Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020

The world we live in has become suffused with computer technologies. They have created change and continue to create change. It is not only on our desktops and in our hands that this is manifest; it is in virtually all aspects of our lives, in our communities and in the wider society of which we are a part. What will our world be like in 2020? Digital technologies will continue to proliferate, enabling ever more ways of changing how we live. But will such developments improve the quality of life, empower us, and make us feel safer, happier and more connected? Or will living with technology make it more tiresome, frustrating, angst-ridden and security-driven? What will it mean to be human when everything we do is supported or augmented by technology? What role can researchers, designers and computer scientists have in helping to shape the future?

(Editor’s note: This report was co-written with Tom Rodden, Yvonne Rogers and Abigail Sellen, all of Microsoft Research.)

Read the rest of this post