to men-
tor young hackers when the former caught the latter
in their systems. The worst the hackers usually suf-
fered was a phone call to their parents or a stern warn-
ing. By the 1980s, hacking also spread throughout
Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands.
HACKERS 307
In the 1990s, when the emergence of the World
Wide Web made online commerce feasible, the sit-
uation changed. With the growth of e-commerce,
there was a significant shift in the ways that hack-
ers behaved and the ways in which they were treated.
As hackers discovered increasingly sophisticated ways
to exploit security flaws, law enforcement developed
an increased interest in hackers behavior.
Criminalization of Hacking
Even in the 1990s, most incidents of computer hack-
ing remained relatively harmless. Hackers were, how-
ever, being treated as criminals for the first time and
were frequently prosecuted under federal wire fraud
statutes, which carried heavy penalties including jail
time and fines. As the Internet became more closely
tied to notions of commerce in the public imagina-
tion, hacking ceased to be seen as a benign nuisance
and came to be perceived as a public menace, with
several hackers suffering the consequences. What had
previously been viewed as pranks or at most petty van-
dalism has now gained the attention of U.S. govern-
ment authorities.
Where previous generations of hackers had
roamed the networks of universities freely, the hack-
ers of the 1990s were finding their options severely
limited. Exploration was being redefined as crimi-
nality, and high-profile cases, such as the capture and
prosecution of Kevin Mitnick, reinforced tensions
between law enforcement and the hack commu-
nity. Mitnick had been the subject of a nationwide
manhunt, spurred on by a series of stories in the New
York Times, which branded him cyberspaces Most
Wanted. Mitnick became a cause clbre for the hacker
community, having been denied a bail hearing and
spending three years as a pretrial detainee. Perhaps
most important, the damage caused by Mitnicks
hacking was hotly contested. Because Mitnick
never gained financially from any of his hacking, the
defense argued that the damage caused was minimal.
The prosecution, however, claimed that Mitnick had
not only stolen valuable code but had also rendered
other code worthless merely by looking at it. The pros-
ecutors set the figure at $100 million in damage,
the maximum allowed under the statute. Ultimately,
Mitnick pled guilty to making three fraudulent phone
308 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
calls. He received five years in prison for his crimes
and was forced to pay restitution.
Mitnicks arrest and prosecution, along with a
handful of others, sent signals to the computer under-
ground that law enforcement was taking computer
crime seriously, and that they were prepared to make
the capture and prosecution of hackers a priority. At
the same time, with the development and distribu-
tion of open-source operating systems such as Linux,
hackers no longer needed to breach other peoples
systems to explore network security. They were now
able to experiment on their own machines and
networks without the risk of being arrested.
As the stakes for computer hackers were raised,
many hackers turned their attention to system secur-
ity. In the late 1990s a new breed of hackers, so-called
white-hat hackers, emerged. The premise of white-
hat hacking was that hackers themselves could help
systems defend themselves against black-hat hack-
ers (hackers who invade computer systems to cause
disruption or damage). Typically, white-hat hackers
would release security software, document security
flaws, and hold seminars to inform industry about
vulnerabilities and weaknesses. A number of high-
profile white-hat hackers have even testified before
Congress about the state of security on the Internet.
As white-hat hacking became more accepted, white-
hat hackers began forming collectives and security
companies through which to offer their services.
Hacker Activism
In the twenty-first century hackers have turned their
attention to political affairs once again. A new move-
ment, known as hactivism, is based on a fusion of
hacker techniques and political activism. A number of
groups and hackers, most notably Hactivismo and the
Cult of the Dead Cow, have released information and
software to help activists in repressive countries com-
municate effectively. Using expertise in networks,
cryptography, and steganography (hiding informa-
tion in images), these hackers have made it possible
for dissidents in a number of countries to organize polit-
ically and have provided access to otherwise banned
or censored information. The movement has also
spawned more direct efforts at political disruption.
Techniques include the hacking of webpages and the
replacement of the pages original content with po-
litical messages as well as the crashing of websites that
carry messages to which hackers are opposed.
The themes of innovative problem solving, a
hands-on approach, and political and community
action are threads that have run through hacker cul-
ture from its earliest days. As cultural attitudes to-
wards technology have shifted, so has the nature of
hacker culture and the computer underground, which
continues to express the basic principles of hacker
culture, attitudes, and actions in creative new ways.
Douglas Thomas
See also Law Enforcement; Movies
FURTHER READING
Levy, S. (1984). Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution. New York:
Dell.
Thomas, D. (2002). Hacker culture. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press.
Turkle, S. (1984). The second self: Computers and the human spirit.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
Weizenbaum, J. (1976). Computer power and human reason: From
judgment to calculation. New York: W. H. Freeman & Co.
HANDWRITING
RECOGNITION AND
RETRIEVAL
Written information often needs to be electronically
accessed or manipulated (as in editing). Although
people generally learn to write by hand before they
learn to type on a keyboard, it is fairly difficult for
computers to work with handwritten information.
In many situations, the handwritten information
must be stored in the form of page images, which are
difficult for computers to manage (index, search, or
organize). Because handwriting is such an easy pro-
cess for people, much research has gone into enabling

computers to recognize and retrieve handwritten
information.
Text printed on paper using standard fonts can
usually be recognized with high accuracy using an op-
tical character recognition (OCR) engine. Commercial
OCR software can recognize printed text with a char-
acter error rate of about 1 percent, provided the qual-
ity of the printing is good and standard fonts are used.
The high accuracy is possible because printed char-
acters are very uniform and are usually separated by
spaces; OCR software can also be trained to recognize
standard fonts. Handwriting recognition is more chal-
lenging because handwriting varies considerably
between writers, and even for a given writer there are
often some variations. In addition, the characters in
a word are not always well formed.
Online and Ofine Handwriting
Handwriting can be categorized into online and of-
fline handwriting respectively. With online hand-
writing, the act of writing is captured by the device.
Pen stroke and velocity information are, therefore,
available to aid the recognition process. With offline
handwriting, it is assumed that the writing has already
occurred (often on paper), and all that is available is
a scanned image of the written document. In this sit-
uation, information on the pens movements is there-
fore not available.
In recent years, significant advances have been
made in online handwriting recognition. One ap-
proach has emphasized teaching people to write char-
acters in a more distinctive way. For example, the
Graffiti alphabet used by many portable digital as-
sistants (PDAs) changes the way characters are con-
structed so that they are easier to recognize. Other
approaches, such as those used by the Tablet PC, try
to recognize a persons actual handwriting.
Since offline handwriting offers less information,
it has had more limited success. Successes have
been achieved in situations where the lexicon is lim-
ited and additional constraints are available. Bank
check recognition takes advantage of the fact that the
amount written in on a handwritten check makes use
of only about thirty different words. Postal address
recognition is another example where handwriting
HANDWRITING RECOGNITION AND RETRIEVAL 309
recognition had been successful. Although the pos-
sible lexicon is large, the different fields in postal ad-
dresses (postal code, city names, and street names)
restrict what a given written word may be. In the
United States, the postal service uses machines to rec-
ognize and route a significant proportion of both
printed and handwritten addresses. Despite those
successes, however, the problem of offline handwrit-
ing recognition is still unsolved in situations where
large, unconstrained lexicons are used, such as in
handwritten manuscript collections.
Ofine Handwriting Recognition:
Preprocessing and Segmentation
Before words in a handwritten document can be rec-
ognized, the document must be cleaned, artifacts
(marks that are unrelated to the written text, such as
creases where paper has been folded) removed,
and the words segmented out and processed for
recognition. Preprocessing may involve operations
to improve the quality of the image, to correct for
the slant of the writing, and to remove noise (which
may be caused by many factors such as ink blotches,
ink fading, or the scanning process).
The segmentation process involves separating out
individual words. Current segmentation techniques
generally rely on knowledge of the spacing between
text. In English, for example, there is space between
lines of text, and the space between words is usually
greater than the space between characters. The seg-
mentation process is usually a two-stage process: First
lines of text are detected and then the words are de-
tected. In some situations, one can also try to detect
the layout of the page.
A common approach to finding lines of text is
to analyze the pixel values along each row. Each image
may be thought of as a matrix of pixel values organ-
ized into rows and columns where the pixel values
represent the intensity of the image at each point. Each
row may be replaced by a single number obtained
by adding all the pixel values in that row. This creates
a vector with as many numbers as rows.
The values of this column vector when plotted
on a graph show a curve with minima (assuming
310 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
black text corresponds to low pixel values) at loca-
tions corresponding to text and maxima at locations
corresponding to the spaces between lines. The lines
can, therefore, be extracted by noting the position of
the maxima.
Analytic and Holistic Ofine
Handwriting Recognition
There are two approaches to recognizing a handwrit-
ten word: the analytic and the holistic. The analytic
method involves segmenting a word into characters
and then recognizing each character. The word is
segmented at a number of potential character bound-
aries. For each character segment, a classifier sug-
gests possible character choices along with confidence
valuesthat is, the degree of confidence it has in
those choices. At this point, at each character posi-
tion within the word, there is a list of potential char-
acter candidates, each associated with a confidence
value. A graph is created whose nodes (points) are
the segmentation points and whose edges (con-
nections between the nodes) are possible character
choices. The appropriate confidence value is used to
weight each edgethat is, to suggest that a choice is
more or less likely to be correct. Each path from node
to node through the graph creates a string of char-
acters, only some of which are genuine words. The
cost of each path is obtained by adding the weights
(confidences). The path of minimum cost which gives
a legal word is chosen as the optimal path.
The analytic method requires training only on in-
dividual characters. In English, this is a small set con-
sisting of upper and lowercase letters, the digits, and
punctuation marks. The fact that the total set of char-
acters is so small makes it practical to obtain training
samples of characters to create a classifier. The main
weakness of the analytic technique is that it is so dif-
ficult to segment words into characters.
The holistic technique does not require words to
be segmented into characters. Instead, features are
computed over the entire word image. Examples of
such features include the length of the word, the
number of loops, ascenders (an ascender is the por-
tion of the letter that extend above the main body of
the letterfor example, the top portion of the
lowercase letter l) and descenders (a descender is the
portion of a lowercase letter that extends below the
main body of the letterfor example, the lower por-
tion of the lowercase letter p). A classifier is trained
using features computed over a number of train-
ing examples of words. Words can then be recog-
nized using this classifier. The holistic techniques
main advantage is that the difficult problem of
segmenting a word into characters is avoided. On
the other hand, holistic techniques must be trained
on each word, which makes it difficult to use with
a large number of different words. Holistic techniques
work best when the vocabulary is small, as with bank
check recognition.
Handwriting Retrieval
Handwriting recognition is used to convert images
of words into an electronic form that computers can
interpret as textfor example, the American
Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)
data-transmission code. However, this does not by
itself solve the problem of accessing handwritten
documents. For example, suppose one is interested
in locating a particular page from the collected pa-
pers of George Washington. To do this, one needs to
search the set of pages. Given ASCII text, one can use
a search engine to do this. This approach is in fact
used for online handwritten material, as online hand-
writing can be converted to ASCII with reasonable
accuracy. However, this approach does not work for
offline handwritten material, because handwriting
recognition for documents with such large vocab-
ularies is still not practicable. One possible approach,
called word spotting, is to segment pages into words
and to cluster word images (for example, one clus-
ter might be all the instances of the word inde-
pendence in George Washingtons manuscripts) using
image matching. The clusters will have links to the
original pages and may, therefore, be used to find the
right page.
An important distinction between recognition
and retrieval is that the latter usually uses the con-
text supplied by the other words in the page, and this
can improve performance. This constraint has not

been applied to offline handwriting recognition or
retrieval yet, but applying such a constraint should
improve performance.
The Future
Handwriting recognition and retrieval is a chal-
lenging area. While there have been some successes,
especially in recognizing postal addresses, much work
remains to be done, especially in the area of recog-
nizing and retrieving large-vocabulary documents.
Solving this problem would allow computers to deal
with handwritten material in the same way that they
deal with typed input.
R. Manmatha and V. Govindaraju
See also Natural-Language Processing; Optical Char-
acter Recognition
FURTHER READING
Kim, G., & Govindaraju, V. (1997). Bank check recognition using cross
validation between legal and courtesy amounts. International Jour-
nal on Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence, 11(4), 657674.
Kim, G., & Govindaraju, V. (1997). A lexicon driven approach to hand-
written word recognition for real-time applications. IEEE Trans-
actions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 19(4), 366379.
Kim, G., Govindaraju, V., & Srihari, S. (1999). Architecture for hand-
written text recognition systems. International Journal of Document
Analysis and Recognition, 2(1), 3744.
Madhvanath, S., & Govindaraju, V. (2001). The role of holistic para-
digms in handwritten word recognition. IEEE Transactions on
Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 23(2), 149164.
Madhvanath, S., Kim, G., & Govindaraju, V. (1999). Chain code
processing for handwritten word recognition. IEEE Transactions
on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 21(9), 928932.
Madhvanath, S., Kleinberg, E., & Govindaraju, V. (1999). Holistic ver-
ification of handwritten phrases. IEEE Transactions on Pattern
Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 21(12), 13441356.
Manmatha, R., & Croft, W. B. (1997). Word spotting: Indexing hand-
written manuscripts. In M. Maybury (Ed.), Intelligent multi-media
information retrieval (pp. 4364). Cambridge, MA: AAAI/MIT Press.
Plamondon, R., & Srihari, S. N. (2000). On-Line and off-line handwrit-
ing recognition: A comprehensive survey. IEEE Transactions on Pat-
tern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 22(1), 6384.
Rath, T. M., & Manmatha, R. (2003). Word image matching using dy-
namic time warping. In Proceedings of the IEEE conference on Com-
puter Vision and Pattern Recognition (pp. 521527). Los Alamitos,
CA: IEEE.
HAPTICS 311
Setlur, S., Lawson, A., Govindaraju, V., & Srihari, S. N. (2002). Large
scale address recognition systems: Truthing, testing, tools, and
other evaluation issues. International Journal of Document Analysis
and Recognition, 4(3), 154169.
Vinciarelli, A., Bengio, S. & Bunke, H. (2003). Offline recognition of
large vocabulary cursive handwritten text. In Proceedings of the
Seventh International Conference on Document Analysis and
Recognition (pp. 11011107). Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE.
HAPTICS
Haptic interaction with the world is manipulation
using our sense of touch. The term haptics arises
from the Greek root haptikos, meaning able to grasp
or perceive. Haptic interaction with computers im-
plies the ability to use our natural sense of touch
to feel and manipulate computed quantities. Haptic
computer interaction is a relatively new field that has
generated considerable interest in the 1990s and early
years of the twenty-first century.
A New Way To Interact
with Computers
Initially, computers could deal only with numbers.
It took many years to realize the importance of op-
erating with text. The introduction of cathode ray
tube display technology allowed graphics to be dis-
played, giving people a new way to interact with com-
puters. As processing power increased over time,
three-dimensional graphics became more common,
and we may now peer into synthetic worlds that seem
solid and almost real. Likewise, until recently, the no-
tion of carrying on a conversation with our com-
puter was far-fetched. Now, speech technology has
progressed to the point that many interesting appli-
cations are being considered. Just over the horizon,
computer vision is destined to play a role in face and
gesture recognition. It seems clear that as the art of
computing progresses, even more of the human sen-
sory palette will become engaged.
It is likely that the sense of touch (haptics) will be
the next sense to play an important role in this evo-
lution. We use touch pervasively in our everyday lives
312 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
and are accustomed to easy manipulation of objects
in three dimensions. Even our conversation is pep-
pered with references to touching. The researcher Blake
Hannaford at the University of Washington has com-
piled a list of verbal haptic analogies: We frequently
make the analogy to haptics when we speak of our re-
lationship to ideas, people, and information. We of-
ten use phrases like get a feel,poke (into, around),
put ones finger (on the problem), when referring
to exploration. We use phrases like (to stay, keep)
in touch,tangible (concepts),(a) touchy (subject),
hands-on learning (often used literally), and at my
fingertips when referring to contact. And phrases like
pressing issues, pushy (behavior), hard-hitting
(presentation), get a grasp (of the situation), and
so forth are used when referring to impact or ma-
nipulation. In fact, it is quite surprising, given our nat-
ural propensity to touch and manipulate things,
that haptic computer interfaces are not common.
To explore and interact with our surroundings,
we principally use our hands. The hand is unique in
this respect because it is both an input device and an
output device: Sensing and actuation are integrated
within the same living mechanism. An important
question is how best to transmit haptic information
between a running computer program and a users
hand. Providing position input to the computer from
the hand is easy; providing force or torque output
from the computer to the hand has proven to be dif-
ficult. We have not figured out how to invent good
haptic devices that will link our hands in some way
with a running computer programand for that
matter, we do not understand very well how best
to write programs that can derive and serve up hap-
tic information for our consumption.
Our Tactile and Kinesthetic Senses
How does the skin detect pressure, friction, and vi-
bration? We know the hand is a complicated system
that includes articulated structure, nerves, muscles
(for output), and senses (for input). But the hands
sensory capabilities are at best imperfectly under-
stood. Because of this, fully informed design meth-
ods for haptic interfaces do not yet exist.
The sensory suite forms part of the somatosen-
sory system, which has modalities of discriminative
touch (including touch, pressure, vibration), pro-
prioception (including joint angle, muscle length
and length rate of change, and tendon tension), and
pain (including itch and tickle) and temperature.
The first two modalities are the ones that are most
important for haptic perception.
The discriminative touch modality relies on four
different kinds of receptors in the glabrous (hairless)
skin of the hand. They are Meissners corpuscles,
Pacinian corpuscles, Merkels disks, and Ruffini end-
ings. Both the Meissners and Pacinian corpuscles
are considered to be rapidly adapting (RA),
responding mostly to changing stimuli, whereas the
Merkels disks and Ruffini endings are considered to
be slowly adapting (SA) and continue to fire in the
presence of constant stimuli. Whereas the anatomical
characteristics of these receptors are known, their pre-
cise role in psychophysical perception is less well under-
stood. The Pascinian corpuscles respond to
high-frequency vibrations such as those encoun-
tered when running ones finger over a textured sur-
face. The Meissners corpuscles are sensitive to sharp
edges, the Ruffini corpuscles to skin stretch, and the
Merkels disks to edges and pressure.
The proprioception modality is also of major im-
portance, although its receptors are less well under-
stood than those of discriminatory touch. The joint
angle receptors incorporate Ruffini endings and
Pascinian corpuscles located at the joints, which re-
spond to pressure applied to the receptor. Interestingly,
subjects can resolve changes in angle between thumb
and forefinger as small as 2.5 degrees. Muscle spin-
dles, located between and among muscle fibers, re-
port muscle length and rate of change of length. Being
modified forms of skeletal muscle fibers, muscle spin-
dles not only can send information to the brain,
but can also receive commands causing them to con-
tract, resetting their threshold setting. Golgi tendon
organs, which respond to tension force within the
tendons, seem to play a role in muscle control.
In a haptic interface, both the proprioception and
discriminative touch modalities play important roles
in perception. Given these considerations, we must ask
what to put in (or around, or in contact with) the hand
in order for a running computer program to impart a
realistic sensation of touch to a user. There are many
possible approaches to answering this question.

Haptic Interface Devices
Haptic interaction between a person and a computer
requires a special device that can convert a persons
motions into meaningful quantities that can be input
into the computer and at the same time can convert
computed quantities into physical forces and torques
that the person can feel. Many different kinds of de-
vices have been invented that enable haptic interac-
tion with the whole hand, or arm, or even the whole
body. We consider here only the type of device that
can be engaged by the hand.
Haptic devices can have several degrees of free-
dom (DOF). For example, an ordinary mouse device
has two DOFs: It can be moved left-right and for-
ward-backward, yielding two independent position
measurements for input to the computer. Similarly,
the familiar joystick gaming device can be tilted left-
right or forward-backward, yielding two independ-
ent angles. Neither the mouse nor the joystick are
haptic devices, since they provide input only to the
computer. Adding motors or other actuators to these
devices would permit haptic interaction, since they
could then serve not only as input devices, but also
as output devices.
Haptic devices with three DOFs allow translation
in three dimensions, and those with six DOFs allow
both translation and rotation in three dimensions.
Haptic devices usually employ either serial or par-
allel linkages whose joint positions are measured with
encoders and whose joint torques are affected by mo-
tors. One may recognize that the preceding de-
scription also applies to robot arms; in fact, many
early haptic interface devices were based on robot
arms. In the case of a robot arm, the computer com-
mands the arms joint motors to move the arm tip to
a particular position and orientation in space. In the
case of a haptic device, the user holds the arm tip,
moving it to a particular position and orientation as
the computer monitors the joint angles. When the
computed position of the tip reaches a place where
motion is no longer wanted (according to the virtual-
environment model), the computer turns on motors
to provide stiff resistance to further motion. For this
scheme to work, the arm must be back-drivable (that
is, the user is able to move the robot around manu-
ally), or else the users hand force and torque must
be measured at the tip and used to control motion.
HAPTICS 313
Critical considerations for haptic interface de-
vices include degrees of freedom, bandwidth, reso-
lution, and stiffness range. First, haptic interaction
with a realistic three-dimensional virtual environ-
ment has proven difficult with devices having fewer
than six DOFs, but providing six-DOF capability of-
ten implies high mechanical complexity and cost.
Second, the response of the device should be as lively
as possible; otherwise interaction with the virtual en-
vironment will feel sluggish and unnatural. The hand
is capable of feeling vibrations having frequencies of
several hundred hertz (cycles per second), but achiev-
ing the highest possible bandwidth in an electro-
mechanical device is challenging. Third, for the hand
to feel small nuances in the virtual environment (for
example, fine texture or stick-slip friction) the device
must be able to resolve extremely small changes in
position and force. Finally, when the user moves
through free space, nothing should be felt, but when
a hard virtual surface is contacted, it should feel per-
fectly rigid. In practical systems, neither perfect
lack of resistance nor perfect rigidity is achieved, but
the range of possible stiffness felt by the hand should
be maximized.
Haptic devices primarily engage the propriocep-
tive senses in the hand and arm, but also involve
the discriminative touch sensors, chiefly through high-
frequency effects. Collectively, bandwidth, resolution,
and impedance range determine the fidelity of the
haptic device. The ideal haptic interface device has
yet to be invented. One popular commercial device
is a small cable-driven highly back-drivable three-
DOF arm with three encoders and three motors. A
new approach uses magnetic levitation to provide
six-DOF interactions over limited ranges of mo-
tion with a single moving part.
Haptic Rendering
To be able to feel computed quantities, there must
be algorithms and computer programs capable of de-
riving correct force and torque values for a given sit-
uation to be output to a haptic interface device.
The term haptic rendering is used to describe these
operations, in analogy with the familiar rendering of
graphics on a computer display. Normally, haptic ren-
dering is accompanied by simultaneous graphical
314 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
rendering in what is more properly referred to as a
visual-haptic interface. Unlike graphical rendering,
which can satisfy the eye at update rates of thirty
frames per second or even less, haptic rendering must
be done at rates approaching a kilohertz (that is, a
frequency approaching a thousand cycles per sec-
ond) to feel right to the hand.
In many cases, one may desire to interact hapti-
cally with three-dimensional objects modeled in the
computer. For example, suppose we have modeled a
cube and a cone by using mathematical formulas that
define their surfaces, and we wish to be able to
touch these virtual objects with a point-like probe.
The haptic system establishes a one-to-one corre-
spondence between the (virtual) probe point and the
position of the haptic device handle, called a ma-
nipulandum. This is very much like the relationship
between a computer mouse on the desktop and the
cursor on the computer display screen. As the user
moves the probe point about in three dimensions
by moving the manipulandum, the computer checks
whether the point is outside an object in free space or
inside an object, an operation termed collision de-
tection. This test must be done very rapidly, perhaps
a thousand times a second. As long as the probe point
is in free space, the device motors are turned off and
are able to turn freely. As soon as the point is deter-
mined to be inside the virtual cube or cone, the mo-
tors are turned on, providing torques to the device
joints, which generate a stopping force on the manip-
ulandum. If the user attempts to push the point far-
ther into the virtual object, the motor currents are
increased further to resist the motion. The user thus
experiences a sensation of contacting the surface of a
real object. With a three-DOF haptic device, the
user may freely slide the point along the surface of the
cone or surfaces of the cube, feeling their shapes.
With a six-DOF haptic device, it is possible to
make use of a three-dimensional virtual tool instead
of just a point. The haptic system associates the
position and orientation of the virtual tool with the
position and orientation of the manipulandum. In
our example, if the user contacts the virtual cube or
cone with, say, a cube-shaped virtual tool, he or
she will feel torques as well as forces, as a surface of
the virtual tool rotates into contact with a surface of
the cube or cone.
Collision detection for a virtual tool is much
more complicated than that for a point. For either a
point or a virtual tool, once the virtual object sur-
face is contacted, realistic contact forces and torques
must be derived. Researchers have developed a num-
ber of different algorithms for this. For example, if
the surfaces are supposed to feel rigid, a very stiff
spring is modeled. If the object is deformable, its sur-
face is modeled as a network of springs that can
deform much like a mattress deforms. Surfaces of
virtual objects need not be smooth. Various texture-
and friction-rendering algorithms have been de-
veloped. In all these methods, there is a trade-off be-
tween rendering accuracy and rendering time that
is severely taxing on computer resources. There are
also issues of control stability. When we interact hap-
tically with real objects, energy is almost always dis-
sipated, but if the interaction between a haptic device
and a virtual environment is not correctly modeled,
energy can be generated, leading to vibration and
sudden loss of control. Finding the best haptic ren-
dering algorithms for a given situation continues to
be an active area of research.
Psychophysics of Haptic Interaction
One may characterize the operation of a haptic inter-
face in terms of its engineering parameters, but in
the end it is the users perception that really matters.
Physiologists and psychologists have studied the hu-
man sense of touch for many decades. Psychophysics
is the scientific study of the relationship between
stimuli (specified in physical terms) and the sensa-
tions and perceptions evoked by those stimuli.
Researchers have striven to characterize and dis-
tinguish psychophysical responses from various dis-
criminative touch sensors by performing experiments.
For example, the researchers Roberta Klatzky and
Susan Lederman conducted an extensive psychophys-
ical analysis of haptic performance under conditions
in which the fingertip is covered by a rigid sheath,
held in place by a thin rubber glove. This eliminates
the spatial pressure gradient normally provided by
the mechanoreceptors (particularly slowly adapt-
ing receptors such as the Merkels disks) and provides
only a uniform net force (with, possibly, a gradient
at the edges of the sheath that is unrelated to the

felt surface), simulating conditions encountered when
using a haptic device.
Knowledge about the discriminatory touch modal-
ity can inform haptic interface design. It would
seem that haptic sensation of subtle effects relating to
texture and friction, which tend to be high-frequency
phenomena communicated mostly through the users
skin, is of major importance. It is precisely these high-
frequency effects that permit a person to assess con-
ditions in the real world rapidly. For example, when
a machinist removes a part from a lathe, the first in-
stinct is to feel the quality of the parts finish; only later
is it visually inspected and measured.
Recently, psychologists have begun performing
experiments to evaluate the efficacy of haptic in-
teraction systems. In these experiments, subjects per-
form tasks using only vision, or only haptics, or a
combination of vision and haptics, and then task
performance is objectively measured. For example,
subjects may be asked to fit a virtual peg into a close-
fitting virtual hole, with the pegs (or the holes) posi-
tion and orientation and the forces and torques on
the peg or hole measured in real time as the task pro-
gresses. Subjects in a control group are asked to fit a
corresponding real peg into a real hole while mak-
ing the same measurements. By contriving to have
the setup for the virtual and real cases nearly iden-
tical, it is possible to assess the degree of haptic trans-
parency afforded by the haptic computer interaction
system. It is generally found that task performance
is enhanced when haptic feedback is included, but
subjects experience more difficulty dealing with vir-
tual environments than they do with real environ-
ments. Results point to the need to improve both
haptic devices and haptic rendering algorithms.
How Haptic Computer Interaction
Can Be Used
Many people think that haptic computer interaction
will have widespread utility in many fields of activ-
ity. A number of application areas are under explora-
tion, but none have as yet entered the mainstream.
One such field is computer-augmented design (CAD),
in which countless products are developed for our
daily use. With a visual-haptic interface, the designer
HAPTICS 315
of an engine can pick up and place parts into a com-
plicated assembly while feeling the fit and friction
characteristics. Haptics can also be used for education
and medical training. Students can learn physics in-
volving mechanical or electromagnetic forces while
actually feeling the forces. Virtual surgery can be per-
formed, with the student feeling modeled viscoelastic
properties of tissues. Multidimensional scientific data
might be more easily understood through a visual-
haptic interface that allowed the user not only to see
the data, but also to feel it at any point. Haptic de-
vices can also be used as hand controllers for virtual
vehicles. For example, in a flight simulator, aerody-
namic forces and vibration can be transmitted to the
users hand to provide a more immersive experience.
Many other potential applications are under con-
sideration, including use by persons who are blind
or visually impaired. Finally, haptics can be used to
control remote machinery, such as a robot, with
forces and torques reflected back to the operator.
There is growing research activity in haptics
through the efforts of device designers, algorithm
developers, and psychologists. As the field evolves,
these disparate specialists are beginning to work
together and to share insights, generating new
knowledge in a multidisciplinary endeavor. Mean-
while, many future applications of haptics are under
consideration.
Ralph L. Hollis
See also Augmented Reality; Virtual Reality
FURTHER READING
Baraff, D. (1994, July). Fast contact force computation for non-penetrat-
ing rigid bodies. Computer Graphics, Proceedings of SIGGRAPH,
2334.
Berkelman, P. J., & Hollis, R. L. (2000, July). Lorentz magnetic levi-
tation for haptic interaction: Device design, performance, and inte-
gration with physical simulations. International Journal of Robotics
Research, 19(7), 644667.
Bolanowski, S. J., Gescheider, G. A., Verillo, R. T., & Checkosky, C.
M. (1988). Four channels mediate the mechanical aspects of touch.
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 84(5), 16801694.
Brooks, Jr., F., Ouh-Young, M., Batter, J. J., & Kilpatrick, P. (1990).
Project GROPE: Haptic displays for scientific visualization. Com-
puter Graphics, 24(4), 177185.
316 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Burdea, G. C. (1996). Force and touch feedback for virtual reality. New
York: John Wiley and Sons.
Cotin, S., & Delingette, H. (1998). Real-time surgery simulation with
haptic feedback using finite elements. IEEE International Conference
on Robotics and Automation, 4, 37393744.
James, D. L., & Pai, D. K. (1999, August). ArtDefo, accurate real time
deformable objects. Computer Graphics, Proceedings of SIGGRAPH,
6672.
Jansson, G., Billberger, K., Petrie, H., Colwell, C., Kornbrot, D., Fnger,
J. F., et al. (1999). Haptic virtual environments for blind people:
Exploratory experiments with two devices. The International Journal
of Virtual Reality, 4(1), 1020.
LaMotte, R. H., & Srinivasan, M. A. (1990). Surface microgeometry:
Tactile perception and neural encoding. In D. Franzen & J. Westman
(Eds.), Information processing in the somatosensory system (pp.
4958). New York: Macmillan.
Lederman, S. J., & Klatzky, R. L. (1999). Sensing and displaying spa-
tially distributed fingertip forces in haptic interfaces for teleop-
erator and virtual environment systems. Presence, 8(1), 86103.
Massie, T. H., & Salisbury, J. K. (1994).The PHANToM haptic in-
terface: A device for probing virtual objects. Proceedings of ASME
Winter Annual Meeting, Dynamic Systems and Control, 55,
295301.
McLaughlin, M. L., Hespanha, J. P., & Sukhatme, G. S. (Eds.). (2002).
Touch in virtual environments. Prentice Hall IMSC Press Multimedia
Series. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Seow, K. (1988). Physiology of touch, grip, and gait. In J. G. Webster
(Ed.), Tactile sensors for robotics and medicine (pp. 1340). New
York: John Wiley and Sons.
Tan, H. Z., Lim, A., & Traylor, R. M. (2000). A psychophysical study
of sensory saltation with an open response paradigm. Proceedings
of the 9th International Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual
Environments and Teleoperator Systems, ASME Dynamic Systems
and Control Division, 69(2), 11091115.
HEALTH ISSUES
AND HCI
See Brain-Computer Interfaces; Cybersex; Keyboard;
Law and HCI; Privacy; Work
HELP SYSTEMS
See Adaptive Help Systems; Artificial Intelligence; Cog-
nitive Walkthrough; Errors in Interactive Behavior;
Information Filtering; Instruction Manuals; User
Support
HISTORY OF HCI
The history of human-computer interaction (HCI)
includes the evolution of widespread practices. It also
includes people, concepts, and advances in under-
standing that inspired new developments. Often dec-
ades elapse between visions or working demonstrations
of concepts and their widespread realization. The field
of HCI can be understood in terms of existing prac-
tices, new visions, and hardware that became sub-
stantially more powerful year after year.
Human Factors before Computers
Through the centuries people developed highly spe-
cialized tools to support carpenters, blacksmiths, and
other artisans. However, efforts to apply science and
engineering to improving the efficiency of work prac-
tice became prominent only a century ago. Time-
and-motion studies exploited inventions of that era
such as film and statistical analysis. The principles
of scientific management of the U.S. efficiency en-
gineer Frederick Taylor, published in 1911, had lim-
itations, but such principles were applied to U.S.
assembly line manufacturing and other work prac-
tices in subsequent decades. World War I motivated
a similar focus in Europe.
World War II accelerated behavioral engineering
as complex new weaponry tested human capabilities.
One design flaw could cause thousands of casualties.
A legacy of the war effort was an enduring interest in
human factors or ergonomics in design and training.
(Another legacy was the creation of the first digital
computers.)
Early approaches to improving work and the
man-machine interface focused on the nondis-
cretionary (mandatory) use of technology. The as-
sembly line worker was hired to use a system. The
soldier was given equipment. They had no choice in
the matter. If training was necessary, they were
trained. The goals of workplace study and technol-
ogy improvement included reducing errors in op-
eration, increasing the speed of operation, and
reducing training time. When use is nondiscretionary,
small improvements help.
 HISTORY OF HCI 317

A Personal StoryHighlights from My Forty Years of HCI

Prehistory
1955 Receive my first desktop word processor when parents take out of storage an old black-framed Underwood type-
writer to do my school papers for junior high.
1957 Discover K&E slide rules at Bronx High School of Science for use in math and physics class. Think it really cool to
have an 18-inch one swinging from its own holster on my belt: a nerd gunslinger.
1959 As I go off to Lafayette College, parents give me my first laptop: a grey Royal portable typewriter, manual, of course.
1963 Leave for Harvard social relations graduate school with new baby-blue Smith Corona portable. The first affordable
electric typewriter, albeit with a manual carriage return.
1964 Make one of the most important decisions in my life, by taking a computer course. Learn to keypunch and use a
counter-sorter: the thing with twelve pockets that movies used to love because it gave good visuals.
1964 Discover that the command do not fold, bend, spindle or mutilate printed on my utility bills was because IBM
cards treated this way would jam in counter-sorters and accounting machines. Henceforth, mutilate all my utility
cards as a 1960s anti-bureaucratic protest and to create more jobs for workers who had to cope by hand with my
de-automated card.

Mainframe
1964 Learn to program in: FAP [early Assembler] and Fortran II and IV. Submit many jobs (stacks of IBM punch
cards) to the Harvard computer center, and sometimes get meaningful output back 10 hours later.
1966 Much of my dissertation data analysis done at this time on the new DataText do-it-yourself statistics program, which
liberates scholars from dependence on technicians to do analyses.
1967 Just before I leave Harvard, I view the remote teletype access between our building and Project Mac at MIT and
ARPAnet. I am amazed, but didnt fully appreciate that this was a precursor of the Internet revolution.
1973 Start using IBM Selectric typewriterwith correction buttonto write papers.
1976 Meet Murray Turoff and Roxanne Hiltz who are developing EIES, one of the first civilian e-mail-like systems, com-
bining messaging and computerized conferencing. I happily join them and have not been offline since.

Remote Access to Mainframe

1979 New HCI interfaces arrive at the University of Toronto. I can submit computer runs from a typewriter-like termi-
nal near my office instead of having to trudge to the mainframe building.
1985 E-mail becomes prevalent on a less-experimental basis: Bitnet in the U.S./Canada and later Netnorth in Canada.
The two systems interconnect and link less easily with European equivalents. I schmooze with people near and
far, and have never stopped.

Stand-Alone Personal Computing

1987 Buy my first stand-alone computer, the hot new 6-megahertz IBM AT with a 20-megabyte hard disk, one of the
hottest machines of the time. No longer must I negotiate with secretaries to type and retype drafts of papers. This
leads to more editing of drafts by me, but also greater productivity in the number of papers published.

The Internet Matures

1990 Cajole the director of the centre to patch together an Ethernet line running through all offices. It connects to a router
that links to the computer centre mainframe
318 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

A Personal StoryHighlights from My Forty Years of HCI (continued)

1992 Buy my first laser printer for personal use: a Hewlett-Packard 4M. No need to trudge down the hall to print final
versions. Now have the ability to print pictures and graphs at my own desk.
1992 The modern Internet era begins, with the expansion of e-mail to the rest of the world, especially through dot.com
Internet addresses and commercial Internet Service Providers.
1994 Buy my first computer for the house. Saves me the trouble of going to the office on nights and weekends to do
statistical analyses, e-mail or write.
1995 Buy my first laptop (Dell) to take with me as a visiting professor at Hebrew University. To cope with busy signals,
I set my alarm for 2 am to rise and sign-on to the Internet.

Powerful Personal Computing

1996 Start Netville study with Keith Hampton of a highly wired suburb near Toronto, with 16MB connection. Discover
that even more than high-speed Internet connections, people value the ability to always keep their Internet con-
nections on so that they can quickly share a thought.
1996 Personal computers now fast enough that it is feasible to do large statistical analyses on them. Their graphical in-
terfaces make it easier to compile commands at the cost of some flexibility.
1997 Buy first printer for home use. Now there is even less reason to go to the office.
1998 Early adopter of Google search engine. Miraculously fast, awesome coverage, and it uses social network analytic
principles to identify important sites. Bookmarking now becomes a minor convenience rather than an absolute ne-
cessity for navigating the web.
1999 Obtain high-speed broadband connection (DSL) for the house, making it easy to access websites rapidlyand our
phone line is no longer tied up by computer use.

The Internet Proliferates

2001 Set up my own website which has 35,000 hits by March 2004. People stop writing to me for my papers; they just
go to the site and download
2002 Teach an undergraduate Internet and Society course in a smart classroom where each student has a PC on her
desk, hardwired into the Internet. Biggest challenge is to stop students from emailing, IMing, and web surfing
during class so that they will pay attention to my lectures.
2002 Student assistants reduce their trips to the library, since most scholarly journals now have electronic versions online.
I then accumulate many articles to read because they are so easy to obtain online. Sometimes I even get to read them.
2003 Phone calls have essentially stopped coming to the office, except from my wife and the news media. Get over 100
e-mail messages a day (half of them spam), and send about 50.
2004 Have more than 2,500 e-addresses in my address book.
2004 After forty years of computing, I suffer a herniated (slipped) cervical disk. I have sat at computers for too many
hours, days, and years.
Barry Wellman
Source: Wellman, B. (2004). HCI: A personal timeline. Retrieved April 1, 2004, from http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/publications/hci_timeline/timeline-hci.pdf

Early Visions and Demonstrations
Until transistor-based computers appeared in 1958,
visions of their future use existed mainly in the realm
of science fiction because vacuum tube-based com-
puters had severe practical limitations. The most in-
fluential early vision was Vannevar Bushs 1945 essay
As We May Think. Bush, who played a key role in
shaping government funding of research in science
and technology during and after World War II, de-
scribed an inspiring albeit unrealistic mechanical de-
vice that anticipated many capabilities of computers.
Key writings and prototypes by HCI pioneers ap-
peared during the next decade. J.C R. Licklider, a
research manager with a background in psychol-
ogy, outlined requirements for interactive systems
and accurately predicted which would prove easier
and which more difficult to fulfill (such as visual dis-
plays and natural language understanding, respec-
tively). Computer scientists John McCarthy and
Christopher Strachey proposed time-sharing systems,
crucial to the spread of interactive computing. In 1963
Ivan Sutherlands Sketchpad display system
demonstrated copying, moving, and deleting of hi-
erarchically organized objects, constraints, iconic rep-
resentations, and some concepts of object-oriented
programming. Douglas Engelbart formulated a broad
vision, created the foundations of word processing,
invented the mouse and other input devices, and con-
ducted astonishing demonstrations of distributed
computing that integrated text, graphics, and
video. Ted Nelsons vision of a highly interconnected
network of digital objects foreshadowed aspects of
World Wide Web, blog (or Web log), and wiki (multi-
authored Web resource) technologies. Rounding out
this period were Alan Kays visions of personal com-
puting based on a versatile digital notebook.
These visions focused on the discretionary use of
technology, in articles that included:Man-Computer
Symbiosis, Augmenting Human Intellect, and A
Conceptual Framework for Man-Machine Everything.
Technology would empower people to work and inter-
act more effectively and flexibly. These visions inspired
researchers and programmers to work for the decades
needed to realize and refine them. Some of the capa-
bilities that the visions anticipated are now taken for
granted; others remain elusive.
HISTORY OF HCI 319
Nondiscretionary or discretionary use? Real life
lies somewhere along a continuum from the assem-
bly line nightmare satirized in the English actor Charlie
Chaplins movie Modern Times to utopian visions of
completely empowered people. Although some de-
sign opportunities and challenges affect the spectrum
of computer use, distinct efforts focused on discre-
tionary and nondiscretionary use have proceeded in
parallel with only modest communication.
The First Forty Years
A key to understanding the evolution of human-
computer interaction is to describe the evolution of
who interacted with computers, why they did so, and
how they did it. (See Figure 1.)
The first computer builders did everything them-
selves. Following the appearance of commercial sys-
tems, for three decades most hands-on computer
users were computer operators. Programmers and
those people who read printed output interacted
with computers but not directly. Labor was thus di-
vided into these three categories: (1) Operators inter-
acted directly with a computer: maintaining it,
loading and running programs, filing printouts, and
so on. (2) Programmers, a step removed from the
physical device, might leave a job in the form of
punched cards to be run at a computer center, pick-
ing up the cards and a printout the next day. (3) Users
specified and used a programs output, a printout,
or report. They, too, did not interact directly with
the computer.
Supporting Nondiscretionary Use
by Computer Operators
In the beginning the computer was so costly that
it had to be kept gainfully occupied for every sec-
ond; people were almost slaves to feed it. (Shackel
1997, 997)
For the first half of the computer era, improving
the experience of hands-on users meant supporting
low-paid operators. An operator handled a computer
as it was, setting switches, pushing buttons, read-
ing lights, feeding and bursting (separating) printer
320 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
paper, loading and unloading cards, magnetic tapes,
and paper tapes, and so on.
Teletypes were the first versatile mode of direct
interaction. Operators typed commands, the com-
puter printed responses or spontaneous status
messages. The paper printout scrolled up, one line at
a time. Displays (called video display units or video
display terminals or cathode ray tubes) were nick-
named glass ttys (glass teletypes) because they func-
tioned much the same, displaying and scrolling up
typed operator commands, computer-generated
responses, and status messages. Most were mono-
chrome and restricted to alphanumeric characters.
The first display to be marketed commercially cost
around $50,000 in todays dollars. They were expen-
sive but cost a small fraction of a business computer.
Typically one console or terminal accompanied a
computer for use by an operator.
Improving the design of buttons, switches, and
displays was a natural extension of traditional hu-
man factors. In 1959 Shackel published Ergonomics
for a Computer, followed in 1962 by Ergonomics
in the Design of a Large Digital Computer Console.
Little published research followed for a decade. In
1970 Shackels HUSAT (Human Sciences and Ad-
vanced Technology) research center formed, focused
on general ergonomics.
The first influential book was James Martins 1973
Design of Man-Computer Dialogues. After a visionary
chapter that remains interesting to read, the book sur-
veyed existing approaches to supporting operators.
Yet, it was written for programmers and conveyed a
sense of changes ahead.
In 1980 five major HCI books were published; two
focused on video display terminal (VDT) design and
one on general ergonomic guidelines. Germany pub-
lished VDT standards in 1981. By threatening exist-
ing products, these standards made designing for
human capabilities a visible economic issue.
Also during 1980 Stuart Card, Thomas Moran,
and Allen Newells article Keystroke-Level Model
for User Performance Time with Interactive Systems
was published. They wrote: The central idea behind
the model is that the time for an expert to do a
task on an interactive system is determined by the
time it takes to do the keystrokes (397). This model
and successors such as GOMS (goals, operators,
methods, selection rules) were used to help quin-
tessentially nondiscretionary users such as telephone
operators, people engaged in repetitive tasks involving
little reflection. GOMS added higher level cognitive
elements to the perceptual-motor focus of knobs
and dials human factors.
A series of ergonomically justified interface guide-
lines culminated in 1986 with the publication of
human factors experts Sidney Smith and Jane Mosiers
944 guidelines. Sections were entitled Data Entry,
Data Display, Data Transmission, Data Protection,
Sequence Control, and User Guidance. The em-
phasis was on supporting operators. The guidelines
mentioned graphical user interfaces (GUIs), then a
new development, and the major shift and expansion
of the design space ushered in by GUIs may have been
a factor in discontinuing the guideline effort.
By then change was rippling through the indus-
try. Mainframe computers and batch processing still
dominated, but time sharing of computers was al-
lowing new uses, minicomputers were spreading,
and microcomputers were starting to appear. Hands-
on computing was becoming available to people who
were not computer professionals, who would use
technology only if it helped them work better.
Improving the life of discretionary users had a his-
tory in the visions of Bush and others, of course, but
also in the support for the other two categories of com-
puter users: programmers and users of the output.
Supporting Discretionary Use by
Computer Programmers
Early programmers used a computer directly when
they could because doing so was fun and faster.
However, the cost of computers largely dictated the
division of labor noted previously. Working as a pro-
grammer during the mid-1970s, even at a computer
company, typically meant writing programs on pa-
per that were then punched onto cards by keypunch
operators. The jobs were run by computer operators,
and the programmer received printed output.
Improving the programmers interface to a com-
puter meant developing constructs (e.g., subroutines),
compilers, and programming languages. Grace Hopper
was a farsighted pioneer in this effort through the 1950s.

