TouchIT

Abstract

The physical world is increasingly filled with digital products to the extent that the boundaries of digital and physical reality become blurred. From mundane devices such as mobile phones and washing machines, to esoteric research including tangible computation and body implants, we continually bridge two worlds, literally touching buttons and dials and metaphorically touching the bits beyond. The connection between pure thought and abstract information is through solid keyboard and mouse, but likewise the material world of buildings, cars, and running shoes is suffused with computation through sensors, displays, and flashing LEDs. How do people understand this world and how can designers create usable hybrid physical–digital products? This book brings together experience from human–computer interaction and industrial design, exploring these themes under four main headings: human body and mind; objects and things; space; and computation and information. In considering each it looks at the underlying physical processes, our human understanding of them, and then the way these inform and are informed by digital design. The final part of the book draws together the theoretical and practical implications of this for design. This includes practical advice, potential tools, and philosophical underpinnings. Digital technology is fundamentally altering the world we live in but can only be truly understood in relation to the physical world we all inhabit. The most successful future products and policies will be those that take this rich digital/physical ecology seriously.