by Lucia Ott, on Nov 14, 2017 3:46:03 PM
Future technologies will affect the everyday life of all of us. Autonomous cars, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, to name just a few. And of course designers will have a major role in shaping these experiences. Their designs will be the interface between machine and human.
On Wednesday 25 October the students of Prague College’s BA Graphic Design programme were given an introduction to the "The Future of User Interface/Experience". Yuriy Shiryaev, a recent graduate of Prague College, returned to give us an overview about upcoming innovations. With the help of multiple examples he demonstrated the various possibilities for designers to be part of future developments.
When talking about autonomous cars, it’s not only about developing complex techniques, that enables the car to drive unmanned. It is also important to think about the interaction between the technology and the user. What will it be like to drive from one point to another with these future cars? How much responsibility do we want to hand over to the robot? How will the computer communicate with us? These are all question that need to be solved. The keywords "user interface" and "user experience" will be the main drivers for future solutions.
Virtual and augmented reality are technologies that are already quite advanced. With simple devices like mobile phones people can dive into new virtual worlds. Creatives like the illustrator Christoph Niemann already include these technologies in their work. For example, in 2016 he created a cover for "The New Yorker" that came alive, when you pointed your tablet or phone at the magazine. With augmented reality, the screen of every mobile device can become a mirror of the world behind it, where additional information can be overlaid. So it can not only help to entertain people, but also to explain, compare or identify things you have in front of you.
Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things will be especially important in the arena of marketing and sales. Physical objects will be more and more integrated into computer-based systems. For example Amazon is developing many different business models to optimize the shopping experience of their customers. With their "Dash Buttons" you can order your favorite product with one press. They also plan to open "Amazon Go" grocery stores. In this kind of supermarket, the consumer's phone will automatically identify which products are taken from the shelves and will add them to a digital shopping cart. Afterwards there will be no need to wait in a checkout line. You can just walk out of the building and Amazon will automatically charge your account.
And these are only few examples…
With all these innovations in prospect, there will be still a lot of issues to be discussed. But one thing is for sure - the technology is opening up a wide range of opportunities and perspectives. And young designers can become a main part of it!