Programmers also worked to advance computer
technology. In 1970 the Xerox companys Palo Alto
Research Center (PARC) was founded, with a focus
on advancing computer technology. In 1971 Allen
Newell proposed a project that was launched three
years later: Central to the activities of computing
programming, debugging, etc.are tasks that appear
to be within the scope of this emerging theory of the
psychology of cognitive behavior (quoted in Card and
Moran 1986, 183). PARC and HUSAT were launched
in 1970 and engaged in a broad range of research but
with an interesting contrast. HUSAT research was fo-
cused on ergonomics, anchored in the tradition of
nondiscretionary use, one component of which was
the human factors of computing. PARC research was
focused on computing, anchored in visions of dis-
cretionary use, one component of which was also the
human factors of computing. PARC researchers ex-
tended traditional human factors to higher level cog-
nition; HUSAT and European researchers introduced
organizational considerations.
Thousands of papers written on the psychology
and performance of programmers were published
during the 1960s and 1970s. Gerald Weinberg pub-
lished the book The Psychology of Computer Program-
ming in 1971. In 1980, the year when three books
on VDT design and ergonomics were published, Ben
Shneiderman published Software Psychology. In 1981
B. A. Sheil wrote about studies of programming nota-
tion (e.g., conditionals, control flow, data types), pro-
gramming practices (flowcharting, indenting, variable
naming, commenting), and programming tasks
(learning, coding, debugging) and included a section
on experimental design and statistical analysis.
With time sharing and minicomputers in the late
1970s and 1980s, many programmers became en-
thusiastic hands-on users. Ongoing studies of pro-
grammers became studies of hands-on users. When
personal computing was introduced, studies shifted
to other discretionary users.
The book Human interaction with computers, ed-
ited by Thomas R. G. Green and Harold T. Smith and
also published in 1980, foreshadowed the shift. With
a glance at the human as a systems component, one
third of the survey was devoted to research on pro-
gramming and the rest to designing for non-spe-
cialist people, meaning people who were not
HISTORY OF HCI 321
computer specialiststhat is, those people we now
call discretionary users. The preface of the book
echoed early visions: Its not enough just to estab-
lish what people can and cannot do; we need to spend
just as much effort establishing what people can and
want to do (viii).
Another effort to bridge the gap between pro-
grammer and other professionals emerged in John
Goulds group at IBM Watson Labs. Like the PARC
applied psychology group, the Gould group evolved
through the 1970s and 1980s to a cognitive focus
from one that included perceptual-motor studies
and operator support. In order to expand the mar-
ket for computers, IBM realized it would be neces-
sary to make them usable by people who could not
be expected to program complex systems.
Many key participants in early HCI conferences,
including Ruven Brooks, Bill Curtis, Thomas Green,
and Ben Shneiderman, had studied psychology of
programming. Papers written on programmers as
users were initially a substantial part of these con-
ferences but gradually disappeared as programmers
became a smaller subset of computer users.
Other factors contributed to a sense that HCI
was a new undertaking. Graphic displays dropped
in price and became widely used during the late
1970s, opening a large, challenging design space.
In the United States, academic hiring of cognitive
psychology Ph.D.s fell sharply during the late 1970s,
just when computer and telecommunication com-
panies were eager to hire psychologists to tackle per-
ceptual and cognitive design issues.
In 1969 Association for Computing Machinery
(ACM) had formed a special interest group (SIG) for
social and behavioral scientists using computers as re-
search tools. In 1982 this group of discretionary com-
puter users decided to change its name and charter to
the Special Interest Group on Computer-Human
Interaction (SIGCHI), focusing on behavioral stud-
ies of computer use or human-computer interaction.
SIGCHI drew heavily from cognitive psychology and
software psychology and from sympathetic pro-
grammers and computer scientists. Many program-
mers and scientists were unaware of prior human
factors studies of operators. Some cross-publication
existed between human factors and human-computer
interaction, but the endeavors remained distinct.
322 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
In Europe computer companies exerted less in-
fluence, and research boundaries were less distinct.
In 1977 the Medical Research Council Applied
Psychology Unit, renowned for theoretically driven
human factors research, initiated an IBM-funded HCI
project with a focus on discretionary use. In a 1991
survey with a European perspective, Liam Bannon
decried the slow shift to a discretionary focus while
also critiquing those people who adopted that fo-
cus for mostly considering initial use by new users.
Some tensions existed between the human fac-
tors and community interaction communities.
The former felt that its past work was not fully appre-
ciated by the latter. Although methods and goals over-
lapped, the agendas of the two camps differed. A 1984
study contrasting performance and preference of
users found evidence that even for a repetitive
task, users might prefer an interaction technique that
was pleasant but slower. Although this evidence was
of interest to people studying discretionary use, a
leading GOMS proponent recommended suppress-
ing its publication lest it undermine the mission of
maximizing performance.
Businesses acquired the first expensive business
computers to address major organizational concerns.
Sometimes merely the prestige of an air-conditioned,
glass-walled computer room justified the expense,
but most computers were put to work. Output was
routed to managers. In the field variously called data
processing (DP), management information sys-
tems (MIS), information systems (IS), and in- for government acquisition of systems. The govern-
formation technology (IT), the term users referred
to these managers. Like early programmers, they were
well paid, discretionary, and not hands on.
Supporting managerial use of computers meant
improving the visual display of information, first on
paper and eventually on displays as well. Because
much computer output was quantitative, research
included the design of tables, charts, and graphs
business graphics were one focus of much MIS us-
ability research. Interaction with information remains
central today: Human Computer Interaction stud-
ies in MIS are concerned with the ways humans
interact with information, technologies, and tasks
(Zhang et al 2002, 335). (All computer users viewed
information. Operators used manuals and displays,
programmers used flowcharts and printouts. Thus,
research on the organization and layout of informa-
tion focused on both human factors and the psychol-
ogy of programming.)
MIS also introduced an organizational focus: ap-
proaches to deploying systems, resistance to systems,
effects of using systems. As HCI came to include more
group support issues, people found and explored
commonalities in computer-supported-cooperative
work conferences.
Whereas by 1985 almost all programmers were
hands-on computer users, until the late 1990s most
managers avoided hand-on use. Managers still dele-
gate much technology use, but most now use some
software directly. Not surprisingly, management inter-
est in HCI is growing, with an interest group and sig-
nificant symposia and workshops conducted at major
conferences since 2001.
Government Role in System Use
and Research Funding
Governments were the major purchasers of comput-
ers during the decades when feeding the computer
was the norm. In addition to operators, governments
employed vast numbers of data entry and other
nondiscretionary users. Supporting these people
meshed naturally with the focus on designing to fit
human capabilities that arose in the world wars.
Competitively bid contracts present challenges
ment has to remain at arms length from the devel-
oper yet needs to specify requirements in advance.
This situation led the U.S. government to participate
in establishing ergonomic standards during the
late 1970s and 1980s. Compliance with interface de-
sign standards and guidelines could be specified in
a government contract. For example, Smith and
Mosiers guideline development effort mentioned
previously was funded by the U.S. Air Force.
Government agencies were early adopters of
computers, but the work conducted by such agen-
cies changes only gradually. Such agencies no longer
employ computer operators in large numbers, but
huge numbers of data entry and handling person-
nel remain at agencies concerned with such issues as
census, taxes, and health and welfare. Power plant
 HISTORY OF HCI 323

Nondiscretionary Use Discretionary Use

HumanCompute
2005
Ongoing priority for
Interaction
government funding Norman
DUX 2003
IS/HCI organized

1995

Smith & Mosier

1985 HCI journal appears
German VDU standards SIG CHI formed

Keystroke-level model Smith & Green

1980 Shneiderman Psychology
Three ergonomics books
of
Martin 1975 Martin Programming
Human Factors
and
HUSAT founded 1970 Xerox PARC founded
Ergonomics
Kay
Shackel 1965 Nelson Visions
Sutherland and Prototypes
Engelbart
Licklider

Transistor-based commercial computers

1955
Hopper

WWII human factors 1945 Bush

WWI training
1915
Taylorism

FIGURE 1. Timeline with publications and events

324 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
operators and air traffic controllers are glued to sys-
tems that evolve very gradually. Ground control op-
erations for space launches require highly trained
computer users. Soldiers require training in equip-
ment; weaponry grows ever more complex. The
quantity of text and voice intercepts processed by in-
telligence agencies is immense. Overall, government
remains a major employer of nondiscretionary com-
puter users. Improving their work conditions is a
central concern. Small efficiency gains in individual
interactions can provide large benefits over time.
Government is also a major funding source for
information technology research. In Europe national
and European Union initiatives have been the
principal funding source. In Japan the government
has funded major initiatives with HCI components,
such as the Fifth-Generation Project. Since World
War II the U.S. National Science Foundation, armed
services (led by proponents of basic research in the
Office of Naval Research), and intelligence agen-
cies have been major sources of funding, although
research laboratories established by telecommuni-
cation, hardware, and software companies have also
been prominent since the 1970s.
U.S. government funding remains focused on
nondiscretionary computer use, with greatest em-
phasis being on speech recognition and natural lan-
guage understanding. Little research on these two
topics appears in HCI conferences, even though some
people hope that the topics will eventually be more
useful in discretionary situations. The National
Science Foundation has also funded substantial work
on using brainwaves to guide computer displays. This
is another technology that may have its uses but prob-
ably not in many homes and offices. Research on
nondiscretionary use is published in specialized jour-
nals and at conferences, including those of the
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and HCI
International.
Corporate/Academic Role in
System Use and Research
Companies employ the information workers whose
discretion has been growing, and a subset of tech-
nology company employees and academics from a
variety of disciplines is researching, developing, and
marketing interactive systems.
Few computer and software companies that fo-
cused on nondiscretionary use during the mainframe
and minicomputer eras still do today. Most major ven-
dors that thrived then are gone today, and the few that
remain (IBM comes to mind) reformed themselves
during the transition to discretionary use of com-
puters during the 1980s. Most companies that are now
active in human-computer interaction research and
innovation came into prominence during the 1980s
and 1990s, by which time it was a good commercial
strategy to appeal to users who exercised discretion
either individual purchasers or organizations.
HCI practitioners started with methods and per-
spectives from human factors and experimental psy-
chology, much as interactive software developers
inherited waterfall modelsdefining a series of steps
in designing, developing, testing, and maintaining a
new productthat had been crafted for other pur-
poses. The need for new methods was obscured by
the fact that traditional ergonomic goals of fewer er-
rors, faster performance, quicker learning, greater
memorability, and enjoyment still applied, although
not with the same relative priority.
Several factors led to change. The notion that
friendly interfaces are frills in the workplace was
eroded when people asked, Why shouldnt my ex-
pensive office system be as congenial as my home
computer? Also, as more software appeared,
training people on each application was not feasible.
Ease of learning was critical.
As software came to support more group activ-
ities and detailed work practices, lab studies were
supplemented with social and ethnographic (cul-
tural studies) methods in research and practice.
Contextual design and personas (fully specified
but fictional users) are recent innovations far re-
moved from techniques of early HCI.
Finally, the need to seduce discretionary users
grew as software became more capable and com-
petitive. The Web promoted design aesthetics (not
a major issue for data entry operators) and market-
ing (previously considered a distraction) as central
to human-computer interaction. Reflecting this ex-
pansion of focus, SIGCHI co-sponsored the Designing
for User Experiences (DUX) 2003 conference.

This evolution is captured by the work of Don
Norman. In the first paper presented at the first CHI
(computer-human interaction) conference,Design
Principles for Human-Computer Interfaces, he
focused on tradeoffs among the attributes of speed
of use, prior knowledge required, ease of learning,
and errors. Twenty years later, in 2003, he published
Emotional Design.
Related Theory and Disciplines
The early 1980s were marked by a strong effort to
provide a theoretical framework drawn especially
from cognitive psychology for a field previously dom-
inated by an engineering perspective. This effort was
paralyzed by the rapid changes in the field. Graphical
user interfaces and multimedia swept away interest
in phenomena that been the focus of theoretical
analysis, such as command naming (selecting mem-
orable names for computer commands), and in-
troduced a daunting array of new challenges. The
growing focus on computer-mediated interaction
between humans challenged the centrality of cogni-
tion, and awareness of the role of design and mar-
keting fur ther reduced the prospects for an
encompassing theoretical framework.
A recent compilation of theory and modeling
approaches to HCI includes several chapters with a
cognitive orientation, a few with social science or
cognitive-social hybrids, and one focused on com-
puter science. As the academic home of HCI moved
from psychology to computer science, HCI be-
came more entwined with software engineering.
Artificial intelligence has also had several points of
contact with HCI.
The Trajectory
The unanticipated arrival and consequences of the
Web demonstrated the difficulty of anticipating the
future, but a key goal of organizing a history is to
identify trends that may continue.
Discretionary computer use continues to spread.
Nondiscretionary use remains significant and bene-
fits from better understanding and interfaces wher-
ever they originate. For many people software use that
was once discretionary has become mandatorywe
HISTORY OF HCI 325
cant work without it. Increased digitally mediated
collaboration forces us to adopt the same systems and
conventions for using these systems. If we have choices,
we may have to exercise them collectively. This situ-
ation in turn motivates people to develop features for
customization and interoperation. For example, in
1985 each member of a team chose a word proces-
sor and exchanged printed documents with other
members. In 1995 the team members may have had
to use the same word processor to share documents
digitally. Today the team members can again use
different word processors if sharing documents dig-
itally in PDF format suffices.
One constant in the computer era has been the
keyboard and display as a central interface compo-
nent. With relentless miniaturization of components
and increase in power, this era is fading. The expan-
sion of human-computer interaction is clearly only a
beginning.
Jonathan Grudin
See also Altair; Desktop Metaphor; ENIAC; Graphical
User Interface
FURTHER READING
Baecker, R., Grudin, J., Buxton, W., & Greenberg, S. (1995). Read-
ings in human-computer interaction: Toward the year 2000. San
Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Bannon, L. (1991). From human factors to human actors: The role of
psychology and human-computer interaction studies in system de-
sign. In J. Greenbaum & M. Kyng (Eds.), Design at work (pp. 2544).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Barnard, P. (1991). Bridging between basic theories and the artifacts
of human-computer interaction. In J. M. Carroll (Ed.), Designing
interaction: Psychology at the human-computer interface (pp. 103127).
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Beyer, H., & Holtzblatt, K. (1998). Contextual design. San Francisco:
Morgan Kaufmann.
Bush, V. (1945). As we may think. The Atlantic Monthly, 176, 101108.
Card, S. K., & Moran, T. P. (1986). User technology: From pointing to
pondering. Proceedings of the Conference on History of Personal Work-
stations, 183198.
Card, S. K., Moran, T. P., & Newell, A. (1980). Keystroke-level model
for user performance time with interactive systems. Communi-
cations of the ACM, 23(7), 396410.
Carroll, J. M. (Ed.). (2003). HCI models, theories and frameworks.
San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Carroll, J. M., & Campbell, R. L. (1986). Softening up hard science:
Response to Newell and Card. Human-Computer Interaction, 2(3),
227249.
326 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Dyson, F. (1979). Disturbing the universe. New York: Harper & Row.
Engelbart, D. (1963). A conceptual framework for the augmenta-
tion of mans intellect. In P. Howerton & D. Weeks (Eds.), Vistas
in information handling (pp. 129). Washington, DC: Spartan
Books.
Engelbart, D., & English, W. (1968). A research center for augment-
ing human intellect. AFIPS Conference Proceedings, 33, 395410.
Fano, R., & Corbato, F. (1966). Time-sharing on computers. Scientific
American, 214(9), 129140.
Greenbaum, J. (1979). In the name of efficiency. Philadelphia: Temple
University Press.
Grudin, J. (1990). The computer reaches out: The historical continu-
ity of interface design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference
on human factors in computing systems 90 (pp. 261268). New
York: ACM Press.
Grudin, J., & MacLean, A. (1984). Adapting a psychophysical method
to measure performance and preference tradeoffs in human-com-
puter interaction. In Proceedings of INTERACT 84 (pp. 338342).
Amsterdam: North Holland.
Kay, A., & Goldberg, A. (1977). Personal dynamic media. IEEE Com-
puter, 10(3), 3142.
Licklider, J. (1960). Man-computer symbiosis. IRE Transactions of
Human Factors in Electronics, 1(1), 411.
Licklider, J., & Clark, W. (1962). On-line man-computer communi-
cation. AFIPS Conference Proceedings, 21, 113128.
Long, J. (1989). Cognitive ergonomics and human-computer interac-
tion. In J. Long & A. Whitefield (Eds.), Cognitive ergonomics and
human-computer interaction (pp. 434). Cambridge, UK: Cam-
bridge University Press.
Martin, J. (1973). Design of man-computer dialogues. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Nelson, T. (1965). A file structure for the complex, the changing,
and the indeterminate. In Proceedings of the ACM National Con-
ference (pp. 84100). New York: ACM Press.
Nelson, T. (1973). A conceptual framework for man-machine every-
thing. In AFIPS Conference Proceedings (pp. M21-M26). Montvale,
NJ: AFIPS Press..
Newell, A., & Card, S. K. (1985). The prospects for psychological
science in human-computer interaction. Human-Computer Inter-
action, 1(3), 209242.
Norman, D. A. (1983). Design principles for human-computer inter-
faces. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems (pp. 110). New York: ACM Press.
Norman, D. A. (2003). Emotional design: Why we love (or hate) every-
day things. New York: Basic.
Sammet, J. (1992). Farewell to Grace HopperEnd of an era! Commu-
nications of the ACM, 35(4), 128131.
Shackel, B. (1959). Ergonomics for a computer. Design, 120, 3639.
Shackel, B. (1962). Ergonomics in the design of a large digital com-
puter console. Ergonomics, 5, 229241.
Shackel, B. (1997). Human-computer interaction: Whence and whither?
JASIS, 48(11), 970986.
Shiel, B. A. (1981). The psychological study of programming. ACM
Computing Surveys, 13(1), 101120.
Shneiderman, B. (1980). Software psychology: Human factors in com-
puter and information systems. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop.
Smith, H. T., & Green, T. R. G. (Eds.). (1980). Human interaction with
computers. New York: Academic.
Smith, S. L., & Mosier, J. N. (1986). Guidelines for designing user inter-
face software. Bedford, MA: MITRE.
Sutherland, I. (1963). Sketchpad: A man-machine graphical com-
munication system. AFIPS, 23, 329346.
Taylor, F. W. (1911). The principles of scientific management. New
York: Harper.
Weinberg, G. (1971). The psychology of computer programming. New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Zhang, P., Benbadsat, I., Carey, J., Davis, F., Galleta, D., & Strong, D.
(2002). Human-computer interaction research in the MIS disci-
pline. Communications of the Association for Information Sys-
tems, 9, 334355.
HOLLERITH CARD
The Hollerith card, also known as a punch card or
an IBM card, was the preeminent digital medium
of data entry and storage for three-quarters of a cen-
tury until its replacement by the magnetic floppy
disk. Hollerith cards were part of a system that spec-
ified particular relations between human beings and
data processing machinery that were very different
from the modern relations between human beings
and real-time, networked systems.
Herman Hollerith (18601929) attended Columbia
College School of Mines and then gained valuable ex-
perience working on the 1880 U.S. census.A tabulating
machine, invented by Charles W. Seaton, did none of
the counting itself but merely moved scrolls of paper
between rollers so that clerks could write information
conveniently.After working with Seaton,Hollerith taught
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while ex-
perimenting with his own ideas about data automation.
Holleriths first approach was to punch holes in
long paper strips, but he quickly switched to cards
because correcting errors on punched paper strips
was difficult. For a century, data had been encoded
as holes in cards, for example, in music boxes, ex-
perimental player pianos, and the Jacquard loom that
controlled complex patterns in weaving cloth.
Hollerith was inspired by seeing train conductors
punch tickets that recorded information about pas-
sengers, but he found that the conductors punch
tool caused painful cramping of the hand. Hollerith
filed a series of patents in the 1880s, then demon-
strated his system with the 1890 census.
Holleriths 1890 system combined manual meth-
ods with both mechanical and electric methods. A
clerk entered data with a manual pantograph punch

that helped locate the right points on cards and
was more comfortable to use than a conductors
punch tool. To tabulate the data, a clerk would place
the cards into a press one at a time. The top of the
press held a number of pins that could move up or
down, one for each possible hole. If the hole had been
punched, the pin would make electrical contact with
a drop of mercury in a tiny cup, which would acti-
vate a counter. If the hole had not been punched, the
pin would ride up and fail to close the circuit. To the
right of the press was a sorter consisting of boxes
with electrically operated lids. When a clerk closed
the press, one of the lids would open so that the clerk
could place the card into that particular box. For ex-
ample, if each card represented data about one
person, the sorter helped a clerk divide males from
females for later separate analysis.
During the following years Hollerith developed
each part of this system: punching, counting, and sort-
ing. Within a decade the cumbersome mercury cups
and lidded boxes had been replaced, and cards were
automatically fed at great speed through the tabulat-
ing and sorting equipment. Sets of electric relays com-
bined data from different variables much as transistors
would do in computers a century later but were pro-
grammed manually by plugging wires, as in the pe-
riods telephone operator equipment. Goaded by a
competitor, Hollerith added electrically driven key-
punch machines in 1914. His system included inno-
vative business practices, such as leasing rather than
selling the machines and making much of his profit
by selling the cards themselves. The Tabulating Machine
Company he founded in 1896 was a precursor of IBM.
Hollerith cards remained one of the major meth-
ods for data input for electronic computers as
these machines were introduced during the 1940s
and 1950s. As late as 1980, many U.S. universities still
had keypunch machines on which scientists and ad-
ministrative staff would enter data. In terms of hu-
man-computer interaction, these were dramatic and
rather loud machines that could actually damage the
users hearing if many machines were in a small
room. A typical form was a desk with a fixed key-
board and the apparatus above and at the back. A
stack of cards would be placed into a hopper,
where the cards would feed one at a time into the
machine. They were punched directly in front of the
HOLLERITH CARD 327
operator, where they could be clearly seen as they
jumped sideways when each hole was punched, un-
til they zipped into the output pile. The operator
might place around a drum a previously punched
control card that programmed the keypunch to skip
or specially punch certain columns.
After they were punched, the cards would be
placed into card readers, and processed data could be
automatically punched on a new set of cards if de-
sired. Cards locked users into the batch processing
mode, in which users would carefully prepare a com-
puter run at the keypunch machine, then wait as long
as several hours for the fanfold computer printout
that was the result of the particular job, but users could
not interact directly in real time with the computer.
A typical card was rectangular, with space for
eighty columns of rectangular holes and room for
twelve holes in each column, ten of which were marked
by printed numerals 09. One hole in a given column
represented a single digit, and a second hole in row 11
could mean a minus sign. Letters of the alphabet and
other characters were represented by the combination
of one hole in the first ten rows plus zone punches
in rows 11 and 12 or by multiple punches in the nu-
merical rows. Multipunched cards were flimsy, so cau-
tious users made duplicate copies of their card decks.
One advantage of Hollerith cards over mag-
netic data media is that human beings can read the
cards directly. Already in 1902 Holleriths keypunch
could typewrite the data across the top of the columns,
and he himself noted how easy it was to sort the cards
manually by gently putting a knitting needle through
the holes. He cut the upper left corner off the cards
so a user could immediately see if any had been placed
the wrong way. The great fear of card users was that
they might spill an entire box of two thousand
punched cards, so many users marked lines diago-
nally across the top edges to facilitate reordering them
if necessary. Hollerith cards may have been incon-
venient in many respects, but they helped launch
modern information technology and gave users a
more intimate experience of data than do todays fully
electronic media.
William Sims Bainbridge
See also ENIAC
328 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
FURTHER READING
Austrian, G. D. (1982). Herman Hollerith: Forgotten giant of infor-
mation processing. New York: Columbia University Press.
HUMAN FACTORS
ENGINEERING
See Anthropometry; Keyboard; Task Analysis
HUMAN-ROBOT
INTERACTION
The relationship between robots and humans is so dif-
ferent in character from other human-machine rela-
tionships that it warrants its own field of study. Robots
differ from simple machines and even from complex
computers in that they are often designed to be mo-
bile and autonomous. They are not as predictable as
other machines; they can enter a humans personal
space, forcing a kind of social interaction that does not
happen in other human-machine relationships.
Background
The term robot first entered literature through the
play R.U.R. (1920), by the Czech playwright and nov-
elist Karel Capek (18901938); R.U.R. featured hu-
manoid devices as servants for humans. In the
mid-1950s, the first true robots appeared. A human
operator working from a distance ran these devices,
which had the ability to carry out numerical compu-
tations and contained mechanisms to control machine
movement. The rest of the twentieth century saw robot-
ics continue to make significant advances in such ar-
eas as more flexible motion, refined manipulators
(e.g., articulated hands and walking devices), and in-
creased intelligence. Researchers took advantage of
progress in computer science and software engineer-
ing, including developments in parallel and distrib-
uted computing (which allow for more speedy com-
putation through the use of multiple processors
and/or computers), and more sophisticated user in-
terface design.
By the 1980s, robotics was recognized as funda-
mentally interdisciplinary, with major contributions
from mathematics, biology, computer science, con-
trol theory, electrical engineering, mechanical engi-
neering, and physics. By the 1990s, robots were
increasingly involved in automated manufacturing
environments, in deep-sea and space exploration, in
military operations, and in toxic-waste management.
Predictions abounded that robots would become im-
portant in home and office environments as well.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, we are
closer to the day when various robot entities may
be integrated into peoples daily lives.
Just as computers began as academic and research-
related computational tools but became personal elec-
tronic accessories for the general public, robots now
have the potential to serve not only as high-tech work-
horses in scientific endeavors but also as more per-
sonalized appliances and assistants for ordinary people.
However, while the study of human-computer inter-
action has a relatively long history, it is only recently
that sufficient advances have been made in robotic per-
ception, action, reasoning, and programming to allow
researchers to begin serious consideration of the cog-
nitive and social issues of human-robot interaction.
From Human-Computer Interaction
to Human-Robot Interaction
In the past, techniques and methodologies developed
under the general umbrella of user- or human-
centered computing began by looking at static
(unintelligent) software applications and their re-
lated input and output devices. Today these tech-
niques are being extended to consider issues such as
mobile wireless technology, wearable augmentation
devices (such as miniature heads-up displays and
cameras), virtual reality and immersive environments,
intelligent software agents (both cooperative and au-
tonomous), and direct brain interface technologies.
In addition, mobile robotic agents are now poised
to become part of our everyday landscapein the

workplace, in the home, in the hospital, in remote
and hazardous environments, and on the battlefield.
This development means we have to look more
closely at the nature of human-robot interaction;
and define a philosophy that will help shape the
future directions of this relationship.
Human interface and interaction issues continue
to be important in robotics research, particularly since
the goal of fully autonomous capability has not yet
been met. People are typically involved in the super-
vision and remote operation of robots, and interfaces
that facilitate these activities have been under de-
velopment for many years. However, the focus of the
robotics community can still be said to be on the ro-
bot, with an emphasis on the technical challenges
of achieving intelligent control and mobility. It is only
in the early years of the twenty-first century that
the state of the art has improved to such a degree that
it is predicted that by 2010 there may be robots that
Carbo-Powered Robots
TAMPA, Fla. (ANS)When modern technology was in
its infancy, scientists held out the hope that one day robots
would cook our meals, do the housework and chauffeur
the children to school. That hope has yet to become real-
ity, but hold on: Here come the gastrobots.
Powered by carbohydrates and bacteria, these robots
with gastric systems are taking the science to new dimen-
sions by mimicking not just the anatomy and intelligence
of humansbut our digestive processes as well.
Stuart Wilkinson, an associate professor of mechan-
ical engineering at the University of South Florida, is
pioneering the new subspecialty.
The main thing Im shooting for is a robot that can
perform some sort of task outdoors for long periods of
time without anybody having to mess with it, he said.
Traditionally powered by regular or rechargeable bat-
teries or solar panels, robots lose their efficiency when
placed at any distance from a power source or human
overseer. But when powered by foodsay, fruit fallen
to the ground or grass on a lawnthey have the poten-
tial to eat and wander indefinitely.
HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION 329
answer phones, open mail, deliver documents to dif-
ferent departments of a company, make coffee, tidy
up, and run the vacuum. Due to the nature of the in-
telligence needed for robots to perform such tasks,
there is a tendency to think that robots ought to be-
come more like humans, that they need to interact
with humans (and perhaps with one another) in the
same way that humans interact with one another, and
that, ultimately, they may replace humans altogether
for certain tasks. This approach, sometimes termed
human-centered robotics, emphasizes the study of
humans as models for robots, and even the study of
robots as models for humans.
Current Challenges
Roboticistsscientists who study roboticsare now
considering more carefully the work that has been go-
ing on in the sister community of human-computer
His test gastrobota 3-foot-long, wheeled device
uses bacteria to break down the carbohydrate mole-
cules in sugar cubes. The process releases electrons that
are collected and turned into electrical current.
Any food high in carbohydrates could be used, the pro-
fessor says, including vegetables, fruit, grains and foliage.
Meat contains too much fat to be an efficient fuel, he
pointed outso the family pets are safe. A gastrobot would
be far happier in an orange orchard, stabbing the fallen
fruit and sucking the juice to propel itself.
Measuring soil moisture and checking for insect infes-
tations, it could then relay its findings via a cell phone
connection to the farmers desktop computer.
In its infancy, the new generation of robots has a few
kinks yet to be worked out. At present, his creation is a bit
of a couch potato, Wilkinson admitted, and requires 18 hours
worth of carbo-loading to move for just 15 minutes.
Then theres the issue of, well, robot poop. We need
to develop some sort of kidney, he explained.
Source: Carbo-powered robot holds promise of relief from drudgery.
American News Service, September 7, 2000
330 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
interaction (HCI), which has been studying tech-
nology development and its impact on humans since
the 1960s. However, collaboration between HCI
researchers and robotics researchers is not as straight-
forward as one might think. Until recently, much
of the work in robotics has focused on integration
of increasingly intelligent software on the more slowly
evolving hardware platforms. Individual robots with
some humanoid qualities have been developed with
amazing capabilities, but it has taken years of ex-
tensive work to produce them, and they are still
not advanced enough to accomplish real tasks in the
real world. Human-robot interaction in these ex-
amples is studied primarily to find out what can
we learn from humans to improve robots. On the
other hand, since the late 1990s, much of the HCI
community has adopted an explicitly strong em-
phasis on human-centered computingthat is, on
technology that serves human needs, as opposed
to technology that is developed for its own sake, and
whose purpose and function may ultimately oppose
or contravene human needs or wishes.
Because humans are still responsible for the out-
comes in human-machine systemsif something
goes wrong, it is not the machine that will suffer
the consequences or be punishedit is important
that as robots become more independent, they are
also taught how to become more compliant, com-
municative, and cooperative so that they can be team
players, rather than simply goal-oriented mechanisms.
Another challenge that faces researchers is how
much like a human to make the robot. Does the robots
physical form and personality affect how people re-
spond to it? Does the context of the relationship
play a role? Are the needs and desires of those who
will interact with the robots different in the workplace
than they are in the home, for example, or different
in dangerous situations than they are in safe ones,
or in interactions that occur close at hand as opposed
to remotely? Interesting work by the sociologist
Clifford Nass at Stanford University shows that often
people will respond trustingly to technology and will
attribute qualities such as intelligence to technology
based on very superficial cues, such as how friendly
or unfriendly the messages generated by the technol-
ogy are. This has serious implications for the design
of robots, especially those to be used in hazardous sit-
uations or other situations in which safety is critical.
What if the robot has qualities that make the hu-
man think that it is smarter than it really is? To take
another example, if the robot is to be used as an as-
sistant to a disabled person or a senior citizen,
would it be desirable to program the robot to act
like it has emotions, even if it doesnt really have any?
Would this make the users of the robots feel more
comfortable and happy about using the technology?
Current Applications and Case Studies
Researchers are attempting to address these questions
by taking their robots out of controlled laboratory en-
vironments and having them tackle real-world prob-
lems in realistic settings with real people as users. The
results are bringing us closer to a more human-cen-
tered approach to human-robot interaction.
Urban Search and Rescue
One application is the use of robots for urban search
and rescue (USAR). These are situations in which peo-
ple are trapped or lost in man-made structures such
as collapsed buildings. For example, after the collapse
of New York Citys Twin Towers as a result of the ter-
rorist attack of September 11, 2001, small teams of
robots were fielded to give limited assistance to search
and rescue operations. Because collapsed buildings and
associated rubble pose risks not only to the victims
but also to the rescue workerssecondary collapses
and toxic gases are constant dangers while the work-
ers are engaged in the time-consuming and painstak-
ing tasks of shoring up entry points and clearing
spacesrobot aid is potentially very desirable.
Small, relatively inexpensive, and possibly ex-
pendable robots may be useful for gathering data
from otherwise inaccessible areas, for monitoring the
environment and structure while rescue workers are
inside, for helping detect victims in the rubble, and
eventually perhaps even for delivering preliminary
medical aid to victims who are awaiting rescue. For
the robots to work effectively, however, they must be
capable of understanding and adapting to the orga-
nizational and information rescue hierarchy. They
must be able to adapt to episodes of activity that may
be brief and intense or long term; they must be
equipped to help different levels of users who will

have differing information needs and time pressures.
Most of the robots currently available for these kinds
of hazardous environments are not autonomous and
require constant supervision.
The rescue workers will have to adapt as well.
They will need to have special training in order to
handle this technology. Currently robotics special-
ists, or handlers, are being trained in search and res-
cue to supplement rescue teams. However, even
the specialists are not entirely familiar with the kind
of data that the robots are sending back, and there-
fore understanding and interpreting that data in a
time-critical situation poses additional challenges.
Teams of researchers led by pioneers in the field, such
as Robin Murphy of University of South Florida, are
now studying these kinds of problems and work
on improving the methodologies so that the human-
robot interaction can be more smoothly integrated
into the response teams overall operation.
Personal Service Robots
Personal service robots also offer many opportunities
for exploring human-robot interaction. Researchers
at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm,
Sweden, have been working on the development of a
robot to assist users with everyday tasks such as fetch-
ing and delivering objects in an office environment.
This effort has been targeted at people with physical
impairments who have difficulty doing these kinds of
tasks themselves, and a goal of the project is to develop
a robot that someone can learn to operate in a rela-
tively short period of time. From the early stages of this
project, this group adopted user-centered techniques
for their design and development work, and, conse-
quently, have produced some very interesting results.
Since ordinary people have little or no experi-
ence in interacting with a robot, a general survey was
conducted to determine what people would like
such a robot to do, how it should look, how they would
prefer to communicate with it, and generally how they
would respond to it. A large proportion of the re-
spondents were positive about having robotic help with
some kinds of basic household or other mundane tasks;
the majority preferred the service robot not to act
independently, and speech was the preferred mode
of communication. Experiments with an early robot
prototype showed that people had difficulty under-
HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION 331
standing the robots orientation (it was cylindrical in
shape, with no clearly defined front), in communi-
cating spatial directions, and in understanding what
the robot was doing due to lack of feedback.
Further iterations improved the physical design and
the interface, and longer studies were conducted in
an actual office environment with physically impaired
people, who were given the opportunity to use the
robot during their work days to perform tasks such
as fetching coffee from the kitchen. One of the inter-
esting observations from these studies was the insight
that although the robot was the personal assistant of
one individual, it also affected other people. For ex-
ample, because the robot was not able to pour the cof-
fee itself (it did not have any arms), it had to solicit help
from someone in the kitchen to actually get the cof-
fee into the cup.Another example was that people pass-
ing by in the hallway would greet the robot, although
from the robots perspective, they were obstacles if they
were in the way. These findings suggest that even if a
robot is designed for individual use, it may need to be
programmed to deal with a social context if it is to man-
age successfully in its working environment.
Robots are working closely with humans in many
other areas as well. Robotic technology augments space
exploration in numerous ways, and in the military arena
robotic units are being considered for surveillance, sol-
dier assistance, and possibly even soldier substitutes in
the future. Of perhaps greater concern are the areas
in which robots will interact with ordinary people, as
it remains to be seen whether the robots will be pro-
grammed to adjust to human needs or the humans will
have to be trained to work with the robots. The robotic
design decisions that are made today will affect the na-
ture of human-robot interaction tomorrow.
Erika Rogers
See also Affective Computing; Literary Representa-
tions; Search and Rescue
FURTHER READING
Billings, C. E. (1997). Issues concerning human-centered intelligent
systems: Whats human-centered and whats the problem?
Retrieved July 21, 2003, from http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/nsfhcs/
talks/billings.html
332 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue. (n.d.). Center for robot-
assisted search and rescue: CRASAR. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from
http://www.crasar.org/
IEEE Robotics & Automation Society. (1995). Proceedings of the IEEE/
RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems: Human
robot interaction and cooperative robots. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE
Robotics & Automation Society.
Interaction and Presentation Laboratory. (n.d.). Human-robot in-
teraction at IPLab. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from http://www.nada.
kth.se/iplab/hri/
Lorek, L. (2001, April 30). March of the A.I. robots. Interactive Week,
8(17), 46. Retrieved August 29, 2003 from http://cma.zdnet.com/
texis/techinfobase/techinfobase/+bwh_qr+sWvKXX/zdisplay.html
Norman, D. (2001). How might humans interact with robots? Retrieved
July 21, 2003, from http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/Humans_and_
Robots.html
Rahimi, M., & Karwowski, W. (Eds.) (1992). Human-robot interac-
tion. London: Taylor & Francis.
Ralston, A. & Reilly, E. D. (Eds.) (1993). Encyclopedia of computer
science (3rd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Reeves, B., & Nass, C. (1996). The media equation: How people treat
computers, television, and new media like real people and places.
Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.
Rogers, E., & Murphy, M. (2001, September). Human-robot inter-
action: Final report of the DARPA/NSF Study on Human-Robot
Interaction. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from http://www.csc.calpoly.
edu/~erogers/HRI/HRI-report-final.html
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (n.d.).
Robotics. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from http://spacelink.nasa.gov/
Instructional.Materials/Curriculum.Support/Technology/Robotics/
Fong, T., & Nourbakhsh, I. (2003, March). Socially interactive ro-
bots [Special issue]. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 42.
Shneiderman, B. (1997). A grander goal: A thousand-fold increase in
human capabilities. Educom Review, 32(6), 410. Retrieved July
21, 2003, from http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/nabhcs/abstracts/shnei-
derman.html
Simsarian, K. (2000). Towards human-robot collaboration. Unpub-
lished doctoral dissertation, Swedish Institute of Computer Science,
Kista, Sweden. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from http://www.sics.se/
~kristian/thesis/
Takeda, H., Kobayashi, N., Matsubara, Y., & Nishida, T. (1997). Towards
ubiquitous human-robot interaction. Retrieved July 21, 2003, from
http://ai-www.aist-nara.ac.jp/papers/takeda/html/ijcai97-ims.html
HYPERTEXT AND
HYPERMEDIA
The terms hypertext and hypermedia refer to web-
pages and other kinds of on-screen content that em-
ploy hyperlinks. Hyperlinks give us choices when we
look for information, listen to music, purchase prod-
ucts, and engage in similar activities. They take the
form of buttons, underlined words and phrases, and
other hot (interactive) areas on the screen.
Hypertext is text that uses hyperlinks (often called
simply links) to present text and static graphics. Many
websites are entirely or largely hypertexts. Hyper-
media extends that idea to the presentation of video,
animation, and audio, which are often referred to
as dynamic or time-based content, or multimedia.
Non-Web forms of hypertext and hypermedia in-
clude CD-ROM and DVD encyclopedias (such as
Microsofts Encarta), e-books, and the online help
systems we find in software products. It is common
for people to use hypertext as a general term that in-
cludes hypermedia. For example, when researchers
talk about hypertext theory, they refer to theoreti-
cal concepts that pertain to both static and multi-
media content.
Starting in the 1940s, an important body of
theory and research has evolved, and many impor-
tant hypertext and hypermedia systems have been
built. The history of hypertext begins with two vision-
ary thinkers: Vannevar Bush and Ted Nelson. Bush,
writing in 1945, recognized the value of technologies
that would enable knowledge workers to link docu-
ments and share them with others. Starting in the
mid-1960s, Nelson spent decades trying to build a
very ambitious global hypertext system (Xanadu) and
as part of this effort produced a rich (though idio-
syncratic) body of theory.
Linear and Nonlinear Media
A linear communication medium is one we typically
experience straight through from beginning to end.
There is little or no choosing as we go. Cinema is a
linear medium. In the world of print, novels are lin-
ear, but newspapers, magazines, and encyclopedias
are somewhat nonlinear. They encourage a certain
amount of jumping around. The Web and other hy-
pertextual media are strongly nonlinear. Indeed, the
essence of hypertext and hypermedia is choicethe
freedom to decide what we will experience next. You
can build a website in which the hyperlinks take
the user on a single path from beginning to end, but
this would be a strange website, and one can ques-
tion whether it is really hypertext.

Ted Nelson on Hypertext and the Web
I DONT BUY IN
The Web isnt hypertext, its DECORATED DIRECTORIES!
What we have instead is the vacuous victory of typeset-
ters over authors, and the most trivial form of hypertext that
could have been imagined.
The original hypertext project, Xanadu, has always been
about pure document structures where authors and read-
ers dont have to think about computerish structures of files
and hierarchical directories. The Xanadu project has endeav-
ored to implement a pure structure of links and facilitated
re-use of content in any amounts and ways, allowing au-
thors to concentrate on what mattered.
Instead, todays nightmarish new world is controlled by
webmasters, tekkies unlikely to understand the niceties of
text issues and preoccupied with the Webs exploding alpha-
bet soup of embedded formats. XML is not an improvement
but a hierarchy hamburger. Everything, everything must be
Nodes, Links, and Navigation
Web designers and others who are interested in
hypertext often use the term node to refer to chunks
of content. Much of the time a node is simply a web-
page. But there are times when we want to envision
a cluster of closely related webpages as a single unit.
Also, there are times when one physical webpage re-
ally behaves like two or more separate chunks of con-
tent. Furthermore, the page is not the fundamental
unit of content in websites built with Flash (an an-
imation technology from Macromedia and in many
non-Web hypertext systems. Therefore, we do well
to use the term node as the fundamental unit of hyper-
text content. Links (or hyperlinks) are the pathways
between nodes.
When we click links and thereby display a suc-
cession of webpages (nodes), we are in a sense navi-
gating the website. Navigation is only a metaphor; no
one, of course, travels anywhere. Navigation, how-
ever, is a very natural and useful metaphor because
exploring a website (or a non-Web hypertext) is much
like finding our way through a complex physical
HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA 333
forced into hierarchical templates! And the semantic web
means that tekkie committees will decide the worlds true
concepts for once and for all. Enforcement is going to be
another problem :) It is a very strange way of thinking,
but all too many people are buying in because they think
thats how it must be.
There is an alternative.
Markup must not be embedded. Hierarchies and files
must not be part of the mental structure of documents.
Links must go both ways. All these fundamental errors of
the Web must be repaired. But the geeks have tried to lock
the door behind them to make nothing else possible.
We fight on.
More later.
Source: Ted Nelson Home Page. (n.d.) I dont buy in. Retrieved March 29,
2004, from http://ted.hyperland.com/buyin.txt
environment such as a city. In both hypertext navi-
gation and physical navigation, we choose the most
promising route and keep track of where we go. If we
get lost, we may backtrack to familiar territory or even
return to our home base and start over. In the best
case, we gain a mental picture of the overall structure
of the environment (a birds eye or maplike view).
At the same time, the concepts of nodes, links,
and navigation have limitations, and their relevance
and usefulness are being called into question as Web
technologies become increasingly sophisticated. If
clicking a link plays an audio sequence, is the au-
dio sequence then a node? Does it matter whether
the audio sequence is a single word or a three-minute
popular song? If clicking a link on a webpage begins
a video sequence on a portion of that same page, how
do we describe what has happened? Is the video se-
quence a kind of subnode embedded within the node
that is the page as a whole?
In early hypertext systems links were just simple
electronic pathways with a fixed origin and destina-
tion. But now if you visit an e-commerce website that
334 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
you have visited before, you may find an automati-
cally generated, personalized link inviting you to buy
a new book by an author whose books you have pur-
chased in the past. Furthermore, this link may be
gone the next time you visit the site. Do we need to
distinguish between links that everyone sees and links
that only appear under specific circumstances?
A limitation of the navigation paradigm is that it
does not correspond to the full range of user be-
havior. At times users do not think spatially; they just
click the most promising links they see. Designers, in
fact, have begun employing a different metaphor for
Web usethe metaphor of the information
scent. The idea is that users, like animals foraging or
hunting for food, look for strong and distinct
scents that point them toward their desired goals.
Designers, therefore, should strive to create links that
give off these strong and unambiguous scents.
Information Structures
Designers of websites and other hypertexts must
work hard to decide which nodes will be linked to
which other nodes. Only with thoughtful linking will
users be able to navigate successfully. Fortunately
there are well-known arrangements of nodes and
linksoften called information structuresthat
guide designers as they work. By far the most im-
portant of these structures is the hierarchy. Also im-
portant are the weblike and the multipath structures.
The Hierarchical Structure
The hierarchy is by far the most important structure
because it is the basis of almost all websites and most
other hypertexts as well. This is so because hierarchies
are orderly (making them easy to understand) and yet
provide ample navigational freedom. On a hierarchi-
cally organized website, users start at the homepage,
descend the branch that most interests them from
among a number of possible branches, and make
further choices as the branch they have chosen di-
vides. At each level, the information on the nodes
becomes more specific. Branches may also converge.
Hierarchical structures are supplemented by sec-
ondary links that make them more flexible. The
secondary links function mainly as shortcuts; they let
users jump around more freely. For example, users
can move laterally along the sibling nodes of a single
branch and can jump from one branch to another,
without having to first move up to a higher-level node.
There is almost always a link from every node back
to the homepage (the top of the hierarchy) and there
are usually other kinds of upward links.
Especially when designing larger hypertexts, de-
signers must choose between making the hierarchy
wider (putting more nodes on each level) or deeper
(adding more levels). One well-established design prin-
ciple is that users navigate a wide hierarchy (one in
which parent nodes have as many as thirty-two links
to child nodes) more easily than a deep hierarchy.
A great many print documents are hierarchies in
one significant respect: They are often divided hier-
archically into parts, chapters, sections, and subsec-
tions. These divisions create a logical hierarchy
that the user encounters while reading linearly. Cross
references in print invite the reader to jump from
one part of the document to another and so are anal-
ogous to links in hypertext.
Weblike Structures
In a weblike structure, any node can be linked to any
other. There are no rulesalthough designers must
take great care in deciding which links will be most
helpful to users. Relatively few weblike websites and
non-Web hypertexts are built. This is because many
subject areas seem to break naturally into a hierar-
chical structure and because users are apt to have
trouble navigating unsystematic structures. Many
weblike hypertexts are short stories and other works
of fiction, in which artistic considerations may over-
ride the desire for efficient navigation. Mark
Bernstein, who is the founder and chief scientist at
Eastgate, a hypertext development and publishing
company, questions the belief that weblike structures
are necessarily hard to navigate. He has been a cham-
pion of weblike and other unorthodox hypertext
structures for both fiction and nonfiction.
Chains and Multipath Structures
As noted earlier, content linked as a linear sequence
of nodesa simple chain structureprobably does
not qualify as hypertext because the users choice is

highly restricted. Linear sequences, however, are reg-
ularly included within hierarchical websites, often
taking the form of a tutorial, demo, or tour.
It is possible to build a sequence of nodes that
is in large part linear but offers various alternative
pathways. This is the multipath structure. Often we
find multipath sections within hierarchical websites.
For example, a corporate website might include a his-
torical section with a page for each decade of the com-
panys existence. Each of these pages has optional
digressions that allow the user to explore events
and issues of that decade. One may also find a mul-
tipath structure in an instructional CD-ROM in which
learners are offered different pathways through the
subject matter depending on their interests or mas-
tery of the material.
Node-Link Diagrams, Sketches,
and the Design Process
Because node-link diagrams show the overall struc-
ture of a website, Web developers often create them
as part of the design process. Some Web authoring
tools create these diagrams automatically. Using both
node-link diagrams and mock-ups of webpages, de-
signers can effectively plan out how the site as a whole
should be linked and how to design the linking of
individual pages.
When webpages are well designed, the placement
of the links on the page along with the phrasing of
the links enables a user to grasp, at least in part, the over-
all site structure, the users current location, and whether
he or she is moving down, across, or up in the hierar-
chy. Many websites provide site maps for users.Although
site maps differ greatly in appearance and usefulness,
they resemble node-link diagrams in that they provide
the user with a birds eye view of the site structure.
Future Developments
Computing and the Web will continue to evolve in
a great many ways. Monitors may give way to near-
eye displays, at least for mobile computing. Virtual
reality may become more widespread and may be
routinely incorporated into the Web. We may
HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA 335
make greater use of voice commands and commands
issued by hand gestures.
These and other advancements will surely change
hypertext and hypermedia. For example, websites
may provide much improved site maps consisting of
a three-dimensional view of the site structure, per-
haps using the metaphor of galaxies and solar sys-
tems. The Web may well become more intelligent,
more able to generate personalized links that really
match our interests. The Web may also become more
socialwe may routinely click links that open up live
audio or video sessions with another person.
As a communications medium changes, theory
must keep pace. Otherwise, it becomes increasingly
difficult to understand the medium and design suc-
cessfully for it. We will therefore need to extend the
hypertext concepts of nodes, links, and navigation and
augment them with new concepts as well.
David K. Farkas
See also Website Design
FURTHER READING
Bernstein, M. (1991). Deeply intertwingled hypertext: The navigation
problem reconsidered. Technical Communication, 38 (1), 4147.
Bolter, J. D. (1991). Writing space: The computer, hypertext, and the his-
tory of writing. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bush, V. (1996). As we may think. Interactions, 3(2), 3546.
Farkas, D. K., & Farkas J. B. (2002). Principles of Web design. New
York: Longman.
Hodges M. E., & Sasnett, R. M. (1993). Multimedia computing: Case
studies from MIT Project Athena. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
Landow, G. P. (1997). Hypertext 2.0. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins
University Press.
Larson, K., & Czerwinski, M. (1998). Web page design: Implications
of structure, memory, and scent for information retrieval. In Pro-
ceedings of ACM CHI 98 Human Factors in Computing Systems
(pp. 2532). Los Angeles, CA: ACM Press.
McKnight, C., Dillon A., & Richardson J. (1991). Hypertext in context.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nelson, T. H. (1992). Literary machines 93.1. Sausalito, CA: Mindful Press.
Nielsen, J. (1994). Multimedia and hypertext: The Internet and beyond.
Boston, MA: Academic Press.
Nyce, J. M., & Kahn, P. (Eds.). (1991). From Memex to hypertext:
Vannevar Bush and the minds machine. Boston: Academic Press.
Parunak, H. V. D. (1991). Ordering the information graph. In E. Berk
& J. Devlin (Eds.), Hypertext/hypermedia handbook (pp. 299325).
New York: McGraw-Hill.
336 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Pirolli, P., & Card, S. (1999). Information foraging. Psychological Review, Rosenfeld, L. & Morville, P. (2002). Information architecture for the
106(4), 643675. World Wide Web (2nd ed.). Sebastopol, CA: OReilly.
Powell, T. A. (2000). Web design: The complete reference. Berkeley, CA: Rouet, J., Levonen, J. J., Dillon, A., & Spiro, R. J. (Eds.). (1996). Hypertext
Osborne: McGraw-Hill. and cognition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

I
ICONS
Icons are visual symbols of objects, actions, or ideas.
In computer software, these visual symbols are used
to identify everything from a disk drive or file on a
computer to the print command in a word-
processing program. Icons are used in graphical user
interfaces (GUIs), where a user selects them with a
pointer that is manipulated via a mouse, trackball,
or related device.
Icons are intended to facilitate the use of a GUI
by all levels of computer users. For novice users icons
represent a program or command that would other-
wise need to be remembered and typed. For more
experienced users icons are easier to remember
and are quicker to activate than a typed command.
The use of icons in graphical user interfaces has
ICONS
IDENTITY AUTHENTICATION
IMPACTS
INFORMATION FILTERING
INFORMATION ORGANIZATION
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
INFORMATION SPACES
INFORMATION THEORY
INSTRUCTION MANUALS
INTERNETWORLDWIDE DIFFUSION
INTERNET IN EVERYDAY LIFE
ITERATIVE DESIGN
become popular to the point that standards for them
have emerged within some operating systems, such
as Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh.
One result of such standards is consistency.
Consistency allows users to easily use the same features
among different programs and lessens the time needed
to learn different programs. The graphical represen-
tation of an icon can range from the abstract to the
concrete. An abstract icon is a symbol that reflects a
convention of what the represented object, action, or
idea actually is. Such a symbol is often of simple shape,
line, and color. A concrete icon contains a more de-
tailed, more graphical representation of the object, ac-
tion, or idea, which makes interpretation easier.
The link between the user (and his or her in-
terpretation) and the object, action, or idea that
the icon represents is a prime example of human-
computer interaction. Although icons are not the
337
338 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
sole answer to the question of how to make tech-
nology easier to use, icons provide a means of con-
ducting work in a variety of environments for a wide
range of computer users.
History
The notion of icons originated before the graphi-
cal user interface or even computers were in use.
Traditionally icons were religious images. How-
ever, the notion of icons has evolved. In 1935 the U.S.
scientist and philosopher Charles Peirce defined an
icon as a sign resembling an object. An icon has at-
tributes that resemble those of the object that it rep-
resents in reality. In even earlier references during
the early 1900s, philosophers likened an icon to a
sign that resembles an object and contains its
properties. An example of this resemblance per-
spective of an icon is a painting of a person. The
painting resembles the person and is thus a repre-
sentation of the person. The notion that icons re-
semble objects in reality was popular for several years.
When the graphical user interface became
commonplace for computers, the notion of icons
as representations was maintained. What has changed
are the extent of the representations and their size.
Representations can range from abstract to photo-
realistic and appear even three dimensional. The size
can vary from software program to software program,
but an icon is usually less than 2.54 centimeters square.
Icons were used in graphical user interfaces of
early computers, such as the Xerox Star in 1973. In
1984 Apple released the Apple Macintosh, contain-
ing the first commercially successful operating sys-
tem with a graphical user interface. As technical
innovations progressed, the Macintosh interface
evolved, Microsoft Windows became successful, and
graphical user interfaces became common in other
operating systems. Icons have been a mainstay
throughout the evolution of the GUI.
The visual aesthetics of icons evolved alongside
the graphical capabilities of computers, and now a
range of styles of icons is used in software. For ex-
ample, some software programs arrange icons in
groups to form a toolbar, whereas others arrange them
on the screen more creatively. The complexity of pro-
grams has affected how icons are utilized. Some soft-
ware programs are complex and contain many fea-
tures for users to access. In order to accommodate
many features, users can sometimes customize the
size of icons displayed on the monitor screen.
Other software programs let users select which icons
are displayed on the screen or move icons around the
screen (as a toolbar or in their own window). The
customization of icons can reach the file system as
well. Whereas some systems use abstract icons for
documents, other systems use other options. Some
systems abandon generic representations of an im-
age file in favor of more detailed representations.
Some recent image editing programs, such as Adobe
Photoshop, can produce a miniature version of the
image in the file rather than a generic image file icon
as the files icon. The rationale is to provide an im-
mediate recognition of an image files contents that
the file name may not provide.
As the World Wide Web has become popular with
a wide range of people, people who otherwise would
not create their own computer software have had the
opportunity to create personal webpages containing
icons. The difference between the icons in software
programs and the icons on webpages is that rather
than activate a feature, icons on webpages will gen-
erally take the user to a different webpage. The abil-
ity of people to design their own icons and webpages
and the ability to visit other websites, representing
a variety of services, information, and diversions, have
widened the range of icons in use by a wide range
of people.
Advantages and Disadvantages
One advantage of using icons instead of text labels
is that icons are smaller than the corresponding text
description of many objects, actions, or ideas. When
many icons are displayed on a screen in order to
allow a user to access a wide variety of features, pre-
serving as much screen space as possible to maxi-
mize the users workspace is essential. Icons are
space-efficient reminders of the functions they rep-
resent. For example, the floppy disk icon repre-
sents the save function in many software programs.
Although many computer users save their work to
their hard drive (as opposed to a floppy disk drive),
the icon serves as a reminder that the floppy disk rep-

resents the ability to save the current document to a
storage device.
To minimize the frustration and time that users
need to learn a computer program, many interface
designers use a metaphor. Some interfaces have an
underlying theme, such as a desktop. A main com-
ponent of a successful metaphor is that of carefully
selected icons that apply to the metaphor. The use
of such icons helps users and by representing objects
or actions that are recognized as relevant to the over-
all interface metaphor.
However, the use of a metaphor can also have
negative connotations for icons. In many metaphors
icons are an approximation that falls apart in terms
of its ability to represent the characteristic of an
object or action that would exist in the world that the
metaphors represent. For example, consider the
metaphor of a desktop and the icon of a trashcan that
represents the delete function on the screen (the
desktop). The metaphor is ineffective because people
do not place their trashcan on top of their desk.
Many expert computer users like to use keyboard
shortcuts that enable tasks to be completed without
taking their hands off of the keyboard. When such
keyboard shortcuts are not available, and expert users
must use a mouse to select icons, expert users can
become frustrated with the interface. Productivity
and satisfaction decrease. An example is the use of a
word processor by users who are so expert that the
mouse (and thus icons) is never used. If keyboard
shortcuts were removed from the word processor,
such users productivity would decrease and result
in a need to change how they work. Although this
drawback to icons is not specific to icons themselves,
it relates to the use of icons in an interface.
Guidelines and Standards
The design of icons is based on heuristics (aids in
learning) and GUI standards. Heuristics require
no mathematical proof or modeling, which makes
them easy to use by developers of user interfaces.
Icon heuristics include:
Be simple and direct.
Be clear in terms of what object, action, or idea
one wants to represent in the icon.
ICONS 339
Use an appropriate amount of visual detail and
color in the icon.
Select an appropriate image because the image
should be associated with the object, action, or
idea that one wishes to represent.
However, using heuristics is not a guarantee that
an icon will be successful. Users can be uncertain
about the use of an icon if a designer does not char-
acterize them appropriately.
Many software companies, including Microsoft
and Apple, have standards for their developers to use
when designing user interfaces for operating systems.
Such standards are also guides for third-party com-
panies to use when designing user interfaces for ap-
plication software that will run under the operating
systems. These standards are intended to provide users
a consistent look and feel for the applications and
the operating system. However, third-party compa-
nies do not always follow the guidelines fully. Instead,
some companies, such as Adobe and Macromedia,
develop their own user interface look and feel for
their software.
Problems and Possibilities
A computer user must be able to interpret the
symbolic meaning of an icon in order to use it.
Whether abstract or concrete representations are
used in icons, problems may arise when a user
does not have the same cultural knowledge of an
icons designer or does not have the visual acuity
to interpret the information represented by an icon.
For example, the icon for an U.S. telephone booth
will likely not have any meaning to someone from a
remote village in China. When an operating sys-
tem is intended to be released to multiple coun-
tries with different cultural references, developers
must keep special considerations in mind. The con-
ventions of one country may not be the same of an-
other country in terms of the shapes or colors selected
for an abstract icon. A red X in the United States
may not mean stop or warning in other parts
of the world. Concrete icons have similar issues
because the object, color, or context used in one cul-
ture may not be appropriate in other cultures. For
example, an icon showing men and women together
340 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
in an office is acceptable in many cultures, whereas
such a graphical representation is not acceptable in
other cultures.
Careful icon design is required for the inter-
national distribution of a software system. Advice
from an expert in the culture of a target environment
can save a software company embarrassment and the
loss of business. Because many software programs
are released internationally, different icon sets are
developed for different countries.
Currently most icons are staticsymbols that
do not move. However, with all of the advantages of
icons, some researchers see the potential to extend
the information capacity of icons with animation.
Researchers have studied the use of animated icons
in general use and in use by computer users who have
impaired vision. In both cases animated icons have
demonstrated benefits in comparison to traditional,
static icons. For example, some visually impaired
computer users can recognize an animated version
of an icon at a smaller size than a static icon. Design-
ers can use this fact to maximize the amount of work-
space that visually impaired users can utilize when
creating a document in a word-processing or e-mail
program.
Traditional icons are visual. However, computer
users who cannot discern visual symbols can discern
auditory signals. Thus, researchers have developed
audio-based interfaces, including auditory icons that
use sounds from everyday objects and allow com-
puter users to interact with a computer system with
sound. For example, a computer user can drag a doc-
ument icon across the screen and hear the sound
of pieces of paper being dragged across a table.
Different sounds can accommodate different file sizes
or other attributes. Although the visual aspect of an
icon is not represented in an auditory icon, the no-
tion of a symbolic (albeit auditory) representation
is consistent.
Icons have earned a prominent place in graph-
ical user interfaces by representing everything
from warnings to software features to programs and
files. Icons represent information in a small package,
whether that information is an object, action, or idea.
Careful design, in terms of heuristics and standards,
can maximize the usefulness of icons. Although is-
sues of interpretation by diverse groups of users
remain, research will continue to support the use of
icons in user interfaces.
Stephanie Ludi
See also Graphical User Interface
FURTHER READING
Apple Computer. Apple developer connectionIcons. (2003).
Retrieved January 4, 2004, from http://developer.apple.com/ue/
aqua/icons.html
Apple Computer. Apple human interface guidelines. (2003). Retrieved
January 7, 2004, from http://developer.apple.com/documentation/
UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/index.html#//
apple_ref/doc/uid/20000957
Baecker, R., & Small, I. (1990). Animation at the interface. In B. Laurel
(Ed.), The art of human-computer interface design (pp. 251267).
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Bergman, M., & Paavola, S. (2001). The Commens dictionary of Peirces
terms. Retrieved December 19, 2003, from http://www.helsinki.fi/
science/commens/terms/icon.html
Caplin, S. (2001). Icon design: Graphic icons in computer interface de-
sign. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.
Cornell University Common Front Group. (n.d.). Concepts of user
interface design. Retrieved January 11, 2004, from http://cfg.cit
.cornell.edu/cfg/design/concepts.html
Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G., & Beale, R. (1993). Human-computer
interaction. New York: Prentice Hall.
Gajendar, U. (2003). Learning to love the pixel: Exploring the craft
of icon design. Retrieved January 11, 2004, from http://www
.boxesandarrows.com/archives/learning_to_love_the_pixel_
exploring_the_craft_of_icon_design.php
Haber, R. (1970). How we remember what we see. Scientific American,
222, 104112.
Nielsen, J. (n.d.). Icon usability. Retrieved December 20, 2003, from
http://www.useit.com/papers/sun/icons.html
Sun Microsystems Incorporated. (2001). Java look and feel design guide-
lines. Retrieved January 4, 2004, from http://java.sun.com/products/
jlf/ed2/book/
Bayley, A. (2000). KDE user interface guidelines. Retrieved January
11, 2004, from http://developer.kde.org/documentation/
design/ui/index.html
Ludi, S., & Wagner, M. (2001). Re-inventing icons: Using animation
as cues in icons for the visually impaired. In M. J. Smith, G. Salvendy,
D. Harris, & R. J. Koubeck (Eds.), Proceedings of the Ninth
International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. New
Orleans, LA: HCI International.
Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Windows XPGuidelines for
applications. (2002). Retrieved December 20, 2003, from http://
www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/windowsxp/downloads/
default.mspx

Peirce, C., Hartshorne, C., Weiss, P., & Burks, A. (Eds.). (1935). Collected
papers IVIII. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Preece, J., Rogers, Y., Sharp, H., Benyon, D., Holland, S., & Carey, T.
(1994). Human-computer interaction. Reading, MA: Addison-
Wesley.
Shneiderman, B. (1998). Designing the user interface (3rd ed.). Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley.
IDENTITY
AUTHENTICATION
Authentication is the process of verifying that some-
one or something is what it claims to be. One can
verify a persons identity on the basis of what he or
she knows (passwords, personal information, a per-
sonal identification number, and so on), what he
or she possesses (an ID card, key, or smart card, for
example), or biometrically, based on fingerprints,
DNA, or other unique features. This article exam-
ines four sorts of authentication systems used in
human-computer interaction: password authen-
tication, Kerberos, digital signatures, and biometric
authentication.
Password Authentication
Password authentication is the most common au-
thentication technique. With password authentica-
tion, the user supplies his or her user name and a
secret word (something only the intended user
knows) to prove his or her identity. The information
submitted by the user is compared with the infor-
mation stored in the authentication system to vali-
date the user. Passwords can be plain text, hashed
text, or encrypted text.
Plain-Text Passwords
Plain-text passwords are the simplest passwords. Using
plain-text passwords reduces administrative over-
head because no preprocessing is required. But plain-
text passwords have many disadvantages. On the
Internet, it is easy for an intruder to sniff out such
passwords and then use them to pass as the rightful
user. Also, passwords that are stored in plain text can
IDENTITY AUTHENTICATION 341
be read easily by the host system. Hashed passwords
or encrypted passwords avoid these problems.
Hashed Passwords
Hash functions are used to produce hashed pass-
words. Hash functions take blocks of text as input
and produce output that is different from the input.
A good hash function is irreversible: It is impossible
to reconstruct the original data from the hashed data.
Also, if the hash function is good, then it will be
nearly impossible to build a data block that would
produces the given hashed data. A hash function
must always produce the same output for the same
given inputit must not contain any anomaly that
leads to randomness of output for the same input.
Systems using hashed passwords follow this se-
quence: The first time a person logs on to the sys-
tem, the system accepts the password, applies a hash
function to the password, and stores this hashed value
in the system. Next time, when the user logs on,
the system requests the password and the hash func-
tion is applied to the data the user has entered. If the
resultant output matches the stored record, then it
means user has entered the correct password and
hence is authenticated.
Encrypted Passwords
Encryption is a process used to scramble data to
make it unreadable to all but the recipient. With en-
cryption, passwords are encrypted using some encryp-
tion algorithm, and the encrypted text is stored in
the system. Even the host system cannot read the en-
crypted text. When user logs on by supplying his
or her password, it is encrypted using the same algo-
rithm, with the resultant output being checked
against the stored encrypted password. If both en-
crypted texts match, then the user is authenticated.
Problems with Password Authentication
Although there are different ways in which passwords
can be used, all password authentication systems suf-
fer from certain disadvantages. First, passwords
can be guessed, since generally users have a tendency
to pick familiar words as passwords. Password-
breaking programs that use combinations of alpha-
bet letters can crack word passwords quickly.
342 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Second, password authentication requires two
types of data: a user name and a password. It can be-
come difficult for user to remember the pairs for
multiple systems. A user may forget either his or her
user name or his or her password. When that hap-
pens, users must create a new user name or a new
password, or both.
Third, because of the problem of remembering
multiple passwords, many people use a single pass-
word for many systems. This means that once the
password is cracked, all the systems using same pass-
word are endangered.
Policies to Make the Password
Authentication System Stronger
Even though password authentication systems have
inherent disadvantages, they can be used efficiently
by following certain strategies. First, a policy can be
enforced that requires passwords that are harder to
break. Long passwords containing combination of
alphabet letters and numerals are generally harder to
break. Making passwords case-sensitive (that is, hav-
ing a recognition system capable of distinguishing
between uppercase and lowercase letters) also
helps. Additionally, a single sign-on system, which
gives a user access to multiple systems with a single
password, can eliminate the need to remember mul-
tiple passwords. Finally, users can be reminded that
they must never reveal their passwords to others.
Kerberos
Kerberos is an authentication protocol that was
developed by MIT for authenticating a request for a
service in a computer network. It relies on secret-key
cryptography to securely identify users. There are
five basic entities involved in the Kerberos authen-
tication system: the user, the client (computer), which
acts on behalf of the user, the key distribution cen-
ter (KDC), the ticket-granting service (TGS), and
the server, which provides the requested service.
In the Kerberos system, users have secret keys
(passwords) that are stored at the KDC. A user ini-
tiates the authentication procedure by requesting
credentials (permission for access) from the KDC.
To acquire these credentials the user first identifies
him- or herself with the KDC by giving unique iden-
tifiers. On the users request the KDC selects a ses-
sion key (a password limited to a particular session
of communication), generates something called a
ticket (a unique data message containing the users
identity and the time range for which the ticket is
valid), combines the ticket with the session key, and
encrypts it with the users secret key. Since the users
secret key is exposed in the ticket, the ticket is used
to generate a second ticket from the TGS. This sec-
ond ticket is encrypted by the session key of the TGS,
so there is no risk of users secret key being exposed.
Using this second ticket, the client is authenticated
and a secure connection with the server is established.
Benefits and Limitations of Kerberos
The Kerberos system has the advantage of prevent-
ing plain-text passwords from being transmitted over
the network. User names and passwords are stored
centrally, so it is easier to manage that informa-
tion. Furthermore, since passwords are not stored
locally, even if one machine is compromised, there
are no additional compromises.
However, Kerberos has limitations. It is not ef-
fective against password-guessing attacks, and it
requires a trusted path over which to send the pass-
words. If a hacker can sniff communication between
the user and the initial authentication program,
the hacker may be able to impersonate the user.
Digital Signature
In any online transaction, the most important and
critical consideration is who you are dealing with.
Digital signatureselectronic signaturesare one
method of confirming someones identity.
Digital signatures are based on public-key
cryptography, a form of cryptography that uses two
keys, a public key and a private key, to ensure au-
thentication. The private key is used to create the dig-
ital signature, and the public key is used to verify it.
The private key is known only by signer, who uses
it to sign the document; the public key, in contrast,
is freely available and many people can share it. Thus,
a document signed by one person can be verified
by multiple receivers. Although the public key and

the private key are related to each other, it is com-
putationally impossible to derive the signers private
key from the public key. Use of digital signature in-
volves two processes: digital signature creation, which
the signer performs, and digital signature verifica-
tion, which the receiver performs.
Digital Signature Creation
For a message, document, or any other information
that needs to be signed digitally, an extract of the
message or document is generated using a hash func-
tion. The signer further encrypts this hashed mes-
sage by using his or her private key, and the doubly
encrypted text becomes the digital signature. This
digital signature is then attached to the message and
stored or transmitted along with message.
Digital Signature Verification
To verify the signers digital signature, the recipient
creates a new hash value of the original message is
using the same hash function that was used to create
first hash value. Then, using the freely available pub-
lic key, this newly generated hash value is compared
with the hash value attached to the message. By com-
paring these two hash values, the identity of the signer
can be verified. Apart from identity authentica-
tion, digital signatures can also be used for mes-
sage authentication. By comparing the hash values
generated by the signer and receiver, the integrity of
the message can be checked. If the message is altered
by an intruder or damaged while in transit, the hash
value generated by the receiver will not match with
the original hash value attached by the signer.
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Digital Signature
Digital signatures have both advantages and disad-
vantages. On the plus side, digital signatures cannot
be copied. They ensure that data has not been tam-
pered with after it has been signed. And, since digi-
tal signatures are created and verified electronically,
they are safe from unauthorized influence. On the
minus side, digital signatures are costly. Users must
pay to obtain a digital signature, and recipients of
digital signatures need special software to verify
the signature.
IDENTITY AUTHENTICATION 343
Biometrics Authentication System
Biometric authentication verifies the user by mea-
suring certain physiological or behavioral character-
istics such as fingerprints or retinas. The measurable
characteristics used in any biometric system are
unique. Using biometrics for identity authentication
typically involves the following processes.
Registering the User in the System
This process is also called enrollment. In this step,
the users biometric characteristic is measured using
an input device. This step must be performed very
carefully, since future authentications of the user de-
pends on this sample.
Processing the Biometric Characteristic
The sample recorded by the input device is then
processed and its features are extracted. Before ex-
tracting the features, biometric samples can be
checked in order to ensure their quality. The num-
ber of samples needed for processing depends on the
biometric characteristic that the system is using
for authentication.
Storage
The processed sample, called the master template, is
then stored in the database for the future use.
Biometric systems can be used both for identifi-
cation and for verification. When they are being used
for identification, the processed biometric charac-
teristic is compared with the entire set of master tem-
plates stored in the database. By this means, the sys-
tem ensures that same person is not trying to enroll
under two different names. When being used for
verification, the system compares the processed
biometric characteristic with the master template
stored during enrollment. If it matches the master
template, then user is authenticated.
Types of Biometrics
Among the physiological and behavioral charac-
teristics that are used by biometric systems are fin-
gerprints (unique even for identical twins), face
recognition, voice recognition (which has limita-
tions, as a persons voice can change with age and
344 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
different input devices can give different results), iris
recognition, signature verification (which measures
such characteristics as the writers pressure and speed
when signing his or her name), and hand and finger
geometry.
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Biometric Authentication System
One advantage of biometric systems is that because
they recognize the authenticated user him- or herself
and not information that he or she has, they avoid
the problem of lost, stolen, or forgotten passwords or
identification numbers or cards. They are also fast
and easy to use, and generally do not cost much.
However, some biometric characteristics are sub-
ject to change as a person ages and hence must be
updated periodically. Additionally, some biometric
systems, such as signature verification or voice recog-
nition, must operate within a tolerance range since
it is very difficult to produce exactly the same sig-
nature or to speak in exactly the same tone of voice
each time. Establishing the correct tolerance range
can be difficult. When relying on a biometric system,
one must be sure that the system is not producing
too many false rejections. (False rejections should be
below 1 percent.) Depending on the biometric char-
acteristic being measured, some people may be ex-
cluded. For example, mute people cannot be put
through voice recognition. Finally, although bio-
metric systems are generally low cost, some input
devices may need regular maintenance, which in-
creases the cost.
Implications of
Using Authentication Systems
Clearly, all authentication systems have advantages
and disadvantages; there is no one authentication
system that is suitable for all situations. Password
authentication is the cheapest authentication sys-
tem, so if you want to authenticate identity but your
budget is limited, password authentication is a good
choice. With Kerberos, it is assumed that you are us-
ing trusted hosts on non-trusted networks. The
basic goal of Kerberos is to prevent plain-text pass-
words from being sent across the network, so its
basic use is to prevent identity theft. Digital signa-
tures are tamper proof, but they are only useful for
authenticating the sender (or content) of a docu-
ment. They cannot be used in situations in which
authentication is required to give access to confi-
dential data, for example. As for biometrics, because
they rely on peoples physical features, they are dif-
ficult to use for authenticating participants in online
transactions. Thus, every authentication system has
some features but because of limitations cannot be
used everywhere. Currently, then, people rely on a
combination of different authentication systems for
maximum security.
Ashutosh Deshpande and Parag Sewalkar
See also Privacy; Security
FURTHER READING
Bellovin, S. M., & Merritt, M. (1991). AT&T Bell Labs limitations of
the Kerberos authentication system. Retrieved February 17, 2004,
from http://swig.stanford.edu/pub/summaries/glomop/kerb_
limit.html
Brennen, V. A. A basic introduction to Kerberos. Retrieved February 17,
2004, from http://www.cryptnet.net/fdp/crypto/basic_intros/
kerberos/
How Stuff Works. (19982004). How do digital signatures work?
Retrieved March 18, 2004, from http://www.howstuffworks.com/
question571.htm
Jaspan, B. (1995). Kerberos users frequently asked questions 1.14.
Retrieved February 17, 2004, from http://www.faqs.org/faqs/
kerberos-faq/user/.
Kohl, J. T. (1991). The evolution of the Kerberos authentication ser-
vice. Proceedings of the Spring 1991 EurOpen Conference.
Retrieved February 17, 2004, from http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/
CCS/people/kenh/kerberos-faq.html#whatis
MIT Kerberos. (n.d.). Kerberos: The network authentication protocol.
Retrieved March 18, 2004, from http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/
Podio, F. L., & Dunn, J. S. Biometric authentication technology: From
the movies to your desktop. Retrieved March 18, 2004, from http://
www.itl.nist.gov/div895/biometrics/Biometricsfromthemovies.pdf
Smeraldi, F., & Bigun, J. (2002). Retinal vision applied to facial fea-
tures detection and face authentication. Pattern Recognition Letters,
23(4), 463475.
Syverson, P., Y Cevesato, I. (2001). The logic of authentication pro-
tocols. In R. Focardi & R. Gorrieri (Eds.), Foundations of security
analysis and design (pp. 63136). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer
Verlag
Treasury Board of Canada. (2001, 2003). PKI questions and answers
for beginners. Retrieved March 18, 2004, from http://www.cio-dpi
.gc.ca/pki-icp/beginners/faq/faq_e.asp

IMPACTS
Often the effects of computerization on society are
remote and outside the control of the designer of
any specific system. But design decisions in par-
ticular systems may also have more direct social ef-
fects, and these decisions are ones over which
computer professionals may have influence. This
article will first review some of the large-scale so-
cial effects of computing as well as some of the
more direct social effects that computer systems
can have, along with some of the methodologies
that are being proposed to help predict and ame-
liorate these direct effects.
In addition to distinguishing between remote
and direct impacts, we can also distinguish between
intentional effects (efficiency, unemployment) and
unintentional effects (deskilling, component reuse
in other applications) of computing systemsboth
of which may be either remote or direct. Even
basic research in computing, such as the devel-
opment of systems of fuzzy logic, can have both
intentional effects (making medical diagnosis more
reliable) and unintentional ones (making computer
A U.S. Post Office first-day cover from 1973 notes the impact of microelectronics on the development
of advanced technology. Photo courtesy of Marcy Ross.
IMPACTS 345
database matching more efficient). Table 1 shows
how basic research and system development, re-
mote and direct effects, and intentional and unin-
tentional effects interrelate. It is important to
remember, however, that while the table presents
discrete categories, each pair actually represents
a continuum, with the names of each category rep-
resenting endpoints on the continuums. Effects
will fall somewhere on the continuum.
Research is basic to the extent that it is solving
intellectual rather than practical problems, though
clearly many projects have both theoretical- and
applied-research facets. An effect is direct when its
outcome depends little upon the presence or ab-
sence of other factors (such as, for example, the
presence of a union, or regulations, or reuse of the
system for a different purpose). An effect is inten-
tional to the extent that the developers and client
foresee and desire that outcome and design the sys-
tem to produce it.
This categorization shows clearly that computer
research produces some social effects that system de-
signers are aware of and over which they have some
control; it also produces effects that designers may
not foresee and may not be able to control (in some
346 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

TABLE 1. Examples of Different Kinds of Social Impacts of Computing

Basic Research (example: development System Development (example: data

of fuzzy logic systems) monitoring in banking call center)
remote direct remote direct
Intentional Increased Utilization of Improved Increased
reliability of categorization integration of productivity in
medical diagnosis algorithms in customer data the call center
difficult areas across sales
and support
Unintentional Increased privacy Revisions of Increased job
violations by conceptions of turnover among
marketers human rationality workers. Decreased
making use of job satisfaction
data-matching among call
techniques center workers

cases they may share control with many other ac-
tors). Again, this is a continuum rather than a di-
chotomy. Creative designers can often find technical
solutions to address even remote effects of system
design, once they are aware of them.
Remote Social Impacts of
Specic Types of Systems
Much work on the social impacts of computing con-
centrates on the specific effects of specific types of
systems, such as computer games, monitoring soft-
ware, safety-critical systems, or medical applications.
Computer Games and Violence
Extensive playing of computer games has been doc-
umented to lead to thoughts, feelings, and reactions
that are clear precursors of violent behavior. The link
between use of the games themselves and violent
behavior on the part of players is reasonably well
substantiated, but not surprisingly is a matter of
controversy.
Data Mining, Work Monitoring, and Privacy
Privacy threats are posed by systems designed to
match data from databases without the knowledge
of the users. These systems match data, for example,
across state lines in the United States to catch people
filing for welfare benefits in more than one juris-
diction. The potential for privacy violation is clear,
but from the corporate point of view, data mining is
an effective way to discover important markets, or
to reveal fraud. Computer systems are also used to
monitor the workplace behavior of individuals, usu-
ally with an eye to reducing unwanted behavior or
to increasing productivity. The successand in some
cases the legalityof such schemes depends crucially
on how the employees are involved in the planning
and implementation of the systems. Approaches to
legislation of these privacy issues differ radically
around the world, with Europe being very system-
atic and the United States taking a more fragmented
approach.
Safety-Critical Systems
Much computer software is directly integrated into
systems that run sensitive machinery in real time.
This might be medical machinery, for example, or it
might be machinery in missile launchers. In every
case, the complexities of process, the range of pos-
sible input states, the close coupling of action
links, and time-based interdependencies make it dif-
ficult to verify the safety of these systems. Nancy
Levesons 1995 Safeware: System Safety and Computers
and Neil Storeys 1996 Safety-Critical Computer

Therac-25: Safety Is a System Property
Normally, when a patient is scheduled to have radiation
therapy for cancer, he or she is scheduled for several ses-
sions over a few weeks and told to expect some minor
skin discomfort from the treatment. The discomfort is
described as being on the order of a mild sunburn over
the treated area. However, a very abnormal thing hap-
pened to one group of patients: They received severe
radiation burns resulting in disability and, in three
cases, death.
The Therac-25 was a device that targeted electron or
X-ray beams on cancerous tissue to destroy it. Electron
beams were used to treat shallow tissue, while photon
beams could penetrate with minimal damage to treat
deep tissue. Even though operators were told that there
were so many safety mechanisms that it was virtually
impossible to overdose a patient, this is exactly what
did occur in six documented cases (Leveson and Clark
1993).
These massive radiation overdoses were the result of
a convergence of many factors including:
Systems provide good overviews of the issues in
designing safe systems in this area.
Social Impacts Associated with the
Networked Nature of Computing
Networked computing has increased the potential
scale of effect of human action. Messages or programs
written on a single machine by a lone actor can now
propagate to millions of machines across the globe in
a few minutes. This increase in the scale of action is
available to anyone who can buy or rent access to
the global network. One effect of this globalization of
action over computer networks is that action can rou-
tinely cross legal jurisdictional boundaries. Pictures
can be created and uploaded in a jurisdiction where
their content is legal, but then viewed from another
jurisdiction, in another country, where they are ille-
gal. Computer viruses can be designed in jurisdictions
where it is more difficult to prosecute the designers,
IMPACTS 347
simple programming errors
inadequate safety engineering
poor human computer interaction design
a lax culture of safety in the manufacturing or-
ganization
inadequate reporting structure at the company level
and as required by the U.S. government.
As noted by Nancy Leveson and Clark S. Turner
(1993, para. 2), the authors of the study that investigat-
ed the effects of Therac-25: Our goal is to help others
learn from this experience, not to criticize the equip-
ments manufacturer or anyone else. The mistakes that
were made are not unique to this manufacturer but are,
unfortunately, fairly common in other safety-critical
systems.
Chuck Huff
Source: Leveson, N., & Turner, C. S. (1993). An inves-
tigation of the Therac-25 accidents. IEEE-Computer
26(7), 1841. Retrieved March 19, 2004, from http://
courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/lib/Therac_25/Therac_1
.html
but then released to the entire world. Websites can be
subject to denial-of-service attacks by actors across
the globe. The legal issues of how actors will be held
responsible for their actions in a global network are
still being resolved and are embedded in larger cul-
tural issues, such as the importance attached to pri-
vacy or property, and attitudes toward censorship.
More General Social Issues
There are several more general social issues associ-
ated with computing that are not directly associated
with the reach of the global network.
The Digital Divide
The simple issue of access to computing technol-
ogy and to the benefits of the increasingly wired world
has generated concern over what is called the digi-
tal divide, or the lack of access to current technology,
connectivity, and training that people may face based
on gender, race, class, or national wealth.
348 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools.
Henry David Thoreau
Intellectual Property
Computing technology is based on movement and
transformation of information from one form to an-
other. The ease with which information can be trans-
ferred and software copied has made intellectual
property theft a major issue. The chapter on intel-
lectual property in Deborah Johnsons Computer
Ethics (third edition published in 2001) provides a
good overview of the issues in this area.
Employment
Finally, one of the direct, intentional goals of much
software development is to make businesses and other
organizations more efficient. But along with increases
in efficiency come job redundancies. There seems
little evidence that technological advancement
produces unemployment over the long run, but
individual implementations often produce unem-
ployment as a direct intentional outcome. The soci-
etal problem is to help resolve the structural issues
that make it difficult for these workers to be reem-
ployed in comparable and meaningful work.
Similarly, deskilling of workers (simplifying their
jobs so management has more control or can pay lower
rates) is often the direct, intentional outcome of soft-
ware development in business. Computer scien-
tists in Scandinavia have worked in cooperation with
labor unions and employers to develop software that
adds to the skills and autonomy of workers while
also increasing the quality of the producta process
called participatory design. It is unclear whether this
model will be more widely adopted in countries
where unions have less power and legitimacy.
Addressing the Social Impacts of
Particular Implementations of
Computing
Many of the social issues reviewed so far are often re-
mote from the implementation of any particular sys-
tem and out of the immediate control of the design-
ers or implementers of the systems. But all systems
are implemented within some social context. If
they are successful, they will at least have the direct,
intentional effects desired by their designers and im-
plementers. However, they are also likely to have
indirect and unintentional effects. The software en-
gineer Donald Gotterbarn and computer ethicist
Simon Rogerson make the case in The Ethics of
Software Project Management (2001) that using sys-
tematic methods to become aware of these effects will
improve the quality of the delivered software, help
avert expensive software project failures, and in the
end save both developers and clients money. Since
the methods they and others advocate are relatively
new and untried, there is little empirical evidence for
these claims, but the logic of the case studies they
present is compelling. Other scholars also provide
case study evidence that these approaches help to pro-
duce better-designed products and may save clients
money, but the methods are not widely enough used
yet to make systematic evaluation possible. Still, it
is worth reviewing these proposed methods.
What all the methods have in common is making
sure that early design decisions take into account larger
contextual issues rather than merely narrowly focused
technical and economic ones. The scientist Ben
Shneidermans original proposal (published in 1990)
was based on an analogy with the government re-
quirement in the United States that construction proj-
ects complete an environmental impact statement
to determine the projects effect on the surrounding
environment. He proposed a social impact statement
be incorporated into the software development process
of projects that were large enough to warrant it.
This statement would begin by listing the stake-
holders (people and groups likely to be effected by the
software), would attempt to determine the systems ef-
fect on those stakeholders, and then propose modifi-
cations in the requirements or design of the system to
reduce negative and enhance positive effects. Ben
Shneiderman and Anne Rose reported on an attempt
to implement this approach in 1996. The psycholo-
gist Chuck Huff has proposed the integration of par-
ticular social-science methods into the social
impact statement as a way to increase its sensitivity to
the social context in which a system is designed.

The social scientist Enid Mumford developed a
method that was inspired by her early association
with the Tavistock Institute in London, a center
founded in 1946 for the study of the interplay be-
tween technical systems and human welfare. Her
method has been applied reasonably successfully
to other technical systems and has seen a few suc-
cessful implementations in software systems as well,
making it the best substantiated approach currently
available. She gives seven steps for a sociotechnical
design process:
1. Diagnose user needs and problems, focusing
on both short- and long-term efficiency and
job satisfaction;
2. Set efficiency and job satisfaction objectives;
3. Develop a number of alternative designs and
match them against the objectives;
4. Choose the strategy that best achieves both sets
of objectives;
5. Choose hardware and software and design
the system in detail;
6. Implement the system; and
7. Evaluating the system once it is operational.
Gotterbarn provides a method and supporting
software for investigating the social issues associated
with the implementation of a system. His approach
is as simple as asking what the effects of each of the
systems tasks will be on each of the stakeholders who
are relevant to that task. But this simplicity is illusory,
because of the explosion of combinations that occurs
when you cross all tasks with all stakeholders and ask
a series of questions about each of these combina-
tions. The SoDIS (software development impact state-
ment) software Gotterbarn outlined in a 2002 article
helps to control this complexity. To complete a
software development impact statement, one must:
Identify immediate and extended stakeholders;
Identify requirements, tasks, or work breakdown
packages;
Record potential issues for every stakeholder re-
lated to every task; and
Record the details and solutions to help mod-
ify the development plan.
The researchers Batya Friedman, Daniel Howe,
and Edward Felton are proponents of a design process
IMPACTS 349
called value-sensitive design that stresses the im-
portance of iterations of conceptual, technical, and
empirical tasks throughout the software design proj-
ect in an attempt to account for important human
values that are affected by the system. One starts with
philosophically informed analysis of relevant values.
One then identifies how existing and potential tech-
nical designs might enhance those values, and then
uses social-science methods to investigate how those
values affect various stakeholders related to the
system. Like most other approaches, this methodol-
ogy is a new development, and though it has had
some interesting successes, it still awaits more care-
ful validation.
Two other approaches deserve mention as meth-
ods to address social issues in software design:
computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and
participatory design. Participatory design was men-
tioned earlier in the context of the employment ef-
fects of system implementation. It is an approach
that attempts to integrate democratic values into sys-
tem design by involving potential users of the system
in intensive consultation during an iterative design
process. Computer-supported cooperative work is
an area in which systems are designed to support the
work of groups. The work in this area focuses on
those values that are most relevant in CSCW sys-
tems, such as privacy and trust.
The importance of social issues in computing
was recognized by the early innovators in the field
of computing. The 1946 founding of the Tavistock
Institute has already been mentioned, and as early
as 1950, the mathematician Norbert Wiener ad-
dressed many of the issues considered in this arti-
cle in his The Human Use of Human Beings. Social-
impact issues in computing then lay fallow for many
years until revived in 1968 by Don Parker, who was
followed in 1976 by Joseph Wiezenbaum. There was
an explosion of work in the 1980s and 1990s con-
comitant with the proliferation of personal com-
puters and the emergence of the Internet as tool
for widespread use. At present numerous rigorous
and systematic methods are emerging to take account
of social-impact issues, ethics, and values in the
design of software systems.
Chuck Huff
350 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
See also Computer-Supported Cooperative Work;
Digital Divide; Value Sensitive Design
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INFORMATION
FILTERING
The amount of information we create and exchange
is far more than a person can easily manage. One way
to overcome information overload is to personalize
information delivery, that is, to present information
that matches users preferences. Selective dissemi-
nation of information, alerting services, collabora-
tive filtering, help systems, social filtering, social
data-mining systems, and user-adaptive systems can
collectively be called information-filtering (IF)
systems. Personalized information systems are based
on the information preferences, profiles, or user mod-
els that these IF systems produce. Information fil-
INFORMATION FILTERING 351
HELP SYSTEMS Computer-based systems that answer
user questions on a programs functions and help users
lear n how to accomplish g iven tasks using the
program.
tering suggests leaving certain information out,
but the term has been used in different contexts. One
context emphasizes blocking, which refers to auto-
matic censorship of the material available to a par-
ticular user or kind of user. Another definition
emphasizes selecting things from a larger set of pos-
sibilities and presenting them in a prioritized or-
der based on a users interests.
A conceptual framework for the design of IF sys-
tems comes from two established lines of research:
information retrieval and user modeling. Information
retrieval attempts to retrieve as many relevant items
as possible while minimizing the amount of irrele-
vant information. A relevant item is one that helps
satisfy an information need. Because the most dis-
tinctive characteristic of the field of IF is the exis-
tence of a profile to model the information need,
most of the work on IF is being conducted within
the framework of user modeling. A user model con-
tains pertinent information about the user; the IF
system uses such models to guide its personalization
of information for the user.
Filtering mechanisms depend on accurate rep-
resentations of their users and theirs users needs
in order to perform their task successfully. Charac-
teristics of user models can vary according to the sys-
tem, the user, and the task being performed. The
information scientist P. J. Danielss profiles include
user background, habits, topics of interests, and user
status. Robert B. Allen suggests that the model should
also include situation, task, and environmental in-
formation. For user profiles of potential customers
of electronic shops, the scholars Liliana Ardissono
and Anna Goy suggest domain expertise, lifestyle,
and intended use of the items purchased as perti-
nent. Based on these elements, an IF system can
determine which product to recommend, how to
present product descriptions, how much technical
information to include, and which linguistic form
to employ.
352 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Filtering systems frequently present material to
users based on how well it corresponds with a list of
topics or subjects that the user has selected as be-
ing of interest. In 1997 Raya Fidel and Michael
Crandall, scholars in the field of library and infor-
mation science, published results of an empirical
study evaluating users perception of filtering per-
formance. In the study, they examined criteria users
employed in judging whether or not a document was
relevant. Although the profiles in the users filter-
ing system were based on topics, the researchers
found that users employed many criteria in addition
to topics or subjects (for example, their current be-
liefs, knowledge, and working situation) to deter-
mine a documents relevance.
User Models for Filtering
Although researchers differ in how they categorize
models, most agree that a model can be either canon-
ical or individual in its modeling and that its ac-
quisition of information can be either explicit or
implicit.
Canonical Modeling
Canonical, or stereotypical, modeling models a typ-
ical user, while individual modeling models a
particular user. Because stereotypes are collection
of attributes that co-occur in users, inferences about
a user that rely on stereotypical modeling can be
made on a smaller sample of user behavior. The in-
heritance properties of some representation meth-
ods allow the system to infer data and predict
actions. When the user is new, the system relies
on the stereotype; as the system learns, less data is
taken from the stereotype and more from the up-
dated profile of the actual user. Stereotype mod-
els have their limitations: It is difficult to achieve
a sufficiently personal expression with a stereotype
model.
Individual User Modeling
Individual models are exemplified by the Personalized
Text (PT) system, which aims to customize hyper-
text. In PT, readers are asked to do a concept in-
ventory, which is a short dialogue from which can
be gleaned an initial model of their background
knowledge. The customized hypertext of a user who
claims to have a solid understanding of a concept
will have the concept relegated to a glossary, while
the users who dont know the concept will find it
as a live link providing a definition in the main body
of the hypertext. In addition, a combination of cog-
nitive and biological criteria such as eye movements,
pulse, temperature, and galvanic skin response,
can be used for individual optimization. Dara Lee
Howard and Martha Crosby performed experiments
to understand individual viewing strategies for bib-
liographic citations. Analysis of the users eye move-
ments illuminated their actual behavior. The
researchers found that relevant material was read se-
quentially while non-relevant material was viewed
non-sequentially.
Explicit Modeling
Explicit models are built directly and explicitly by
users. Users are presented with direct questions, and
their answers comprise their profile. Advantages of
the explicit model are that users are more in control
and have a good understanding of what the system
is doing. Thomas Malone and his colleagues found
that the rules that constitute the profile of InfoLens,
a filtering system that helps the user to filter incom-
ing email messages. Users write the rules instructing
the email system on the actions to take depending
on the sender, message type, and date. Daniela Petrelli
and her colleagues categorized visitors to muse-
ums according to classical dimensions, provided
by each visitor, such as age, profession, education,
and specific knowledge or background. Visitors also
provided situational dimensions such as available
time for the visit, motivation for the visit. Language
style (expert versus naive) and verbosity used in the
individualized guide was constructed from the
user profile.
Implicit Modeling
Implicit models are inferred by the responses of
the user assigning relevance to the information they
are presented or by monitoring users actions and
behavior. The usefulness of feedback for adjusting a
profile has been long recognized. Luz Quiroga and

Javed Mostafa conducted experiments to compare
the performance of explicit and implicit modes of
profile acquisition. Results of the study suggested
that context plays an important part in assess-
ments of relevance. Implicit feedback mechanisms,
as well as the explicit ones, based on surveys and
questionnaires, are criticized for imposing an extra
burden on the user. Monitoring user behavior, on
the other hand, appears to be an efficient way to cap-
ture the users profile transparently. Other implicit
profiling systems examine actions such as whether
an electronic message is read or ignored, saved or
deleted, and replied to or not. User interest in vari-
ous topics can also be ascertained based on the time
users spent reading NetNews articles.
Information Filtering and
User Modeling Techniques and Tools
Among the techniques and tools that are useful for
information filtering are virtual agents, collective
profiles, interactive information retrieval, intelligent
help systems, collaborative filtering, mining social
data, and bookmarking.
Virtual Agents
Virtual agents are software programs that act on be-
half of the user, delivering selected, prioritized in-
formation to an IF system. Pattie Maes (1994), of
MITs Media Lab, considers IF to be one of the many
applications facilitated by agents, which act as per-
sonal assistants to their clients, alleviating poten-
tial information overload.
Collective Profiles
Collective profiles allow individual users to organ-
ize information that relates to their families and
friends. SETA, a shopping recommender, maintains
models of all the beneficiaries for whom the user
selects goods while shopping. Research on person-
alized guides to museums suggested that such sys-
tems should support family profiles and family
discussions and interaction in addition to main-
taining individualized museum guide capabilities.
INFORMATION FILTERING 353
Interactive Information Retrieval
The information scientist Nicholas Belkin developed
the theory of the anomalous state of knowledge
(ASK). The theory suggests that it is better to em-
ploy interactions than to model explicit knowledge.
Belkin points out that people engage in information
seeking to achieve some goal for which their current
status of knowledge is inadequate. Thus, the users
may not know, let alone be able to specify, what their
information needs are.
Intelligent Help Systems
The computer scientist Johan Aberg designed a sys-
tem that combines automatic and human help in a
personalized and contextualized way. He describes
his system as a live help system that integrates hu-
man experts in the processes of advice-giving by
allowing users to communicate with dedicated ex-
pert assistants through the help system (Aberg 2002,
4). Human experts thus complement computer-based
help but do not replace it. A disadvantage of this sys-
tem is that it is difficult to provide human aug-
mentation to the automatic help due to cost and
availability of the human expert.
Collaborative Filtering
With collaborative filtering, the system gives sug-
gestions on various topics based on information
gleaned from members of a community or peer
group. The system identifies users with similar pref-
erences and makes recommendations based on what
those others have liked. MovieLens is a home video
recommendation system that chooses movies from
a large and relatively stable database of movie titles,
based on peers expressed taste in films. This approach
differs from approaches that choose items based only
on what a user has chosen before.
Social Data Mining
The process of mining social data reduces the cogni-
tive burden that collaborative filtering places on the
user. Vannevar Bush (1945) suggested that the rich
trails followed by scholars through information repos-
itories could guide others with similar interests.
Statistics on how much time people spend reading var-
ious parts of a document, counts of spreadsheet cell
354 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
recalculations, and menu selections are sources for so-
cial data mining. Another approach exploits the struc-
ture of the World Wide Web itself. This approach has
its roots in bibliometrics, which studies patterns of co-
citationsthe citation of pairs of documents in a third
document. A link from one website to another may in-
dicate that the two sites are similar. Bell Labs Brian
Amento and his colleagues used their system TopicShop
to investigate how well link-based metrics correlate
with human judgments. Features collected by
TopicShop could predict which websites were of high-
est quality, which made it possible for users to select
better sites more quickly and with less effort. A vari-
ant approach, called social navigation, has focused on
extracting information from web usage logs, record-
ing browsing history, finding commonly traversed links.
Peter Pirolli, a researcher at Xeroxs Palo Alto Research
Center, and his colleagues researched data mining in
conjunction with organization theories. Their infor-
mation foraging theory attempts to understand how
people allocate their resources to find information.
It has been applied to information-seeking tasks, pre-
senting users with a clustered navigable overview of
the content of a document collection.
Bookmarking
David Abrams and his colleagues envision book-
marking as a common strategy for dealing with in-
formation overload. They surveyed 322 web users
and analyzed the bookmark archives of 50 users to
learn why people make a bookmark and how they
organized and use them. One of their recommenda-
tions is to use automated filters to improve visuali-
zation and reuse. Rushed Kanawati and Maria Malek
proposed CoWing (Collaborative Web Indexing), a
system in which an agent interacts with other agents
to fetch new bookmarks that match its clients needs.
All the solutions to information overload de-
scribed above emphasize the need for specialization
in information retrieval services using IF techniques.
User modeling, which explores what affects users
cognitive loads, is critical for reducing information
overload. Currently, user modeling and information
filtering techniques are employed in fields such as
e-business, information retrieval, alerting systems,
finance, banking, and communications. Research
evaluating IF techniques and systems is on the rise,
but more empirical evaluations are needed if we are
to ever understand how humans find, organize, re-
member, and use information.
Luz M. Quiroga and Martha E. Crosby
See also Information Overload; Information Retrieval;
User Modeling
FURTHER READING
Aberg, J. (2002). Live help systems: An approach to intelligent help for
Web information systems (Linkopings Studies in Science and
Technology, Dissertation No. 745). Linkopings, Sweden:
Department of Computer and Information Science, Linkopings
University.
Abrams, D., Baecker, R., & Chignell, M. (1998). Information archiv-
ing with bookmarks: Personal Web space construction and or-
ganization. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems, 4148.
Allen, R. B. (1990). User models: Theory, method, and practice.
International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 32, 511543.
Amento, B., Terveen, L., & Hill, W. (2003) Experiments in social
data mining: The TopicShop system. ACM Transactions on
Computer-Human Interaction, 10(1), 5485.
Ardissono, L., & Goy, A. (1999). Tailoring the interaction with users
in electronic shops. In J. Kay (Ed.), Proceedings of the 7th
International Conference on User Modeling (pp. 3544). New York:
Springer-Verlag.
Belkin, N. (2000). Helping people find what they dont know.
Communications of the ACM, 43(8), 5861.
Belkin, N., & Croft, B. (1992). Information filtering and informa-
tion retrieval: Two sides of the same coin? Communications of
the ACM, 35(12), 2938.
Bush, V. (1945, July). As we may think. Atlantic Monthly, 176(1),
101108.
Daniels, P. (1986). Cognitive models in information retrieval: An eval-
uative review. Journal of Documentation, 42(4), 272304.
Ellis, D. (1990). New horizons in information retrieval. London: The
Library Association.
Fidel, R., & Crandall, M. (1997). Users perception of the performance
of a filtering system. In Proceedings of the 20th annual ACM SIGIR
Conference on Research and Development in Information
Retrieval (pp. 198205). New York: ACM Press.
Hill, W., & Hollan, J. (1994). History-enriched digital objects:
Prototypes and policy issues. Information Society, 10(2), 139145.
Howard, D. L., & Crosby, M. (1993). Snapshots from the eye: Towards
strategies for viewing bibliographic citations. In G. Salvendy &
M. Smith (Eds.), Advances in human factors/ergonomics: Human-
computer interaction: Software and hardware interfaces (Vol. 19B,
pp. 488493). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
Kanawati, R., & Malek, M. (2002). A multi-agent system for collab-
orative bookmarking. In P. Georgini, Y. LEsprance, G. Wagner, &
E. S. K. Yu (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Bi-
Conference Workshop on Agent-Oriented Information Systems
 INFORMATION ORGANIZATION 355

(pp. 11371138). Retrieved December 16, 2003, from http://sunsite templates for the internal organization of
.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/Publications/CEUR-WS/Vol-59/ documents;
8Kanawati.pdf
cataloging and metadata;
Kay, J., & Kummerfeld, B. (1994). User models for customized hy-
pertext in J. Mayfield and E. C. Nicholas (Eds.). Advances in hy- knowledge organization systems (KOS): (faceted)
pertext for the World Wide Web (4769). New York: Springer-Verlag. classification schemes, taxonomies, ontologies,
Maes, P. (1994). Agents that reduce work and information overload. and thesauri; knowledge representation.
Communication of the ACM, 37(7), 3040.
Malone, T., Grant, K., Turbak, F., Brobst S., & Cohen, M. (1987).
Intelligent information-sharing systems. Communications of the
ACM, 30(5), 390402.
Morita, M., & Shinoda, Y. (1994). Information filtering based on user
The Entity-Relationship
behavior analysis and best match text retrieval. In Proceedings of
the Seventh Annual ACM-SIGIR Conference on Research and
Approach
Development in IR. ( pp. 272281). New York: Springer-Verlag. Information organization depends on object char-
Oard, D. (1997). The state of the art in text filtering. User Modeling acteristics (or properties), often expressed as state-
and User-Adapted Interaction, 7, 141178.
Petrelli, D., De Angeli, A, & Convertino, G. (1999). A user-centered
ments: entities (nouns) are connected through
approach to user modeling. Proceedings of the 7th International relationships (verbs), for example:
Conference on User Modeling, 255264.
pecan pie has ingredient (shelled pecans, 2 cups,
Pirolli, P., James, P., & Rao, R. (1996). Silk from a sows ear: Extracting
usable structures from the Web. Proceedings of the SIGCHI
for taste)
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: Common
ground (pp. 118125). Retrieved December 16, 2003, from http:// Figure 1 shows an E-R conceptual schema
www.acm.org/sigchi/chi96/proceedings/papers/Pirolli_2/pp2.html for foodsa list of statement patterns, each defin-
Quiroga, L., & Mostafa J. (2002). An experiment in building profiles
in information filtering: The role of context of user relevance feed-
ing a type
back. Information Processing and Management, 38, 671694.
Rich, E. (1979). User modeling via stereotypes. Cognitive Science, 3,
335366. Food product hasName Text
Riedl, J., & Konstan, J. (2002). Word of mouse: The marketing power of Food product hasDescription Text
collaborative filtering. New York: Warner Books.
Food product hasHomePrepTime Time duration
Food product isa Food
Food product comesFromSource Food source[plant
or animal]

INFORMATION Food product

Food product
comesFromPart
hasIngredient
Anatomical
(Food product,
ORGANIZATION Amount [number
and unit], Purpose)
[(Chocolate, 50g, for
We organize informationin our minds and in taste), (BHT, 0.1g
information systemsin order to collect and record preservation)]
it, retrieve it, evaluate and select it, understand it, Food product underwentProcess (Process, Intensity,
process and analyze it, apply it, and rearrange and Purpose)[(broil, low
reuse it. We also organize things, such as parts, mer- heat, to brown)]
chandise in a store, or clothes in a closet, using Food product containsSubstance (Substance,
similar principles for similar purposes. amount)[(fat,13 g)
Using data on foods as an example, this article vitamin A, 4000
IU)]
introduces the following concepts:
Food product intendedFor Type of diet[low-
the entity-relationship (E-R) approach as the ba- fat, low-salt]
sis for all information organization;
database organization: relational databases, FIGURE 1. Entity-relationship (E-R) schema for a food
object-oriented databases, and frames; product database
356 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

foodName ingredient no unit purpose foodName: shelled pecans

pecan pie flaky 1 count body fromSource: pecan tree
piecrust fromPart: seed
pecan pie shelled 2 cup taste
process: shelling
pecans
foodName: eggs
pecan pie eggs 5 count body
fromSource: chicken
pecan pie white 1 cup taste
sugar fromPart: egg (part of animal)
Diet Coke carbon- 355 ml body
ated water FIGURE 3: Sample frames with slots and slot fillers
Diet Coke aspartame 200 mg taste

food product diet (in databases or in the mind) use the mechanism of
pecan pie normal hierarchical inheritance for efficient data input
Diet Coke low cal
and storage; for example, a frame for chocolate pecan
pie simply refers to the pecan pie frame and lists only
split pea soup normal
additional slots, such as
unsalted butter low salt
ingredient: (chocolate, 50 g, for taste).
ice cream normal
frozen yogurt low cal

FIGURE 2. Tables (relations) in a relational database The Internal Organization of

This E-R schema is the basis for several ap-
proaches to storing and presenting data and for or-
ganizing a database for access and processing.
Database Organization
In a relational database, data corresponding to one
relationship type are expressed in a table (also called
relation, Figure 2); data about one Aobject@, such
as a food product, are distributed over many tables.
Tables are very simple data structures that can be
processed simply and efficiently.
Object-oriented databases store all the informa-
tion about an object in one frame that has a slot for
every object characteristic as expressed in a relation-
ship (Figure 3). A frame can also call procedures op-
erating on its data, such as computing fat content by
adding fat from all ingredients. Frames are complex
data structures that require complex software. Frames
Documents: Templates
A recipe is a simple document describing a food prod-
uct, structured into a standard outline or document
template (a frame applied to documents) with slots
based on relationships (Figure 4). A template can be
encoded using XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
tags. Each tag is defined in an XML schema (not shown)
and identifies a type of information. (The ability to de-
fine tailor-made tags for each application gives XML
its power.) Each piece of information has a beginning
tag and a corresponding end tag. Once the informa-
tion is encoded using XML, it can be used for many
purposes: to display a recipe in print or on the World
Wide Web, produce a cookbook with table of contents
and an index, find all recipes that use certain ingredi-
ents, compose the ingredient label for a food (ingre-
dients in order of predominance), compute the nutrient
values for a serving (using a nutrient value table for ba-
sic foods).
As this example shows, organization of data in data-
bases and structuring text in documents are alike. In
Figure 4, ingredients are given in a database-oriented
 INFORMATION ORGANIZATION 357

<foodProduct>
<foodName>pecan pie</foodName>
<unitsMade><number>8</number><unit>serving</unit></unitsMade>
<timeToMake><number>1.5</number><unit>hour</unit></timeToMake>
<description>A custard pie, loaded with pecans.</description>
<ingredients>
<foodProduct>flaky pie crust</foodProduct><number>1</number>
<unit>count</unit>
<foodProduct>shelled pecans</foodProduct><number>2</number><unit>cup</unit>
<foodProduct>eggs</foodProduct><number>5</number><unit>count</unit>
...
</ingredients>
<processingSteps>
<step>1</step><text>Prebake crust. Place pecans on baking sheet and bake</text>
<step>2</step><text>Start the filling</text><step>3</step>
<text>Beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar, salt, and butter</text>
...
</processingSteps>
</foodProduct>

FIGURE 4. Recipe following a standard outline (template), encoded with XML

mode (each element tagged separately), processingSteps perature and duration tagged separately.) These data
in a text-oriented mode. (Just the <text> tag; for can then be formatted for text output.
database-oriented tagging, steps would be broken down
into separately tagged processes, with data, such as tem-
Cataloging and Metadata
The recipe/food database or the catalog of a Web
store organizes the actual data from which users
title format questions can be answered. A library catalog or-
creator identifier ganizes data about books, which in turn contain the
subject source data to answer questions; the library catalog stores
description language data about data or metadata, as do Web search
publisher relation engines and catalogs of educational materials.
contributor coverage Metadata are stored and processed just like any other
date rights kind of data; whether a data item should be called
type metadata or just data is often a matter of perspec-
tive. The Resource Description Framework (RDF)
has been designed to encode metadata but can be
FIGURE 5.The Dublin Core (dc) for the description of used to encode any data represented in the E-R
document-like objects approach.
358 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Food type Food source Plant/animal part Process Substance

side dishes plant food source plant part mechanical process food substance
. appetizers Juglandaceae . below ground . shelling . bulk nutrient
. soups Juglans (walnut) root . peeling carbohydrate
. salads Carya (Hickory) tuber . slicing sugar
vegetable C. illinoensis . above ground . grating starch
grain/starch dishes (pecan) stem . crushing fiber
. pasta . compositae leaves cooking process soluble f.
. grains Cichorium fruit . c. with dry heat protein
. breads C. intybus (anat. part) baking fat
. pizza C. endivia seed broiling . trace nutrient
fish, poultry, meat animal food source animal part . c. w. microwave vitamin
fish vertebrates . skeletal meat . c. w. moist heat mineral
poultry fish . organ meat boiling non-food substance
meat bird liver steaming . preservative
sweet baked dishes mammal . egg fruit . c. with fat or oil BHT
pies, tarts, pastries Bovidae (anat. part) freezing . package glue
cookies, brownies, Bos (cattle)
and cakes

FIGURE 6. Excerpts of a faceted classification for the food domain

There are many standards defining metadata
elements for different kinds of objects, for exam-
ple the Dublin Core (Figure 5). These are often en-
coded in XML, for example:
<dc:title> How to cook everything </dc:title>
<dc:creator> Mark Bittman </dc:creator>
<dc:subject> cookbook </dc:subject>
<dc:publisher> Macmillan </dc:publisher>
(Not all records use all dc elements.)
(The pecan pie example is based on a recipe in
this cookbook, which also inspired the food type
classification)
Knowledge Organization Systems
(KOS)
For the benefit of the user, a cookbook or a gro-
cery store arranges like foods together, just as a li-
brary arranges books on one subject together and
like subjects close to each other. Such arrangement
requires a classification (or taxonomy), such as
Figure 6, column 1, for foods, or the Dewey
Decimal Classification for all subjects. To describe
foods by their characteristics, we need, for each
characteristic or facet, a classification of the pos-
sible values (the possible fillers for a given frame
slot); examples of facets, each with a partial clas-
sification of values, as shown in Figure 6.
A classification is a structure that organizes
concepts into a meaningful hierarchy, possibly
in a scheme of facets. The classification of living
things is a taxonomy. (The term taxonomy is in-
creasingly used for any type of classification.) A
classification is now often called an ontology, par-
ticularly if it gives richer concept relationships.
A classification deals with concepts, but we need
terms (words or phrases) to talk about concepts.
However, the relationships between language and
concepts are complex. A concept can be expressed

Belgian endive Symbols used
DFVegetable consisting of the DF Definition
leaves of Chicorium inty-bus, UF Used For USE
growing in a small, cylindrical BT Broader Term
head. NT Narrower Term
COmbination: vegetable : Cicho- RT Related Term
rium intybus : leaves
UFchicon
chiccory (vegetable) [spelling
variant]
chicory (vegetable)
French endive
witloof
BThead vegetable
salad vegetable
RT chicory (coffee)
FIGURE 7. A typical thesaurus entry
by several terms, such as Belgian endive, French en-
dive, witloof, chicory, and chicon, which all refer to the
same vegetable; these terms are in a synonym
relationship with each other. Conversely, a term
may refer to several concepts, such as chicory, which
refers (1) to a vegetable and (2) to a coffee substi-
tute made from the root of the same plant; such a
term has the property of being a homonym (in in-
formation retrieval, a character string with multi-
ple meanings). A thesaurus is a structure that (1)
manages the complexity of terminology by group-
ing terms that are synonymous to each other and
disambiguating homonyms by creating a unique
term for each meaning and (2) provides concep-
tual relationships, ideally through an embedded
classification/ontology. A thesaurus often selects
from a group of synonyms the term, such as Belgian
endive, to be used as descriptor for indexing and
searching in a given information system; having one
descriptor for each concept saves the searcher from
having to enter several terms for searching. The de-
scriptors so selected form a controlled vocabulary
(authority list, index language). Figure 7 shows a
typical thesaurus entry.
Rich conceptual relationships can be shown
graphically in concept maps, which are used par-
ticularly in education to aid understanding; they
represent semantic networks, which a user or a
INFORMATION ORGANIZATION 359
SEMANTIC WEB A common framework that allows
data to be shared and reused across application, enter-
prise, and community boundaries.
computer can traverse along links from one con-
cept to the next (a process called spreading acti-
vation). Conceptual and terminological re-
lationships can be encoded for computer storage
using the Topic Map standard or RDF, both im-
plemented in XML.
Outlook
Information organization is important for people
to find and understand information. It is also
important for computer programs to process in-
formation to make decisions or give recommen-
dations, for example in medical expert systems and
electronic commerce (e-commerce) and semantic
Web applications (where information organization
is called knowledge representation). These appli-
cations require well-thought-out conceptual struc-
tures, which must be developed by beginning
from scratch or by refining existing knowledge or-
ganization systems (KOS). The most serious chal-
lenge is ensuring the interoperability of KOS and
metadata schemes worldwide so that different sys-
tems can talk to each other.
Dagobert Soergel
See also Expert Systems; Information Retrieval;
Markup Language; Ontology
FURTHER READING
Bailey, K. D. (1994). Typologies and taxonomies: An introduction to clas-
sification techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Dodds, D. (2001). Professional XML metadata. Hoboken, NJ: Wrox.
Jonassen, D. H., Beissner, K., & Yacci, M. (1993). Structural knowledge:
Techniques for representing, conveying and acquiring structural
knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Lancaster, F. W. (1972). Vocabulary control for information retrieval.
Washington, DC: Information Resources Press.
360 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Lynch, P., & Horton, S. (2002). Web style guide: Basic design princi-
ples for creating Web sites (2nd ed.). New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press.
Milstead, J., & Feldman, S. (1999). Metadata: Cataloging by any
other name . . . Metadata projects and standards. Online, 23(1),
2440. Retrieved January 22, 2004, from www.infotoday.com/on-
line/OL1999/milstead1.html
Mondeca topic organizer. Retrieved January 22, 2004, from http://www
.mondeca.com/
Ray, E. (2003). Learning XML (2nd ed.). Sebastopol, CA: OReilly
Rob, P., & Coronel, C. (2004). Database systems: Design, implemen-
tation, and management (6th ed.). Boston: Course Technology.
Rosenfeld, L., & Morville, P. (2002). Information architecture for the
World Wide Web: Designing large-scale web sites (2nd ed.). Sebas-
topol, CA: OReilly.
Skemp, R. R. (1987). The psychology of learning mathematics. Hillsdale,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Soergel, D. (1974). Indexing languages and thesauri: Construction and
maintenance. New York: Wiley.
Soergel, D. (2000). ASIST SIG/CR Classification Workshop 2000:
Classification for user support and learning: Report. Knowledge
Organization, 27(3), 165172.
Soergel, D. (2003). Thesauri and ontologies in digital libraries. Retrieved
January 22, 2004, from http://www.clis.umd.edu/faculty/soergel/
SoergelDLThesTut.html
Sowa, J. F. (2000). Knowledge representation: Logical, philosophical and
computational foundations. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Staab, S., & Studer, R. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook on ontologies in in-
formation systems. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.
Taylor, A. G. (2003). The organization of information (2nd ed.).
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Vickery, B. C. (1960). Faceted classification: A guide to construction and
use of special schemes. London: Aslib.
Vickery, B. C. (2000). Classification and indexing in science. Burlington,
MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Zapthink. (2002). Key XML specifications and standards. Retrieved
January 22, 2004, from http://www.oasis-open.org/commit-
tees/download.php/173/xml%20standards.pdf XXX
INFORMATION
OVERLOAD
Information overload has a personal, social con-
text too. Information overload is the confusion that
results from the availability of too much informa-
tion. When a person is trying to find information or
solve a problem, and there is an overabundance of
information available, the result is confusion and an
inability to filter and refine the onslaught of infor-
mation so that it is possible to make a decision.
In the Beginning
During the 1960s mainframe computers were pro-
grammed with punch cards and magnetic tapes that
made such innovations as automated accounting sys-
tems and space travel possible. In a short period of
time, the development of personal computers and
computer networking made it possible for people to
have the power of a mainframe on their desktop.
People could write their own documents and memos
and use spreadsheet software to perform numeri-
cal analysis with relative ease. Today the presence
of the Internet puts the world at ones fingertips. Any
product of service that a person wants to buy is read-
ily available, not from two companies, but from over
two hundred.
The terms information overload, infoglut, scholo-
glut and data smog all refer to the same topictoo
much information to comprehend. The following
examples demonstrate a variety of contexts for in-
formation overload:
A person wants a book on gardening. A search
of gardening books on the Amazon.com website
yields 30,707 possible books.
An executive begins the day by logging into her
e-mail. She opens Microsoft Outlook only to find
she starts the day with sixty e-mail messages; ten
of them are advertisements.
A person is watching television. He has Direct TV
with subscriptions to movie and sports channels
and can choose from over 500 different stations.
A national security advisor receives 200 messages
a day about potential threats to national security.
Limits to Human Cognition
The first study related to information overload was
done in 1956 by George A. Miller. In his work on the
human ability to retain pieces of information, Miller
discovered that people generally can retain seven plus
or minus two pieces of information at any point in
time. When the number of items of information is
much greater than that, cognitive overload occurs
and retention is hindered. Miller also described
chunking of information. By that he meant that
a person can retain more than seven pieces of in-
formation by grouping, or chunking, like pieces of
information together. This seminal study in psy-

chology went on to form the practical basis for graph-
ical user interface design, providing guidance on how
many application windows should be open at one
time and how to nest menus.
A model for information overload that defines
characteristics and symptoms of information
overload was developed by Schneider (1987). Factors
that influence and exacerbate information overload
include uncertainty, ambiguity, novelty, complexity,
intensity, and amount and rate of input. These fac-
tors and organizational or environmental conditions
work together to create information overload.
Primary symptoms of overload listed by Schneider
are loss of integration, loss of differentiation, and
confusion.
The amount of information we have and the
massive access we have to it are two of the major con-
tributors to information overload. The age of ubiqui-
tous computing being able to access, use, and
communicate by computer, anytime, any place,
anywhereis here. Current estimates are that over
2 billion webpages exist on the Internet. There are
over ten thousand scholarly journals and databases.
The amount of information conveyed is gigantic.
Equally amazing is the ease with which we can ac-
cess Internet, databases, phone, radio, and television
from anywhere we travel. Professionals often take
laptops and check e-mail while on vacation. Even
children carry cellular phones. Technology exists
in every aspect of our daily lives and there is little
escape from it.
Increasingly, people identify the social ills cre-
ated by information overload. In a speech by Tim
Sanders, a Yahoo executive, information overload
was blamed for the rise in work stress (Soto 2003).
Co-workers are continually interrupted by tech-
nologies such as instant messaging and e-mail.
Theyve become so confined by technology that they
send a message to someone 5 feet away rather than
talk to that person face-to-face.
Technical Solutions to
Information Overload
Some estimates indicate that 80 percent of people
abandon electronic purchases at the checkout. Other
INFORMATION OVERLOAD 361
people, when faced with massive amounts of in-
formation to make a decision, simply shut down and
make their decisions based up instinct. However,
quitting or ignoring information is not a viable way
to make many decisions. Instead, the problems of in-
formation overload created by technology can also
be alleviated by technology in the following ways:
Filtering tools: A good example of informa-
tion filtering is using a web browser. When you
search for Saturn (the planet), you may end up
with links to cars, planets, and nightclubs. You
can further refine your search to include the word
planet and exclude the words car and club. The
narrower you define your search, the more likely
you are to get the information you are looking
for. E-mail applications also come with filters. If
you get a great number of junke-mail messages
asking you to refinance your mortgage, you
can set a filter to block mail from a specific ad-
dress or mail that contains specific keywords. The
messages you filter out can be deleted from your
computer without your viewing them. If you set
the filter narrowly enough, there will be a re-
duction in the amount of information you need
to process. The danger is that you may exclude
information that could be of potential value.
Intelligent agents: An intelligent agent is a soft-
ware program that can actively seek information
for you based on parameters you set. It differs
from a search engine or information filter in that
it actively seeks specific information while you
are doing other things. If you are an osteopath,
for example, your agent can actively, continually
seek the latest research on bone fractures. When
it finds something relevant, it will bring it to your
attention.
Web agents work using cookies (pieces of infor-
mation from websites recorded on your hard
drive) to track user preferences and provide ad-
ditional information of value to users. For exam-
ple, if you are shopping for a digital camera, a web
agent can supply you with special deals on cam-
eras, competing products, and accessories avail-
able for the camera in which you are interested.
Prioritizing schemes: One of the weakest aspects
of information-seeking technology is that it does
362 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
not often rate the quality of the information it
finds. A search engine provides information based
on algorithms for indexing pages and the con-
tent (meta tags, header information, page key-
words) of the pages that are indexed. Different
search engines yield different results because they
use different indexing techniques. Pages, some-
times unrelated to what you are seeking, are
found because the authors designed them for
success in online searches. To overcome this, some
searching tools, such a periodical indexes and site
searches, do provide an estimate of the quality
of the found information. Often, the rating of
quality is given as a percent or as an icon show-
ing a fill bar indicating relevance.
Many applications and websites offer quick pri-
oritization schemes to allow the user to see infor-
mation based on what is important to them. For
example, in purchasing a digital camera, I am allowed
to order my information according to price, popu-
larity, brand, or relevance.
Prioritizing gives users a quick way to focus on
what they find relevant or important. However, the
prioritization provided by the website or database is
usually a generic scheme to help all users. A more
personalized approach to handling information can
be found through personal web portals.
Personalized portals: A personalized portal is
an access point for information based on a users
personal preferences. For example, a farmer could
use a portal that monitored weather, costs asso-
ciated with harvesting and delivery of food, and
competitors prices. The rich information that
the farmer needs to make decisions is contained
in one portal interface, showing no distracting
or confounding additional information.
Design: In addition to filtering and seeking tech-
nologies, design and visualization can assist with
information overload too. In web development,
simple design concepts can assist the user in find-
ing the information they seek. The concept of
proximity putting like items together helps
the user chunk large amounts of information
into fewer, more manageable pieces. Information
intensive websites provide a clear visual hierar-
chy in which like items are grouped. If the item
group is not relevant to the user, the user can eas-
ily ignore the information that is not relevant.
For example, if I go to the Newsweek site to
read about business, I can quickly ignore featured
stories, opinion polls, and multimedia offerings
because they are all located and distinguished
somewhere else on the site from the magazines
regular business columns. Good design can make
finding information easy. However, sites are also
designed to get a person to do something. While
the users goal might be to buy the cheapest cam-
era, the purpose of the site may be to sell over-
stocked items. In this case the design could draw
the user to special offers instead of facilitating
the search for a quality camera.
Making Optimal Decisions
Information is important because it assists us in mak-
ing decisions. With perfect information, we can make
the optimal decision. When faced with problems,
people seek as much information as they can find to
support a rational decision that will best help them
solve their problems. They optimize their deci-
sions based on sought-out information. Given too
little, too much, or contradictory information, people
are forced to find solutions that are satisfactory. This
is called satisficing, or choosing a solution that will
work, even if it is not the optimal solution.
In his work on information filtering (1987),
Thomas Malone concedes that the value of tech-
nology is not so much in eliminating unwanted in-
formation as it is in seeking information that is
relevant. To this end we see an explosion of tech-
nological devices and sources filling the market. As
the number of products increases, so do the tech-
nological innovations for managing those products.
Consider, as an example, the invasiveness of tele-
marketers in the United States. Their access to
individual phone numbers and other private in-
formation led to the development of new telecom-
munications blocking tools: telephone technologies
now that display who is calling and provide call-
blocking and call-waiting services, all for a fee.
Ultimately, a national Do Not Call list was im-

plemented so people could elect to have their
numbers protected from telemarketer harassment.
Now technology is used to check the list before the
call is made, rather than users having to purchase
their own blocking devices.
The growth of information, access, and products
ensures that overload is a consequence of the in-
formation age. As a result, innovations and tools to
cope with information overload will continue to
be developed, along with social policies and norms
to reduce overload.
Ruth A. Guthrie
FURTHER READING
Malone, T. W., Grant, K. R., Turbak, F. A., Brobst, S. A., & Cohen, M. D.
(1987). Intelligent information sharing systems. Communications
of the ACM, 30(5), 390402.
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two:
Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psycho-
logical Review, 63, 8197.
Schneider, S. C. (1987). Information overload: Causes and conse-
quences. Human Systems Management, 7, 143153.
Soto, M. (2003). The toll of information overload: Too much tech-
nology diminishes work relationships. (2003, August 8). Seattle
Times, (p. C1).
Tushman, M. L., & Nadler, D. A. (1978). Information processing as an
integrated concept on organizational design. Academy of
Management Review, 3, 613624.
INFORMATION
RETRIEVAL
Information retrieval systems are everywhere: Web
search engines, library catalogs, store catalogs, cook-
book indexes, and so on. Information retrieval (IR),
also called information storage and retrieval (ISR or
ISAR) or information organization and retrieval, is the
art and science of retrieving from a collection of items
a subset that serves the users purpose; for example:
webpages useful in preparing for a trip to Europe;
magazine articles for an assignment or good read-
ing for that trip to Europe;
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 363
educational materials for a learning objective;
digital cameras for taking family photos;
recipes that use ingredients on hand;
facts needed for deciding on a company merger.
The main trick is to retrieve what is useful while
leaving behind what is not.
The Scope of IR
IR systems are part of a family that shares many
principles (Figure 1).
Two distinctions are of particular importance:
1. A system for unstructured information deals
with such questions as: The economic impact
of the Reformation, The pros and cons of
school uniforms, or Find a nice picture of
my niece. It finds documents that are more or
less useful; the user must then extract the data
needed. In contrast, a system for well-struc-
tured information deals with precise questions
and returns precise answers, exactly the small
pieces of data needed: the salary of Mrs. Smith;
the population of China; the winner of the
1997 World Series.
2. Finding versus creating answers. IR and database
systems merely find what is already there: for ex-
ample, from a patient database, a patients symp-
toms; from a disease database, the diseases these
symptoms point to (or a medical textbook from
which to extract this information); and from a
drug database, the drugs that treat a disease. A
physician must then absorb all this information,
derive a diagnosis, and prescribe a drug. A med-
ical expert system goes beyond just finding the
factsit creates new information by inference:
It identifies a disease that explains the patients
symptoms and then finds a drug for the disease.
The Objects of IR
Traditionally, IR has concentrated on finding whole
documents consisting of written text; much IR re-
search focuses more specifically on text retrieval
the computerized retrieval of machine-readable text
without human indexing. But there are many other
interesting areas:
364 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

finding answers and information

that already exist in a system
creating answers and
Search by navigation new information by
(following links, as in a analysis and
subject directory and the Search by query inference
Web generally) (as in Google) based on query
Unstructured Hypermedia systems IR systems
information (Many small units, such (Often dealing with
(text, images, as paragraphs and whole documents, such
sound) single images, tied as books and journal
together by links) articles)
Structured Database management Data analysis systems
information systems (DBMS) Expert systems

FIGURE 1. The IR system family

Speech retrieval, which deals with speech, often
transcribed manually or (with errors) by auto-
mated speech recognition (ASR).
Cross-language retrieval, which uses a query in
one language (say English) and finds documents
in other languages (say Chinese and Russian).
Question-answering IR systems, which retrieve
answers from a body of text. For example, the
question Who won the 1997 World Series?
finds a 1997 headline World Series: Marlins are
champions.
Image retrieval, which finds images on a theme
or images that contain a given shape or color.
Music retrieval, which finds a piece when the user
hums a melody or enters the notes of a musical
theme.
IR dealing with any kind of other entity or ob-
ject: works of art, software, courses offered at a
university, people (as experts, to hire, for a date),
products of any kind.
Text, speech, and images, printed or digital, carry
information, hence information retrieval. Not so for
other kinds of objects, such as hardware items in a
store. Yet IR methods apply to retrieving books or
people or hardware items, and this article deals with
IR broadly, using document as stand-in for any
type of object. Note the difference between retriev-
ing information about objects (as in a Web store cat-
alog) and retrieving the actual objects from the
warehouse.
Utility, Relevance, and
IR System Performance
Utility and relevance underlie all IR operations. A
documents utility depends on three things, topical
relevance, pertinence, and novelty. A document is
topically relevant for a topic, question, or task if it
contains information that either directly answers the
question or can be used, possibly in combination
with other information, to derive an answer or
perform the task. It is pertinent with respect to a user
with a given purpose if, in addition, it gives just the
information needed; is compatible with the users
background and cognitive style so he can apply the
information gained; and is authoritative. It is novel
if it adds to the users knowledge. Analogously, a
soccer player is topically relevant for a team if her
 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 365

abilities and playing style fit the team strategy, per-
tinent if she is compatible with the coach, and novel
if the team is missing a player in her position.
Utility might be measured in monetary terms:
How much is is it worth to the user to have found
this document? How much is this player worth
to us? How much did we save by finding this
software? In the literature, the term relevance is
used imprecisely; it can mean utility or topical rel-
evance or pertinence. Many IR systems focus on find-
ing topically relevant documents, leaving further
selection to the user.
Relevance is a matter of degree; some docu-
ments are highly relevant and indispensable for

Query description Document titles Relevant

Production and uses of plastic pipes 1 The production of copper pipes

As the examples show, simple word 2 Cost of plastic pipe manufacture /
match is often not enough; retriev-
3 Polyethylene water pipes /
ing documents and assessing rele-
vance require knowledge: The system 4 Steel rod manufacture
needs to know that polyethylene and
5 Spiral PVC tubes as cooling elements /
PVC are plastics, that tube is another
word for pipe, that artery in the con- 6 Innovative plastic surface for new city artery
text of 6 means a major street and in
7 Artificial arteries help heart bypass patients /
7 a pipe in the body, usually made of
plastic. 8 Plastic mouthpieces in making smoking pipes
Bioinformatics 1 Bioinformatics /
Bioinformatics is the application of 2 Computer applications in the life sciences /
sophisticated computer methods to
studying biology. This is another 3 Biomedical informatics /
illustration of the variability of lan- 4 Modeling life processes /
guage IR systems must deal with.
5 Modeling traffic flow
6 Modeling chemical reactions in the cell /
Jewish-Gentile relations 1 We played with our non-Jewish friends. /
This could be a question to the 2 We were taunted in school. /
Shoah Foundations collection of
3 Aryan people had many advantages.
transcribed testimonies from
Holocaust survivors. None of the 4 My mother talked often to the neighbors. /
stories that shed light on this ques-
tion has the query phrase in it. 5 Jews were deported to concentration camps.
Relevance must be inferred from the
6 Jews were forbidden to attend concerts. /
entire context.

FIGURE 2. Query descriptions compared with document or story titles

366 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
the users tasks; others contribute just a little bit and
could be missed without much harm (see ranked re-
trieval in the section on Matching).
From relevance assessments we can compute
measures of retrieval performance such as
recall = How good is the system at find-
ing relevant documents?
discrimination = How good is the system at re-
jecting irrelevant documents?
precision = Depends on discrimination,
recall, and the # of relevant
documents
Evaluation studies commonly use recall and
precision or a combination; whether these are the
best measures is debatable. With low precision, the
user must look at several irrelevant documents for
every relevant document found. More sophisti-
cated measures consider the gain from a relevant
document and the expense incurred by having
to examine an irrelevant document. For ranked
retrieval, performance measures are more com-
plex. All of these measures are based on assess-
ing each document on its ow n, r ather than
considering the usefulness of the retrieved set as
a whole; for example, many relevant documents
that merely duplicate the same information just
waste the users time, so retrieving fewer rele-
vant documents would be better.
How Information Retrieval
Systems Work
IR is a component of an information system. An
information system must make sure that everybody
it is meant to serve has the information needed to
accomplish tasks, solve problems, and make deci-
sions, no matter where that information is avail-
able. To this end, an information system must
EXPERT SYSTEM A computer system that captures and
stores human problem-solving knowledge or expertise
so that it can be used by other, typically less-knowl-
edgeable people.
(1) actively find out what users need, (2) acquire
documents (or computer programs, or products,
or data items, and so on), resulting in a collec-
tion, and (3) match documents w ith needs.
Determining user needs involves (1.1) studying user
needs in general as a basis for designing responsive
systems (such as determining what information stu-
dents typically need for assignments), and (1.2) ac-
tively soliciting the needs of specific users, expressed
as query descriptions, so that the system can pro-
vide the information (Figure2). Figuring out
what information the user really needs to solve a
problem is essential for successful retrieval.
Matching involves taking a query description and
finding relevant documents in the collection; this
is the task of the IR system (Figure 2).
The simplest text retrieval systems merely com-
pare words in the query description with words in
the documents (title, abstract, or full text) and rank
documents by the number of matches, but results
are often poor (Figure 2). A good IR system pro-
vides the access points required to respond to user
needs in retrieval and selection. This means prepar-
ing user-oriented document representations
(Figure 3) that describe a document by several state-
ments using <relationships> as verbs and Entities as
subjects and objects. The allowable Entity Types and
<relationship types> define what kinds of infor-
mation the system can store; they make up the con-
ceptual schema.
Fo r s o m e e n t i t y t y p e s ( i n t h e e x a m p l e
Person, Text, Phrase, and URL), values can be freely
chosen; for others (Subject and Function), values
come from a controlled vocabulary that fixes the
term used for a concept. For example, pipe is used
for the concept also known as tube, so the user
needs to enter only one term. If the user enters tube,
the system (or the user) follows the thesaurus cross-
reference
tube USE ST pipe (ST = Synonymous Term)
The thesaurus also includes conceptual cross-
references:
pipe BT hollow object (BT = Broader Term)
and
pipe NT capillary (NT = Narrower Term)

Statement
Document <written by> Person
Document <has title> Te xt
Document <has abstract> Te xt
Document <contains word or phrase> Phrase
Document <relevant for> Subject
Document <describes tool for> Function
Document <has URL> URL
FIGURE 3. Document representation as a group of statements
(For the structure of thesauri, see the article
on Information Organization.) The conceptual
schema and the thesaurus must of course reflect
user needs.
If an entity (such as a document or a data file)
is sought as a source of data/information, the data
about the entity are used as metadata (data de-
scribing data); thus, the data in Googles catalog
of Web pages are used primarily as metadata.
Steps in the IR Process
An IR system prepares for retrieval by indexing doc-
uments (unless the system works directly on the doc-
ument text) and formulating queries, resulting in
document representations and query representa-
tions, respectively; the system then matches the rep-
resentations and displays the documents found
and the user selects the relevant items. These processes
are closely intertwined and dependent on each other.
The search process often goes through several itera-
tions: Knowledge of the features that distinguish rel-
evant from irrelevant documents is used to improve
the query or the indexing (relevance feedback).
Indexing: Creating Document Representations
Indexing (also called cataloging, metadata assign-
ment, or metadata extraction) is the manual or
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 367
Data field
John Smith Author
Artificial arteries help heart ... Title
A clinical study ... showed that ... Abstract
artificial arteries Free text
Blood Vessel Prosthesis Descriptor
Coronary Artery Bypass Function
www.healtheduc.com/heart/... URL
automated process of making statements about a doc-
ument, lesson, person, and so on, in accordance with
the conceptual schema (see Figure 3). We focus
here on subject indexingmaking statements about
a documents subjects. Indexing can be document-
oriented the indexer captures what the document
is about, or request-oriented the indexer assesses the
documents relevance to subjects and other features
of interest to users; for example, indexing the testi-
monies in Figure 2 with Jewish-Gentile relations,
marking a document as interesting for a course, or
marking a photograph as publication quality. Related
to indexing is abstracting creating a shorter text
that describes what the full document is about (in-
dicative abstract) or even includes important results
(informative abstract, summary). Automatic summa-
rization has attracted much research interest.
Automatic indexing begins with raw feature
extraction, such as extracting all the words from a
text, followed by refinements, such as eliminating
stop words (and, it, of), stemming (pipes Y pipe),
counting (using only the most frequent words), and
mapping to concepts using a thesaurus (tube and
pipe map to the same concept). A program can an-
alyze sentence structures to extract phrases, such
as labor camp (a Nazi camp where Jews were forced
to work, often for a company; phrases can carry much
meaning). For images, extractable features include
368 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
color distribution or shapes. For music, extractable
features include frequency of occurrence of notes or
chords, rhythm, and melodies; refinements include
transposition to a different key.
Raw or refined features can be used directly for
retrieval. Alternatively, they can be processed fur-
ther: The system can use a classifier that combines
the evidence from raw or refined features to assign
descriptors from a pre-established index language.
To give an example from Figure 2, the classifier uses
the words life and model as evidence to assign bioin-
formatics (a descriptor in Googles directory). A clas-
sifier can be built by hand by treating each descriptor
as a query description and building a query for-
mulation for it as described in the next section. Or
a classifier can be built automatically by using a train-
ing set, such as the list of documents for bioinfor-
matics in Figure 3, for machine learning of what
features predict what descriptors. Many different
words and word combinations can predict the same
descriptor, making it easier for users to find all doc-
uments on a topic. Assigning documents to (mu-
tually exclusive) classes of a classification is also
known as text categorization. Absent a suitable
classification, the system can produce one by clus-
tering grouping documents that are close to each
other (that is, documents that share many features).
Query Formulation:
Creating Query Representations
Retrieval means using the available evidence to pre-
dict the degree to which a document is relevant or
useful for a given user need as described in a free-
form query description, also called topic description
or query statement. The query description is trans-
formed, manually or automatically, into a formal
query representation (also called query formulation
or query for short) that combines features that
predict a documents usefulness. The query expresses
the information need in terms of the systems con-
ceptual schema, ready to be matched with document
representations. A query can specify text words or
phrases the system should look for (free-text search)
or any other entity feature, such as descriptors as-
signed from a controlled vocabulary, an authors or-
ganization, or the title of the journal where a
document was published. A query can simply give
features in an unstructured list (for example, a
bag of words) or combine features using
Boolean operators (structured query). Examples:
Bag of words: (pipe tube capillary plastic polyeth-
ylene production manufacture)
Boolean query: ( p i p e O R t u b e O R c a p i l l a r y )
AND(plastic OR polyethylene)
AND(production OR manufacture)
The Boolean query specifies three ANDed con-
ditions, all of which are necessary (contribute to the
document score); each condition can be filled by any
of the words joined by OR; one of the words is as
good as two or three. If some relevant documents
are known, the system can use them as a training set
to build a classifier with two classes: relevant and not
relevant.
Stating the information need and formulating
the query often go hand-in-hand. An intermediary
conducting a reference interview helps the user think
about the information need and find search terms
that are good predictors of usefulness. An IR system
can show a subject hierarchy for browsing and find-
ing good descriptors, or it can ask the user a series
of questions and from the answers construct a query.
For buying a digital camera, the system might ask
the following three questions:
What kind of pictures do you take (snapshots,
stills, ...)?
What size prints do you want to make (57,
810, . . .)?
What computer do you want to transfer im-
ages to?
Without help, users may not think of all the features
to consider. The system should also suggest syn-
onyms and narrower and broader terms from its
thesaurus. Throughout the search process, users fur-
ther clarify their information needs as they read
titles and abstracts.
Matching the Query Representation with
Entity Representations
The match uses the features specified in the query to
predict document relevance. In exact match the sys-
 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL 369

Query term
housing (weight 2) conditions (1) Siemens (2) labor camps (3) Score
(weight in query)
idf, log(idf) 10,000, log=4 100, log=2 100,000, log=5 10,000, log=4
term(tf ) Doc. 1 barracks (5 times) conditions (3) Siemens (2) labor camps (4)
(tf = 40 + 6 + 20 + 48 = 114
frequency
Doc. 2 housing (3 times) conditions (2) Siemens (2) labor camps (4) 96
of the
term in Doc. 3 housing (3 times) conditions (4) Siemens (1) labor camps (4) 90

each Doc. 4. housing (3 times) conditions (3) Siemens (2) labor camps (3) 86
document) Doc. 5 housing (2 times) conditions (10) labor camps (1) 48

FIGURE 4. Computing relevance scores

tem finds the documents that fill all the conditions
of a Boolean query (it predicts relevance as 1 or 0).
To enhance recall, the system can use synonym ex-
pansion (if the query asks for pipe, it finds tubes as
well) and hierarchic expansion or inclusive search-
ing (it finds capillary as well). Since relevance or use-
fulness is a matter of degree, many IR systems
(including most Web search engines) rank the re-
sults by a score of expected relevance (ranked re-
trieval). Consider the query Housing conditions in
Siemens labor camps. Figure 4 illustrates a simple
way to compute relevance scores: Each terms con-
tribution is a product of three weights: The query
term weight (the importance of the term to the user),
the term frequency (tf) (the number of occurrences
of the term in the document, synonyms count also),
and the rarity of the term or inverse document fre-
quency (idf) on a logarithmic scale.
If document frequency = .01
(1 % or 1/100 of all documents include the term),
then idf = 100 or 102 and log(idf) = 2.
For example, in Figure 4 the contribution of
housing to relevance score of Document 1 is
query weight 2 * log(idf) 4 * tf
(term frequency in document) 5 = 40
(Google considers, in addition, the number of
links to a webpage.) Usually (but not in the simple
example), scores are normalized to a value be-
tween 0 and 1.
Selection
The user examines the results and selects relevant
items. Results can be arranged in rank order (ex-
amination can stop when enough information is
found); in subject groupings, perhaps created by
automatic classification or clustering (similar items
can be examined side by side); or by date. Displaying
title + abstract with search terms highlighted is most
useful (title alone is too short, the full text too long).
Users may need assistance with making the con-
nection between an item found and the task at hand.
Relevance Feedback and Interactive Retrieval
Once the user has assessed the relevance of a few
items found, the query can be improved: The sys-
tem can assist the user in improving the query
by showing a list of features (assigned descriptors;
text words and phrases, and so on) found in many
relevant items and another list from irrelevant
items. Or the system can improve the query au-
tomatically by learning which features separate
relevant from irrelevant items and thus are good
predictors of relevance. A simple version of auto-
matic query adjustment is this: increase the weights
of features from relevant items and decrease the
weights of features from irrelevant items.
370 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
IR System Evaluation
IR systems are evaluated with a view to improvement
(formative evaluation) or with view to selecting the
best IR system for a given task (summative evalua-
tion). IR systems can be evaluated on system char-
acteristics and on retrieval performance. System
characteristics include the following:
the quality of the conceptual schema (Does it
include all information needed for search and
selection?);
the quality of the subject access vocabulary (in-
dex language and thesaurus) (Does it include
the necessary concepts? Is it well structured?
Does it include all the synonyms for each
concept?);
the quality of human or automated indexing
(Does it cover all aspects for which an entity is
relevant at a high level of specificity, while avoid-
ing features that do not belong?);
the nature of the search algorithm;
the assistance the system provides for informa-
tion needs clarification and query formulation;
and
the quality of the display (Does it support
selection?).
Measures for retrieval performance (recall, dis-
crimination, precision, novelty) were discussed in
the section Relevance and IR system performance.
Requirements for recall and precision vary from
query to query, and retrieval performance varies
widely from search to search, making meaningful
evaluation difficult. Standard practice evaluates sys-
tems through a number of test searches, computing
for each a single measure of goodness that combines
recall and precision, and then averaging over all
the queries. This does not address a very impor-
tant system ability: the ability to adapt to the specific
recall and precision requirements of each individual
query. The biggest problem in IR evaluation is to
identify beforehand all relevant documents (the
recall base); small test collections have been con-
structed for this purpose, but there is a question of
how well the results apply to large-scale real-life col-
lections. The most important evaluation efforts of
this type today are TREC and TDT (see Further
Reading).
Outlook: Beyond Retrieval
Powerful statistical and formal-syntax-based meth-
ods of natural language processing (NLP) extract
meaning from text, speech, and images and create
detailed metadata for support of more focused
searching. Data mining and machine learning dis-
cover patterns in large masses of data. Sophisticated
database and expert systems search and correlate huge
amounts of different types of data (often extracted
from text) and answer questions by inference. New
visualization techniques using high-resolution dis-
plays allow users to see patterns and large networks
of linked information. Sophisticated user models al-
low intelligent customization. IR can be integrated
into day-to-day work: A medical IR system can
process a patients chart, find several relevant arti-
cles, and prepare a tailor-made multi-document sum-
mary, or it can deduce the drugs to be prescribed.
A legal IR system can take an attorneys outline of
the legal issues in a case, find relevant cases or sec-
tions of cases, and arrange them according to the
outline to give the attorney a running start on
writing a brief. All these advances contribute to an
unprecedented level of support for problem solving,
decision making, and intellectual work.
Dagobert Soergel
See also Information Filtering; Information
Organization; Ontology; Search Engines
FURTHER READING
Baeza-Yates, R., & Rubiero-Neto, B. (1999). Modern information re-
trieval. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
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INFORMATION SPACES
In all walks of life the flood of data is ever increas-
ing. Data are raw measurementsmeteorological,
stock market, or traffic flow data, for example. In-
formation is data that have more structure. Such data
have been subjected to preprocessing and linked with
other data, leading to greater meaningfulness to
people as they make decisions in their work or leisure.
In addition to data and information, a third term that
characterizes the life cycle of human decision mak-
ing is knowledge. Thus, we have a simple path that
starts with raw quantitative or qualitative data (plu-
ral of datum, Latin for given). This path leads on
to information, which we could call potentially
meaningful data or the set of components that is
usable in making decisions. Finally the path leads to
knowledgeinformation that has been deployed in
decision making and is relevant to people.
INFORMATION SPACES 371
DATA MINING The process of information extraction
with the goal of discovering hidden facts or patterns
within databases.
Information spaces can facilitate finding and us-
ing information. They involve representation, most
often spatial or similar (e.g. locations and inter-
connections in graph form).
The Geometric Metaphor
People often consider information spaces in geo-
metric terms, and geometry is more often than not
the basis for sophisticated graphical display of
data. Consider the following setting: We have three
books characterized by four themes or three indi-
viduals characterized by four behavioral character-
istics. This semantic aspect is not immediately
relevant to us. A data table or cross-tabulation of our
books and themes can be represented in an infor-
mation space as three points (rows), each possess-
ing four coordinates or dimensions. We could equally
well consider a space of four points (columns), each
possessing three coordinates or dimensions. Various
mathematically well-defined algorithmic techniques
are available to us as software to display such an
information space or to process it by giving priority
to important aspects of it. One such technique,
known as principal components analysis (PCA),
redefines the coordinates or dimensions in order
to determine a better expression of the points con-
sidered. Interestingly, a close mathematical rela-
tionship exists between the analysis of the four
three-dimensional points and the three four-
dimensional points. Simultaneous display is possi-
ble in a kindred technique called correspondence
analysis.
The geometric metaphor is a powerful one. It al-
lows any quantitatively characterized data set to be
displayed and processed. It also allows qualitative
data sets to be processed through the simple device
of taking the qualitative attributes as quantitative
ones (e.g., presence versus absence scored as 1 or 0).
Origins or sources of data can be varied. In
databases data are structured in defined fields and
372 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
in specified relationships. An online data feed in fi-
nance or meteorology, where data are continually
captured or generated, may be partially structured.
On the other hand, data from the World Wide Web
or from the news mediathink of national finan-
cial and business confidence indicators, for exam-
pleare partially structured at best. Raw text or tables
drawn from published articles are usually taken as
unstructured. A first task in viewing such data in in-
formation space terms is to impose structure on the
data. People often use the term coding for assign-
ing numerical values to keywords or reformulating
originally numerical data. A second task is nor-
malization, that is, ensuring that the data are con-
sistent and inherently comparable. Some of our
measurements cannot shout louder than others.
Subsequent tasks are defined by our objectives in
seeking information. A large range of statistical, neu-
ral network, machine learning, or data mining ap-
proaches to processing data could be relevant.
Visualization-Based User Interfaces
Visualizing information and data stored in databases
or in unstructured or semistructured repositories is
important for the following reasons:
1. It allows the user to have some idea before sub-
mitting a query as to what type of outcome is
possible. Hence, visualization is used to sum-
marize the contents of the database or data col-
lection (i.e., information space).
2. The users information requirements are of-
ten fuzzily defined at the outset of the infor-
mation search. Hence, visualization is used to
help the user in information navigation by sig-
naling related items, by showing relative den-
sity of information, and by inducing a (possibly
fuzzy) categorization on the information space.
3. Visualization can therefore help the user before
the user interacts with the information space
INFORMATION SPACES Representations, most often
spatial or similar (e.g. locations and interconnections in
graph form), that facilitate can facilitate finding and us-
ing information.
and as the user interacts. The progression is nat-
ural enough that the visualization becomes the
user interface.
Information retrieval was characterized in terms
of semantic road maps by Doyle in 1961. The spa-
tial metaphor is a powerful one in human infor-
mation processing and lends itself well to modern
distributed computing environments such as the
Web. The Kohonen self-organizing feature map
(SOFM, originally developed by T. Kohonen who
works in Helsinki, Finland) method is an effective
means toward this end of a visual information re-
trieval user interface.
Our emphasis is on both classical approaches to
data analysis and recent approaches that have proved
their worth in practical and operational settings.
Such algorithms start with data taken from real
life, which is multi-faceted or multidimensional.
Then an algorithm such as principal components
analysis projects multidimensional input data (ex-
pressed as a set of vectors or points) into a more prac-
tical and observable low-dimensional space, which
in practice is usually the best-fitting plane. PCA is
implemented using linear algebra, where the
eigenvectors (i.e. mathematically most important
underlying facets of the multidimensional cloud of
points under investigation) of the covariances or cor-
relations (expressing a large set of pairwise rela-
tionships between the multidimensional data points)
serve to define a new coordinate system. Corres-
pondence analysis is similar to PCA. It is particularly
suitable for data in the form of frequency counts
or category memberships (e.g., frequencies of oc-
currence in a set of discrete categories); on the other
hand PCA is suitable for continuously changing
measurement values in our input data. Like PCA and
correspondence analysis, multidimensional scaling
also targets a best-fitting low-dimensional space (e.g.,
best planar or cartographic fit, rather like a street
map). Multidimensional scaling takes all possible
ranks as input and owes its origins to application
domains where ranks are easier to define compared
to more precise measurement. Examples of where
ranks are more easily obtained include perceptual
studies in psychology and aptitude studies in
education.

FIGURE 1. Visual interactive user interface to the jour-
nal Astronomy and Astrophysics based on eight thou-
sand published articles. Relative intensity represents
relative document density.
The Kohonen map achieves a similar result
through iterative optimization, a different algorithm
that has implications for practical deployment in
that it is usually slower. Importantly, the Kohonen
map output is highly constrained: Rather than a con-
tinuous plane, it is instead (nearly always) a regu-
lar grid. A regular grid output representation space
offers an important advantage in that it easily pro-
vides a visual user interface. In a Web context it
can be made interactive and responsive.
Kohonen Self-Organizing
Feature Maps
Two visual user interface frameworks are based
on two types of input data. The first input data
framework is based on document/index term de-
pendencies. From such data a cartographic repre-
sentation is periodically (i.e., in batch mode as
opposed to real-time) updated and made available
as a clickable image map contained in an
INFORMATION SPACES 373
HTML page. The image file itself is created and links
made active in it using a batch script on the
server side (i.e., the users communicating partner,
which is serving content to the user) and pro-
vided to the user as an inlined image (i.e., in-
serted in the HTML page served to the user). The
second input data framework is based on linkage
data. A multigraph (i.e. a graph with possibly more
than one link between any pair of node or object)
of links connecting three or more types of objects
is first created. Such objects include author name,
publication title, and content-related keyword (e.g.,
astronomical object name). In this case a Java
(the programming language often used for web soft-
ware applications) application is used to construct
the interactive cartographic representation in real
time. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1 shows a visual and interactive user in-
terface map using a Kohonen self-organizing feature
map. The original of this map is in color, and it is
show n here in monochrome. Relative color
intensitybrightnessis related to density of doc-
ument clusters located at regularly spaced nodes of
the map, and some of these nodes/clusters are an-
notated. The map is deployed as a clickable image
map, allowing activation on user command of CGI
(Common Gateway Interface: protected web server
area for the support of executable programs) pro-
grams accessing lists of documents andthrough
further linksin many cases the full documents.
Such maps are maintained for thirteen thousand ar-
ticles from the Astrophysical Journal, eight thousand
from Astronomy and Astrophysics, and more than two
thousand astronomical catalogues.
In Figure 1 strongly represented concepts, span-
ning wide areas of observational astronomy, are shown
in bold: ISM = interstellar matter, COSMO = cos-
mology, MHD = magneto-hydrodynamics, SUN,
STARS, GALAXIES. MHD processes exist in the sun,
which in turn is a star. Cosmology research is usu-
ally galaxy oriented. This divide between solar system
research and cosmology research outside the solar sys-
tem is fairly well represented in this map. Near
COSMO we see terms such as gravitational lensing,
redshift, dark mattergamma ray bursts, and so on. This
annotation of the map was informed by the keywords
used to construct the map and was carried out
374 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
manually. Consideration was given to automated an-
notation but left for future work.
Portable computing platforms allow for a new
area of application of visual user interfaces, given the
normal mode of interaction using a stylus. Not all
Web browsers on PDA (personal digital assistant)
platforms support image maps. One that does is the
FireViewer application running on a Palm operat-
ing system (OS) platform.
Related Kohonen-Type Maps
Hyperlink-rich data present an interesting case for
taking a visualization tool further. The extensible
markup language (XML) format is more appropri-
ate than the more mundane hypertext markup
language (HTML). The latter is limited in document
linkage and supports little description detail. HTML
most notably lacks any special support for document
structure.
Essentially such a visualization tool is a Web
browser with specialized functionality. The proto-
type of one such tool was developed for XML data.
The data related to astronomers, astronomical ob-
ject names, and article titles. They were open to the
possibility of handling other objects (images, sum-
mary tabulations, etc.). Through weighting, the var-
ious types of links could be given priorities. An
algorithm was developed to map the nodes (objects)
to a regular grid of cells, which were clickable and
provided access to the data represented by the clus-
ter. Given the increasingly central role of XML in ac-
cess to Web information and data, the importance
of such clustering for data organization and for
knowledge discovery can be underscored.
Such an interactive visual user interface works
in the following way. We consider a set of documents.
The units clustered are authors, titles, and astro-
nomical objects. The map is arranged to give a
central position to a selected unit (e.g., a person
an astronomer). The annotations of paper titles or
of astronomical objects shown in the regular grid are
representative or important ones. Clicking on a lo-
cation provides considerably greater detail in an ad-
ditional panel relative to what is presented in a
global visual view in the clickable visual interface.
Summarizing the types of information space dis-
play that we have covered, we can distinguish be-
tween the following two types of input for maps of
information spaces. Both are potentially of relevance
for data with varying degrees of structure, including
data originating in databases and in HTML Web files.
Keyword based: The bibliographic maps exem-
plified in Figure 1 are of this type. The keywords
or index terms provide the dimensions of a geo-
metric space in which our objects are located.
Sparse graph: This is likely to be the case
whenever XML richer link functionality, com-
pared to the relatively limited forward links sup-
ported by HTML, is used as the basis for
associations between our objects.
If an interdependency graph containing a great
amount of data is available, a convenient way to
process such data is to project the objects, using these
interdependencies, into a geometric space. We can
do this using principal coordinates analysis, which
is also referred to as classical multidimensional scal-
ing and metric scaling.
Ontologies: Support for Querying
We have noted that the mathematical notions of geo-
metric spaces can be found behind many aspects
of how we think about information spaces and be-
hind many approaches to displaying and visualizing
information spaces. However, having information
spaces cooperate and collaborate such that a user can
draw benefit from more than one information space
at one time leads us to requirements of a different
sort. For interoperability of information systems
of any type, we need to consider a common language
to support formal querying or more informal search-
ing for information resources. A term that has come
to be much in vogue of late is ontologythe termi-
nology underpinning a common language. An on-
tology lists the terminology used in a particular area
(e.g. a particular field of business, or engineering)
and some of the relationships between these terms.
Its aim is to help user searching, since the salient in-
formation aspects of an area are essentially summa-
rized by such an ontology.
 INFORMATION SPACES 375

Ontology describes a terminology hierarchya
helpful basis for supporting querying. Such a con-
cept hierarchy defines a sequence of mappings from
a set of low-level concepts to higher-level, more gen-
eral concepts. These concepts may be defined within
two structures. A hierarchical structure is such that
a so-called child node cannot have two parents,
but a parent node can have more than one child node.
A lattice structure is such that a child node can have
two parents. A concept hierarchy can be explicitly
generated by expert users before the data are queried
and will be static, or it can be generated automati-
cally, and the user may reform the hierarchy when
needed.
The concept hierarchy can be based on hierar-
chical structure and generated by, for example, econ-
omists. This will be illustrated by a case study using
Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Union,
the prime business and economic statistical data
agency at European level) databases and in particu-
lar documents from the Eurostat Economic Bulletins.
This Eurostat database supports three concept hier-
archies: branches, themes, and countries. The total
number of branch concepts is 423, the total num-
ber of theme concepts is 30, and the total number
of country concepts is 23. An example extract of
the branch concept hierarchy is shown as follows.
Total Industry
Total industry (excluding construction)
Mining, quarrying and manufacturing
Intermediate goods industry
Energy
Intermediate goods industry, excluding
industry
Capital goods industry
Consumer goods industry
Durable consumer goods industry
Non-durable consumer goods industry
Mining and quarrying
Mining and quarrying of energy producing
materials

Key National
Accounts Labor Costs Documents Related to Climate
and and
Germany International Germany
and
R&D
F I G U R E 2 . The distribu-
Investment tion of topics found as a
result of a query discussed
in the article and based on
an ontology for this do-
Editorial
Labor Cost main of economic infor-
and mation.
East and
Employment
West Germany Note: GB = Great Britain
and
Great Britain
Economy and
German and France
Economy Asia

Micro-Macro
Economy
and
East Germany
376 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Mining and quarrying except energy produc-
ing materials
Manufacturing
Electricity, gas and water supply
Construction
A query is formed from the cross-product of the
entries of the concept hierarchy categories. For
example:
Branch: Total Industry, Energy
Theme: Production
Country: Germany, United Kingdom
In this case the result query will be:
Total Industry and Production and Germany
Total Industry and Production and United
Kingdom
Energy and Production and Germany
Energy and Production and United Kingdom
We can seek documents having at least one of
the preceding combinations. (See Figure 2.) Figure
2 shows in schematic form the type of result that we
may find. A possibly important consideration in such
work is that the information resulting from a user
query be built on the fly into an interactive graphi-
cal user interface (GUI).
Outlook
Summarizing information is necessary. A visual sum-
mary is often a natural way to summarize. When we
add the possibilities for human-computer interac-
tion, visual user interfaces become a toolset of
significance.
The ergonomics of interaction based on visual
user interfaces is still under investigation. Although
human understanding is greatly aided by maps
and drawings of all sorts, we have yet to find the most
appropriate visual displays for use in visual user
interfaces.
Beyond the uses of information space visualiza-
tion described here, we can consider other modes
of interacting with information spacesthrough ges-
ture or voice, for example. Operations that can be
controlled by eye-gaze dwell time (manifesting
continuing subject interest through the approximate
point of gaze remaining fairly steady) include de-
compressing of compressed medical or other imagery
and zooming to locations of interest; Web browser
scrolling; accessing information content such as one
or a number of video streams based on user inter-
est as manifested by his or her eye-gaze dwell time;
and manipulating objects in two-dimensional and
three-dimensional spaces. Such interaction with com-
puter displays is certainly feasible, as we have shown.
However, issues related to user acceptability and er-
gonomics have yet to be fully investigated.
Fionn Murtagh
See also Data Visualization; Information Retrieval;
Ontology
FURTHER READING
Benzcri, J.-P. (1992). Correspondence analysis handbook. Basel,
Switzerland: Marcel Dekker.
Doyle, L. B. (1961). Semantic road maps for literature searchers. Journal
of the ACM, 8, 553578.
Farid, M., Murtagh, F., & Starck, J. L. (2002), Computer display con-
trol and interaction using eye-gaze. Journal of the Society for
Information Display, 10, 289293.
Guillaume, D., & Murtagh, F. (2000). Clustering of XML documents.
Computer Physics Communications, 127, 215227.
Hoffman, P. E., & Grinstein, G. G. (2002). A survey of visualizations
for high-dimensional data mining. In U. Fayyad, G. G. Grin-
stein, & A. Wierse (Eds.), Information visualization in data mining
and knowledge discovery (pp. 4782). San Francisco: Morgan
Kaufmann.
Kohonen, T. (2001). Self-organizing maps (3rd ed.). New York: Springer-
Verlag.
Murtagh, F., & Heck, A. (1987). Multivariate data analysis. Dordrecht,
Netherlands: Kluwer.
Murtagh, F., Taskaya, T., Contreras, P., Mothe, J., & Englmeier, K.
(2003). Interactive visual user interfaces: A survey. Artificial
Intelligence Review, 19, 263283.
Oja, E., & Kaski, S. (1999). Kohonen maps. Amsterdam, Elsevier.
Poinot, P., Murtagh, F., & Lesteven, S. (2000). Maps of information
spaces: Assessments from astronomy. Journal of the American Society
for Information Science, 51, 10811089.
Shneiderman, B. (2002). Leonardos laptop: Human needs and the new
computing technologies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Torgerson, W. S. (1958). Theory and methods of scaling. New York:
Wiley.
Wise, J. A. (1999). The ecological approach to text visualization. Journal
of the American Society for Information Science, 50, 12241233.

INFORMATION THEORY
Information theory generally refers, especially in the
United States, to a theory of communication origi-
nated by mathematician Claude E. Shannon at Bell
Telephone Laboratories in 1948 and developed
further by him and others. The highly abstract, math-
ematical theory has been influential, and sometimes
controversial, in digital communications, mathe-
matics, physics, molecular biology, and the social and
behavioral sciences. More broadly, information the-
ory refers to both Shannons approach and other
probabilistic methods of analyzing communication
systems. Other theories of information are common
in statistics and information science.
Shannons Theory and
Its Development
Shannons theory, comprehensively established
in A Mathematical Theory of Communication
(Shannon 1993) uses probability theory and the
concept of entropy to determine how best to en-
code messages in order to transmit information ef-
ficiently and reliably in the presence of noise.
The theorys general model (Figure 1) applies
to any communication system, whether it involves
machines, humans, other living things, or any com-
bination of these. An information source selects
a message from a set of possible messages. The
transmitter encodes that message and converts it
IN F O R M ATI O N
SOURCE TRANSMITTER
SIGNAL RECEIVED
SIGNAL
MESSAGE
NO ISE
SOURCE
INFORMATION THEORY 377
into a signal, which is sent along a channel affected
by a noise source. The received signal (transmitter
signal plus noise) enters the receiver, which decodes
it and converts it into a message for the destina-
tion. In a local area Ethernet, for example, a user
(information source) types in an e-mail message
to send to a second user (destination). The first
users computer system (transmitter) encodes
the message and converts it into an electrical sig-
nal that is sent over the computer network (chan-
nel), where electrical noise (noise source) can affect
it. The second users computer system (receiver) picks
up the signal, decodes it, and displays a message
hopefully what was sent.
The hallmark of Shannons theory is a quan-
titative measure of information, which he adapted
from the work of Bell Labs researcher Ralph
Hartley. In 1928 Hartley proposed a simple loga-
rithmic measure of information transmitted in a
digital system that did not consider noise or the
probability of selecting symbols. Drawing on his
own work in cryptography during World War II,
Shannon went beyond Hartley to treat the statis-
tical aspects of messages, noise, and coding prob-
lems comprehensively. He related the amount of
information generated by a source, assumed to
be statistically regular, to the uncertainty and choice
involved in selecting messages from an ensemble
of messages. The greater the uncertainty and choice,
the more information the source produces. If there
is only one possible message, there is no infor-
mation; maximum information exists when the
choice of messages (or symbols) is random.
RECEIVER DESTINAT I ON
FIGURE 1. Schematic di-
MESSAGE agram of a general com-
munication system
378 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Information in this sense does not measure data or
knowledge; the meaning of messages is irrelevant to
the theory.
Throughout the theory, uncertainty and choice
are expressed by equations of the form
H = p log2 p [for the digital case]
H = p log p [for the analog case]
where p is the probability of occurrence of an
eventfor example, a symbol. The expressions are
mathematically analogous to physical entropy in
statistical mechanics. In the digital case, the en-
tropy of a source gives the average number of
bits per symbol or bits per second required to
encode the information produced by the source.
Channel capacity, defined as the maximum value
of source entropy minus the uncertainty of what
was sent, gives the maximum rate of transmis-
sion of information in bits per second. The paper
seems to mark the first appearance of the term bit
(a contraction of binary digit) in print.
A prominent feature of the theory is the cod-
ing theorem for a noisy digital channel. This states
the surprising result that if the entropy of a source
is less than channel capacity, a code can be devised
to transmit information over such a channel
with an arbitrarily small error. The tradeoffs are
complex codes and long delays in the transmitter
and receiver. The upper bound of transmission
in an important analog case is
C = W log (1 + P/N)
where C is channel capacity, W is bandwidth, P is
average transmitter power, and N is the average
power of white thermal noise. These and other the-
orems establish fundamental limits on data com-
pression (encoding) and transmitting information
in communication systems.
A simple coding example for a noiseless digi-
tal channel, drawn from the paper, illustrates
Shannons approach. Consider a language with just
four symbols: A, B, C, D. Symbol A occurs of the
time, B of the time, C and D of the time each. published in 1948. Wiener independently derived a
A direct method to encode these symbols uses 2
bits per symbol, for example, as 00, 01, 10, and 11,
respectively. Alternatively, one can use the proba-
bilities of when these symbols occur to calculate
the entropy of the source as bits per symbol, and
then devise a code to match that entropy: 0, 10,
110, 111. The new code requires only bits per
symbol to encode messages in this language, ver-
sus 2 bits per symbol, a compression ratio of .
No method uses fewer bits per symbol to encode
this source.
Despite many claims to the contrary, Shannon
did not avoid the term information theory. He
used it, for example, in the titles of early talks on
the subject, in the original paper and other early
papers, in an encyclopedia article, and in an edi-
torial (Shannon 1993).
Much research has strengthened and extended
Shannons theory. In the 1950s, mathematicians
reset the theorys foundations by rigorizing proofs
of the main theorems and extending them. The
theory has been further developed in such areas as
error-correcting codes, rate distortion theory (lossy
data compression), multiuser channels (network
information theory), and zero-error channel ca-
pacity (zero-error information theory).
Other Theories of Information
When Shannon published his path-breaking paper
in 1948, it vied with three other mathematical the-
ories of information. The most established was the
theory of estimation of British statistician and ge-
neticist Ronald Fisher. In the 1920s and 1930s, Fisher
defined the amount of information to be expected,
with regard to an unknown statistical parameter,
from a given number of observations in an experi-
ment. The measure was mathematically similar to,
but not equivalent to, that for entropy. In 1946 British
physicist Denis Gabor defined a quantum of infor-
mation, expressed in logons, in terms of the prod-
uct of uncertainties of time and frequency of an
electrical signal. Gabor used the concept to analyze
waveforms in communication systems. The third
theory was proposed by American mathematician
Norbert Wiener in his well-known book Cybernetics
measure of information similar to Shannons, except
that he defined it as negative rather than positive en-
tropy. It thus measured order rather than disorder

(uncertainty). Contemporaries often referred to the
entropy concept of information as the Shannon-
Wiener measure or the Wiener-Shannon formula.
At the first London Symposium on Information
Theory, held in 1950, British physicist Donald
MacKay brought all three measures into a unified
Information Theory. MacKay included Fishers
and Gabors work under the new category of
Scientific Information Theory, the realm of the physi-
cist, and Shannons and Wieners work under Com-
munication Theory, the realm of the engineer.
However, MacKays efforts did not resolve the dif-
ferent meanings of information or information
theory. Shannons followers, especially those in
the United States, employed information theory
exclusively to describe his approach. Yet the Pro-
fessional Group on Information Theory in the
Institute of Radio Engineers, founded in 1951 and a
forerunner of the present-day Information Theory
Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE), considered both Shannons the-
ory and Wieners theory of prediction and filtering
to be in its purview.
Shannon himself included the latter field in
Information Theory, an article he wrote for the
Encyclopedia Britannica in the mid-1950s. British
electrical engineer Colin Cherry observed in 1957
that the research of physicists such as MacKay, Gabor,
and Leon Brillouin on scientific method,is referred
to, at least in Britain, as information theory, a term
which is unfortunately used elsewhere [that is, in the
United States] synonymously with communica-
tion theory. Again, the French sometimes refer to
communication theory as cybernetics. It is all very
confusing (Cherry 1957, 216).
Subsequently the mathematical and electrical en-
gineering communities in the United States viewed
these interpretations of information as comple-
mentary concepts, not as competitors, a position that
holds today. Gabors measure is now prominent in
electrical circuit theory, Fishers in classical statistics.
Wieners work on prediction and filtering defines the
area of statistical communication theory. Although
it was a core discipline of information theory for
many years, Wieners theory moved outside the main
stream of information theory in the 1960s (Viterbi
1973, 257). Yet signal detection and estimation still
INFORMATION THEORY 379
form a subfield of research in the IEEEs Information
Theory Society. Shannon Theory, as it has been
called since the early 1970s, has remained at the cen-
ter of the discipline. The IEEE honors Shannon as
the founder of Information Theory, and many text-
books view his approach as nearly synonymous with
the topic.
Following a suggestion made in 1949 by Warren
Weaver, an American mathematician who directed
the natural sciences division of the Rockefeller Foun-
dation, numerous researchers have tried to make
Shannons theory the basis for a semantic theory
of information. These range from the highly math-
ematical theory of logicians Rudolf Carnap and
Yehoshua Bar-Hillel in the early 1950s to numerous
quantitative and non-quantitative attempts by work-
ers in the interdisciplinary field of Information
Science. None have gained the scientific status of the
non-semantic theories.
Inuence of Information Theory
Information theory became something of a fad in
scientific circles in the 1950s when numerous re-
searchers enthusiastically applied the new sci-
ence to a variety of fields. These included physics,
artificial intelligence, behavioral and molecular bi-
ology, physiology, experimental and cognitive psy-
chology, linguistics, economics, organizational
sociology, and library and information science.
Ironically, communication engineers were skeptical
until the 1960s, when Shannons theory was used
to encode messages in deep space communications.
Although most applications, adaptations, and
modifications outside of mathematics and engi-
neering proved to be unfruitful, the language of
information theory became ingrained in such fields
as molecular biology (gene as carrier of informa-
tion), economics (markets as information proces-
sors), and artificial intelligence (semantic information
processing). The biological and behavioral sciences
describe the operation of all forms of life, from the
DNA molecule to society, in terms of information
transfer, storage, and processing. Technical appli-
cations have proven themselves in physiology (for
instance, the informational capacity of sense organs)
and experimental psychology ( for instance, the
380 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
relation between the amount of information in a
stimulus to the response time to the stimulus). A re-
cent textbook notes that information theory inter-
sects physics (statistical mechanics), mathematics
(probability theory), electrical engineering (com-
munication theory) and computer science (algo-
rithmic complexity) (Cover and Thomas 1991, 1).
Applications of Shannons theory to information
technology increased dramatically following the in-
vention of the microprocessor in the 1970s and in-
creasing levels of semiconductor integration.
Complex error-correcting codes and data compres-
sion schemes are pervasive in digital communica-
tions. They help make possible such technologies as
hard-disk drives, high-speed memories, cell phones,
compact discs, DVDs, digital television, audio and
video compression, and video conferencing on the
Internet.
Perhaps the most pervasive influence of infor-
mation theory has been indirect. Social theorists from
Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s to Manuel Castells
in the 1990s, drawing on the popularization and wide
application of information theory, have helped
create a public discourse of information that pro-
claims the dawning of an information age, economy,
and society.
Ronald Kline
See also Information Overload; Theory
FURTHER READING
Aspray, W. (1985). The scientific conceptualization of information:
A survey. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 7, 117140.
Attneave, F. (1959). Applications of information theory to psychology:
A summary of basic concepts, methods, and results. New York: Henry
Holt.
Capurro, R., & Hjorland, B. (2003). The concept of information. Annual
Review of Information Science and Technology, 37, 343411.
Cherry, C. (1957). On human communication: A review, a survey,
and a criticism. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Cover, T. M., & Thomas, J. A. (1991). Elements of information theory.
New York: Wiley.
Dahling, R. L. (1962). Shannons Information Theory: The spread
of an idea. In Stanford University, Institute for Communication
Research, Studies of Innovation and of Communication to the Public
(pp. 117139). Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Edwards, P. N (1996). Closed world: Computers and the politics of
discourse in Cold War America. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Fisher, R. A. (1935). The design of experiments. London: Oliver & Boyd.
Gabor, D. (1946). Theory of communication. Journal of the Institution
of Electrical Engineers, Pt. III, 93, 429459.
Hartley, R. V. L. (1928). Transmission of information. Bell System
Technical Journal, 7, 535563.
Kay, L. (2000). Who wrote the book of life? A history of the genetic code.
Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Machlup, F., & Mansfield, U. (Eds.). (1983). The study of information:
Interdisciplinary messages. New York: Wiley.
MacKay, D. M. (1969). Information, mechanism, and meaning.
Cambridge: MIT Press.
Shannon, C. E. (1993). A mathematical theory of communication. In
N. J. A. Sloane & A. D. Wyner, (Eds.), Claude Elwood Shannon, col-
lected papers (pp. 583). New York: IEEE Press. (Original work
published 1948)
Slepian, D. (1973). Information theory in the fifties. IEEE Transactions
on Information Theory, 19(2), 145148.
Slepian, D. (Ed.). (1973). Key papers in the development of Information
Theory. New York: IEEE Press.
Verd, S. (Ed.). (1998). Information Theory: 19481998. IEEE
Transactions on Information Theory, 44(6), 20422272.
Viterbi, A. J. (1973). Information theory in the Sixties. IEEE Transactions
on Information Theory, 19(3), 257262.
Weaver, W. (1949). Recent contributions to the mathematical the-
ory of communication. In C. E. Shannon & W. Weaver, The math-
ematical theory of communication (pp. 93117). Urbana: University
of Illinois Press.
Webster, F. (1995). Theories of the information society. London:
Routledge.
Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics: Or control and communication in the
animal and the machine. Cambridge and New York: Technology
Press and Wiley.
INSTANT MESSAGING
See Chatrooms; Collaboratories; Cybercommunities;
E-mail; Groupware; Internet in Everyday Life; Social
Psychology and HCI
INSTRUCTION MANUALS
In the world of computing, an instruction manual
is a book that explains how to use a software pro-
gram or a hardware device. If we accept a relatively
broad definition of manual, we can say that manu-
als dealing with such technologies as architecture,
mining, and agriculture have been written for many
centuries. Manuals that approximate contemporary
manuals in their design generally date from the nine-

teenth century. The first author of computer man-
uals was J. D. Chapline, who worked on the Binac
and Univac I computers from 1947 to 1955. Chapline
borrowed many design ideas from military manuals
and, later, from automotive manuals.
Interest in computer documentation increased
with the growth of the computer industry. This in-
terest intensified considerably when personal com-
puters (microcomputers) burst onto the scene in
the early and mid 1980s. Prior to personal comput-
ers, most computer users were either computer pro-
grammers and other computer specialists or scientists
and engineers who were prepared to master a new and
daunting technology. Now, however, a much larger
and more diverse audience, including business people,
graphic designers, students, and hobbyists were using
computers and reading documentation.
Computer companies, heeding widespread com-
plaints about confusing and tedious manuals, began
to regard clear and engaging documentation as an
important aspect of their products and a competi-
tive advantage in the marketplace. Industry leaders
such as IBM, Apple, and Microsoftalong with uni-
versities and other organizationsdeveloped us-
ability testing programs and undertook research
studies. These and other computer companies issued
insightfully designed, expensively produced manu-
als with refined page layout, ample illustrations, and
color printing. Similarly, corporations in a wide range
of industries improved their internal documenta-
tion to achieve greater efficiency, although budgets
for internal documentation have traditionally been
lower than for product documentation.
Commercial publishers discovered that many
people would pay for a better manual than the one
shipped with the product or for a manual that met
specific needs. A new publishing business in third-
party computer books emerged. Software compa-
nies assisted third-party publishers, recognizing that
customers value software products with strong third-
party book support.
During this period most software products in-
cluded some kind of online (on-screen) help system.
Online help, however, was often crudely designed.
Furthermore, the appearance and operation of help
systems varied greatly from one software product to
another, and the whole idea of online help was alien
INSTRUCTION MANUALS 381
to computer users. Little by little, however, help
systems began to compete successfully with print
documentation.
Kinds of Computer Manuals
It is important to understand the various kinds of
computer instruction manuals and how each kind
is designed. The largest class of manuals are those
that document software applications. These manu-
als are usually divided into three categories: tutori-
als, users guides, and reference manuals. These three
genres of instruction manuals are meant to work to-
gether to support the users complete cycle of prod-
uct use from installation and initial learning, through
ongoing use, to returning to the product or some
product feature after time has passed. Other signif-
icant classes of manuals are programmer language
manuals and hardware manuals.
Tutorials
Tutorials are intended to introduce users to the prod-
uct. They are slow paced and provide detailed ex-
planations and instructions along with numerous
screen captures (images of how the screen will look)
that show how the system will respond to the
users actions.
Tutorials are organized as a series of lessons in
which the designer carefully chooses the most im-
portant features of the product and explains the fea-
tures in the sequence that will result in the most
effective learning. Rarely does a tutorial cover every-
thing the product can do. The lessons are generally
built around extended examples (often called sce-
narios). For example, the tutorial for a database man-
agement system might guide the user through
building a database to keep track of the wine in a wine
cellar. Tutorials are written in a friendly, conversa-
tional manner. In many tutorials, the user is encour-
aged to tackle a new lesson and is congratulated at
the end of the lesson. Having completed the tutorial,
the user will presumably graduate to the users guide
and will be able to learn whatever additional features
are required to accomplish the users own tasks.
Print tutorials have drawbacks for both computer
companies and users. They are expensive to write,
and because they have a high page count, they are
382 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
expensive to print and ship. While some users rely
on tutorials, others do not have the patience for slow-
paced documentation. Another significant problem
(which can be avoided in online tutorials) is it takes
just a single mistake to put the user can out of sync
with the tutorial. Still another problem is the rele-
vance of the scenario to the users work (transfer
of learning). A tutorial dealing with a wine cellar
database may not be very useful to someone in-
tending to build a database to log laboratory data.
Finally, while a well-written tutorial can lead the user
successfully through tasks, it is not clear how much
of this knowledge is retained.
Users Guides
When most people think about a computer manual,
they are thinking of a users guide. This is the cen-
tral piece of the print documentation set, the piece
that will be used most of the time. If only one man-
ual is provided, it is very likely a users guide.
The users guide consists of procedures (in-
structions) for carrying out all the tasks (or at least
all the mainstream tasks) that can be performed with
the product. Technical communicators carefully or-
ganize users guides for maximum usefulness. Broadly
speaking, the sequence of the chapters corresponds
to the sequence in which users are likely to carry out
tasks. So, for instance, the chapter on creating a new
document will precede the chapter on printing.
Highly specialized chapters come toward the end.
Within a chapter, basic tasks precede specialized tasks.
As much as possible, procedures are written as
independent modules that the user can consult in
any order. The writing style is straightforward, with-
out scenarios or motivational comments. Examples
are brief and appear within an individual procedure.
Procedures generally consist of a title, a concep-
tual element, and numbered steps. The title identi-
fies the procedure. The conceptual element (usually
a paragraph or two) makes clear the purpose of
the procedure and, if necessary, provides such in-
formation as the prerequisites that must be met
before the procedure can be carried out. The steps
are the actions that users will take and, at times,
descriptions of how the system will respond to these
actions. If the purpose is clear from the title, there
may be no reason for the conceptual element. A
group of related procedures may be introduced by
overview paragraphs, often located at the beginning
of a chapter.
Writing users guides poses many challenges. First,
while almost everyone in the world of computer doc-
umentation embraces the idea of carefully study-
ing the products users and writing user-centered,
task-oriented documentation, these are not easy
things to accomplish. There are major challenges
in learning how the users of a product understand
their work, what background knowledge and men-
tal models they bring to bear, and the cognitive
processes they employ when using the product, par-
ticularly when they encounter difficulties.
Among the many thorny design issues is how
much detail to include in procedures. Too much in-
formation is tedious; insufficient information leaves
users puzzled or unable to carry out tasks. Hitting
the proper balance is difficult, especially for a
product that is used by a wide range of individu-
als. These kinds of problems apply to online as
well as print documentation.
Reference Manuals
Whereas users guides are organized by tasks, refer-
ence manuals are organizedoften alphabetically
by the names of commands. The manual describes
each commands purpose and options along with
the location of the command in the applications
menu structure and the keyboard shortcut for exe-
cuting the command.
Reference documentation assumes a sophisti-
cated user who understands the task he or she wishes
to carry out and who can identify the commands
that are necessary. Often people consult reference
manuals for a review of commands they have used
in the past.
Programming Language
Documentation
Manuals for documenting computer languages take
the form of tutorials and references. Tutorials ex-
plain the basic concepts of the programming lan-
guage and guide the programmer through the
creation of simple programs. Code samples and

explanations of likely errors are included in these tu-
torials. References are the heart of programmer doc-
umentation. They explain the statements, variables,
operators, and other constructs of the programming
language. Syntax diagrams and code examples are
generally included.
Hardware Manuals
Hardware manuals vary greatly because computer
hardware encompasses hand-held devices, standard
desktop computers, mainframes, computer compo-
nents, and more. When hardware devices include
built-in software, a display, and a keypad, the hard-
ware documentation may resemble a software man-
ual. Hardware manuals also explain, with illustrations
as well as text, the procedures for setting up, main-
taining, and repairing the device. Users may well
be unscrewing plates, connecting plugs, installing
circuit boards, and measuring voltages. Hardware
documentation is much less likely to be delivered
online, if only because online presentation is gener-
ally unavailable when the user is assembling or start-
ing the device or when the device is malfunctioning.
The Rise of Online Help
Starting in the early 1990s, computer companies be-
gan reducing the size of the print documentation set
and placing greater emphasis on the online help sys-
tem and other forms of on-screen documentation.
Now products are likely to ship with only a users
guide or a brief guide to getting startedor they may
ship with no print at all. If there is a tutorial, it is
probably an online tutorial, very possibly delivered
over the Web.
This change was driven in large part by the need
to control costs. Another reason is the desire to
streamline the product development cycle. Once a
manual is finished, there is often a six-week lag while
the manual is at the printer. Not only cant the prod-
uct be shipped while the manual is being printed,
but if last-minute corrections to the product code
change the products appearance and behavior (for
instance, if a buggy feature is modified or removed),
the documentation cannot be updated to reflect these
changes.
INSTRUCTION MANUALS 383
It is also true that online help has greatly ma-
tured, and a strong argument can be made that the
needs of users are better served by online help. While
print manuals are more legible than on-screen doc-
umentation, online help provides faster access to in-
formation. Clicking links is faster than turning pages,
and when help content is integrated with the ap-
plication (context sensitivity), users can instantly
display information pertinent to the portion of the
interface they are working with. Other advantages
of online help include the ability to deliver anima-
tion, audio, and video, and to allow the user to di-
rectly access more detailed content stored on the
vendors support website. Even so, many users re-
main loyal to print manuals.
Acrobat as a Compromise Solution
Adobe Acrobat enables publishers of paper docu-
ments to distribute these documents as computer
files with confidence that the formatting will be pre-
served regardless of the recipients computer system
and printer. Some software vendors, therefore, pre-
pare handsomely formatted manuals and distribute
them free of charge (often from a tech support web-
site) in Acrobat (PDF) format. Users can have printed
manuals if they accept the trouble and cost of the
printing.
Furthermore, with such features as a clickable
table of contents, text search, thumbnail images of
pages, and the ability to add notes and highlights,
Acrobat makes it possible to create manuals that can
be used effectively on the computer screen. On-screen
PDF manuals cannot be integrated with the appli-
cation, but users do get many of the features of a help
system, along with book-like page layout.
Computer companies now have various ways to
provide product documentation. They will make
choices based on the nature of their products, the
preferences of their customers, and cost factors.
Instruction manuals, both comprehensive and scaled
down, will share the stage with online help sys-
tems, and these instruction manuals will be shipped
with products, printed by users from PDF files,
utilized as on-screen PDF manuals, and purchased
in the form of third-party books. If we continue to
learn more about human-computer interaction and,
384 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
in particular, how people use computer documen-
tation, and if computer companies and third-party
publishers strive to create the best documentation
they can, computer use will become a more pro-
ductive and enjoyable experience.
David K. Farkas
See also Adaptive Help Systems
FURTHER READING
Agricola, G. (1950). De re metallica (H. C. Hoover & L. H. Hoover,
Trans.). New York: Dover.
Barker, T. T. (2003). Writing software documentation: A task-oriented
approach (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.
Brockmann, R. J. (1998). From millwrights to shipwrights to the twenty-
first century: Explorations in the history of technical communication
in the United States. Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Carroll, J. M. (1990). The Nurnberg funnel: Designing minimalist in-
struction for practical computer skills. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Carroll, J M. (Ed.). (1998). Minimalism beyond the Nurnberg funnel.
Cambridge: MIT Press.
Farkas, D. K. (1999). The logical and rhetorical construction of pro-
cedural discourse. Technical Communication, 46(1), 4254.
Hackos, J. T., (1994). Managing your documentation projects. New York:
Wiley.
Haramundanis, K. (1997). The art of technical documentation (2nd
ed.). Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Haydon, L. M. (1995). The complete guide to writing and produc-
ing technical manuals. New York: Wiley.
Horton, W. (1993). Lets do away with manuals before they do away
with us. Technical Communication, 40(1), 2634.
Horton, W. (1994). Designing and writing online documentation:
Hypermedia for self-supporting products (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
Jordan, S. (Ed.). (1971). Handbook of technical writing practices.
New York: Wiley-Interscience.
Microsoft Corporation. (2003). Manual of style for technical publica-
tions. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press.
Price, J., & Korman, H. (1993). How to communicate technical infor-
mation: A handbook of software and hardware documentation.
Redwood City, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
Schriver, K. A. (1997). Dynamics of document design. Creating texts for
readers. New York: Wiley.
Simson, H., & Casey, S. A. (1988). Developing effective user docu-
mentation: A human-factors approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Steehouder, M., Jansen, C., van der Poort, P., & Verheijen, R. (Eds.).
(1994). Quality of technical documentation. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Ummelen, N. (1996). Procedural and declarative information in soft-
ware manuals: Effects on information use, task performance, and
knowledge. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Vitruvius, P. (1950). The ten books on architecture (M. H. Morgan,
Trans.). New York: Dover Publications.
INTERNETWORLDWIDE
DIFFUSION
The Internet grew rapidly in the 1990s. Although we
are still far from universal Internet connectivity, a
large percentage in the developed world had access
to the Internet by the end of 2003, as did signifi-
cant percentages of people in developing coun-
tries. Among the factors affecting the rate of diffusion
of Internet around the globe are economics, gov-
ernment policies, and the original dominance of the
English language on the Web.
The Growth of the Internet
Although there are no reliable data on the size of the
worlds online population, estimates show that use
of the Internet has diffused rapidly. The number of
Internet users around the globe has surged from
an estimated 4.4 million in 1991 to 10 million in
1993, 40 million in 1995, 117 million in 1997, 277
million in 1999, 502 million in 2001, to more than
600 million in 2002. Thus, the global penetration
rate of the Internet has increased from less than a
tenth of a percent in 1991 to 2 percent in 1997, 7 per-
cent in 2000, to over 10 percent of the total world
population in 2002. Projections for 2004 place the
number of global Internet users between 700 mil-
lion and 945 million. Estimates for the Internets
global penetration rate in 2004 are between 11 per-
cent and 15 percent.
Despite rapid worldwide diffusion of the Internet,
a disproportionate number of users are concentrated
in more developed countries, especially the United
States. In 2002, 169 million Americans were on-
line, accounting for about 60 percent of the coun-
trys total population and 29 percent of the worlds
Internet population. There were 172 million users
in Europe (28 percent of the worlds Internet popu-
lation, 182 million in Southeast and East Asia,
including 145 million in China, Japan, and Korea
(23 percent). South America was home to 29 million
users (5 percent), while there were 11 million in
Oceania (1.9 percent), and 10 million in Africa
(1.6 percent).

Countries with the largest population of on-
line users are the United States with an estimated
159 million, China with 59 million, Japan with
57 million, Germany with 34 million, South Korea
with 26 million, and the United Kingdom with
25 million Internet users. By proportion of popu-
lation, Nordic countries top the list, with Iceland,
Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway in the top
ten. Over half to three-quarters of these countries
populations are online. Other countries leading in
the rate of Internet penetration include the United
States, Canada, the Netherlands, South Korea, and
Singapore.
To be sure, these data are rough approximations.
Getting a perspective on the Internet is like tracking
a perpetually moving and changing target. Mean-
ingful comparisons and knowledge accumulation
are hindered by the lack of comparability of data
from different countries. This has led researchers
studying the global diffusion of the Internet to rely
on statistics gathered country-by-country that often
employ different measurements. The definition of
the online population often differs between studies:
Some focus on adult users, while others include chil-
dren and teenagers. There is no standard definition
of who is an Internet user: Some studies embrace
everyone who has ever accessed the Internet as a user,
while others count only those who use the Internet
at least once a week. Some studies use households,
not individuals, as the unit of analysis. This also
masks how individuals within a household use the
Internet. To increase reliability and comparability,
this article relies on data from national representa-
tive surveys conducted by government agencies,
scholarly researchers, and policy reports issued by
international organizations.
Digital Divides
Internet users are not a random sample of a coun-
trys population: They differ from nonusers in so-
cioeconomic status (education, occupation, income,
wealth), age, gender, race or ethnicity, stage in the
life-course, urban-rural location, and language. This
digital divide has been present since the onset of
computerization and the Internet, when most users
were North American, young, well-educated, white
INTERNET-WORLDWIDE DIFFUSION 385
men. Yet the digital divide is not a binary yes-no
question of whether basic physical access to the
Internet is available. Access does not necessarily equal
use. What matters is the extent to which people reg-
ularly use a computer and the Internet for mean-
ingful purposes.
The digital divide is shaped by social factors as
much as technological factors, with systematic vari-
ations in the kinds of people who are on and off
the Internet. Moreover, the digital divide cuts across
nations and changes over time. Not only are there
socially patterned differences within countries in
who uses the Internet, there are major differences
between countries: the global digital divide. Thus,
there are multiple digital divides, varying within
countries as well as between countries, both devel-
oped and developing.
Seven National Examples
To show the varied diffusion of Internet use, sum-
maries of the development of Internet use in seven
quite different countries are provided here and com-
pared in Table 1.
United States
The United States has always had the largest num-
ber of Internet users. In 1997, 57 million Americans
were using the Internet, representing 22 percent of
the total U.S. population. The number of users
climbed to 85 million in 1998 (33 percent), 116 mil-
lion in 2000 (44 percent), 143 million in 2001 (54 per-
cent), and reached 169 million in 2002. Between 1997
and 2001, while the number of Americans using com-
puters increased by 27 percent from 137 million to
174 million, the online population rapidly increased
by 152 percent. By 2001, 66 percent of American
computer users were also online. Likely because
Internet use is so widespread, all forms of digital di-
vides are shrinking in the United States (and Canada).
Germany
The Internet penetration rate has risen in Germany
since the mid 1990s. Among the German popula-
tion aged 14 and older, 7 percent used the Internet
in 1997, 10 percent in 1998, and 18 percent in 1999.
Unlike in North America, there was a substantial
386 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
gap in Germany between computer ownership and
Internet use as late as 1999, when 45 percent of house-
holds in Germany owned a computer but only about
one-quarter of those households (11 percent of all
households) were connected to the Internet. Internet
diffusion has accelerated since then. Twenty-nine per-
cent of the German population was wired in 2000, 39
percent in 2001, and 44 percent in 2002. Despite the
diffusion of the Internet, the socioeconomic and gen-
der digital divides are increasing in Germany, as new-
comers to the Internet are disproportionately men of
high socioeconomic status.
Italy
Only five percent of Italian households had Internet
access in 1998. Italys low Internet penetration rate
has been associated with low computer ownership.
But the situation is changing, as Italians have been
rapidly adopting personal computers (PCs) and the
Internet since the late 1990s. In 2000, 31 percent of
Italian households owned a PC, of which 60 percent
were connected to the Internet. In one year, the
Internet penetration rate increased by one-third, from
14 percent in 1999 to 21 percent in 2000. It more
than doubled in two years, reaching 33 percent
(19 million) in 2001. However, Italy still has relatively
low rates of PC and Internet penetration com-
pared with other western European nations. The gen-
der gap has remained significant, with women using
the Internet far less than men.
Japan
The percentage of Japanese households owning PCs
more than doubled from 1996 to 2002. About 22 per-
cent of Japanese households owned a PC in 1996,
29 percent in 1997, 33 percent in 1998, 38 percent in
1999, 51 percent in 2000, and 58 percent in 2001.
However, there has been a gap between PC access
and Internet access. The diffusion of the Internet,
especially the PC-based Internet, started relatively
late in Japan. For instance, while 40 percent of Am-
erican households were online in 1999, only 12 per-
cent of Japanese households were online that year.
The number of Internet users (6 years and older) was
12 million in 1997, 17 million in 1998, 27 million in
1999, 47 million in 2000, 56 million in 2001, and
69.4 million in 2002. The Japanese are the worlds
heaviest users of mobile phone-based Internet ser-
vices, comprising about one-third of the worlds
users, with the less-educated and women accessing
the Internet from Web-enabled mobile phones at a
higher rate than from PCs.
Korea
The number of Internet users in Korea increased
threefold between 1998 and 1999, from 3 million to
11 million. By 2001, 24 million Koreans over 7 years
old (57 percent) were online. The number of Internet
users grew to 26 million by June 2002, a figure nearly
nine times large than the figure from five years ear-
lier. There were also 27 million mobile Internet sub-
scribers in Korea in June 2002, although many of
them presumably also had PC-based access. With
14 broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants in June
2001, Korea has become the world leader in broad-
band Internet access. Although only 14,000 Korean
households had a broadband connection in 1998,
nearly 9 million of them were using broadband con-
nections by 2002. Koreans are also heavy users of
mobile-phone-based Internet services.
China
China is a relatively late starter in Internet use but has
been catching up quickly. Because Chinas popula-
tion is so large, the low penetration rate of less than
5 percent provides both a great many users and much
room for growth. There has been a dramatic increase
in Internet users, from 620,000 in 1997 to 22 million
in 2001, and about 60 million in 2003. The number
of Internet-connected computers has increased from
about 0.3 million in 1997 to 12 million in 2002.
Chinas Internet population probably ranks second
in the world and is growing rapidly. Currently, use is
concentrated in major urban areas near the east coast.
Public access points, such as Internet cafes, accom-
modate many. The majority of new users are
young, especially university students, creating a prob-
able demand for continued Internet use in later life.
Mexico
In Mexico a much higher percentage of the popu-
lation has a computer than has Internet access. For
 INTERNET-WORLDWIDE DIFFUSION 387

TABLE 1. Summary of Internet Access in Seven Countries

Socioeconomic Geographic
Country Gender Life Stage
Status Location

Declining yet Half of Internet users Declining yet Declining yet

U.S.
persistent are female. persistent persistent

Declining yet
Germany Increasing Increasing Declining
persistent

Younger
Italians cur-
rently more
Northern Italy is
Deep digital divide likely to access
Italy Increasing leading the south in
based on education. and use the
Internet diffusion.
Internet. Trend
is not avail-
able.

Major cities have

Declining, and
Declining yet persist- Younger are higher Internet dif-
Japan reversed for mobile
ent more involved fusion than smaller
(webphone) Internet
cities.

Declining. Seoul is
South Korea Increasing Persistent Increasing the most wired area
in the country.

Huge, yet declining Slightly Huge, yet declining

China Declining yet persistent
slightly declining slightly

Younger Very uneven. Users

Less than half of Mexicans are concentrated in
Mexico Huge Internet users are make up the the central districts,
women. majority of Guadalajara, and
Internet users. Monterrey.

Wenhong
Wenhong ChenChen and
and Barry Barry
Wellman 2003 Wellman 2003
388 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
example, at the start of the Internet era in 1994, al-
though nearly 5 percent of the Mexican popula-
tion owned a PC, only 0.04 percent of the population
accessed the Internet. Since then, Mexicans have
adopted the Internet rapidly. The penetration rate
surpassed the 1 percent mark in 1998 and increased
to 2.6 percent in 1999. It continued to grow to
2.8 percent (2.7 million) in 2000 and 3.7 percent
(3.6 million) in 2001, and reached 4.7 million in 2002.
Unreliable telephone service hinders home-based
Internet use, especially in rural and impoverished
areas. Instead, public Internet terminals provide a
significant amount of connectivity.
The Diffusion of the
Internet in Context
The diffusion of the Internet (and accompanying
digital divides) has occurred at the intersection of
international and within-country socioeconomic,
technological, and linguistic differences. Telecom-
munications policies, infrastructures, and educa-
tion are prerequisites for marginalized communities
to participate in the information age. High costs,
English language dominance, lack of relevant con-
tent, and lack of technological support are obstacles
to disadvantaged communities using computers
and the Internet. For instance, while about one-half
of the worlds Internet users are native English speak-
ers, about three-quarters of all websites are in
English.
The diffusion of Internet use in developed coun-
tries may be slowing and even stalling. Currently,
Internet penetration rates are not climbing in several
of the developed countries with the most penetra-
tion. This is a new phenomenon, but is too soon to
tell if it represents a true leveling-off of the pene-
tration rate or a short-term fluctuation as Internet
use continues its climb to triumphant ubiquity.
With the proliferation of the Internet in devel-
oped countries, the digital divide between North
American and developed countries elsewhere is nar-
rowing. However, the digital divide remains sub-
stantial between developed and developing countries.
The divide also remains substantial within almost
all countries, developed as well as developing. In some
countries, the digital divide is widening even as the
number and percentage of Internet users increases.
This happens when the newcomers to the Internet
are demographically similar to those already online.
The diffusion of the Internet is not merely a mat-
ter of computer technology. The digital divide has
profound impacts on the continuation of social
inequality. People, social groups, and nations on the
wrong side of the digital divide may be increas-
ingly excluded from knowledge-based societies
and economies.
Wenhong Chen, Phuoc Tran, and Barry Wellman
See also Digital Divide
FURTHER READING
Chen, W., & Wellman, B. (2004). Charting Digital Divides: Within
and Between Countries. In W. Dutton, B. Kahin, R. OCallaghan,
& A. Wyckoff (Eds.), Transforming Enterprise. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center). (2003,
July). 12th statistical survey report on the Internet development in
China. Retrieved January 23, 2004, from http://www.cnnic.org.cn/
download/manual/en-reports/12.pdf
Fortunati, L., & Manganelli, A. M. (2002). A review of the literature
on gender and ICTs in Italy. In K. H. Srensen & J. Steward (Eds.),
Digital divides and inclusion measures: A review of literature and
statistical trends on gender and ICT (STS Report 59-02). Trondheim,
Norway: Centre for Technology and Society.
Light, J. (2001). Rethinking the Digital Divide. Harvard Educational
Review, 71(4), 709733.
Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts, and Telecom-
munications (Japan). (2003). Building a new, Japan-inspired IT
society. Tokyo: Author.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (2002).
A nation online: How Americans are expanding their use of the
Internet. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce.
Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide? Civic engagement, information poverty
and the Internet in democratic societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Nua Internet (2004). How many online? Retrieved January 23, 2004,
from http://www.nua.com/surveys/how_many_online/index.html.
Reddick, A., & Boucher, C. (2002). Tracking the dual digital divide.
Ottowa, Canada: Ekos Research Associates. Retrieved January
23, 2004, from http://olt-bta.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/resources/digital-
divide_e.pdf
Servicios de Telecomunicaciones. (2003). Usuarios estimados de Internet
en Mxico [Estimated Internet users in Mexico]. Retrieved January
23, 2004, from http://www.cft.gob.mx/html/5_est/Graf_
internet/estimi1.pdf

Soe, Y. (2002). The digital divide: An analysis of Koreas Internet dif-
fusion. Unpublished masters thesis, Georgetown University,
Washington, DC.
Thomasson, J., Foster, W., & Press, L. (2002). The diffusion of the Internet
in Mexico. Austin: University of Texas at Austin, Latin America
Network Information Center.
TNS Interactive. (2001). Asia-Pacific M-commerce report. Retrieved
January 23, 2004, from http://www.tnsofres.com/apmcommerce/
UCLA Center for Communication Policy. (2003). The UCLA Internet
report: Surveying the digital future year three. Retrieved January
8, 2004, from http://ccp.ucla.edu/pdf/UCLA-Internet-Report-Year-
Three.pdf
van Eimeren, B., Gerhard, H., & Frees, B. (2002). ARD/ZDF-Online-
Studie 2002. Entwicklung der Online-Nutzung in Deutschland: Mehr
Routine, Wengier Entdeckerfreude [The development of Internet use
in Germany: More routine, less fun of discovery]. Media Perspektiven,
8, 346362.
World Internet Project Japan. (2002). Internet usage trends in Japan:
Survey report. Tokyo: Institute of Socio-Information and Commu-
nication Studies, Tokyo University.
INTERNET IN
EVERYDAY LIFE
The increasing presence of the Internet in every-
day life has created important issues about what the
Internet means to people concerning access to re-
sources, social interaction, and commitment to
groups, organizations, and communities.
What started in 1969 as a network between four
computers in southern California has metamor-
phosed into a global system of rapid communica-
tion and information retrieval. The Internet was
designed to be decentralized and scalable from the
beginning. These design features have given the
Internet room to expand to immense proportions
and to keep growing. By the end of 2003, the Internet
had an estimated 600 million regular users, and
the Google search engine could reach more than
3.4 trillion unique webpages. The Internet was a novel
curiosity in academia in the 1980s, but it went main-
stream in the early 1990s when e-mail was joined by
the World Wide Web. Since then the Internet has be-
come so pervasive that in many parts of the world
its presence is taken for granted. Such widespread
nonchalance about such a powerful set of techno-
logical tools illustrates how deeply the Internet has
embedded itself into everyday life.
INTERNET IN EVERYDAY LIFE 389
First AgeThe Internet as
Dazzling Wonder
When the Internet moved from the arcane world
of library computer terminals to homes and offices
during the 1990s, it was heralded as a technologi-
cal marvel. Early adopters congratulated themselves
on being progressive elites, and techno-nerds rejoiced
in newfound respect and fame. Bespectacled, nerdy
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was as much a super-
star as rock singers and professional athletes. All
things seemed possible. The cover of the Decem-
ber 1999 issue of Wired magazine, the Internets great-
est cultural champion, depicted a cyberangel leaping
from a cliff to reach for the ethereal sun. The angels
graceful posture pointed upward, placing seemingly
boundless faith in an unfettered cyberfuture.
The first clear pictures from the frontier of cyber-
space came from early studies of online culture.
Investigators, peering into online communities
such as the Whole Earth Lectric Link (WELL) and
LambdaMOO, provided insight into how early
adopters multitasked and negotiated identities, given
a paucity of social cues. Early adopters activities pro-
vided material for stories in the mass media and
ethnographies (cultural studies). Instead of travel-
ing to remote places, ethnographers only had to
log on to the Internet and tune in to online virtual
communities. Fascinating stories abounded of color-
ful characters and dangerous situations such as
virtual transvestites and cyberstalkers.
Some pundits went too far, extrapolating from
such esoteric online settings to the generalized
Internet experience. However, as the Internet became
broadly adopted, people saw that communication
would not primarily be with far-flung mysterious
others in virtual worlds, but rather with the people
about whom users already cared most: family, friends,
and workmates. Nevertheless, ideologies of the
unique, transformative nature of the Internet per-
sisted as enthusiasts failed to view it in historical
perspective (presentism). For example, long-distance
community ties had been flourishing for generations,
using automobiles, telephones, and airplanes.
Other pundits assumed that only online phe-
nomena are relevant to understanding the Internet
(parochialism). They committed the fundamental
390 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

A Personal StoryInformation Technology and

Competitive Academic Debate

They say a transformation occurs when something new becomes so much a part of an activity that you cannot think of do-
ing it otherwise. I have witnessed something on the order of a transformation in doing research for competitive aca-
demic debate as both a participant and a coach of at both the high school and college levels. Research is essential to
constructing competitive arguments and strategies in the activity. In high school in the early 1990s, most of this was
done in libraries as preparation before going off to a tournament. By the time I reached college in the mid 1990s, we also
had access to Lexis-Nexis. This was particularly significant because we could dial into the service to adapt and update
our arguments while away at tournaments. The ability to adapt arguments over the course of a tournament is crucial to
maintain a competitive edge.
The next change came as the university I attended began to wire all the buildings with Internet and the Internet
gradually became more central to debate research. With the latest journals and reports from various think tanks and avail-
able online, we could do the bulk of our research without leaving the debate officewhich came in handy during those
cold Iowa winters. Some became so dependent on the Internet that they never went to the library. At this point, however,
the Internet was still not portable, meaning we, like most teams, did not have Internet access when we were out of town
at tournaments.
Over time, however, the ability to access the vast diversity of resources on the Internet became essential to stay com-
petitive with other teams. Given the literally hundreds of dollars we would incur in hotel phone charges, we began to
network computers together so that multiple people could be online or using Lexis-Nexis while using a single phone
line. Now that most major hotels have high speed Internet access, the costs of connectivity have dramatically declined.
Some tournaments even offer onsite wireless access to all participants so that their coaching staffs can continually update
and adapt argument strategies throughout the day. Internet-based research, once not even possible, became a competi-
tive edge for those who had it, and is now a competitive necessity for debate programs at home and on the road.
Michael J. Jensen

sin of particularism, thinking of the Internet as a
lived experience distinct from the rest of life. This
sin often shaded into elitism because only the small
percentage of the technologically adept had the
equipment, knowledge, time, and desire to plunge
so fully into cyberspace.
The social exuberance for all things technolog-
ical departed quickly in 2000. For one reason, that
years dot.com stock market bust curbed enthusiasm
and media attention. Special newspaper Internet
sections shrank in the wake of instantly vanishing
dot.com vanity ads, and the pages of Wired maga-
zine shrank 25 percent from 240 pages in September
1996 to 180 pages in September 2001 and another
22 percent to 140 pages in September 2003. When
the rapidly contracting dot.com economy was
brought down to earth, it took Internet euphoria
with it. At the same time, the Internet had become
so widely used in developed countries that it was be-
coming routinized. Familiarity breeds cognitive neg-
lect, and as with the telephone and the automobile
before it, exotic stories diminished just as the
widespread diffusion of the Internet increased its
true social importance.
Second AgeThe Internet Embedded
in Everyday Life
The story of the Internet after the hype is more in-
teresting, if less fashionable. The Internet plugs in to
existing social structures: reproducing class, race,
and gender inequalities; bringing new cultural forms;
and intersecting with everyday life in both un-
conventional and conventional ways. Attention now
focuses on the broader questions of the Internet in

society rather than on Internet societies. The thrust
of research is moving from using culture-oriented
small sample studies and abstract theorizing to using
surveys to study the more diffuse impact of this new
communication and information distribution me-
dium in the broad population of Internet users (and
nonusers). Whereas the first age of the Internet was
a period of exploration, hope, and uncertainty, the
second age of the Internet has been one of routin-
ization, diffusion, and development.
Research shows that computer networks actively
support interpersonal and interorganizational social
networks. Far from the Internet pulling people apart,
it often brings them closer together. Internet users
are more likely to read newspapers, discuss impor-
tant matters with their spouses and close friends,
form neighborhood associations, vote, and partici-
pate in sociable offline activities. The more they meet
in person or by telephone, the more they use the
Internet to communicate. This media multiplexity
means that the more people communicate by one
medium, the more they communicate overall. For
example, people might telephone to arrange a social
or work meeting, alter arrangements over the
Internet, and then get together in person. Rather than
being conducted only online, in person, or on the
telephone, many relationships are complex dances
of serendipitous face-to-face encounters, scheduled
meetings, telephone chats, e-mail exchanges with
one person or several others, and broader online dis-
cussions among those people sharing interests.
Extroverts are especially likely to embrace the ways
in which the Internet gives them an extra and effi-
cient means of community. However, introverts can
feel overloaded and alienated.
Internet-based communications have always fos-
tered social networks serendipitously. Even eBay, the
Internet auction enterprise, helps create commu-
nication between hitherto-disconnected specialized
producers and collectors. Many software developers
have focused on identifying, using, and analyzing
these social networks. Participants in online net-
working websites, such as Friendster, not only de-
scribe themselves online (e.g., single, male truck
driver aged thirty-five), but also list their friends.
They hope that friends of friends will be able to con-
tact each other.
INTERNET IN EVERYDAY LIFE 391
Most people in most developed countries use the
Internet to find information or to contact friends,
but many people are not online. Surveys and ethno-
graphies have shown how racial minorities, the eco-
nomically disadvantaged, and those people who
do not read English use the Internet less than others.
This situation has serious social consequences as
companies and government agencies place more ser-
vices exclusively online. Thus,digital divides mean
that the lack of Internet access and use can in-
crease social inequality. Digital divides exist within
countries and among countries. Moreover, different
countries have different sorts of digital divides. For
example, Italian women access the Internet much
less often than do Italian men or northern European
women. Overall, however, the gaps in income, lo-
cation, culture, and language are shrinking between
those people who are comfortable with computeri-
zation and those who are not. The gender gap has
already disappeared in some places.
Digital divides constitute more than an access/no
access dichotomy. People have concerns about the
quantity of information flowing through the Internet
and the quality of the experience. The quality of the
Internet experience is a key concern for reducing
social inequality. First, the ability to perform a com-
plex and efficient search online is not a skill learned
by osmosis, but rather by experience and openness
to the potential of the technology. Second, bloated
software that inundates the user with ambiguous op-
tions and icons can intimidate novice users instead
of providing the best framework for learning. Third,
content providers must consider the time lag be-
tween experienced early adopters, late adopters, and
newbies (new users). These populations can have
significantly different expectations about what to do
online and how to do it. Fourth, many websites are
available only in English. Fifth, one can have diffi-
culty using the Internet to communicate if ones con-
tacts are not online.
At one time analysts expected all societies to use
the Internet in similar ways. However, comparative
research shows different national patterns. The extent
to which such media as e-mail or instant messaging
(IM) is used depends on a complex interplay between
peoples tastes, financial resources, culture, location
geographically, location in the social structure, and
392 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Finding Work Online
In an interview for my dissertation on work in the Internet
industry, a freelance writer described how she found one
of her jobs. Members of the online communities she
belonged toincluding e-mail lists that connected mem-
bers of New Yorks Internet industryfreely shared job
leads with one another and often announced when they
were looking for a new job. One position, however, came
when an employer met her through the list. She used
the story to describe the importance of maintaining ones
reputation online: He said, I saw your post on the list
and saw that you know how to use a semicolon. You seem
super competent. She got the job without ever having
met him.
My interview data show that her experience is not un-
usual. Online social connections can feel as real as other
ways of expressing knowing someone, especially in realms
like job hunting. Through e-mailed job announcements,
people can demonstrate what anthropologists call gift ex-
change through their social networks. They use informa-
tion as a resource to share with people they are in
contact. The rise of these announcements and online job
databases make the process of job hunting easier, as does
the expansion of acquaintance networks through computer
national infrastructure. At times people face not a mat-
ter of personal choice but rather a matter of social
constraint: It is foolish for a person to send e-mails or
instant messages if few people are reading them. For
example, Catalans in Spain mostly use the Internet
for acquiring information and shoppingtrain sched-
ules, theater ticketsand less for communicating
by e-mail. Catalonia is a local society in a healthful cli-
mate where people gather in cafes to chat face to face.
To take another example, teenagers in developed coun-
tries communicate more by mobile phone and instant
messages than by e-mail. In Japan the proliferation of
Web-enabled phones means that two hitherto-sepa-
rate communication media are becoming linked:
Japanese teenagers and young adults frequently ex-
change e-mails on their mobile phones or use their
personal computers to send short text messages to
mobile friends.
technologies such as programs to maintain contact in-
formation, e-mail lists, and new networking services. Jobs
in a different city can be easily researched, and looking
for jobs that require specialized skills across the country is
easier than before the use of the Internet for job hunting.
The same changes that make it easier for a job seekers
to get information about job openings, however, make it
more difficult for them to differentiate themselves from
other, now more numerous jobseekers. Through a kind of
information overload, online job databases may, in fact,
be strengthening the role that personal connections play
in ultimately helping workers find jobs. One group I stud-
ied had a novel approach to the online/offline searching
techniquesthey stood on street corners in New York City
passing out fliers for a website where they posted their re-
sumes. Rather than relying solely on the ways in which
they were linked to prospective employers online, they in-
creased the number of their social connections.
Still, getting a job, as the sociologist Mark Granovetter
once wrote, comes down to the friends of friends, even in
a digital era, even if some of those people are known only
online.
Gina Neff
With physical co-presence continuing to be
important, the Internet supports glocalization
rather than the Canadian philosopher Marshall
McLuhans imagined global village. In the com-
munity and at work the Internet facilitates physically
close local ties as well as physically distant ties. People
often use the Internet to communicate quickly with
nearby others without the disturbance of a phone
call or in-person visit. For example, one study of
Netville, the pseudonym for a Toronto suburb, found
that active Internet users knew the names of more
neighbors, had visited more of them, and used the
Internet effectively to mobilize against their real
estate developer. Another Toronto study found
that co-workers were more likely to use the Internet
when they worked in the same building, in part
because they had more tasks and concerns in
common. Even many long-distance ties have a lo-

cal component, as when former neighbors or office-
mates use the Internet to remain in touch. E-diasporas
abound as migrants use the Internet to stay linked
with their old country: communicating with friends
and relatives, reading newspapers online, and pro-
viding uncensored information.
Peoples increased use of the Internet is corre-
lated with their decreased time doing housework,
watching television, and being with family members
in person. Experts have suggested two models to ex-
plain this situation. The hydraulic model treats time
as a fixed amount. Hence, an increase in the use of
the Internet directly corresponds with a decrease
in other activities. According to the efficiency model,
people on the Internet can use time more effectively
and may get more communication and information
out of their day. The efficiency model appears to
be more accurate as people combine e-mail, IM, and
mobile phone use with other activities. Indeed, with
multitasking, we can say that some people live a
thirty-six-hour day, performing tasks concurrently
online and offline.
The Internet also has affected social networks at
work. Early efforts at software to support people
working groups were fitful, in part because most
knowledge workers do not work in one group. Many
now are engaged in distributed work, operating
through geographically dispersed and loosely knit
social networks. Rather than being parts of tradi-
tional bureaucratic hierarchies (with organizational
structures looking like inverted trees) in which each
worker fits into a single group, many knowledge
workers are partial members of multiple teams
and report to multiple superiors. Many teams are ge-
ographically dispersed so that much communica-
tion is done by the Internet. Moreover, those workers
who spend the day working on personal comput-
ers often turn to the Internet to acquire information
rather than ask a co-worker in a nearby cubicle. They
form communities of practice with fellow work-
ers whom they may never have met in person, ex-
changing know-how and empathy online. However,
proximity still has its advantages because it provides
a broad bandwidth of multisensory communication
people learn more when they see, hear, smell, and
touch each otherand enables the exchange of phys-
ical objects.
INTERNET IN EVERYDAY LIFE 393
The Social Possibilities
of the Internet
The Internetor any other technologydoes not
simply cause anything, just as a light switch placed
high on a wall does not make access impossible for
children. Understanding the implications of the
Internet calls for understanding some of the possi-
ble social activities that can be accomplished by
using it. For example, people can take advantage of
real-time communication with partners via instant
messaging, access daily journals (blogs), and send
instant announcements to one or one hundred spe-
cific people through e-mail.
Yet, the Internet does not determine the nature
of communication. Indeed, a line of media rich-
ness research during the early 1990s failed to
show much fit between the nature of a communi-
cation medium and what it was used for: People used
what their friends and their co-workers used. The
Internet lends itself to particular styles of commu-
nication that are parts of a persons overall ensem-
ble of everyday communication via the telephone
and in-person encounters. Thus, the Internets tech-
nical characteristics provide a means of organizing
relationships with other people, not a blueprint of
how the relationships will or should take place.
Asynchronous Communication
Most communication takes place in real time.
On the telephone and in person, people assume that
communication is reciprocal and that the delay be-
tween utterances is brief. By contrast, e-mails, like
letters, allow people to communicate on their own
time. Yet, unlike letters, e-mails reach their desti-
nation within minutes. As long as systems are not
overloaded, the only significant delay in e-mail com-
munication is the time lag set by the users attention.
E-mail, as a form of asynchronous communication,
gives greater individual autonomy. People can choose
when to turn on their computers and their e-mail
programs, choose to whom they wish to respond,
and choose who else in their network they want to
include in their e-mail communication. The cost
of this autonomy is uncertainty regarding when and
if the receiver will read the e-mail and reply.
394 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Bandwidth
The number of bits (units of computer information)
that can be pushed through a computer network con-
nection has risen from 110 bits per second (bps) in
the mid-1970s to 30,000 bps in the early 1990s and
upward of 1 million bits for a high-speed connec-
tion today. High capacity bandwidth is important
for speed so that text messages and webpages become
readable without distracting delays. Greater band-
width affords richer content. Greater bandwidth can
mean the difference between sending terse and ugly
text messages and sharing photos or music and
seeing one another via Internet-connected cam-
eras (webcams).
Greater bandwidth usually allows computers to
be connected continuously. The study of the Netville
wired suburb found this always-on feature of its net-
work to be more valued than sheer speed. Such a con-
nection affords people the ability to send e-mail or
check the Web whenever the inclination strikes them.
Employers now complain about workers use of the
Internet for personal matters, and family members
complain that their loved ones are tied to their com-
puters during supposed leisure hours.
High-speed, always-on connections allow a
different relationship to the Internet than that pos-
sible with micromanaged dial-up connections
with slow file access and concerns about usurping
telephone lines. Whereas dial-up connectivity facili-
tates a discrete Internet session, always-on Internet
encourages spontaneous use.
Globalized,
Ubiquitous Connectivity
Computerization has oscillated between centralized
control (computer centers) and personal control
(standalone computers). The current situation
networked computingmeans that information
(and control) flows up and down between central
servers and somewhat autonomous personal com-
puters. Yet, despite organizational control, many
people in organizations also use their computers for
social and personal matters.
Computer networks are expanding as the World
Wide Web is becoming more comprehensive and
worthy of its name. Ubiquity means the widespread
availability of usable computing and computer-
mediated communication. Travelers in the devel-
oped world are coming to expect to be able to
co n n e c t to t h e In te r n e t w h e re ve r t h e y a re
through cybercafes, high-speed links in hotels, wire-
less hotspots, and the local offices of their or-
ganizations. Workers can now be reached on
vacation. Cybercafes proliferate in the less-devel-
oped world, catering to people who cannot afford
to own a computer or who do not have reliable
phone and electricity connections. Other solutions
are developing, such as wirelessly connected com-
puters carried by Indian postal workers on their
rounds. The continuing development of global
availability means that even more people and or-
ganizations will be reachable online. All users could
be connected to all, through either direct ties or
short chains of indirect ties.
Wireless Portability
People are shifting from wired computing
connected to the Internet through cablesto
portable, wireless computing. Portability means that
people can take computing with them: One does not
have to depend on others equipment to connect.
Already more wireless mobile phones than wired
phones are in use worldwide. Although wires still
carry the most bandwidth, mobile phones are be-
coming integrated with the multifunctional capac-
ity of computers. This integration lets people be less
rooted to place and gives them the ability to connect
from anywhere. Portability means that much work
is being carried home from the office on laptop com-
puters or high-capacity storage devices.
Relational Data
Vannevar Bush, the great-grandfather of the Internet,
once suggested that information could be organized
into trails of association rather than grouped into
discrete categories (as in an encyclopedia). This sug-
gestion has been translated into Web surfing. People
move through Web networks, from one link to an-
other, rather than exhaust a particular category. In
some instances these links are dynamic, such as the

recommendations on an Amazon.com book web-
page, whereas others are more static, such as a per-
sonal list of favorite links.
Most computer operating systems now allow
users to have their own settings, e-mail accounts, and
desktop aesthetics. Instant messaging accounts, ac-
cessible from any Internet terminal, are tailored to
the person, not to the house or the particular com-
puter. Ubiquitous computing could soon mean that
whenever people log on to a communications de-
vice, the device knows who they are, where they are,
and their preferences. Such personalization, even
at its early stages, is fostering societal shifts from
place-to-place connectivity (a particular computer)
to person-to-person connectivity (a particular users
account).
The Internet has partially democratized the pro-
duction and dissemination of ideas. More people are
providing information to the public than ever be-
fore. E-mail discussion groups, Web-based chat-
rooms, and Usenet newsgroups foster conversations
among (more or less) like-minded people. All of these
communication media are based on many-to-many
communication, in contrast to e-mail and instant
messaging, which usually are based on one-to-one
communication. Although some people have feared
that the like-minded will talk only to each other, in
practice much diversity exists in these interactions,
and interesting ideas can be copied and forwarded
to others. Rather than result in inbred sterilization,
such media are concerned with flaming (making
offensively rude comments) and spamming (send-
ing off-topic comments).
For those people who want more complex means
of communication, easy-to-use software now facil-
itates do-it-yourself webpages. Software has trans-
formed the creation of simple webpages from an arcane
art to a straightforward creation of non-specialists. At
one time most webpages were relatively static, but
now blogs make frequent updating simple. Many
blogs combine personal reflections, social commu-
nication, and links to other websites.
This democratization of computing is not just
recreational. The Internet also supports open source
development of computer code: a peer-production
system where members of a team contribute and dis-
tribute computer code freely and openly. One pop-
INTERNET IN EVERYDAY LIFE 395
ular open source operating system (GNU/Linux)
contains many millions of lines of computer code.
Another open source product, Apache, runs most of
the worlds Web servers. Without the Internet to con-
nect specialized developers and distribute their code,
open source work would have remained a slow-
moving, poorly communicated, and badly coordi-
nated activity for hobbyists.
Yet, even open source work does not exist ex-
clusively on the Internet. Linux user groups popu-
late most North American cities, popular face-to-face
conferences generate revenue, and developers like to
talk to each other in person. The Internet has facil-
itated, not monopolized, this type of production.
The most notorious exchange of complex in-
formation on the Internet is the sharing of music,
computer programs, and movies. Because only com-
puter bits, not material goods, are exchanged, many
downloaders feel that they have the right to obtain
such material for free. The complex interplay be-
tween immaterial media, their physical containers
such as CDs, their copyright licenses, and the costs
of distribution has challenged producers, consumers,
and the legal system.
The Turn toward
Networked Individualism
The Internet lets people who can afford recent tech-
nological services communicate when, where, and
with whom they want and have their experiences per-
sonalized. Indeed, the Internet (along with mobile
phones and automobiles) is fostering a societal turn
away from groups and toward networked individ-
ualism: People connect to each other as individuals
rather than as members of households, communities,
kinship groups, workgroups, and organizations.
Especially in the developed world, this flourishing
of person-to-person connectivity has also been fos-
tered by social changes such as liberalized divorce
laws and by technological changes such as the pro-
liferation of expressways, mobile phones, and air
travel. The turn to a ubiquitous, personalized, wire-
less world fosters personal social networks that sup-
ply sociability, support, information, and a sense
of belonging. The individual user is becoming a
396 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
switchboard between his or her unique set of ties and
networks; people separately operate their specialized
ties to obtain needed resources. Although people re-
main connected and supportive, individuals in
unique networks have supplanted the traditional
organizing units of the household, neighborhood,
kin group, and workgroup.
Networked individualism is having profound ef-
fects on social cohesion. Rather than being part of a
hierarchy of encompassing groups like nesting
Russian dolls, people belong to multiple, partial com-
munities. They move from person to person, not place
to place. Increasing specialization of tastes and com-
bination of roles are not products of the Internet.
Yet, the design of the Internet, culturally rooted in a
specific brand of individualism, considers the per-
son regardless of place and regardless of a socially
imposed structure such as a kinship network. Social
coordination may be usurped as the role of main-
taining ties with kin becomes either less important
or more overloaded. Teenagers parents do not get
to approve of buddy lists or websites visited.
The development of computer networks, and the
flourishing of social networks are building upon each
other to support the rise of networked individual-
ism. Just as the flexibility of less-bounded, spatially
dispersed, social networks creates demand for col-
laborative communication and information sharing,
the rapid development of computer-communications
networks nourishes societal transitions from group-
oriented societies to a society of networks.
Barry Wellman and Bernie Hogan
See also Computer-Supported Cooperative Work;
Cybercommunities; Digital Divide; Internet
Worldwide Diffusion
FURTHER READING
Bradner, E., Kellogg, W. A., & Erickson, T. (1999). The adoption and
use of Babble: A field study of chat in the workplace. In S. Bodker,
M. Kyng, & K. Schmidt (Eds.), ECSCW 99: Proceedings of the Sixth
European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
(pp. 139158. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
Bush, V. (1945). As we may think. The Atlantic Monthly, 176(1),
101108.
Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network society (2nd ed.). Oxford,
UK: Blackwell.
Castells, M. (2001). The Internet galaxy: Reflections on Internet, busi-
ness, and society. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Castells, M., Tubella, I., Sancho, T., & Wellman, B. (2003). The network
society in Catalonia: An empirical analysis. Barcelona, Spain:
Universitat Oberta Catalunya.
Chen, W., & Wellman, B. (2004). Charting digital divides: Within and
between countries. In W. Dutton, B. Kahin, R. OCallaghan, &
A. Wyckoff (Eds.), Transforming enterprise. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Cross, R., & Parker, A. (2004). The hidden power of social networks:
Understanding how work really gets done in organizations.
Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Deibert, R. J. (2002). Dark guests and great firewalls: The Internet and
Chinese security policy. Journal of Social Issues, 58(1), 143159.
Gibson, W. (1984). Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books.
Hampton, K., & Wellman, B. (2003). Neighboring in Netville: How
the Internet supports community and social capital in a wired sub-
urb. City and Community, 2(3), 277311.
Haythornthwaite, C., & Wellman, B. (1998). Work, friendship and me-
dia use for information exchange in a networked organization.
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 49(12),
11011114.
Hiltz, S. R., & Turoff, M. (1993). The network nation (2nd ed.).
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hinds, P., & Kiesler, S. (Eds.). (2002). Distributed work. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Howard, P. N., & Jones, S. (Eds.). (2004). Society online: The Internet
in context. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ito, M. (Ed.). (2004). Portable, personal, intimate: Mobile phones in
Japanese life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Katz, J., & Aakhus, M. (2002). Perpetual contact: Mobile communica-
tions, private talk, public performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Katz, J. E., & Rice, R. E. (2002). Social consequences of Internet use:
Access, involvement, and interaction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kendall, L. (2002). Hanging out in the virtual pub: Masculinities and
relationships online. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kiesler, S. (Ed.). (1997). Culture of the Internet. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Kim, A. J. (2000). Community building on the Web. Berkeley, CA:
Peachpit Press.
Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J., Helgeson, V., &
Crawford, A. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social
Issues, 58(1), 4974.
Madden, M., & Rainie, L. (2003). Americas online pursuits. Washington,
DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Manovich, L. (2002). The language of new media. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
National Telecommunications and Information Agency. (1999). Falling
through the Net: Defining the digital divide. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Commerce.
Preece, J. (2000). Online communities: Designing usability, support-
ing sociability. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Raymond, E. (1999). The cathedral and the bazaar: Musings on
Linux and Open Source by an accidental revolutionary. Sebastopol,
CA: OReilly.
Rheingold, H. (2000). The virtual community (Rev. ed.). Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.

Rheingold, H. (2002). Smart mob: The next social revolution. New York:
Perseus.
Smith, M. A., & Kollock, P. (Eds.). (1999). Communities in cyberspace.
London: Routledge.
Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1991). Connections. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet.
New York: Simon & Schuster.
UCLA Center for Communication Policy. (2003). The UCLA Internet
report: Surveying the digital future year three. Retrieved January
8, 2004, from http://ccp.ucla.edu/pdf/UCLA-Internet-Report-Year-
Three.pdf
Watts, D. J. (2003). Six degrees: The science of a connected age. New
York: W. W. Norton.
Wellman, B. (2001). Physical place and cyberspace: The rise of per-
sonalized networks. International Urban and Regional Research,
25(2), 227252.
Wellman, B., & Haythornthwaite, C. (Eds.). (2002). The Internet in
everyday life. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
ITERATIVE DESIGN
Iterative design is a product development process
based on repeated cycles. In each cycle, designers
elaborate, refine, and experiment with the design.
The work done in each cycle feeds into the next cycle.
Although iterative design can be used with many
aims, the most common goal is usability. Where us-
ability is the goal, each iteration experiments with
some aspect of users experiences with the prod-
uct, and user evaluations form a large part of the
feedback. In this way, iterative design is a form of
user-centered design.
Iterative design dovetails well with prototyping
when it comes to software development. Prototyping
is described in general in a separate article in this vol-
ume. Iterative design is sometimes distinguished
from iterative development, in that iterative design
aims to produce a design solution. This is also called
design prototyping, as the prototype is a key element
in describing the design. Iterative development, by
contrast, aims to produce a software system. This is
also called production prototyping, with the proto-
type becoming the system. While iterative develop-
ment and iterative design are thus conceptually
different, they are usually conflated both in the lit-
erature on iterative design and in system develop-
ment practice.
ITERATIVE DESIGN 397
When software developers develop software
for their own use, they rely on iterative design. An
early description of iterative design used as a for-
malized software development method is given in
a 1975 article by the computer scientists Victor Basili
and Albert Turner, who called it iterative enhance-
ment. In a 1985 article, John Gould and Clayton Lewis
broadened the idea and impact considerably by sug-
gesting that iterative design should be one of the fun-
damental principles for collaboration between system
developers and the prospective users of the system
being developed. Reinhard Budde and his colleagues
clarified the concept in a 1992 article by making a
distinction between the purpose of prototyping and
the relation between the prototype and the final sys-
tem. They drew the connection between iterative
design and evolutionary prototyping, which is de-
scribed as a continuous process for adapting an
application system to rapidly changing organiza-
tional constraints. The relation between the proto-
types and the application system depends on the
form of iterative design that is employed, as discussed
below.
Iterative design processes in the field of human-
computer interaction typically involve a substantial
element of initial analysis, which forms the basis for
developing a first prototype. This prototype is grad-
ually redeveloped, and through a number of itera-
tions it becomes the system. Often no aspect of the
initial design remains untouched through the many
iterations, and it is argued that the iterations con-
tribute to a significantly better product.
Forms of Iterative Design
In practice, there are three distinct forms of iterative
design: abstract iterative design, experiential itera-
tive design, and embedded iterative design.
Abstract Iterative Design
This simple form of iterative design does not involve
any operational prototypes. There may be only a sim-
ple two-stage process in which the designer creates
the design and then meets with users. The designer
explains the design and solicits feedback from the
users. This user feedback forms the basis for design
revisions and further cycles of user review. The
398 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
designers may use simple aids such as drawings or
replicas of system screen images, components, and
so on.
The simple aids used in iterative design are of-
ten referred to as paper prototypes or mock-ups.
They are a form of design artifact that functions as
a concrete embodiment of how the designer plans
to meet users requirements. This artifact performs
an important social role in making user-designer
communication accurate; it provides registration
and alignment of the abstract ideas of the designer
with the abstract ideas of the user by providing a
physical object on which to anchor terminology.
Experiential Iterative Design
More commonly, user review in iterative design will
include some form of experience with a working pro-
totype of system components. The users will have
a simulated but dynamic experience with various
system functions and will examine input format and
system output. The experiential process is similar to
the abstract process, but the design artifacts are con-
siderably richer, more sophisticated, and dynamic.
The user has the opportunity to experience how the
new system will look and feel. This form of iterative
design is sometimes called design prototyping, and
the design artifacts are sometimes called throwaway
prototypes. (They are called throwaway prototypes
because they are not actually part of the final system;
they serve only as models for the design.)
Embedded Iterative Design
Embedded iterative design embeds the design ac-
tivity in the construction activity in cycles that pro-
duce working system components that will be part
of the final production system. In embedded iterative
design, the design artifact is the emerging produc-
tion software system. Users experiment with the var-
ious system components as these are produced in
rough form and then refined. Based on users expe-
rience and evaluation, designers refine and develop
their designs. An iterative cycle will include design,
implementation, and evaluation. Usability testing
with prospective users is a key part of evaluation.
Embedded iterative design is the basis of pro-
duction prototyping. This form of prototyping
evolves a software system through design and con-
struction cycles until the design stabilizes and the
production prototype passes a final user acceptance
test. The design and the system itself synchronously
evolve into the final development product.
Embedded iterative design is usually the basis for
short-cycle systems development, which is also called
agile development or Internet-speed development.
This form of systems development is similar to
production prototyping, except that the design is
never really considered to be stable. The software ar-
tifact evolves through a continuous series of releases,
growing and adapting to changes in its environment.
Embedded iterative design is suitable in highly com-
petitive environments and in emergent organizations.
Managing Iterative Design
Iterative design is an ideal response to adaptive sit-
uations. It is carried out in a sequence of iterations
or cycles, each involving a number of activities. These
activities include analysis of evaluations of previ-
ous versions of the system and requirements for
additional functions, design of software elements that
integrate the new functions into the existing version,
implementation of the design through the building
of new artifacts, and evaluation of those new artifacts
by prospective users. After the evaluation, the cycle
begins again. These cycles continue until the de-
sign, and usually the artifact, is stable and acceptable
to all stakeholders involved. (Stakeholders can include
the systems designers, users, testers, and owners.)
Iterative design may seem simple and appealing,
but it is definitely not without its challenges. Iterative
design depends fundamentally on repeated activi-
ties, which makes management particularly prob-
lematic, because it becomes hard to exercise the two
basic management functions of planning and con-
trol. Plans are unstable because usability goals are
hard to specify in advance and are supposed to
change with each cycle. Control is also difficult to
maintain, as it is difficult to measure progress in us-
ability, especially if an iteration leads to a shift in de-
sign goals. In addition, progress depends on user
cooperation that at times may not be forthcoming.
Management of iterative design must include
getting managers, analysts, programmers, and users
to agree to the exact objectives of the process. Man-

Risk Management Cycle
1
2 Define
Specify Risks
Consequences
3
Assign
4
Priorities Select Resolution
Strategies
agers must keep users from dominating the designer-
user interaction, otherwise users may inflate the scope
of development. Managers must also keep designers
from becoming domineering, because designers may
deflate the scope in order to reduce the program-
ming work. Designers must often work with in-
complete materials and limited time for user reviews.
The iterative design process must carefully define the
contents of the next prototype in each cycle, because
user reviews may uncover a vast array of potential
revisions and improvement directions. Designers
should not run in too many different and possibly
unproductive directions. The process must accu-
rately gauge progress and nearness to completion so
that design artifacts are not prematurely accepted
before user reviews are stable.
A risk management approach works well for con-
trolling iterative design processes. This approach en-
ables appropriate risk resolution strategies to be
placed in effect before the design process breaks
down. As illustrated in Figure 1, a four-stage risk
management cycle is introduced into the design
cycle to evaluate the current stage of the project. First
risks are defined. Next, the consequences of those
risks specified by considering what undesirable sit-
uation will result from the risk and ranking the prob-
ability and potential severity for each risk. Then
the risks are assigned priority, with high-probabil-
ity or high-consequence risks receiving high prior-
ity. Finally, resolution strategies are developed for
urgent risk factors. The process must designate
resolution strategies for the two to four risks that
have the highest ranks, and these strategies form the
basis for managing the next design cycle.
ITERATIVE DESIGN 399
Prototyping Cycle
F I G U R E 1 . Iterative
design as an inter-
play between a pro-
totyping cycle and a
risk management
cycle.
Looking Forward
Iterative design is a fundamental element in most
high-speed systems development approaches, in-
cluding agile development methods. The growing
use of such approaches and methods, especially in
highly competitive global settings, will drive increasing
use of iterative design for many years to come.
Richard Baskerville and Jan Stage
See also Prototyping, User-Centered Design
FURTHER READING
Alavi, M. (1984). An assessment of the prototyping approach to in-
formation systems development. Communications of the ACM,
27(6), 556563.
Baecker, R. M., Nastos, D., Posner, I. R., & Mawby, K. L. (1993). The
user-centered iterative design of collaborative writing software. In
Proceedings of InterCHI93 (pp. 399405). New York: ACM Press.
Basili, V., & Turner, A. (1975). Iterative enhancement: A practical tech-
nique for software development. IEEE Transactions on Software
Engineering, SE-1(4), 390396.
Baskerville, R. L., & Stage, J. (1996). Controlling prototype develop-
ment through risk management. Management Information Systems
Quarterly, 20(4), 481504.
Baskerville, R., & Pries-Heje, J. (in press). Short cycle time systems de-
velopment. Information Systems Journal, 14(2).
Boehm, B., Gray, T., & Seewaldt, T. (1984). Prototyping versus spec-
ifying: A multiproject experiment. IEEE Transactions on Software
Engineering, SE-10(3), 290303.
Budde, R., Kautz, K., Kuhlenkamp, K., & Zllighoven, H. (1992). What
is prototyping? Information Technology & People, 6(23, 8995).
Connell, J. L., & Schafer, L.B. Structured Rapid Prototyping. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Yourdon Press.
Dieli, M. (1989). The usability process: Working with iterative design
principles. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 32(4),
272279.
400 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Ehn, P. (1989). The art and science of designing computer artifacts.
Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 1, 2142.
Gould, J. D., Boies, S. J., & Lewis, C. (1991). Making usable, useful,
productivity-enhancing computer applications. Communications
of the ACM, 34(1), 7486.
Gould, J. D., & Lewis, C. (1985). Designing for usability: Key princi-
ples and what designers think. Communications of the ACM, 28(3),
300311.
Khanna, N., Fortes, J. A. B., & Nof, S. Y. (1998). A formalism to
structure and parallelize the integration of cooperative engi-
neering design tasks. IIE Transactions, 30(1), 116.
Nielsen, J. (1993). Iterative user-interface design. IEEE Computer,
26(11), 3241.
Norman, D. (1988). The psychology of everyday things. New York: Basic
Books.
Plaisant, C., Marchionini, G., Bruns, T., Komlodi, A., & Campbell, L.
(1997). Bringing treasures to the surface: Iterative design for the
Library of Congress National Digital Library Program. In
Proceedings of Human Factors in Computing, CHI 97 (pp. 518525).
New York: ACM Press.
Sullivan, K. (1996). The Windows 95 user interface: A case study in
usability engineering. Proceedings of Human Factors in Computing
Systems, CHI 96, 473480. New York: ACM.
Vonk, R. (1990). Prototyping: The effective use of CASE technology. New
York: Prentice Hall.

THE KEYBOARD
The keyboard is the main input device for the per-
sonal computer and its design retains features first
developed for typewriters over a hundred years ago.
Keyboard History
In England in 1714, Queen Anne granted Henry Mills
the first keyboard patent. In Italy in 1808, Pellegrino
Turri built the first typewriter. In 1870 in Denmark,
a pastor named Malling Hansen produced the
writing ball, commonly regarded as the first com-
mercial typewriter. In 1868 in the United States,
Christopher Latham Sholes, C. Glidden, and
S.W. Soule, three Milwaukee inventors, patented the
Type-Writer, the forerunner of todays computer
THE KEYBOARD
keyboard. The Type-Writer had alphabetically
arranged keys that used an understroke mechanism;
depressing a key caused a lever to swing the type-
head upward against carbon paper over a piece of
stationery that was held against the underside of a
platen. The typist could not see what was being typed
and the device was prone to frequent key jams, which
slowed typing.
From 1874 to 1878 the Remington Company
in New York manufactured a new design, the Sholes
& Glidden Type-Writer, which had a new keyboard
layout with keys organized into three rowstop,
home, and bottom. The new layout, developed by
Amos Densmore, brother of Sholess chief finan-
cial backer, James Densmore, was and designed to
make the overall task of typing faster by slowing typ-
ing to minimize key jams. Based on letter-pair fre-
quency and named after the leftmost six keys on the
401
402 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

top row, QWERTY was patented in 1878. The same
year a shift key was added to allow either upper-
or lower-case type, The Typewriter Magazine was
published for the first time, and Scientific American
used the term typewriting in an article.
Most early typists learned a four-finger technique.
In 1876, a law clerk named Frank E. McGurrin de-
veloped and taught himself all-finger touch typ-
ing, and six years later a Mrs. M. V. Longley began
a Shorthand and Typewriting Institute to teach the
all-finger method. In Cincinnati in 1888 a typing
competition was held between McGurrin and Louis
Traub (a skilled four-finger typist), which McGurrin
easily won. After that, QWERTY became the stan-
dard keyboard layout and touch typing became the
standard technique.
Typewriter technology continued to improve. In
1896 Franz Wagner of the Underwood Company
developed the up strike mechanism. The Blickens-
derfer Company developed the first electric type-
writer in 1902 and the first portable typewriter in
1913. As technology improved there was less need
for the QWERTY layout to slow typing. In 1932
August Dvorak, a professor at Washington State
University, developed what he claimed was the ul-
timate keyboard layout; he called it the Dvorak
Simplified Keyboard. Both keyboard layouts have
been officially recognized by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI X4.22-1983). A com-
parison of the two keyboard layouts and the claimed
performance differences for them when typing in
English are shown in Figure 1.
However, in spite of the claimed advantages,
research in the mid-1990s failed to demonstrate either
performance or postural benefits for the Dvorak lay-
out, and QWERTY remains the de facto alphabetic
keyboard layout in the United States. But many mod-
ern computer keyboards use a Dvorak layout for
number and punctuation keys, and, in addition, in-
corporate numerous other key groupingsfor ex-
ample, a horizontal row of function keys is above the
top row of the keyboard. This arrangement maps
most closely to the horizontal menu arrangements
of most software, and experiments show that the hor-
izontal arrangement gives the fastest response times.
Internet keyboards may also provide an addi-
tional row of dedicated buttons above the function
keys. A numeric keypad is usually positioned to
the right of the keyboard, and keys are arranged in
calculator layout (789, 456, 123, 0) rather than phone

QWERTY keyboard layout

! # $ % _ & ( ) *
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 =
Top-row words 52 %
1 /4 Home-row words 32 %
Q W E R T Y U I O P 1
/2
Bottom-row words 16 %
: @ # words typed on home row 120
A S D F G H J K L ; c Typing speed 100 %
Typing accuracy 100 %
. ? Finger travel (8 hours/day) 16 miles
Z X C V B N M , . / Learning time 60 hours

Dvorak keyboard layout

! @ # $ % C & * ( ) [ *
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ] =
Top-row words 22 %
. ?
P Y F G C R L Home-row words 70 %
, . / Bottom-row words 8%
_ # words typed on home row 3000
A O E U I D H T N S . Typing speed 115120 %
Typing accuracy 115120 %
: Q J K X B M W V Z Finger travel (8 hours/day) 1 mile
; Learning time < 20 hours

FIGURE 1. Comparison of the QWERTY and Dvorak keyboard layouts specified in ANSI X4.22-1983
 THE KEYBOARD 403

layout (123, 456, 789, 0), even though studies find
that the calculator layout is slightly slower and less
accurate. Keyboards also have keys for cursor con-
trol (up, down, left, right) and these are arranged
either as a cross or an inverted T. Recommended
modern keyboard design requirements are specified
in the BSR/HFES 100 standard (2002), which are
summarized in Table 1.
Ergonomic Keyboards
Early in the twentieth century typists began re-
porting a variety of upper body musculoskeletal in-
juries which were attributed to the design of the
keyboard. In 1915 Fritz Heidner was granted a U.S.
patent for a series of split-keyboard designs. In
Germany in 1926, E.A. Klockenberg also recom-
mended a split-keyboard design to improve the bent
position of the hands. However, little changed in the
design of keyboards until the 1960s and 1970s when
Karl H. E. Kroemer began experimental investiga-
tions of split designs for computer keyboards. Since
then there have been numerous redesigns of the com-
puter keyboard.
Ergonomic keyboards use different physical
designs to try to improve typing safety and perfor-
mance. Some of the keyboards have been designed
specifically for people who have been injured or who
have a physical disability that affects their typing abil-
ity, such as a missing hand. Others are designed for
a more general user population and offer significant
health and performance benefits to a wide range of
people. The key to good ergonomics is always to
match the design of the technology to the needs and
characteristics of the user.
Ergonomic keyboard designs focus on improv-
ing the posture or the position of the hands when
typing, on decreasing the keying forces, and on re-
ducing the amount of repetition. They tend to be
more expensive than conventional keyboards, but
most of them offer health benefits by reducing in-
jury risk factors and some of the designs also im-
prove productivity. The following seven alternative
ergonomic keyboard designs are currently available:
Fixed-angle split keyboards (for example, Microsoft
naturalwww.microsoft.com). These keyboard de-
signs split the alphanumeric keys at a fixed angle and
they slightly tent the keyboard. There is some re-
search evidence of reduced discomfort because of
reduced ulnar deviation (lateral bending of the
hands). These designs work better for people with
broader or larger frames and for pregnant women
because they put the arms in a better position to reach
around the front of the body. However, the designs

TABLE 1. Mandatory Keyboard Design Requirements Specified in BSR/HFES100 (2002)

Feature Requirement
Keyboard Layout Numeric keypads shall be provided when users primary task involves
data entry. These keys shall be grouped together.
Cursor control If cursor keys are provided, they shall be arranged in a two-dimen-
sional layout (as a cross or inverted-T).
Keyboard Height and The slope of conventional tabletop-mounted keyboards shall be
Slope between 0 and 15 degrees.
Key Spacing Centerline distances between the adjacent keys within a functional
group shall be between 18 and 19 mm horizontally and between 18
and 21mm vertically.
Key Force The force to activate the main alphabetic keys shall be between 0.25
and 1.5 N.
Key Displacement Vertical displacements of the alphabetic keys shall be between 1.5 and
6.0 mm.
Keying Feedback Actuation of any key shall be accompanied by tactile or auditory feed-
back, or both.
404 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
usually address the issue of wrist extension, whereas
the upward bending of the hands turns out to be a
more important musculoskeletal injury risk factor
than ulnar deviation. Hunt-and-peck typists will find
split keyboards more difficult to use, and the key-
boards are generally more expensive than conven-
tional keyboards; they also tend to be larger and
wider, which in some situations can put the mouse
too far out to the side of the keyboard. The multi-
touch fixed-angle split keyboards (Touchstream
www.fingerworks.com) do not use conventional keys
but have a touch-sensitive surface that allows users
to key and mouse on the same physical area. This de-
sign also allows users to control many computer com-
mands with simple finger gestures performed on the
same physical area. It takes some time to learn but
as users become proficient, the overall speed of their
computer work performance can increase by over 80
percent.
Adjustable-angle split keyboards (for example,
Goldtouch, www.goldtouch.com). These keyboard
designs allow users to change the split angle to suit
their own needs. Often the split angle is linked to the
degree of tenting of the keyboard as well. There is
some research evidence of reduced discomfort with
this kind of design because of reduced ulnar devia-
tion, but these designs do not usually address wrist-
extension issues. The fact that users have to decide
on the split angle means that they may need some
training, which suggests that some users might end
up with a split angle that is inappropriate for
them. There is also a multitouch adjustable-angle
split-keyboard (Touchstream LPwww.fingerworks
.com). Split keyboards are always difficult for
hunt-and-peck typists to use, and these designs are
often fairly expensive.
Completely split keyboards (for instance, Kinesis
www.kinesis.com). In these designs the left hand and
right hand portions of the keyboard are com-
pletely split apart. In some designs the keys are
presented in a scooped design that allows the hands
to rest in a more neutral posture for typing. There is
some research evidence of reduced discomfort be-
cause of reduced ulnar deviation and also reduced
wrist extension. However, it takes time to learn to
use a split keyboard, and research shows that ini-
tial performance can suffer a 50 percent slowing of
typing speed. Completely split keyboards are also
hard for hunt-and-peck typists to use, and some of
them are very expensive.
Vertically split keyboards (for example, Safetype
www.safetype.com). The keyboard resembles an ac-
cordion and users type with their hands facing each
other. This design works well to reduce ulnar devi-
ation and wrist extension, but if the keyboard is too
high the chest and shoulders can become fatigued.
The design is nearly impossible for hunt-and- peck
typists to use because the keys cannot be seen easily,
and because it is a specialist keyboard it is expensive.
Chordic keyboards (for instance, BATwww
.aboutonehandtyping.com). Chord keyboards have
a smaller number of keys, and letters and digits are
generated by combinations of keys in chords. One-
handed and two-handed designs are available.
Research shows that it takes about eighty hours to
gain moderate proficiency using the chords that cor-
respond to characters. And although the keyboards
are more expensive than regular keyboards, they can
be useful to some users, especially those with special
needs, such as impaired vision or severely arthritic
hands.
Specialist keyboards (for instance, Datahand
www.datahand.com or Orbitouchwww.keybowl
.com). Several different keyboard designs have been
developed to assist users who have some physical
limitation or who wish to type in a different way. The
Datahand allows users to rest their hands on a series
of switches that detect different directions of fin-
ger movements, and these generate the characters.
The Orbitouch lets users rest their hands on two
domed surfaces and then move these surfaces to gen-
erate the characters. Specialist keyboards often re-
sult in slower typing and learning to use them can
take time, so they arent a good choice for most
people. And like other alternative keyboard designs,
they are also expensive.
One-handed keyboards. Sometimes users have a
physical limitation, such as a missing hand, or they
perform work where one hand needs to key while
the other does something else. Several alternative de-
signs for one-handed keyboards are available. The
Half-QWERTY (www.aboutonehandtyping.com)
uses the same keys found on a regular keyboard, but
each key functions in two modes, allowing the user

to generate all the characters of a regular keyboard
in a smaller area. The Frogpad (www.frogpad.com)
works in a similar way. One-handed chordic key-
boards (for instance, Twiddlerwww.handykey.com)
and one-handed multitouch keyboards (like Mini
www.fingerworks.com) are also available.
Conventional keyboards have also changed their
design over the past twenty years: Keyboards are flat-
ter, function keys are on a top row, key mecha-
nisms have become lighter, requiring less force, and
keyboards have a cursor key pad and a numeric
key pad. These features were not always available on
older keyboards. For the average user (average size
and average skill), the modern conventional com-
puter keyboard is a familiar and cost-effective de-
sign, and to date, no ergonomic design has gained
widespread acceptance.
Thumb Keyboards
The development of PDAs (personal digital assis-
tants) and wireless email products, such as the
Blackberry, have resulted in the development of small
thumb-operated keyboards. Some of these have a
THE KEYBOARD 405
QWERTY layout and some have an alphabetic lay-
out. Although adequate for short text messaging and
email, thumb typing is too slow for large documents
and overuse injuries of the thumb (for instance,
DeQuervains tenosynovitis) can occur with inten-
sive thumb keyboard use.
Alan Hedge
FURTHER READING
BSR/HFES 100. (2002). Human factors engineering of computer work-
stations. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society.
Heidner, F. (1915). Type-writing machine. Letters Patent 1,
138474. United States Patent Office.
Klockenberg, E. A. (1926). Rationalisierung der Schreibmaschine und
ihrer Bedienung (Rationalization of typewriters and their operation).
Berlin: Springer.
Kroemer, K. H. E. (1972). Human engineering the keyboard.
Human Factors, 14, 5163.
Kroemer, K. H. E. (2001). Keyboards and keying: An annotated bib-
liography of literature from 1878 to 1999. UAIS, 1, 99160.
Office machines and suppliesalphanumeric machinesalternate key-
board arrangement (revision and redesignation of ANSI X4.22-
1983) (formerly ANSI X3.207-1991 (R1997)). Washington, DC:
American National Standards Institute.

L
LANGUAGE GENERATION
The success of human-computer interaction de-
pends on the ability of computers to produce
natural language. Internally, computers represent
information in formats they can easily manipulate,
such as databases and transaction logs. In many
cases, however, interpreting data in such formats
requires a considerable amount of effort and ex-
pertise from the user. The methodology for trans-
lation of nonlinguistic data into human language
is the focus of natural-language generation (NLG).
This research topic draws on methodologies from
linguistics, natural-language processing, and arti-
ficial intelligence, including user modeling, dis-
course theory, planning, lexical semantics, and
syntax.
LANGUAGE GENERATION
LASER PRINTER
LAW AND HCI
LAW ENFORCEMENT
LEXICON BUILDING
LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAYS
LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS
Since the 1960s, NLG technology has matured
from experimental systems for story generation to
well-established methodologies that are used in a
wide range of current applications. For example,
NLG systems are used to summarize the medical con-
ditions of patients in emergency care units based on
the patients records, describe objects displayed in
a museum gallery based on facts from the museums
knowledge base and user interests, answer questions
about flight reservations presented in a database,
generate explanatory captions for graphical presen-
tations, and produce stock market reports from a set
of stock quotes.
Methodology
A generation system creates a text from a semantic
input that is given in some nonlinguistic form.
407
408 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Examples of such input are stock transactions, nu-
merical weather data, and scores of sport events.
To transform a given nonlinguistic representation
into a text, the system needs to address two issues:
what to say (content planning) and how to say it (lin-
guistic realization). The first issue operates at the
macro level; here we want to specify what our text
will be about, given a rich nonlinguistic represen-
tation of information. The second issue, on the mi-
cro level, deals with how to verbalize the selected
information in natural language. Both issues raise
multiple questions. At the macro level, the questions
include: In which order should the selected topics be
presented? What are the connections between dif-
ferent topics? How should these connections be
described in the text? At the micro level, the ques-
tions include: Which verbalization is the most ap-
propriate, given the unit of semantic information
and the context in which this unit of information
appears? What word ordering will produce a
grammatical sentence?
A typical generation system has two levels. The
macro level consists of content selection and con-
tent organization modules. The micro level consists
of a sentence planner, a lexical chooser, and a sur-
face realizer. To illustrate the functionality of each
component, consider the task of automatically gen-
erating daily reports of stock market activity. Since
typical financial reports include not only informa-
tion about current transactions but also historic stock
information, the input to the system consists of tables
specifying stock performance in the past and all
the transactions recorded for a given day. Given
the large amount of information, the task of the con-
tent selection component is to identify which trans-
actions are to be included in the generated text.
For example, we may decide to describe a general
trend in the stock market on a given day and name
the stocks that fluctuated the most. Once the
information is selected, the content organization
component groups together relevant pieces of in-
formation and establishes a linear order among them.
In our example, a target text may start with a dis-
cussion of the general trend, followed by a list of
stocks that have risen or fallen the most.
The next component of the generation system,
the sentence planner, divides information into sen-
tence chunks and selects an appropriate syntactic
construction for each sentence. For example, when
describing the performance of fallen stocks, we may
either generate a separate sentence for each stock
in that category, or aggregate this information into
one complex sentence. At this point, the genera-
tion system is still operating with a nonlinguistic rep-
resentation of information. It is the job of the lexical
chooser to translate this representation into natural
language. The translation is performed using a sys-
tem lexicon that specifies how each semantic con-
cept can be verbalized and what the constraints on
the different alternatives are. In the stock domain,
the concept drop (for stocks that have fallen) can
be verbalized as plummeted when the drop is more
than ten points and as dipped when the drop is
around five points. Once all the information units
are translated into words, the system still has to se-
lect the appropriate word ordering and insert auxil-
iary words, such as determiners and prepositions.
This last task is performed by the surface realizer,
based on the rules of natural-language grammar.
Implementation:
Traditional Approaches
Traditionally, there have been two approaches to the
implementation of generation systems: template
generation and multilayed linguistic generation.
Templates delineate output strings containing var-
iables that can be instantiated with particular values.
They are relatively easy to implement and are there-
fore commonly employed in applications in which
only a few different types of sentences are being gen-
erated. However, template-based approaches are not
effective in complex domains since they are not ro-
bust to new types of input and are difficult to main-
tain as systems expand. Linguistic-based generation
is a preferred alternative for applications in which
variability of the output and scalability is an issue.
The following discussion applies to linguistic-based
generation.
Content Planning
As mentioned earlier, the task of the content plan-
ner is to select relevant material and to order it into

a coherently flowing sequence. Content selection and
content organization are performed in a single step
by most generation systems. These tasks can be
done at many levels of sophistication. One of the most
simple approaches is to write a hard-coded text plan-
ner, which produces text with a standardized content
and structure. This approach is particularly suitable
for domains in which text variability is not an issue,
such as many technical domains. Other systems em-
ploy artificial-intelligence techniques for planning,
considering content selection and organization to
be a multistep process aimed at reaching a specific
communication goal. While this approach can yield
flexible and powerful systems, in practice it is difficult
to implement because of the amount of knowledge
that must be encoded.
The most common approach today makes use of
a schema. A schema is a text-planning language
that captures style-specific principles of text organ-
ization. It operates at the level of semantic mes-
sages and the discourse relations that hold among
them. Typically, a schema is augmented with domain
communication knowledge that instantiates it with
semantic predicates specific to a domain. For instance,
a schema of an encyclopedia entry may include the
following information: (1) identification of an item
as a member of some generic class, (2) description of
an objects function, attributes, and constituency,
(3) analogies made to familiar objects, and (4) ex-
amples (McKeown 1985).
Linguistic Realization
The sentence planner must decide how to group se-
mantic units into sentences and what syntactic mech-
anism should be used to implement the desired
combinations. Although there are several obvious
constraints on the aggregation process, such as the
length of the resultant sentences, the number of po-
tential aggregations is still vast. In most cases, hu-
man experts analyze types of aggregation that occur
in a corpus and then encode corpus-specific rules
based on their findings.
At the next stage, lexical choice (choosing which
words to use) is commonly implemented as a rewrit-
ing mechanism that translates domain concepts and
their semantic relations into words and syntactic re-
lations. The lexical chooser relies on a mapping dic-
LANGUAGE GENERATION 409
tionary that lists possible words corresponding to el-
ementary semantic concepts. Sample entries might
be [Parent [sex:female]], with the mappng mother,
mom; or [love x, y], with the possibilities x loves
y, x is in love with y. Entries of the mapping dic-
tionary can be augmented with information that en-
codes grammatical features of the word as well as
constraints on its usage, including stylistic, contex-
tual, and idiosyncratic constraints.
Finally, the linguistic realizer generates sentences
in a grammatical manner, taking care of agreement,
morphology, word order, and other phenomena. The
linguistic realizer is the most extensively studied com-
ponent of generation. Different grammar theories
have led to very different approaches to realiza-
tion. Some of the grammars that have been used suc-
cessfully in various NLG systems include systemic
grammars, meaning-text grammars, and tree-ad-
joining grammars. Typically, NLG systems rely on
one of several general-purpose realization engines,
such as FUF/Surge, KPML, and RealPro.
Implementation:
Corpus-Based Approaches
Most of the modules in existing generation sys-
tems are domain and application specific. For
instance, the guiding principle for selecting infor-
mation in the stock market domain is unlikely to
carry over to the weather domain. Content planners
are, therefore, typically developed anew for each ap-
plication; the same holds for the content organizer,
sentence planner, and lexical chooser. Typically,
human experts construct complex rule-based mod-
ules by analyzing large amounts of domain text. As
a result, the development of a generation system takes
significant time and human effort.
In recent years, the focus of research in the gen-
eration community has shifted to data-driven ap-
proaches, in which generation systems learn necessary
data from samples of texts. Data-driven approaches
are particularly effective for tasks in which the selec-
tion between alternative outputs involves a variety of
constraints and therefore is hard to specify manually.
Surface realization is a case in point. While some
choices in the surface realization component are
410 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
uniquely determined by grammar rules (for instance,
in English, the subject is always placed before the
verb), the realization of other grammatical constructs
depends on semantic and discourse constraints, and
in some cases this selection is idiosyncratic. Instead
of considering the complex interaction between these
features, we can rule out implausible candidates by
considering corpus statistics. For instance, it is un-
likely to find the noun phrase a money in any
corpus of well-formed English sentences. Based on
this intuition, Kevin Knight and Vasileios Hatzivas-
siloglou developed the first statistical realizer. Their
realizer uses a few syntactic rules to generate a lattice
of possible verbalizations of a given input and then
selects the optimal path in this lattice based on lan-
guage model scores. Today, statistical methods are ap-
plied to other modules in the generation process.
A commonly used resource for such learning is a col-
lection of texts annotated with semantic information.
For instance, Pablo Duboue and Kathleen McKeown
(2001) learn domain ordering constraints by ana-
lyzing patterns in the distribution of semantic con-
cepts in the corresponding text. Other researchers
automatically induce lexicons for generation systems
by aligning semantic concepts with matching phrases
(Barzilay and Lee; Reiter, Sripada and Robertson).
Future Directions
It is safe to say that at the present time one can build
a natural-language generation system for a specific
application. Future research incorporating machine-
learning techniques may help speed up the devel-
opment and increase the coverage of NLG systems.
Most of the current methods of NLG require a man-
ually annotated corpus, which is not available in
many domains. Further research in the direction
of weakly supervised and unsupervised machine-
learning methods is required.
Most current research in NLG focuses on the task
of text production from semantic input. However,
in many applications there is a need for text-to-
text generation, that is, for the rewriting of input that
is already in a textual form. Example of such ap-
plications include summarization, text simplifica-
tion, and information fusion from multiple texts.
Lack of semantic representation in the input and the
domain-independent character of these applications
preclude the use of techniques developed for con-
cept-to-text applications. Consequently, text-to-text
generation systems must rely solely on input texts
and knowledge that can be automatically derived
from those texts.
Natural-language generation systems are typi-
cally oriented towards production of written lan-
guage. Spoken responses, however, have different
characteristics from written ones. For example, long,
complex sentences are usually inappropriate in speech.
Further research is needed to incorporate the results
of work in linguistics on spoken language constraints.
Regina Barzilay
See also Dialog Systems; Machine Translation; Natural-
Language Processing
FURTHER READING
Barzilay, R. & Lee, L. (2002). Bootstrapping lexical choice via multi-
ple-sequence alignment. Proceedings of Empirical Methods in Natural
Language Processing, 164171.
Biber, D. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Dubuoe, P., & McKeown, K. R. (2001) Empirically estimating order
constraints for content planning in generation In Proceedings of
the ACL-EACL 2001, July 611, Toulouse, France.
Hovy, E. H. (1988). Generating natural language under pragmatic con-
straints. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
ILEX. (n.d.). Intelligent labeling explorer: A project at the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh into dynamic hypertext generation. Retrieved
March 23, 2004, from http://www.hcrc.ed.ac.uk/ilex/
Joshi, A. K. (1987). The relevance of tree adjoining grammar to gen-
eration. In G. Kempen (Ed.), Natural language generation: Recent
advances in artificial intelligence, psychology, and linguistics
(pp. 233252). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Kittredge, R., Korelsky T., & Rambow, O. (1991). On the need for do-
main communication language. Computational Intelligence,
7(4), 305314.
Klein, S. (1965). Automatic paraphrasing in essay format. Mechanical
Translation 8 (3), 6883.
Knight, K., & Hatzivassiloglou, V. (1995). Two-level, many paths gen-
eration. In Proceedings of the 33rd annual meeting of the Association
for Computational Linguistics (pp. 252260). San Francisco: Morgan
Kaufmann.
Kukich, K. (1983). Knowledge-based report generations: A technique
for automatically generating natural language reports from
databases. In Sixth ACM SIGIR Conference (pp. 246250). New
York: ACM Press.
Mann, W. C., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. ( 1985). Demonstration of
the Nigel text generation computer program. In J. D. Benson &

W. S. Greaves (Eds.), Systemic Perspectives on Discourse, 1, 5083.
Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
McKeown, K. R. (1985). Text generation: Using discourse strategies and
focus constraints to generate natural language text. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
McKeown, K. Jordan, D., Feiner, S., Shaw, J., Chen, E. Ahmad, S., et al.
(2002). A study of communication in the cardiac surgery intensive
care unit and its implications for automated briefing. Retrieved March
23, 2004, from http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~shaw/papers/
amia00.pdf.
Melcuk, I. A., & Polguere, A. (1987). A formal lexicon in the mean-
ing-text theory (or how to do lexica with words). Computational
Linguistics, 13(34), 261275.
Mittal, V., Moore, J., Carenini, G., & Roth, S. F. (1998). Describing
complex charts in natural language: A caption generation system.
Computational Linguistics, 24(3), 431467.
Reiter, E., Sripada, S., & Robertson, R. (2003). Acquiring correct knowl-
edge for natural language generation. Journal of Artificial Intelligence
Research, 18, 491516.
Seneff, S., & Polifroni, J. (2000). Dialogue management in the Mercury
flight reservation system. Paper presented at the Satellite Workshop,
ANLP-NAACL 2000, Seattle, WA.
LASER PRINTER
Ever since the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg
invented movable-type printing in 1436, printing
has become an increasingly valuable technology. The
challenge in printing has always been how to format
and assemble the elements of the page to be printed
in a form that allows rapid replication of large num-
bers of books, papers, documents, and so forth. Three
basic page elements exist: text, graphics, and pictures.
Many page creation devices can produce one or per-
haps two of these elements but not all three. For a
new technology to be truly useful, it had to be able
to produce all three elements in high quality and
in a rapid manner.
Invention of the Laser Printer
In October 1938 the U.S. inventor Chester Carlson
invented the process known as xerography. This
process was the driving force behind the creation and
growth of the copier industry by Xerox Corporation.
The word xerography was coined from two Greek
words, xeros and graphein, which mean dry writ-
ing. The xerographic process, also known as electro-
photography, was capable of reproducing printed
LASER PRINTER 411
materials with high fidelity. Today copiers can re-
produce color or black and white materials with high
speed and high quality. This copying process, how-
ever, was a reproduction process only and not one
that could readily create the original material. Much
of the creative process was done by conventional page
assembly methods, as had been done for years.
In 19671968 Gary Starkweather, an optical en-
gineer at Xerox, became interested in this creative
process and thought that a combination of optics,
electronics, and the xerographic process might solve
the creative problem. One can make up pages us-
ing rectangular or circular points, but this often re-
quires using multiple-sized shapes, which is often
a slow process. Starkweather believed that the ideal
approach would be to create page images using points
or zero dimensional objects. Additionally, if one
could create the pages fast enough, such a process
would permit not only creation of the original or
master image but also the copies. Books and other
types of documents, for example, could be printed
as needed and with the type sizes required at the time
of need.
Two critical problems had to be solved, however.
The first was how to make an imaging system that
generates the points precisely and at the right posi-
tions and how to determine when the spot should
and should not be generated; the second was de-
signing a digital system that could generate the data
stream with which to drive the imaging system.
For example, for white areas of the page, no points
should be printed, and for black areas points should
be printed. Some process had to provide the correct
signals to the spot generator and at sufficient speeds.
Three critical technologies were becoming available
during this time frame. The first was the digital com-
puter. This technology was not as yet a personal tech-
nology, but the start of the personal technology was
there. The second technology was the integrated cir-
cuit, which started with the U.S. scientist Jack Kilby
in 1968. The third technology was the laser, invented
in 1961 by Arthur Schalow and Charles Townes. The
laser was critical because without the high bright-
ness capability of the laser one could not expose the
required points of light fast enough. The computer
and integrated circuit would eventually combine
to permit computing the image at a fast enough rate.
412 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
A Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4050T.
Why was such speed needed? The vision for
the laser printer required producing pages at a rate
of about one page per second. The number of points
required to produce a reasonable page was about
ninety thousand per 6.4 square centimeters mini-
mum. If the standard page to be printed had a for-
mat of 20 by 25 centimeters, then at least 80 by 90,000
or 7.2 million points of light would have to be com-
puted and printed in one second. Would this be pos-
sible? At the time when Starkweather was working
on the printer technology, other scientists and engi-
neers were assessing computer technology. Xerox in
1970 established a research center in Palo Alto,
California, that became famous as Xerox PARC.
Starkweather transferred to Xerox PARC in 1971 and
combined his efforts with those of Charles Thacker,
Butler Lampson, and others who were working on a
personal computer that became known as the Alto.
In order for the laser printer to generate points
at a rate of at least 7 million per second, the laser beam
had to be focused and scanned across the surface of
a sensitive photoconductor material, as used in Xerox
copiers. A polygonal mirror was used and combined
with a novel optical system to generate the large num-
ber of points precisely and reliably. The first laser
printer used at Xerox PARC was combined with the
Alto computer and some special interface electron-
ics to produce a printer that generated 15 million
points per second. Gradual refinement of this tech-
nology resulted in the worlds first commercial
laser printer in 1977, known as the Xerox 9700. This
printer generated ninety thousand image points
per 6.4 square centimeters and produced two pages
per second.
Technical Principles
A laser printer is a rather eclectic assemblage of tech-
nologies. First, one needs a light source with which
to illuminate the photoconductor of an electro-
photographic machine such that sufficient energy is
deposited in the available time. This time can be as
brief as a few billionths of a second. Additionally, an
optical system is needed to focus the laser beam to a
spot size of a couple of thousandths of an inch across
the entire image, which might be 28 by 43 centimeters
or even larger. In order to image the beam across this
size at sufficient speed, one must have a beam de-
flector. Since the invention of the laser printer, the
principal deflector technology has been the poly-
gonal scanner. This can be thought of as a disc
with flat mirrors on its periphery. As the disc spins,
each mirror in its turn intercepts the light beam and
scans it across the region to be imaged. To under-
stand the extent of the task, if one is to image one
page 28 centimeters long per second at six hun-
dred scans per inch, the scanner must deliver
about 6,600 scans per second. As the scans occur, a
small optical detector synchronizes the data with the
beam position. For a scan of 28 centimeters to oc-
cur at a page rate of one page per second, the opti-
cal beam is moving at about 1,300 meters per second
or about Mach 4. The laser, of course, must be turned
on and off to correspond to the data to be printed,
and some lasers, such as gas lasers, require a beam
modulator. Smaller laser printers such as those used
in personal applications utilize solid state lasers that
can be directly modulated and do not require ex-
ternal modulators. Although such systems sound
complex, research and engineering work has ren-
dered such scan subsystems reliable today.
Subsequent refinement of laser technology
pioneered at Xerox PARC resulted in personal laser
printers at lower speeds but at lower costs as well.
The first personal laser printer was known as the
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet and used the basic de-

sign pioneered in Starkweathers earlier work. Later,
Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, Canon, Apple computer,
and others developed laser printers with higher page
quality. Today one can purchase laser printers that
image in color and print at page rates ranging
from a minimum of four pages per minute at low
cost to as high as 180 pages per minute.
Recently Hewlett-Packard announced that it had
shipped its 30 millionth laser printer. Today the great
bulk of electronic printing is done with laser print-
ers. The newest applications of laser printers involve
what is known as demand or sort-run printing,
by which several thousand documents can be gen-
erated as needed. Even books are now beginning to
be demand printed, thus fulfilling Starkweather and
Xerox PARCs vision of what the personal computer
combined with laser printer could become.
Gary K. Starkweather
See also Alto; Fonts
FURTHER READING
Elzinga, C. D., Hallmark, T. M., Mattern Jr., R. H., & Woodward, J. M.
(1981). Laser electrophotographic printing technology. IBM Journal
of Research and Development, 25(5), 767773.
Fleischer, J. M., Latta, M. R., & Rabedeau, M. E. (1977). Laser-
optical system of the IBM 3800 printer. IBM Journal of Research
and Development, 21, 479.
Laser printing. (1979). SPIE Proceedings, 169, 1128.
Starkweather, G. K. (1980). High speed laser printing systems. Laser
Applications, 4, 125189.
Starkweather, G. K. (1985). A high resolution laser printer. Journal
of Imaging Technology, 11(6), 300305.
Urbach, J. C., Fisli, T. S., & Starkweather, G. (1982). Laser scanning for
electronic printing. Proceedings of the IEEE, 70(6).
LAW AND HCI
Knowledge is power. However, who owns knowl-
edge? Knowledge is something that can be sold while
simultaneously kept and whose value can either ap-
preciate or vanish through time. With the Internet
geographic constraints on and distinctions between
communication and computation blurred. Online,
LAW AND HCI 413
on-demand, real-time, electronic transmission of
information and knowledge became the standard
mode of correspondence and its major currency, with
time a premium and speed a commodity. Real estate
became invisible and the value of property assets
in the global marketplace determined by whether
domain name ownership was in a dot.com, dot.net,
or dot.org. Privacy was stripped, security breached,
crime pervasive, theft untraceable, identity trans-
parent, and piracy commonplace in the concealed
world of cyberspace. Success was ascertained by
the speed of deliverables, and power became pro-
grammable. Robust communication now could be
conducted with and through computers, robots, in-
formation systems, and the Internet, not just with
people. As David Johnson and David Post assert,The
rise of an electronic medium that disregards geo-
graphical boundaries throws the law into disarray by
creating entirely new phenomena that need to be-
come the subject of clear legal rules but that can-
not be governed, satisfactorily, by any current
territorially based sovereign (Johnson and Post 1996,
1367, 1375).
How could virtual reality, called cyberspace
(Gibson 1984, 51), be legally harnessed and this world
of downloads, networks, interfaces, and avatars un-
derstood by the courts? Over which space would
jurisdiction attachcyberspace or real spaceor
multiple non-coordinating jurisdictions? In partic-
ular, how could the law keep pace with the rapid pro-
liferation of ubiquitous, high-bandwidth, embedded,
miniaturized, portable, and invisible dissolution of
high-functionality systems in the environment and
its accompanying vulnerabilities? Machines had be-
come complex interacting systems, sometimes hav-
ing a mind of their own and at times failing as a result
of bugs. Now computers were interacting to form
networks. Just as human-computer interaction (HCI)
was spawned from the Information Age, so, too,
did new legal practice areas evolveInternet law as
well as unprecedented issues such as the copyright of
a computer program and the patent of a click.
A Brief History of Law
In the United States rules are established and en-
forced through one of three legal systems found at
414 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
the federal, state, and local levels. The Constitution
together with the laws of Congress, decisions by
the federal courts, executive orders of the president,
and regulations adopted by the executive agencies
constitute the federal level. In addition, each of the
fifty states has its own constitution. On that level laws
can be enacted by state legislatures, decisions held
by courts, and regulations promulgated by their
respective agencies. Laws created by either federal or
state court are usually based on precedenceor the
past, which serves as an example of prior decisions
made on the same or similar issues. That fact is why
the United States is characterized as a common law
country, with the theory that through time laws will
adapt to new circumstances.
New issues without precedence to guide the
courts create what is commonly known as a case of
first impression.
The Information Age raised new concerns that
continue to perpetuate at all three levels of the le-
gal system. HCI will up the ante even more as the in-
tegration of human with machine becomes ever more
pervasive and invisible and our virtual realities grad-
ually augmented as thinking, feeling, and intelligent
systems and environments become commonplace.
Personal Computing
Considered a revolutionary device at the time, the
personal computer (PC) began to gain widespread
acceptance by consumers and businesses alike in
1981. One click was about to change our lives for-
ever. The word mouse would take on an entirely new
meaning. The word Google would enter our lexi-
con to signify a new research methodthat of a
search engine. Internet service providers (ISPs) would
become commonplace as they granted us entrance
beyond the physical world and permission into a
global cyberspace.
However, the PCs magnitude, scope, social im-
pact, and legal implications were yet unrealized. Our
world was about to become electronically wired, net-
worked, sensored, interfaced, and imaged. Signatures
could be obtained electronically. Auctions, gambling,
sweepstakes, promotions, and games could be played
online. Contracts, negotiations, and disputes could
be altered in an instant. Clickwraps and shrinkwraps
(described below) were recognized as new forms
of agreements. Pornography was freely downloaded.
Music was easily swapped. Proprietary writings were
infringed. Distance learning would enter the educa-
tional fray, with the extensible enterprise becom-
ing the business norm. Snail mail would be the last
resort used to reach out and touch someone. Change
would be the only constant. The letter e would en-
ter the mainstreame-commerce, e-mail, e-sign,
e-governance, e-discovery, e-courts. The legal sys-
tem would be challenged to create new practice ar-
eas while trying to understand and interpret evolving
communication standards and protocols.
Privacy
One contentious issue surrounding the Internet is
privacy. Although advocacy groups allege that a right
to privacy exists, legally it does not. The legal con-
cept of the right to privacy can first be found in an
1890 Harvard Law Review article entitled The Right
to Privacy, written by Samuel Warren and Louis
Brandeis when they were law firm partners. Warren
and Brandeis claimed that the right to privacy al-
ready existed in the common law and gave each per-
son the choice to share or not to share information
about his or her private life. Their intent was merely
to establish the right to privacy as a legal protec-
tion in their day. Neither did either man coin the
phrase the right of the individual to be let alone, as
found in U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brandeiss dis-
sent in Olmstead v. United States (1928), which is of-
ten quoted by privacy champions and is the first case
in which the U.S. Supreme Court considered the con-
stitutionality of electronic surveillance. Warren and
Brandeis in their 1890 article interpreted the Fifth
Amendment to the United States Constitution: No
person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or prop-
erty, without due process of law . . . to read that a
person has an inherent right to be let alone and to
privacy. Their interpretation was their legal theory
and their view of a more general right to enjoy life.
Even so, with the onset of the Internet several
well-recognized organizations were formed to assert
a persons rights within a network of global commu-
nication: The Center for Democracy and Technology
(CDT) was established to promote democratic values

and constitutional liberties in the digital age; the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was estab-
lished to defend the right to think, speak, and
share ideas, thoughts, and needs using new tech-
nologies, such as the Internet and the World Wide
Web; and the Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC), a public interest research center, was es-
tablished to focus on emerging civil liberties issues
and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and
constitutional values.
Just as no right to privacy exists, no privacy pol-
icy is required to be posted on a websiteconsidered
to be a form of online advertising. However, should
a privacy policy be displayed on an personal website
or a business website, it then may be subject to
civil liability or criminal sanctions should the owner
not abide by its own policies.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is
charged with guarding against unfairness and decep-
tion (Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act,
15 U.S.C. 41-58, as amended) by enforcing privacy
policies about how personal information is collected,
used, shared, and secured. In its 1998 report, Privacy
Online: A Report to Congress, the FTC described the
fair information practice principles of notice, choice,
access, and security in addition to enforcementto
provide sanctions for noncomplianceas critical com-
ponents for online privacy protection.
Today the FTC plays a central role in imple-
menting rules and safeguarding personal informa-
tion under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), the
Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA),
and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act
(FACTA).
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the
Financial Modernization Act of 1999, was enacted
to protect personal information held by a financial
institution. The act applies to banks; securities firms;
insurance companies; consumer loan lenders, bro-
kers, and servicing entities; companies preparing in-
dividual tax returns or providing financial advice,
credit counseling, or residential real estate settlement
services; debt collectors; and enterprises transferring
or safeguarding money. It requires these institutions
to provide privacy notices with an opt-out provision
to their customers. If the opt-out provision is cho-
sen by a customer, the institution is prohibited from
LAW AND HCI 415
sharing the customers personal information with
third parties.
The privacy requirements of the GLBA are di-
vided into three principal parts: the Financial Privacy
Rule, the Safeguards Rule, and pretexting provisions.
Eight federal agencies, together with the states, have
authority to administer and enforce the Financial
Privacy Rule and the Safeguards Rule, which apply
to all financial institutions.
Although the Financial Privacy Rule governs per-
sonal financial information collected and disclosed
by financial institutions, it also applies to non-financial
companies that may receive such information. The
Safeguards Rule requires financial institutions that
collect customer information, as well as those that re-
ceive it from other financial institutions, to design,
implement, and maintain safeguards to protect that
information. The pretexting provisions protect con-
sumers against companies that have obtained per-
sonal information under false pretenses such as calling
a bank pretending to be a customer, also known as
pretexting.
The Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act
is designed to offer parents control over information
gathered online and provided by their children
and the subsequent use of that information. COPPA
applies to commercial websites that collect personal
information from children under the age of thirteen,
requiring that the websites follow several rules to
safeguard a childs privacy while obtaining the par-
ents consent before collecting such personally iden-
tifiable information. Any website directed at children
under the age of thirteen must comply with COPPA.
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act,
signed into law by President George W. Bush in
December 2003, amends the Fair Credit Reporting
Act (FCRA) by requiring the nationwide consumer
reporting agencies (CRAs) to provide a yearly credit
report at no cost to consumers. FACTA prohibits a
CRA from circumventing such a requirement by
clearly illustrating what constitutes circumvention.
Spam
In addition to enforcing privacy policies, the FTC en-
forces the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited
Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM
416 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Act) to combat unsolicited commercial e-mail
advertising, fraudulent and deceptive chain letters,
and pyramid and other get-rich-quick schemes. The
CAN-SPAM Act additionally includes a protection
against unmarked sexually oriented or pornographic
material.
Signed into law on 16 December 2003 and effec-
tive 1 January 2004, the CAN-SPAM Act, an opt-
out law, impacts all U.S. online businesses marketing
their services or products through e-mail transmis-
sions, defining a commercial electronic mail message
as one whose primary purpose is the commercial ad-
vertisement or promotion of a commercial product
or service, including content on an Internet website
operated for a commercial purpose.
The CAN-SPAM Act governs nearly any business
e-mail, including electronically submitted newslet-
ters and stand-alone promotional e-mails. It pro-
hibits fraudulent or deceptive subject lines, headers,
or returned address, requires that e-mail advertisers
identify their messages as advertisements or solici-
tations in a clear and conspicuous manner, and re-
quires that a postal mailing address be included in
the e-mail message. These requirements apply not
only to spammers, but also to those people or busi-
nesses that may procure spammers services. Non-
compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act could result in
civil enforcement by the FTC or state attorneys gen-
eral, resulting in both criminal sanctions and civil
penalties. ISPs may bring civil lawsuits against vio-
lators who adversely affect those providers. The FTC
now is considering the establishment of a national
Do not spam list similar to the Do not call reg- for sanctioning employees violating the privacy and
istry restricting telemarketing phone calls.
Health Information Privacy
On 14 April 2003, the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) mandated compliance
with the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA),
Public Law 104-91. HIPAA amends the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 to improve portability and
continuity of health insurance coverage in the group
and individual markets, to combat waste, fraud and
abuse in health insurance and healthcare delivery, to
promote the use of medical accounts, to improve
access to long term care services and coverage, to
simplify the administration of health insurance, and
for other purposes. The Office of Civil Rights is
responsible for enforcement of HIPAA. It establishes
a framework for the standardization of electronic
data interchange (EDI) in health care, in particu-
lar, protections for the privacy and security of in-
dividually identifiable health information (IIHI).
Compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule is required
to be met by health care plans, providers, and
clearinghouses in 2005.
With HIPAA the federal government introduced
a complex regulatory scheme with broad implica-
tions for health plan administration and health plan
sponsors. It subjected not only health care entities,
but also health care providers that conducted cer-
tain electronic transactions, along with health care
clearinghouses, group health plans, group plans, and
plan sponsorsin other words, all employers who
provide group health plans for their employeesto
the Privacy Rule. It forbade an employer from ob-
taining IIHI from its health plan unit and using it to
decide work assignments, promotions, firings or lay-
offs, employee discipline, or any other employment-
related issue.
To be HIPAA compliant, an employer has to pro-
vide notice of his or her privacy policies and prac-
tices, together with confirmation of receipt of such
notice; designate a privacy officer; train personnel
handling IIHI in privacy and security compliance;
have a documented policy and procedure for privacy
and security violations; have in place mechanisms
security policies; allow individuals the right to ac-
cess, amend, and receive accountings of their IIHI;
establish procedures for mitigating harmful effects
of improper uses or disclosures of IIHI; and have
whistleblower provisions in place to not retaliate
against those people who may exercise their rights
under the Privacy Rule. In addition, an employer
now was obligated to establish firewalls to ensure
that IIHI handled by his or her group health plan or
plan sponsor was segregated from the rest of the em-
ployers operations. Pursuant to the Privacy Rule, a
person, entity, or third-party administrator involved
in any activity involving the use or disclosure of IIHI
now was required to sign a business associate agree-

ment, thereby adding another layer to the already ex-
tensive requirements of the Privacy Rule.
Radio Frequency Identication
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have rev-
olutionized the concept of HCI by changing how
computing works, affecting data collection and in-
ventory management. RFID devices, using a varia-
tion of a bar code with smart chips and wireless
capabilities, can track, monitor, search, and scan
people continuously without their knowledge, as if
people were wearing a sign on their back that flashes:
I was here, thought about this, and purchased that.
Anonymity disappears. In addition to privacy con-
cerns, RFID opens a new target area for hackers at-
tempting to penetrate through security.
As of 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
is requiring its suppliers to begin using RFID devices,
and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is
encouraging their adoption among drug wholesalers,
manufacturers, and retailers. The challenge to imple-
menting the use of RFID tags will be coordinating dis-
parate databases into a synchronized infrastructure
to manage the data. Handheld readers containing
RFID capabilities to collect data already generated are
becoming a reality. Although the technology dates
as far back as World War II, todays RFID applications
are expected to change how retail business is con-
ducted, resolving problems such as shoplifting, in-
ventory shortages, and logistical errors while reducing
manual labor, inventory checks, and the scanning of
bar codes.
Internet Telephony
The Internet enables the transmission of telephone
calls using the Internet protocol (IP), the same pro-
tocol that sends data from one computer to another.
Placing a telephone call over voice over IP (VoIP)
requires a network connection and a PC with a
speaker and a microphone. In some cases, software
may also be required. VoIP, through fiber-optic net-
works and broadband connections, will have the
capability to tie together voice with e-mail, instant
messaging, videoconferencing, and caller ID as well
as reduce the cost of long-distance and international
LAW AND HCI 417
telephone calls. One legal concern is how VoIP should
be regulated and global laws harmonized.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) is investigating the regulatory status of VoIP
to identify the migration of communication services
to Internet-based platforms. The result of the in-
vestigation will have a direct impact on taxation.
However, because the data bits are encrypted,
and no standardized method exists for distin-
guishing voice calls from the terabits (one trillion
bits) of other data on the Internet, the technical
limitations of VoIP preclude law enforcements abil-
ity to wiretap conversations and accurately locate
911 calls. The Federal Communications Commis-
sion is investigating whether Internet telephone
providers will need to rewire their networks to gov-
ernment specifications in order to provide law
enforcement with guaranteed access for wiretaps.
The result will call into question whether VoIP is
a phone service. The 1994 Communications Assist-
ance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) will need
to be revisited in order to address the law en-
forcement and national security issues raised by
these applications.
E-commerce Jurisdiction
The global information highway has no rules of
the road that apply to all participants. International
boundaries are nonexistent to those people who con-
duct business from and through a website on the
Internet. Local regulations have international ram-
ifications. In such an ethereal realm, the effects of
online conduct may be felt at the other end of the
world. By establishing an online presence, a business
may be subjected to the laws and courts of juris-
dictions outside the location of its operations. The
basis for such jurisdictions may be either subject mat-
ter or personal. Whereas subject matter jurisdic-
tion refers to the competence of a particular court
to hear a particular issue, personal jurisdiction de-
termines whether a defendant can be brought into
the court that claims to have actual subject matter
jurisdiction.
One area of subject matter jurisdiction involv-
ing e-commerce is the illegal distribution of copy-
right materials, giving the U.S. federal courts potential
418 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
rights to hear infringement cases involving viola-
tions of the U.S. Copyright Act. Cyberspace trans-
actions often involve matters of personal jurisdiction.
However, for website owners, the issue of most con-
cern is the scope of expanded special jurisdiction
whether and to what extent the courts of a state other
than the state of the website owners incorporation
or principal office assert jurisdiction simply because
the residents of that state or country can access
that owners website. One such issue rose to a
criminal prosecution case by a court in Paris, France,
and was closely watched around the world. In 2000,
Frances Union of Jewish Students and the Inter-
national Anti-Racism and Anti-Semitism League
sued Yahoo for selling Nazi paraphernalia on its auc-
tion pages. French criminal statutes prohibit the pub-
lic display of Nazi-related uniforms, insignia, or
emblems, and so the French court issued an order
directing Yahoo to deny access to the Nazi artifacts
by Internet users in France, demanding it re-engineer
its United States content servers for recognition of
French Internet Protocol addresses or it would other-
wise face severe penalties. Although the French crim-
inal court dismissed all charges, the case would have
opened up Internet providers to possible prosecu-
tion anywhere in the world even if their activities
were legal in their home base.
Because laws are not harmonized, civil, crimi-
nal, and regulatory jurisdictions over cyberspace
overlap. Laws do not default from one country to the
other, causing jurisdictional conflicts and potential
global risks, in particular, transborder cybercrimes
such as unauthorized system intrusions, online fraud,
intellectual property and identity theft, cyberter-
rorism, stalking, manipulation of data, and economic
espionage.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
E-mail can be deleted, but it never really and truly
ceases to exist. Once posted, electronic content is im-
mortal. It is forever and permanently in cyberspace.
It can be retrieved by employers or prosecutors at
any time in the future. Your mouse footprints are
electronically dropped with every website visit and
purchase.
As a result of corporate ethical failures high-
lighted by the scandals involving the energy com-
pany Enron and the accounting company Arthur
Andersen, President George W. Bush signed into law
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), affecting cor-
porate governance, internal controls, and disclosure
obligations for publicly traded companies. SOX cre-
ated new crimes, with severe penalties for the de-
struction, alteration, or tampering of records to
influence, obstruct, or impede a federal investiga-
tion, bankruptcy case, or official proceeding with
intent to alter, destroy, or conceal such records or
documentspunishable by imprisonment of up to
twenty years.
As a result of SOX and HCI, computer forensics
developed as a field to analyze a companys computer
servers to discover evidence of wrongdoing. The
Arthur Andersen company was convicted because a
jury found that it had destroyed documents after it
had become aware of a Securities and Exchange
Commission investigation of its client Enron. Docu-
ment retention and records management now
were of utmost importance. Courts were requiring
companies to produce electronic documents in lit-
igation discovery. The party who would bear the cost
of retrieving electronic documents, and the risks as-
sociated with spoliation of evidence and failure to
preserve documents, was determined by the
courts, as evidenced in Zubulake v. UBS Warburg LLC
(2003), a suit over gender discrimination and illegal
retaliation.
Computer Contracts
The anticipatory aspect of the law is best seen through
the drafting of contracts. In negotiating a contract,
lawyers attempt to foresee the future by predicting
what may happen between the parties and provide
for contingencies by stipulating a remedy to protect
their client.
Unlike most contracts by which services are pro-
vided or title to a product is sold, title to software re-
mains with the vendor who grants a license for its
use. A license allows someone other than the owner
the right to use the software in limited ways, through
the conveyance of a software license agreement.

If the software is prepackaged for mass mar-
keting and bought off the shelf, then an agreement
is included with a consumers purchase. Merely open-
ing the box containing the software, or using it, con-
stitutes assent to the terms and conditions of the
agreement. No signature is necessary between the
parties. These types of agreements are called
shrinkwrap or self-executing licensesthe soft-
ware and the agreement are in the same box, and the
terms and conditions are nonnegotiable.
The other type of software license agreement is
a clickwrap or point-and-click agreement. When a
person visits a website, before downloading a docu-
ment or a particular software, often the website re-
quires that the person agree or not agree to the terms
and conditions of the agreement. In order to have
a valid agreement, the person must give conspicu-
ous assent to the terms; otherwise no rights will be
licensed.
Intellectual Property
In the area of HCI, and clearly in all science and tech-
nology innovation, intellectual property plays a
key role, defining not only what is owned, but also
what can be owned. A legal practice area, intellectual
property covers patent law, copyright and trademark
law, and trade secrets. Patent law is a specialized field
within intellectual property. In order to be admitted
to practice patent law before the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office, an attorney must have a science
or engineering background and fulfill additional
requirements.
The development of information technology
continues to have an enormous impact on intellec-
tual property law and rights. One key result of the
impact of HCI on intellectual property was the
enactment of the Federal Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998. The DMCA was
enacted as an attempt to begin updating national
laws for the digital age. Its goals were to protect
intellectual property rights and promote growth and
development of electronic commerce. The DMCA
is used to stop circumvention technology, with hefty
civil and criminal liability for bypassing circum-
vention technology. Many contentious cases citing
LAW AND HCI 419
the DMCA have appeared and continue to appear
before the courts.
The Future
The invention of computers took engineering com-
plexity into a whole new realm. The complexity is
being driven by the technology but also, even more
importantly, by the new ways people want to use tech-
nology. Computer science will borrow from biology.
Within the next fifteen years microprocessors may
become obsolete, making room for molecular elec-
tronics (nanocomputing), redefining what is meant
by a computer and reducing it to the size of a
blood cell. Equipped with nanotube transistors
ten thousand times thinner than a human hair
computers may one day be able to mimic the cells
ability to self-replicate and outperform the most ad-
vanced models of silicon transistors, increasing pro-
cessing capabilities multifold.
Sonia E. Miller
See also Political Science and HCI; Privacy
FURTHER READING
Agre, P. E., & Rotenberg, M. (1997). Technology and privacy: The
new landscape. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Auletta, K. (1995). The highwaymen: Warriors of the information su-
perhighway. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Ballon, I. C. (2001). E-commerce and Internet law: Treatise with forms,
1, 2, & 3. Little Falls, NJ: Glasser Legal Works.
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LAW ENFORCEMENT
Gibson, W. (1984). Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books.
Glancy, D. J. (1979). The invention of the right to privacy. Arizona Law
Review, 21(1), 139.
Harris, M. S. (2002). Update on e-commerceJurisdiction. NY Business
Law Journal, 6(1), 2128. Information technology (IT) has the potential to rev-
Johnson, D., & Post, D. (1996). Law and bordersThe rise of law in olutionize the work done by law enforcement.
cyberspace. Stanford Law Review, 48, 1367. Although information has always been a cornerstone
Kiesler, S., & Hinds, P. (2004). Human-robot interaction. Human-
Computer Interaction, 19(12), 18.
for police and other law enforcement agencies, un-
Lessig, L. (1999). Code and other laws of cyberspace. New York: Basic til recently such agencies have not typically viewed
Books. information systems as a valuable asset. As IT has
Martin, J. (2000). After the Internet: Alien intelligence. Washington, proliferated in the private sector, IT in most police
DC: Capital Press.
Meyer, C., & Davis, S. (2003). Its alive: The coming convergence of in- organizations is still in its infancy.
formation, biology, and business. New York: Crown Business. However, as the world changes and as govern-
Miller, S. E. (2003). A new renaissance: Tech, science, engineering and ments review national and local security processes,
medicine are becoming one. New York Law Journal, 230(70),
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the need for police to capitalize on cutting-edge tech-
Monassebian, J. (1996). A survival guide to computer contracts: How to nologies has never been greater. The challenges for
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lice work and how this context affects how infor-
Moran, T. P., & Dourish, P. (2001). Context-aware computing. Human- mation technology is used by police.
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Myers, B. A. (1998). A brief history of human computer interaction
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Picard, R. W. (2003). Affective computing: Challenges. International The Use of Information
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Picard, R., & Healey, J. (1997). Affective wearables. Personal Technologies: in the Police Context
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Information is a central feature of modern societies,
Picard, R. W., Vyzas, E., & Healey, J. (2001). Toward machine emo- and it is the central feature of policing. Police agen-
tional intelligence: Analysis of affective physiological state. IEEE cies use information to determine resource alloca-
Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, tions to police divisions, to determine when and
23(10), 11751191.
Rosen, J. (2000). The unwanted gaze: The destruction of privacy in
where to patrol, and to determine who might be in-
America. New York: Random House. volved in a crime and which crimes might be solved.
Rotenberg, M. (2000). The privacy law sourcebook 2000: United States Aggregation of information in the form of statistics
law, international law, and recent developments. Washington, DC: also helps police and the community better un-
Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Schneier, B. (2000). Secrets and lies: Digital security in a networked derstand important trends in crime in specific ar-
world. New York: Wiley Computer Publishing. eas. The knowledge of crime trends in their cities
Shneiderman, B. (2002). Leonardos laptop: Human needs and the new help police understand the underlying problems in
computing technologies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Siebel, T. M., & House, P. (1999). Cyber rules: Strategies for excelling at
neighborhoods. Being able to plan and allocate re-
e-business. New York: Doubleday. sources to areas with higher needs leads to more
Waldrop, M. M. (2003). Autonomic computing: An overview of the con- proactive crime prevention. Decision making at
cept and exploration of the public policy implications (Woodrow all levels of police agencies is based upon police
Wilson International Center for Scholars Foresight and Governance
Project, 2003-7). Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson.
information.

Information is also used in police investigations
not only to identify and apprehend a criminal sus-
pect, but also to provide evidence in a court of law
to convict those guilty of a crime. Police put together
pieces of fragmented information to try to under-
stand the events that have occurred in order to iden-
tify and apprehend an offender. In order to convict
an offender, police might testify in a court of law,
presenting information that provides evidence
that the offender is indeed guilty of a crime. The
more complete and irrefutable the information, the
more likely an offender is to be convicted. The pieces
of information build a case and provide the sub-
stantiation that enables police to catch an offender.
The ability of police to share information both
within and outside of their agency is another way by
which information can be accessed and utilized.
Although police must acquire information, meth-
ods of handling and presenting it are of utmost
importance. In the private sector companies protect
their competitive secrets. A breach of such secrets
can result in a decline in a companys profitability.
In the law enforcement domain, the violation of po-
lice information may have more serious conse-
quences, such as the inability to convict a dangerous
felon or even the death of an officer or innocent by-
stander. Consequences of errors in handling infor-
mation can lead to violation of individual rights and
physical harm. Legal and moral issues include the
incarceration of a wrongly accused person and the
inability to incarcerate the real perpetrator of a crime.
Importance of IT
in Police Organizations
Given the value of information in all aspects of
police organizations and the importance of how in-
formation is handled in this context, police are rely-
ing on IT to manage their information needs. Although
a large number of police agencies still rely on some
manual processes, the growth of digital information
maintained by police repositories has been explosive.
This growth has improved the speed at which police
can assess information and increased the amount of
information that police can store. For example, in her
book The Justice Juggernaut: Fighting Street Crime,
LAW ENFORCEMENT 421
Controlling Systems (1990), Diana Gordon reported
that in the United States in 1989, the federal National
Crime Information Center (NCIC) database housed
more than 20 million records and processed more
than 1 million transactions per day.
In addition to text-based data, police use tech-
nologies that capture multimedia data, such as tele-
phone conversations, surveillance camera video, and
crime scene pictures. Police also use geographical in-
formation systems that allow them to map time and
space information for crime analysis. The develop-
ment of information technology that manages multi-
media information becomes more important as these
types of data become more prevalent.
Information technology facilitates the sharing
of information. Because criminal activity is not bound
by geographical jurisdictions, police realize that the
ability to share information across agencies is im-
portant. As more police organizations store data in
electronic systems, sharing information through net-
works becomes more important and more feasible.
The federal government has developed several
national initiatives to help U.S. law enforcement agen-
cies deal with issues in the development and use of
information technology. For example, the Office of
Justice Programs Integrated Justice Information
Technology Initiative (part of the U.S. Department
of Justice) was developed in 1997 to coordinate fund-
ing and technical assistance to support the design
and implementation of information technology for
information sharing. The National Institute of
Justices Office of Science and Technology has also
developed programs to address issues in systems in-
teroperability to facilitate information sharing
through the use of IT.
Challenges of Designing IT for Police
Given its importance, IT is becoming less of an en-
hancement and more of a necessity for police. To take
advantage of IT, interface and system designers face
a number of challenges created by the organizational
environment and characteristics of police work.
An important part of design and human-com-
puter interaction is understanding the characteris-
tics of a systems users. In most police organizations
many types of users with many types of needs use a
422 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Fighting Computer Crime

B
egun in 1991 as the Computer Crime Unit of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property
Section (CCIPS) is the primary federal office for computer-related crime. Below is the CCIPS website statement on its
purpose and function.
The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) attorney staff consists of about forty (40) lawyers
who focus exclusively on the issues raised by computer and intellectual property crime. Section attorneys advise federal
prosecutors and law enforcement agents; comment upon and propose legislation; coordinate international efforts to com-
bat computer crime; litigate cases; and train all law enforcement groups. Other areas of expertise possessed by CCIPS at-
torneys include encryption, electronic privacy laws, search and seizure of computers, e-commerce, hacker investigations,
and intellectual property crimes.
A large part of CCIPS strength derives from the diverse skills and the wide variety of experiences its lawyers have
had before joining the Section. Before joining CCIPS, its attorneys have been computer scientists, state and federal pros-
ecutors, and associates and partners at law firms. A substantial number of CCIPS attorneys have received degrees in
computer science, engineering, or other technical fields; about half came to CCIPS with prior government service.
CCIPS began as the Computer Crime Unit of the former General Litigation and Legal Advice Section of DOJs Criminal
Division in 1991. CCIPS became a Section of the Criminal Division in 1996.
As Attorney General Janet Reno noted in her testimony on Cybercrime before the United States Senate Committee
on Appropriations on February 16, 2000:
CCIPS works closely on computer crime cases with Assistant United States Attorneys known as Computer and
Telecommunications Coordinators (CTCs) in U.S. Attorneys Offices around the country. Each CTC is given special train-
ing and equipment, and serves as the districts expert in computer crime cases.
The responsibility and accomplishments of CCIPS and the CTC program include:
Litigating Cases:
CCIPS attorneys have litigating responsibilities, taking a lead role in some computer crime and intellectual prop-
erty investigations, and a coordinating role in many national investigations, such as the denial of service investigation
that is ongoing currently. As law enforcement matures into the Information Age, CCIPS is a central point of contact for in-
vestigators and prosecutors who confront investigative problems with emerging technologies. This year, CCIPS assisted
with wiretaps over computer networks, as well as traps and traces that require agents to segregate Internet headers from
the content of the packet. CCIPS has also coordinated an interagency working group consisting of all the federal law en-
forcement agencies, which developed guidance for law enforcement agents and prosecutors on the many problems of
law, jurisdiction, and policy that arise in the online environment.
Working with the U.S. Attorneys Office in the District of New Jersey and the FBI, as well as with state prosecutors
and investigators, CCIPS attorneys helped ensure that David Smith, the creator of the Melissa virus, pled guilty to a vio-
lation of the computer fraud statute and admitted to causing damages in excess of $80 million.
CCIPS is also a key component in enforcing the Economic Espionage Act, enacted in 1996 to deter and punish the
theft of valuable trade secrets. CCIPS coordinates approval for all the charges under the theft of trade secret provision of
this Act, and CCIPS attorneys successfully tried the first jury case ever under the Act, culminating in guilty verdicts against
a company, its Chief Executive Officer, and another employee.
The CTCs have been responsible for the prosecution of computer crimes across the country, including the prosecu-
tion of the notorious hacker, Kevin Mitnick, in Los Angeles, the prosecution of the hacker group Global Hell in Dallas,
and the prosecution of White House web page hacker, Eric Burns, in Alexandria, Virginia.
U.S. Department of Justice, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. Retrieved March 10, 2004, from http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/ccips.html

central information system. Some users, such as crime
analysts, are more computer savvy and use computer
systems regularly for crime investigation and re-
port generation. Records personnel deal with data
entry and verification of the information contained
in the system. Police managers and higher-ranking
officers often use an information system for case man-
agement and resource allocation.
Patrol officers, who make up the majority of em-
ployees in a police department, are typically not as

experienced in computer use and thus have more
problems accessing and using information technol-
ogy. As the front line of defense for police, however,
patrol officers often must get the right information
in a timely manner.
A system must be designed not only to encom-
pass the needs of all the types of users within the
police organization, but also to take into account the
abilities and characteristics of all users. A system
should be designed to meet the investigative needs
of crime analysts but also to be accessible to patrol
officers in the field, who, for example, may use the
system to verify information given to them by a sus-
pect in custody. Thus, the usability of a system, which
influences the frequency of use by police personnel,
influences the success of information technology in
the police context.
System designers face not only the challenges of
designing for different types of users and tasks, but
also the challenge of integrating different systems
across different police agencies. An increasingly press-
ing problem is the ability of police agencies to share
the information within their systems with other
police agencies. Many of these systems were devel-
oped in-house and are stand-alone systems, mak-
ing integration with other systems difficult.
The problem of integration occurs at many
levels. System designers may face the challenge of in-
tegrating systems that are on different types of plat-
forms. For example, one police agency may use an
Oracle database system, whereas another agency may
store its data in flat files or in an archaic legacy sys-
tem. Another problem could be integrating infor-
mation from systems with different architectures.
For example, system designers integrating two sys-
tems may have the tedious task of matching data
from the underlying architecture of one system with
another.
For a user the ability to seamlessly access infor-
mation from different systems greatly reduces the
need to learn to use those different systems. Users,
especially police officers who are less familiar with
different computer systems, want to learn a single
interface and use that interface to access informa-
tion from different systems. From a technical point
of view this means that system designers must
map the data contained in one system to the same
LAW ENFORCEMENT 423
data in another system. The federal government is
trying to deal with problems of data integration, en-
couraging police agencies to follow the National
Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). As more
police agencies move toward an NIBRS-compliant
system, some of these problems of data integration
will be solved.
For system designers, however, the challenge of
integrating systems is not a minor one. Designers
must take into consideration issues of platform and
data integration. Although initiatives to establish
standards exist, these initiatives are not an option for
the majority of older police information systems
in use.
Information Access and Security
As information technology in police organizations
becomes more prevalent, the ability of police offi-
cers to easily access information while ensuring in-
formation security becomes more important. System
designers must balance the need for information ac-
cess with the need for information security.
Officers, especially the majority who work on pa-
trol, perform a large part of their duties in the field
and in patrol cars. System designers must take into
account the work environment that affects officers
ability to access information. Rather than design just
for desktop systems, designers must design for lap-
top computers, car-mounted digital terminals, and
even handheld digital terminals.
System designers must also decide where data
should reside. In centralized systems data from dif-
ferent information systems at different agencies
are ported into a single data warehouse. This assures
agencies that only the data they want to share are ac-
cessible to other agencies. The concerns of central-
ized systems revolve around the maintenance of the
information system. For example, who should man-
age and maintain the system? In a decentralized sys-
tem police agencies maintain their information
but allow other agencies to tap directly into their sys-
tem. Allowing other agencies to directly access an in-
formation system leads to issues of security as well
as system loading.
Another factor affecting security and access is-
sues is the mode in which police officers work.
424 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Officers are the first line of defense, the first re-
sponders to the publics calls for assistance. They also
provide primary investigative tasks, initiating the
case report that may eventually be assigned to in-
vestigators. Officers are primarily car based and in-
cident driven. They must be mobile to respond
quickly to calls. Because they have high workloads,
officers are often not able to follow up on cases
and must instead quickly pass cases to investigators,
thus limiting the information that officers may be
able to pass along. Officers have a limited amount of
time during which they can access and create a case
report before submitting it to investigators. Therefore,
the window of opportunity for officers to access
information from computer systems is crucial.
This distributed aspect of police work is a se-
curity and access concern for system designers.
Although police must use information technology
to access information from their patrol cars, they
have less control over security in the field. With the
deployment of wireless technology in patrol cars,
system designers must implement security measures,
such as encryption methods and protocols, to pro-
tect the transmission of sensitive information.
With the advent of information technology, the
amount of information collected by police depart-
ments continues to grow. A challenge for interface
and system designers is the design of information re-
trieval interfaces that allow police to quickly and eas-
ily use the technology and understand the output. In
designing an interface, designers must decide how to
best display aggregated information. In police work
typical data collected in information systems include
people, places, vehicles, and crime types, as well as
other types of data such as criminal and crime scene
photographs, fingerprints, and security camera videos.
These data more likely are stored in a number of sys-
tems rather than in a single system. When police
search these systems for all information on a par-
ticular person, place, or vehicle, the graphical user in-
terface should return the information from the
systems in a logical and integrated manner.
Police also use information technology to search
for associations among entities, such as associates of
a suspect, owners of a vehicle, or crimes associated
with a location. A single association can be the key
to solving a crime. Therefore, police must be able to
easily understand the associations among entities.
Because police may not know the exact associations
and instead have to browse information, use of in-
formation technology can quickly result in infor-
mation overload. Designing user interfaces with
visualization techniques to display associations, such
as timeline analysis displays, geo-mapping, and net-
works, can reduce information overload and enhance
a users ability to use information technology.
A number of artificial intelligence systems have
been developed to aid police in searching through
the vast amounts of criminal data. Many of these sys-
tems build upon human heuristics (aids in learning)
to model police search behaviors. One system, Cop-
link, uses a statistic-based algorithmic technique to
identify relationships among entities, such as people,
locations, vehicles, crime types, and organizations.
Coplink was developed using a user-centered design
in which police personnel were involved in the plan-
ning, design, and evaluation at each stage of devel-
opment. Evaluations of Coplink found that the user
interface was intuitive and that the system greatly
enhanced the speed with which officers were able to
search for information.
Implications for Designers
In what had been a closed organizational environ-
ment, police are gradually adopting information
technology. Officers, who previously had argued that
their weapons of choice were guns and handcuffs,
are now relying on information technology for a ma-
jor part of their work. Designing information
technology for police work has many opportunities.
As an increasing number of police agencies store dif-
ferent types of data electronically, cutting-edge in-
formation technology can drastically change how
police work. Coupled with the need for more co-
operation among police agencies, information tech-
nology can connect agencies and form a more
collaborative law enforcement environment.
These opportunities are not without challenges
for system and interface designers. Consequences
of mishandled or misunderstood information are
paramount, possibly leading to legal or even phys-
ical harm. Also, given the rapidly growing amount
and different types of data, information technology

for police must be scalable to handle police needs
as they shift and expand. Challenges that system de-
signers face include integration across systems, in-
formation access and security, and information
retrieval processes.
Designers of information technology for police
work must consider the police environment and the
pressures that affect how police use information tech-
nology. Given the many types of users (e.g., patrol
officers, investigators, police managers, and crime
analysts) with various levels of computer experience
and different job tasks, designers must take into
account the diverse needs and abilities of all users.
Task analysis techniques and user-centered design
not only help designers understand the work and en-
vironmental challenges faced by police, but also
increase user support.
As the needs of police and the capabilities of in-
formation technology continue to change, system
designers must take into account the unique work
practices, environment, and needs. In the end, the
better the system design, the better the police
work, which benefits everyone.
Roslin V. Hauck
See also Information Organization; Information
Overload; Information Retrieval; Law and HCI
FURTHER READING
Bowen, J. E. (1994). An expert system for police investigations of eco-
nomic crimes. Expert Systems with Applications, 7(2), 235248.
Brahan, J. W., Lam, K. P., & Chan, H. L. W. (1998). AICAMS: Artificial
Intelligence Crime Analysis and Management System. Knowledge-
Based Systems, 11, 335361.
Colton, K. (1978). Police computer systems. Lexington, MA: Lexington
Books.
Gordon, D. (1990). The justice juggernaut: Fighting street crime, con-
trolling citizens. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Haggerty, K. D., & Ericson, R. V. (1999). The militarization of polic-
ing in the information age. Journal of Political and Military Sociology,
27(2), 233255.
Hauck, R. V., Atabakhsh, H., Ongvasith, P., & Chen, H. (2002).
Using Coplink to analyze criminal-justice data. IEEE Computer,
35(3), 3037.
Leonard, V. A. (1980). The new police technology: Impact of the com-
puter and automation on police staff and line performance.
Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
LEXICON BUILDING 425
Maltz, M. D., Gordon, A. C., & Friedman, W. (2000). Mapping crime
in its community setting: Event geography analysis. New York:
Springer-Verlag.
Manning, P. K. (1992). Information technologies and the police. Crime
and Justice, 15, 349398.
Morgan, B. J. (1990). The police function and the investigation of crime.
Brookfield, VT: Avebury.
Northrop, A., Kraemer, K. L., & King, J. L. (1995). Police use of
computers. Journal of Criminal Justice, 23(3), 259275.
Office of Justice Programs. (2000). Office of Justice Programs Integrated
Justice Information Technology Initiative. Retrieved November 4,
2003, from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/archive/topics/integratedjustice/
welcome.html
Pliant, L. (1996). High-technology solutions. The Police Chief,
5(38), 3851.
Rocheleau, B. (1993). Evaluating public sector information systems.
Evaluation and Program Planning, 16, 119129.
U.S. Department of Justice. (2000). Uniform crime reporting: National
Incident-Based Reporting System, data collection guidelines: Vol. 1.
Data collection guidelines. Retrieved February 17, 2004, from http://
www.fbi.gov/ucr/nibrs/manuals/v1all.pdf
LEXICON BUILDING
The word lexicon can refer to any of the following:
(1) the familiar dictionarya repository of infor-
mation about words containing explanations that
ordinary speakers of the language can understand
while not including information that speakers take
for granted, (2) the lexical component of a formal
grammar where information about words is pro-
vided in a formalism designed to be interpreted by
the interpretive rules of the grammar, and (3) a body
of structured information about words provided
in a notation that allows computational means of
performing natural language processing (NLP)
operations.
Resources that can serve these purposes are not
necessarily distinct. Commercial dictionaries
especially those designed for language learners
often have information in a form that can be
exploited for purposes of grammar writing and NLP.
In principle a single lexical resource could serve all
three purposes, made available in task-specific for-
mats and provided with interfaces designed for
different classes of users.
Because a wide variety of NLP tasks exists, the
sort of lexicon needed can vary greatly from appli-
cation to application. For speech recognition the
426 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
lexicon is a list of the words needing to be recognized
together with representations of their pronunciation
and minimal indication of their grammatical
properties. In the case of automatic stemming where
the stems of words (e.g., the sleep in sleeping, the
medicate in premedication) are separated from
their affixes (-ing,pre- and -ion of those same the finest unabridged commercial dictionaries and
words), the lexicon consists of a list of stems and a
list of affixes, the latter classified according to their
combinability of stems of particular types. If the ap-
plication is one of document routingfor example,
shunting streaming newswire articles to different ed-
itorial offices according to whether they deal with
the stock market, sports, crime, high fashion, or
the weathera lexicon could be considered adequate
for such purposes if it merely associated each con-
tent word with the relevant domains and gave a set
of probabilities that a word belongs to one domain
rather than another. For such lexicons human efforts
will be mainly devoted to sorting and labeling a col-
lection of documents large enough to support the
machine learning by which words acquire such
weighted associations. Such lexicons generally do not
need to contain careful human-constructed de-
scriptions of individual words.
METADATA Information about the actual source of
the data: the author, the period when or the context
within which the data got provided; the age of the au-
thor, and the title of the document.
At a level requiring slightly richer representations
as, for example, in information extraction tasksan
appropriate lexicon might use a restricted vocabu-
lary integrated with a limited repertory of phrasal
patterns designed to discover information about, say,
corporate leadership changes, traffic conditions, or
the progress of an ongoing chess game. (For exam-
ple, [PERSON] has been replaced as [OFFICE] at
[COMPANY] by [PERSON] of [COMPANY].) In
such cases either the texts subject to analysis will
themselves be domain restricted or the NLP task at
hand will target limited kinds of information, keyed
by the presence of particular words, ignoring what-
ever other information the texts contain.
At the most ambitious level, for an application
concerned with open-domain natural language un-
derstanding or with accurate and natural translation
of texts from one language into another, the lexicon
would need to be extremely large and to contain con-
siderably richer information than is found in even
also need to be fitted into knowledge about gram-
mar, usage, commonsense inferencing, and discourse.
The Units of a Lexicon
In the previous paragraphs the term word was used
to identify the primary elements in the building of
a lexicon. The word word in the generally understood
sense is appropriate in naming the process of word
disambiguation (the act of establishing a single se-
mantic or grammatical interpretation for an am-
biguous word; in the literature usually called word
sense disambiguation; the most detailed study is by
computer scientists Nancy Ide and Jean Vronis),
where the system decides, for a multiple-meaning
word, which is most likely to be the intended mean-
ing in a given passage. However, the primary entity
that needs to be characterized in a lexicon is not the
word but rather a pairing of a word with a sense, usu-
ally called a lexical unit (LU). LUsnot words
need definitions, have synonyms and paraphrases,
participate in semantic contrasts, and have specific
grammatical properties. When we regard the con-
cept this way, we can say that the concept of LU is
an elaboration of the lay concept of word. (Objec-
tions to the term word sense disambiguation point
precisely to this distinction. The process is more ap-
propriately called either word disambiguation or
sense selection: What is disambiguated is the word,
not the sense.)
The concept of LU that we need is both narrower
and broader than the common notion of word.
After we see that an essential part of being an LU is
having a unitary meaning description and unique
grammatical properties, we are compelled to recog-
nize the existence of LUs that are made up of more
than one word, the so-called multiword units
(MWUs). If the word lift is an LU, then pick up is also
an LU; if tolerate is an LU, then so is put up with; if
pork is an LU, then so is horse meat.

The need for these two elaborations of the
word concept makes it clear why simple statistical
studies of space-separated letter sequences cannot
provide detailed information about LUs and why any
attempt to measure the distribution of LUs requires
sampling and human judgment just to figure out
what needs to be counted. If we find the letter se-
quence court in a text we do not know which LU
this represents (tennis court, the kings court), nor can
we tell whether in its context court stands for an
LU on its own or is part of a multiword unit (e.g.,
Court of Appeals).
Types of MWUs include (1) noun compounds
of the form noun+noun (house arrest, peace offi-
cer) or of the form adjective+noun (forcible entry,
federal officer, punitive action); (2) conventionalized
verb+object combinations (exact vengeance, inflict
punishment, take revenge); (3) combinations of verbs
with various function words (put down, look into,
put up with); (4) complex prepositions (in terms
of, pursuant to, in accordance with); (5) lexically com-
plex conjunctions (let alone, much less, both . . .
and, either . . . or, as . . . as); and many others, in
addition to a vast collection of idioms.
The goal of automatically detecting MWUs in
running text is especially difficult for two reasons.
First, not every MWU is an uninterrupted word
sequence, and second, the same combination of
words can count as being a single LU in some con-
texts but as having separate functions in other
contexts: The juxtaposition of the words walk and
into is accidental in He walked into the alley but
constitutes an MWU in He walked into a door
(collided with); the elements of the words let alone
are individually interpretable in I want to be let
alone but make up a single MWU in She wouldnt
give me a nickel, let alone ten dollars. Specialist vo-
cabulary is replete with MWUs, and the status of a
word group as an MWU does not always stand
out, even for a human interpreter. For example, look-
ing at the parallel syntactic patterns in He was ac-
cused of beating his dog with a broomstick and He
was accused of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly
or dangerous weapon, one cannot know that the
highlighted phrase in the second sentence is a named
crime in the U.S. Criminal Code, which needs its own
entry in a lexicon of U.S. criminal justice procedures.
LEXICON BUILDING 427
The proper treatment of MWUs in computa-
tional linguistics is a largely unsolved problem:
The issues are how to represent them in a lexicon,
how to discover them in running text, how to estimate
their contribution to texts in particular styles and gen-
res, and even how to decide how many of them
there are in the language. Linguist Ray Jackendoff has
speculated that the list of MWUs that an individ-
ual knows must be roughly the same size as the list
of single words, and the lexicographer Igor Melcuk
claims that the number of phrasal words that must
be recorded is ten times the size of the single-word
lexicon; but for NLP applications, as opposed to some
individuals mental lexicon, there can be no limit
to a lexicons size as long as means are needed for
recognizing personal names, place names, names of
historical events, and all the rest.
Decoding versus Encoding Functions
of a Lexicon
After the units are identified, information associated
with them can be designed for either decoding (rec-
ognizing) or encoding (generating) purposes. The
difference is between being able to recognize words
in a passage in a way that leads to passively under-
standing the passage and having enough informa-
tion about the words to be able to combine them
appropriately with other words in relevant con-
texts of use.
Many NLP applications require at most the de-
coding function of a lexiconat most because for
many purposes, such as information retrieval, doc-
ument routing, topic detection, or event tracking,
little information is needed about the actual
meanings of individual words. Question-answering
system that address simple factstypically referred
to as factoidscan be aided by having available,
for each word, lists of semantically related words,
such as: synonyms (words with the same meaning),
antonyms (words with opposite meaning), hyponyms
(subtypes, as terrier is to dog), and hypernyms
(supertypes, such as dog is to terrier). Data
miningautomatically searching for information
in large databasesis helped by having large lists of
words that share category membership (e.g., the
428 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
names of pharmaceuticals, disease names, therapies,
etc.) of the sort derivable from medical and tech-
nical glossaries.
In the case of word sense selection, the lexicon
will show that an encountered word has more than
one sense, and the applications task is to choose (or
give weighted probabilities to) the sense needed in
the given context. This can be done by exploiting
(1) metadata about the text itself (in a sports column
about tennis, the noun court is likely not to refer to
a royal household), (2) information about the lin-
guistic structure of the phrase or sentence in which
the word is found (if a parser has recognized court
as a verb, then the wooing sense will be selected),
or (3) information about the semantic domain of
words that are in grammatical construction with, or
in the neighborhood of, the target word (the legal
institution sense of court is called for in the sentence
The judge called for order in the court).
The inadequacy of the encoding function of typ-
ical dictionary definitions can be illustrated with the
word decedent: The reader, human or machine,
will know from the definitions that a person referred
to with this word is dead. Common definitions in
a sample of dictionaries are someone who is no
longer alive, a deceased person, and a dead per- obvious, requiring subtle tests for teasing them out
son. However, an advanced language learner who
wishes to know when and how to use the word, a
translator (human or machine) needing to know
when to select it, or a language generation computer
application finding it in its lexicon needs to know
that, although, in fact, designating a dead person, the
word decedent is used in discourse about that per-
sons estate. One cannot appropriately say Mozart is
a decedent or Our graveyard holds 173 decedents.
A human dictionary reader might suspect from var-
ious hints that something is special about the word
decedent; for example, a reader who finds in the Web
investment glossary (www.investorword.com)
simply the definition a person who has died, might
also notice that the entrys cross-references are to the
words will, estate, heir, and succession.
A lexicon needs to contain generative compo-
nents (1) for recognizing MWUs that are produced
by special subgrammars covering personal names,
place names, institutional names, dates, expressions
of clock time, currency amounts, and so forth; (2) for
recognizing morphologically complex technical terms
in specialized disciplines that make extensive use
of Greco-Latin roots; and (3) for including meaning
specializations that can be generated from certain
basic meaning descriptions (as in the generative lex-
icon of linguist James Pustejovsky, 1995). For the first
of these, many existing NLP applications use entity
recognizers (software for recognizing names of per-
sons, places and institutions, addresses, and ex-
pressions of calendar time) such as the Bolt, Beranek,
and Newman (BBN) Identifinder (www.bbn.com/
speech/identifinder.html).
Sources of Lexical Information
An important consideration for lexicon building is
how and where information about lexical properties
is to be found. Much of what people know about
their language is implicit and cannot be easily
brought to conscious awareness. Thus, building a
lexicon cannot be achieved simply by asking native
speakers to write down in a systematic and appli-
cation-relevant way information about word use and
meaning that they are assumed to know. In many
cases facts about the meaning of a word are not
through the assembly and analysis of corpus evi-
denceevidence taken from a large collection called
a corpus (plural, corpora) of machine-readable
textstogether with careful use of judgments on the
part of the users of the language.
In fortunate cases, of course, much of the work has
already been done, and the task is to adapt to local rep-
resentational requirements information that is pub-
licly available; examples are machine-readable versions
of commercial dictionaries and such online resources
as WordNet (www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn) and
FrameNet (www.icsi.berkeley.edu/~framenet).
Researchers put much effort into statistical stud-
ies of natural language corpora to discover words as-
sociated with particular domains, to cluster words
by contextual features on the assumption of regular
form/meaning correspondences, and to derive clas-
sificatory relations between words on the basis of
contextual clues. (For example, phrases like X, a
northern variety of fish or X and other fish lead
to the classification of X as a fish.)

For many purposes traditional kinds of lin-
guistic research are unavoidable, using the refined
introspections of linguistically trained native speak-
ers and carefully testing predictions based on
these. This is most necessary for language-generation
purposes because native speakers can know what is
not possible in a language, something that a cor-
pus cannot tell us (a sentence such as Another day
elapsed can be found in a corpus; one such as
Yesterday elapsed cannot; linguistic introspection
offers data generally not knowable in any other way).
Collaboration with experts is necessary in cases
where a meaning is stipulated in some expert domain
and neither discoverable in a corpus nor accessible
to ordinary speakers intuitions. Experts are not nec-
essarily skilled in knowing the form in which their
knowledge can be made accessible to readers or avail-
able to computational purposes, but their knowl-
edge is obviously necessary in many cases.
Kinds of Lexical Information
In the end we find that a lexicon capable of serving
the widest range of NLP purposes will have to in-
clude information about:
1. Pronunciation in the form of computer-friendly
transcriptions such as the TIMIT, an interna-
tional standardized ascii-based alphabet for the
phonetic transcription of speech.
2. The identification of lemmas (the identifica-
tion of a single dictionary form for words of
different shape: thus goes,gone,went, etc.,
will all be identified with the lemma go) along
with the tagging of words with information
about part-of-speech (noun, verb, etc.) and
grammatical properties (plural, past, etc.).
3. The association of each LU with other LUs in
the lexicon, such as the recognition of synonyms
(doctor, physician), taxonomic relations (terrier
> dog > mammal, etc.), contrast sets (man:
woman, boy: girl, beautiful: ugly, etc.)
4. The ability to co-occur with other words and
phrases, thus distinguishing transitive from in-
transitive verbs (according to whether they take
a direct object), the selection of prepositions
(as in fond of, pleased with, depend on,
LEXICON BUILDING 429
object to, etc.), and the preference for partic-
ular combination with modifiers (excruciat-
ing pain,blithering idiot,stark naked, etc.)
5. Enough semantic information to guide the
semantic integration of the meanings of LUs
into meaning representations of the phrases
and sentences with which they combine
6. Association with use conditions that are inde-
pendent of meaning proper, that is, the fit with
particular topics or genres and the like.
Building an adequate lexicon for NLP work is a
huge undertaking involving long-term planning and
serious funding. The absence of such a lexicon makes
it impossible for a computer to handle language cor-
rectly and sets arbitrary limits to NLP systems.
Building such a lexicon requires a holistic approach.
This is not something to be carried out piecemeal, a
method that guarantees incompatibility of the var-
ious components. Linguistic analysis is complex,
slow, and labor intensive; most lexicons produced
today cover only a part of the total analysis of the
language and are themselves only partial, the funding
having ended before the work was completed. A com-
prehensive lexicon of the languagea systematic
record of how words are used and understood by
peopleis essential if the twenty-first-century
computer is to handle language correctly.
Charles Fillmore
See also Machine Translation; Natural-Language
Processing; Ontology; Speech Recognition
FURTHER READING
Boguraev, B., & Pustejovsky, J. (Eds.). (1996). Corpus processing for lex-
ical acquisition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Briscoe, T., & Carroll, J. (1997). Automatic extraction of subcatego-
rization from corpora. Proceedings of the 5th Conference on Applied
Natural Language Processing ANLP-97. Retrieved February 9, 2002,
from http://acl.ldc.upenn.edu//A/A97/A97-1052.pdf
Cruse, D. A. (1986). Lexical semantics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Fellbaum, C. (1998). WordNet: An electronic lexical database.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Fillmore, C. J. (1992). Corpus linguistics vs. computer-aided armchair
linguistics. Directions in corpus linguistics: Proceedings from a 1991
Nobel Symposium on Corpus Linguistics (pp. 3566). Stockholm:
Mouton de Gruyter.
430 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Fontenelle, T. (2003). Special issue on FrameNet. International Journalof
Lexicography, 16(3).
Fisher, W. M., Zue, V., Bernstein, J., & Pallett, D. (1987). An acoustic-
phonetic data base. 113th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of
America, Indianapolis, IN.
Gildea, D., & Jurafsky, D. (2002). Automatic labeling of semantic roles.
Computational Linguistics, 28(3), 245288.
Grishman, R., Mcleod, C., & Meyers, A. (1994). COMLEX syntax:
Building a computational lexicon. Proceedings of the 15th
International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING-
94), Kyoto, Japan.
Ide, N., & Vronis, J. (1998). Word sense disambiguation: The state of
the art. Computational Linguistics, 24(1), 140.
Koskenniemi, K. (1983). Two-level morphology: A general computa-
tional model for word-form recognition and production. Helsinki,
Finland: University of Helsinki Department of General Linguistics.
Miller, G. A., Beckwith, R., Fellbaum, C. D., Gross, D., & Miller, K. J.
(1990). WordNet: An on-line lexical database. International Journal
of Lexicography, 3, 235244.
Ritchie, G. D., Russell, G. J., Black, A. W., & Pulman, S. G. (1992).
Computational morphology: Practical mechanisms for the English
lexicon. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wilks, Y., Slator, B., & Guthrie, L. (1996). Electric words: Diction-
aries, computers and meanings. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
LIQUID CRYSTAL
DISPLAYS
Flat panel displays are a fascinating technology. From
computer monitors to personal digital assistants
(PDA), visual displays are the ultimate human-
machine interface. Liquid crystal displays (LCDs)
are ubiquitous in such portable electronic prod-
ucts as PDAs, cellular phones, and video recorders,
and they have enabled new product categories, such
as laptop computers. LCDs are erasing the age-old
domination of cathode-ray-tubes (CRT) for desk-
top computer monitors. Unlike conventional CRT
technology, which creates light, an LCD simply
acts as a light shutter to modulate a powerful back-
light that is on continuously.
To understand the basic operation of LCD de-
vices, one must understand several important prop-
erties of liquid crystal materials. The elongated shape
of the liquid crystal molecules, often referred to as
shape anisotropy, gives liquid crystal materials their
unique electrical and optical properties. Dielectric
anisotropy refers to the difference in the dielectric
constant parallel to and perpendicular to the long
axis of the molecule; it is responsible for the reori-
entation of the liquid crystal when the crystal is sub-
jected to an applied electric field. Typically, liquid
crystal materials will align parallel to the direction
of the applied electric field. When the liquid crys-
tal molecules change their orientation, their opti-
cal appearance also changes. With these unique
properties, one can control the optical appearance
of pixels, which are the smallest switching element
on a display to create an image.
The most common LCD configuration, known
as the twisted nematic (TN), employs crossed po-
larizers and a molecular orientation of molecules
whose long axis twists through a 90-degree angle
between two glass substrates that are somewhat like
windowpanes. One unique feature of LCD tech-
nology is the way in which the twisted structure
of the molecules is created. A polymer layer on each
of the two glass substrates is mechanically rubbed
with a cloth to create very minute groves (called
nanogrooves) on the surface that uniformly align
the long axis of the molecules at each surface. The
alignment of the rub direction is placed parallel
to the transmission axis of the polarizer, but the
two glass substrates are placed one on the other with
their polarizing directions crossed. A pair of po-
larizers, stacked with their polarizing orientations
at right angles, normally block when they are
crossed, and are transparent when they are paral-
lel. After light passes through the first polarizer, it
becomes linearly polarized and follows the liquid
crystal twisted structure. This process, often referred
to as adiabatic waveguiding, enables light to escape
out the top polarizer (even though the polarizers
are crossed). By using a backlight, a given pixel
would be bright in this configuration, and color is
controlled on the pixel level with a red, green,
and blue color filter array.
Thin transparent conductor layers, usually
indium-tin oxide, are deposited on the substrates so
that a voltage can be applied to the material. When
a voltage is applied to the pixel, an electric field is
created perpendicular to the substrates. The liquid
crystal molecules align parallel to the electric field,

thereby breaking the twisted symmetry. The light
passes through this aligned configuration without
any change; therefore the second polarizer absorbs
all of the light and the pixel is black. Various levels
of gray are possible with intermediate voltages,
and the array of thousands of pixels with different
color filters can produce a complete image with
full color and shading.
Gregory P. Crawford
FURTHER READING
Crawford, G. P., & Escuti, M. J. (2002). Liquid crystal display tech-
nology. In J. P. Hornak (Ed.), Encyclopedia of imaging science and
technology (pp. 955969). New York: Wiley Interscience.
Lueder, E. (2001). Liquid crystal displays. New York: Wiley SID.
Wu, S. T., & Yang, D. K. (2001). Reflective liquid crystal displays. New
York: Wiley SID.
Yeh, P., & Gu, C. (1999). Optics of liquid crystal displays. New York:
John Wiley and Sons.
LITERARY
REPRESENTATIONS
Since the industrial revolution, many writers have
imagined intelligent machines as a way of seeing
humanity from a new perspective. The Sand-Man
(1817), by the Romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann,
concerned a man fascinated by a mechanical doll
he imagines to be the perfect woman. This idea was
borrowed by the composer Lo Delibes for his 1870
ballet Copplia, and by Jacques Offenbach for his
1880 opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Early in the
twentieth century, L. Frank Baum, the author of
the childrens classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(1900) and a subsequent series of Oz books, added
the mechanical man, Tik-Tok, to the roster of
Dorothys friends in Oz. A hundred years later,
computers feature as props in much ordinary lit-
erature, but the deepest explorations of human-
machine interaction are in science fiction, where
computers and intelligent machines are often main
LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS 431
characters, or are the environment in which the
story takes place.
The Hard-Science Paradigm
Intelligent machines may appear in any genre of
modern literature, but robots are especially associ-
ated with a particular subvariety of science fiction.
A questionnaire study conducted by William Bain-
bridge at a world science fiction convention held
in Phoenix, Arizona in 1978 found that memo-
rable stories about robots tend to belong to the hard-
science category. These are stories that take current
knowledge from one of the physical sciences and log-
ically extrapolate the next steps that might be
taken in that science. They appeal to readers who en-
joy reading factual science articles and stories about
new technology.
Interestingly, the research found that people who
like hard-science science fiction tend to prefer stories
in which there is a rational explanation for every-
thing, and they like fictional characters who are cool,
unemotional, clever, and intelligent. This may mean
they not only like intelligent machines but would
prefer human beings to be more like robots. This
possibility is illustrated by the robot stories of the
preeminent hard-science writer, Isaac Asimov
(19201992).
Simple robots such are in use today in factories or
that are closely supervised by human beings can be
programmed relatively simply. But, Asimov thought,
if robots are to operate autonomously they need the
equivalent of an ethical code. Thus, he postulated the
Three Laws of Robotics (Asimov 1950, 7):
1. A robot may not injure a human being, or,
through inaction, allow a human being to come
to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by hu-
man beings except where such orders would
conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long
as such protection does not conflict with the
First or Second Law.
In Asimovs 1942 story Runaround (reprinted
in the anthology I, Robot), two men on the sun-facing
432 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Excerpt from The Sand-Man
(1817) by E. T. A. Hoffman
I
n this selection from a classic tale about man and
machine, the main character falls in love with a
beautiful mechanical doll, never wanting to believe she
isnt really human.
The concert came to an end, and the ball be-
gan. Oh! to dance with herwith herthat was
now the aim of all Nathanaels wishes, of all his
desires. But how should he have courage to re-
quest her, the queen of the ball, to grant him
the honour of a dance? And yet he couldnt tell
how it came about, just as the dance began, he
found himself standing close beside her, nobody
having as yet asked her to be his partner; so, with
some difficulty stammering out a few words, he
grasped her hand. It was cold as ice; he shook
with an awful, frosty shiver. But, fixing his eyes
upon her face, he saw that her glance was
beaming upon him with love and longing, and
at the same moment he thought that the pulse
began to beat in her cold hand, and the warm life-
blood to course through her veins. And passion
burned more intensely in his own heart also, he
threw his arm round her beautiful waist and
whirled her round the hall. . . . Nathanael, excited
by dancing and the plentiful supply of wine he
had consumed, had laid aside the shyness
which at other times characterised him. He sat
beside Olimpia, her hand in his own, and declared
his love enthusiastically and passionately in words
which neither of them understood, neither he
nor Olimpia. And yet she perhaps did, for she sat
with her eyes fixed unchangeably upon his, sigh-
ing repeatedly, Ach! Ach! Ach! Upon this
Nathanael would answer,Oh, you glorious heav-
enly lady! You ray from the promised paradise of
love! Oh! what a profound soul you have! my
whole being is mirrored in it! and a good deal
more in the same strain. But Olimpia only con-
tinued to sigh Ach! Ach! again and again.
Source: Hoffmann, E. T. W. (1885). The sand-man. In Weird tales, Vol. 1. New
York: Charles Scribners Sons. (Original work published 1817) Retrieved
March 10, 2004, from http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/sandman.htm
side of the planet Mercury need selenium to repair
the system that protects them from the lethal solar
radiation. They send Speedy, a robot, to get some
from a pool of this metal that they themselves cannot
approach. Unfortunately, Speedy has been designed
with an especially strong Third Law, and the mens
command to him, which depends for its completion
on the Second Law, was not stated with an explicit
high priority. When Speedy approaches the molten
selenium, he discovers it is too dangerous for him to
enter. This gives him what psychologists call an ap-
proach-avoidance conflict. Speedy goes crazy and
runs around the pool, singing.
Knowing they will die if they cannot get control
of Speedy, the two men agonize about what to do.
Eventually, one of them realizes that the First Law
could resolve this conflict between a weakened Second
Law and a strengthened Third Law. He intention-
ally exposes himself to mortal danger, forcing Speedy
to save him. Restored to sanity, Speedy is sent un-
der a stronger command to a safer selenium deposit.
Runaround was probably the first publication to
use the word robotics, and all Asimovs robot stories
assume the existence of a distinct engineering dis-
cipline devoted to the design of humanlike machines.
Asimov called robot engineers roboticists, but this
word has not caught on.
Asimovs novel The Caves of Steel (1954) con-
cerns a partnership between a robot detective and
a human policeman, who team up to solve a murder
that could not have been committed by a robot or
a human alone, but only by a combination of both.
Much of the story revolves around the competi-
tion and growing understanding between the robotic
and human investigators. On one level, the theme is
the relationship between people and machines, but
on a deeper level it is the connection between people
and the things they use, including other people.
Potentially, a happy ending can be reached when any
two beings come to understand each other both as
objects and as subjects.
In a later mystery novel, The Robots of Dawn
(1983), Asimov suggests that human beings are ruled
by strict Laws of Humanics, comparable to the Laws
of Robotics. For example, the people in The Caves of
Steel are under an inescapable psychological com-
pulsion to avoid open spaces, and people in Asimovs
novel The Naked Sun (1956) have a powerful inhi-
bition against ever being in the physical presence
of another person. Many of the classical hard-science
writers viewed humans and robots in very similar

terms. Adam Link, the robot hero of a series of stories
by Eando Binder, asserted his own humanity through
the principle that the body, whether flesh or metal,
was only part of the environment of the mind.
Robert A. Heinlein (19071988), a hard-science
writer with a highly individualist ideology, postu-
lated that the only thing preventing a machine from
becoming a conscious, individual person was the lack
of sufficient computing power. In his novel The Moon
is a Harsh Mistress (1966), a machine that was de-
signed to handle a vast variety of tasks autonomously
is augmented with additional memory, computer vi-
sion, and voice, unexpectedly becoming the leader
of a rebellion against the collectivist government
of Earth.
The Cyberpunk Paradigm
Throughout the history of science fiction, a few writ-
ers have contributed stories that were unusually sur-
realist, psychological, or politically radical. In the
1960s writers and works in this vein were described
as New Wave. Bainbridges questionnaire study found
that the New Wave was characterized by avant-garde
fiction that experiments with new styles, often based
on speculations in the social sciences. Many of the
stories concern harmful effects of scientific progress
or are critical of contemporary society. Often they
deeply probe personal relationships or feelings, and
characters tend to be sensitive and introspective.
In the 1980s, this literary movement morphed
into the subgenre known as cyberpunk. Cyberpunk
continues to experiment with stylistic innovations,
tends to be critical of power structures in society,
and relishes the lurid extremes of human character
and experience, epitomized by deviant sex, drugs,
and madness. Cyberpunk assumes a future world in
which computers and the Internet constitute the fun-
damental structure of society. In these stories, gov-
ernment is weak or fragmented, the family is
practically nonexistent, and transnational corpo-
rations battle one another for information suprem-
acy. In such a world, computer hackers are the most
effective rebels.
To a significant extent, the writers of the older
hard-science school were individualistic, and there-
fore focused on an individual robot or computer for
LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS 433
a particular story. Humans interacted with com-
puters and robots by programming them or simply
by speaking commands to them. In contrast, cyber-
punk writers are concerned with collective phe-
nomena and the oppression of the individual by
the social system. Their heroes are antiheroes, some-
times carrying generic names like Case (in William
Gibsons 1984 novel Neuromancer) or Hiro
Protagonist (in Neal Stephensons 1992 Snow Crash).
Computers in such stories typically are not individ-
ual characters; they are part of the networked envi-
ronment of cyberspace.
The term cyberspace was introduced in Neuro-
mancer to refer to the dynamic virtual reality people
perceive when jacked into the worldwide computer
network. In an unspecified future year, users con-
nect to this network either through electrode head-
sets that detect and affect their brainwaves through
the skin, or by plugging their brains directly in
through jacks surgically inserted behind the left ear.
Cyberspace is a consensual hallucination. . . . a
graphic representation of data abstracted from the
banks of every computer in the human system. . . .
lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind,
clusters and constellations of data. . . . like city lights,
receding (Gibson 1984, 51). A heavily defended cor-
porate database is represented in cyberspace as a
green rectangle, whereas an artificial intelligence (AI)
is a featureless, white square. When the AI sends a
computer virus to invade the database, it is a
polychrome shadow, countless translucent layers
shifting and recombining (168). The experience
of cyberspace is bodiless exaltation (6) and
therefore addictive.
Neuromancers protagonist was a professional
data thief, addicted to cyberspace, who stole from
his employers. In punishment, they crippled his nerv-
ous system so he could no longer experience cyber-
space, leaving him desperately self-destructive. He
becomes enmeshed in a confused net of conspira-
cies, spun by rival corporations and artificial intel-
ligences, and is assisted by dubious friends, including
the computer-recorded personality of his deceased
hacking teacher. The nearest thing to a govern-
ment that appears in the novel is the Turing Registry,
an agency that tries to prevent any of the autonomous
artificial intelligences from escaping human control.
434 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Two books about travelers in search of themselves
and their worlds: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
and The Shockwave Rider (1975).
Much of Stephensons Snow Crash also takes place
in cyberspace, where people are represented by avatars
(computer-generated characters) of varying degrees
of cost, artistry, and surrealism. Gibson wanted to call
computer-generated personal representatives
constructs, but Stephensons term avatars has been
adopted by the computer science community. In
Hinduism, an avatar is a particular form in which a
deity may appear to human beings; by extension, a
computer avatar is a virtual form in which humans
appear to one another inside cyberspace. The avatars
of different users meet on the avenues of the
Metaverse, a vast, virtual-reality city, and the rules of
this environment limit the avatars size and their abil-
ity to harm one another. Users do not jack their brains
directly into the Metaverse, as they do into Gibsons
cyberspace, but merely wear special goggles on which
red, blue, and green lasers paint three-dimensional
images.
The Snow Crash of the title is a kind of drug, a
computer virus, or a pattern of information that af-
fects the human mind in the same way a virus affects
a computer. In the Metaverse, Snow Crash appears
in the form of a small calling card, or a scroll that
unrolls to reveal a flashing image of apparently ran-
dom bits. One possibility explored by the novel is the
idea that each human religion is an information virus,
that spreads (for better or worse) from mind to mind.
Another is the notion that the natural programming
language of the human mind, the fundamental ma-
chine language of the brain, is ancient Sumerian.
The cyberpunk genre even explores now ob-
solete human-computer interfaces. The Difference
Engine (1991), a historical novel that Gibson wrote

in collaboration with Bruce Sterling, imagines that
the nineteenth-century inventor Charles Babbage
(17911871) succeeded in building the mechanical
computer he actually failed to complete, thereby
introducing the information age a century early and
transforming industrial society. Programmers, in
this alternate Victorian society, are called clack-
ers, because of the noise produced by the machines
that read their data cards, and computing is
clacking. In classic cyberpunk fashion, the story cri-
tiques the Victorian hope that a partnership be-
tween technological innovation and social order
can overcome the fundamental dynamics of human
conflict.
Conict between
Humans and Machines
Robots, computers, and information systems fre-
quently become entangled in conflicts between hu-
man beings. An early example of warfare on the
In ter n e t i s Jo h n Br u n n e r s 1 9 7 5 n ove l The
Shockwave Rider. In the novel, as the United
States approaches the year 2020, it becomes a frag-
mented society in which corrupt government
covertly magnifies social problems and individual
psychopathology, the better to control the de-
moralized population. Published two years before
the first home computers became available and two
decades before the first commercial Web browser,
Brunners novel predicted correctly that every home
could have a computer connected to the Internet
(with the standard keyboard, monitor, and printer)
and that the Internet could also be accessed via mo-
bile telephones. The secret Tarnover project to cre-
ate superior data warriors backfires when its best
computer saboteur escapes. Sending software tape-
worms across the Internet to modify selected data
in the worlds connected information systems, he
creates a series of temporary identities for himself.
When Tarnover and the Federal Bureau of Data
Processing conspire to destroy the few remaining
free communities, he writes a tapeworm to de-
liver the weapon that government fears the most:
truth.
LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS 435
Once Brunners science-fiction technology had
become real, mainstream writers exploited infor-
mation warfare for its dramatic value. The Net Force
series, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik
in 1998, concerns the Net Force branch of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, portrayed as heroes, in con-
trast to Brunners villainous Federal Bureau of Data
Processing. In Net Force, the mobile telephone com-
puter that Brunner imagined becomes a virgila
Virtual Global Interface Linkthat combines
telephone, camera, scanner, fax, phone, radio, tel-
evision, GPS, and computer. Virgil, it will be re-
membered, was the ancient Roman historian-poet
whom the Italian poet Dante envisioned as his com-
panion on his journey into hell in the first portion
of The Divine Comedy (written c. 13101314), and
a virgil accompanies the head of Net Force to his
death in the first chapter of the first novel in the se-
ries. In 2010, the time of the first story, many people
still use keyboard, mouse, and monitor to interact
with their computers. But many prefer virtual-re-
ality headsets, visualizing choices in scenarios
such as a private meeting in a forest clearing.
Some scenarios are compatible. For example, when
two people compete with each other in virtual re-
ality, one may experience the competition as a high-
speed highway race, while the other may perceive
them to be driving speedboats up a river. When
the villain wants to sabotage the data systems of sev-
eral corporations and governments, he employs the
scenario that he is a German soldier in World War
I, killing onrushing Allied troops.
Several authors have argued that heavy reliance
upon computers could make a high-tech society es-
pecially vulnerable to low-tech enemies. In Mack
Reynolds novel Computer War (1967), a bellicose
nation called Alphaland attacks peaceful Betastan,
on the advice of its computers. But the Betastani re-
fuse to respond in the ways predicted by Alphalands
machines, and at one point they detonate an ex-
plosive magnetic device that erases all the computer
memories in the Alphaland capital. John Shirleys
often-reprinted cyberpunk story Freezone (1985)
imagines that the economy of the capitalist world
collapsed into the Computer Storage Depression
when the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear
436 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
weapon detonated by Arab terrorists erased all the
data in the United States.
Many writers have explored the possible conflicts
that might arise between people and their machines.
Perhaps the most influential such story was the 1921
drama, R.U.R. (Rossums Universal Robots), by the
Czech writer Karel Capek (18901938). This work
introduced the term robot, from a Czech word mean-
ing heavy labor, with the implication of compulsory
work or serfdom. Rossum, whose name may be
derived from the Czech word for mind or reason, in-
vented these manlike machines in order to prove that
God was unnecessary. After Rossums death, his heirs
built a vast industry supplying the labor needs of the
world with these robots.
The motives of the builders of the robots were
various. Some simply wanted to earn money. Others
wanted to liberate the lower social classes from un-
pleasant labor and turn everybody into aristocrats.
Robots were far cheaper than human laborers, so the
world became awash with wealth, whatever way it
was shared across the social classes. Once people
no longer needed to work, however, they seemed
to lose the will to live and stopped having children.
Conflict between people continued, but now the sol-
diers were robots rather than humans. Believing that
people were irrational and inefficient, the robots re-
belled, and began to exterminate the entire human
species. The play is a farce, but it examines profound
issues regarding the nature of humanity and the
relationship between humans and their creations.
A substantial dystopian literature has postulated
various ways in which robots or computers might wrest
control of the world from humans, imposing cyber-
dictatorship and eradicating freedom. The Humanoids
(1950), by Jack Williamson, imagines that perfect ro-
bots were invented and programmed to follow a prime
directiveto serve and obey, and guard men from
harmstrictly. These seemingly benevolent machines
manufacture endless copies of themselves and set about
liberating humanity from labor and danger. Soon,
everybody has at least one invincible, ever-present ro-
bot companion who prevents them from doing any-
thing dangerous, such as using a tool, engaging in a
physical sport, or conducting scientific research. Player
Piano (1952), by Kurt Vonnegut (b. 1922), depicts a fu-
ture United States run by engineers, in which au-
tomation (epitomized by the vast computer, EPI-
CAC XIV) has thrown most of the workforce into
unemployment and is gradually rendering even the
mostly highly skilled jobs obsolete, including, eventu-
ally, those of the engineers themselves.
Michael Crichtons mainstream novel Prey (2002)
warns that corporate greed may inadvertently pro-
duce lethal threats through a combination of poorly
understood technological innovations at the inter-
section of computing, genetic engineering, and nano-
technology. This story of a monster that terrorizes
workers at a remote research laboratory was partly
inspired by the new swarm concept in robotics, the
idea that a very large number of individually unin-
telligent machines might achieve intelligence by
interacting socially with one another. But the fun-
damental concept is one that has very recently
achieved prominence in science policy debates in the
real world, namely, technological convergence.
Thoughtful scientists and engineers in many fields
have begun to explore ways in which human abili-
ties may be greatly enhanced through convergence
of information technology, biotechnology, nan-
otechnology, and cognitive science. The conscious
aim is certainly not to create monsters, although par-
ticipants in the convergence movement are very con-
scious of the need to consider the social implications
of their work. Rather, their aim is to strengthen the
creativity and freedom of individual humans, per-
haps ultimately through some kind of convergence
between humans and the tools that serve them.
Convergence of
Humans and Machines
From the very beginnings of the science fiction genre,
many stories imagined that technology could aug-
ment human abilities. For example, Heinleins
1942 hard-science story Waldo concerned a dis-
abled man who invented remote manipulator arms
that compensated for his disabilities. For decades,
other science fiction writers used the term waldo
to mean remote manipulator, but the word never
caught on in actual robotics.
 LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS 437

Excerpt from Isaac Asimovs I, Robot

I
n his classic science fiction anthology I, Robot (1950), Isaac Asimov looks ahead to a world in which robots move from prim-
itive machines in the early twenty-first century to highly sophisticated creatures who may indeed rule the world a short
fifty years later. The stories in the anthology are told by Robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin to a reporter from the Interplanetary
Press. In the extract below, Dr. Calvin reminisces about her fifty-year tenure at U.S. Robots.
The offices and factories of U.S. Robots were a small city; spaced and planned. It was flattened out like an aerial photo-
graph.
When I first came here, she said, I had a little room in a building right about there where the fire-house is now.
She pointed. It was torn down before you were born. I shared the room with three others. I had half a desk. We built our
robots all in one building. Output-three a week. Now look at us.
Fifty years, I hackneyed, is a long time.
Not when youre looking back at them, she said. You wonder how they vanished so quickly.
She went back to her desk and sat down. She didnt need expression on her face to look sad, somehow.
How old are you? she wanted to know.
Thirty-two, I said.
Then you dont remember a world without robots. There was a time when humanity faced the universe alone and
without a friend. Now he has creatures to help him; stronger creatures than himself, more faithful, more useful, and ab-
solutely devoted to him. Mankind is no longer alone. Have you ever thought of it that way?
Im afraid I havent. May I quote you?
You may. To you, a robot is a robot. Gears and metal; electricity and positrons.-Mind and iron! Human-made! if nec-
essary, human-destroyed! But you havent worked with them, so you dont know them. Theyre a cleaner better breed
than we are.
I tried to nudge her gently with words, Wed like to hear some of the things you could tell us; get your views on ro-
bots. The Interplanetary Press reaches the entire Solar System. Potential audience is three billion, Dr. Calvin. They ought
to know what you could tell them on robots.
It wasnt necessary to nudge. She didnt hear me, but she was moving in the right direction.
They might have known that from the start. We sold robots for Earth-use then-before my time it was, even. Of course,
that was when robots could not talk. Afterward, they became more human and opposition began. The labor unions, of
course, naturally opposed robot competition for human jobs, and various segments of religious opinion had their super-
stitious objections. It was all quite ridiculous and quite useless. And yet there it was.
Source: Asimov, I. (1950). I, robot (pp. 16<N>17). Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company.

Hard science merges with cyberpunk in many
stories that describe how humans of the future might
merge with their machines. In the 1954 story Fondly
Fahrenheit, by Alfred Bester (19131987), a man
and his robot flee from planet to planet to escape
justice for murders they are committing.
Psychologically, the two have blended. This is evi-
dent in the very style of the writing, because the first-
person narrative perspective constantly shifts
from one to the other, even within the same para-
graph. The hard-science aspects of the story include
three laws of robotics that are rather different from
those propounded by Asimov:
1. A robot must obey the government, and state
directives supercede all private commands.
2. A robot cannot endanger life or property.
3. A robot must obey its owner.
These laws can conflict with each other, espe-
cially for sophisticated robots capable of perform-
ing a wide range of tasks and who belong to corrupt
or insane owners. The first rule is meant to solve such
problems. In the modern world the state is the ulti-
mate judge of morality, for humans and machines
alike. What happens, then, if the owner tells the ro-
bot that a state command did not actually come from
438 BERKSHIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
the state, but is a lie or an error in communica-
tion? Overcome by the heat of human emotion, such
a robot might even commit serial homicide.
Besters novel The Computer Connection (1974)
depicts the merging of human and machine in an-
other way. It concerns a scientist at Jet Propulsion
Laboratory whose personality lands in his super-
computer when an epileptic seizure coupled with
profound emotional shock drive it out of his body.
In Software (1982), by Rudy Rucker, human minds
are uploaded to computers by scanning the brain as
knives destructively slice it apart. Greg Bears Blood
Music (2002) imagines that a combination of genetic
and electronic technologies could create noocytes,
viruslike molecular computers that absorb the minds
and dissolve the bodies of human beings. The
nondestructive scanning device in The Terminal
Experiment (1995), by Robert J. Sawyer, employs a
billion nanotechnology sensors and computer inte-
gration techniques to map the neural pathways of
the brain from the surface of the scalp. Scanning ses-
sions bombard the subject with sights and sounds,
to activate all the brains neural pathways.
In both The Computer Connection and The Ter-
minal Experiment, uploading a person to a computer
removes normal inhibitions, so the person becomes
a murderer. When people are uploaded in Greg Egans
Permutation City (1994), they immediately com-
mit suicide.
In the classic 1953 novel The City and The Stars,
by Arthur C. Clarke (b. 1917), people uploaded into
the computer-generated city, Diaspar, lose their ca-
pacity to explore and evolve. Diaspar is an eternal
city, and its people are eternal as well. Superficially
they are like humans, except that they produce no
children. In a thousand-year lifetime, they enjoy ad-
venture games in computer-generated virtual re-
ality, create works of art that are destined to be
erased, and gradually grow weary. Then they enter
the Hall of Creation to be archived as patterns of
electrical charges inside the Central Computer. After
a few thousand years, or a few million, they will be
reconstituted again, to experience another life in
Diaspar before once again entering the archives.
Each year, about ten thousand people are restored
to life, always a somewhat different combination of
individuals but existing within a fixed population
size and following set laws of behavior. At birth, a
Diasparan is biologically about twenty, but requires
about twenty years to mature. During this time
the individual does not possess any memories of his
or her previous lives. Then the memories return,
and he or she lives out a life that is practically a re-
play of the previous one, content within the artifi-
cial womb of the city. Thus they fail to use their
advanced technology to do anything really produc-
tive, such as exploring the stars. If human beings
really do merge with their computers over the com-
ing centuries, we can wonder whether this will help
them to achieve great things in the real universe, or
to retreat from challenge into a meaningless, virtual
existence.
William Sims Bainbridge
FURTHER READING
Asimov, I. (1950). I, robot. New York: Grosset and Dunlap.
Asimov, I. (1954). The caves of steel. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Asimov, I. (1956). The naked sun. New York: Bantam.
Asimov, I. (1983). The robots of dawn. New York: Ballantine.
Bainbridge, W. S. (1986). Dimensions of science fiction. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Baum, L. F. (1904). The marvelous ozama of Oz. Chicago: Reilly and
Britton.
Bear, G. (2002). Blood music. New York: ibooks.
Bester, A. (1974). The computer connection. New York: ibooks.
Bester, A. (1997). Virtual unrealities: The short fiction of Alfred
Bester. New York: Vintage.
Binder, E. (1965). Adam LinkRobot. New York: Paperback Library.
Brunner, J. (1975). The shockwave rider. New York: Ballantine.
Capek, K. (1990). Toward the radical center: A Karel Capek reader. New
York: Catbird.
Cardigan, P. (Ed.). (2002). The ultimate cyberpunk. New York: ibooks.
Clancy, T., & Pieczenik, S. (1998). Net force. New York: Berkley.
Clarke, A. C. (1953). The city and the stars. New York: Harcourt, Brace
and Company.
Clute, J., & Nicholls, P. (1995). The encyclopedia of science fiction. New
York: St. Martins Griffin.
Crichton, M. (2002). Prey. New York: HarperCollins.
Egan, G. (1994). Permutation City. New York: Harper.
Gibson, W. (1984). Neuromancer. New York: Ace.
Gibson, W., & Sterling, B. (1991). The difference engine. New York:
Bantam.
Heinlein, R. A. (1950). Waldo and Magic Inc. Garden City, NY:
Doubleday.
Heinlein, R. A. (1966). The moon is a harsh mistress. New York: Orb.

Hoffman, E. T. A. (1885). The sand-man. In Weird Tales (J. T.
Bealby, Trans.). New York: Scribners. (Original work published
1817)
Reynolds, M. (1967). Computer war. New York: Ace.
Roco, M. C., & Bainbridge, W. S. (2003). Converging technologies for
improving human performance. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Rucker, R. (1982). Software. New York: Avon.
Sawyer, R. J. (1995). The terminal experiment. New York: HarperCollins.
LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS 439
Spiller, N. (Ed.). (2002). Cyber reader: Critical writings for the digital
era. New York: Phaidon.
Stephenson, N. (1992). Snow crash. New York: Bantam.
Sterling, B. (1986). Mirrorshades: The cyberpunk anthology. New York:
Ace.
Vonnegut, K. (1952). Player piano. New York: Delta.
Williamson, J. (1950). The humanoids. New York: Grosset and Dunlap.