What is human-centered computing?

Human-centered computing (HCC) aims to tailor computer systems to meet human needs and abilities ef­fect­ively. A key ap­plic­a­tion area is human-computer in­ter­ac­tion, with current projects em­phas­ising user-friend­li­ness and the seamless in­teg­ra­tion of in­tel­li­gent systems into daily life.

What is human-centered computing? A defin­i­tion

Human-centered computing (HCC) is a research and de­vel­op­ment field dedicated to designing, de­vel­op­ing, and im­ple­ment­ing intuitive and user-friendly computer systems. This includes software, hardware, and digital work­spaces, with a focus on tailoring these systems to human needs, abilities, and be­ha­viours. In essence, HCC aims to bridge the gap between people and tech­no­logy. HCC considers social, cultural, and personal factors to eliminate barriers like language and education.

HCC develops methods and practices that apply to all areas in which people interact directly with computers. This ensures that tech­no­logy supports or helps people to enhance their skills.

Human-centered systems

Systems designed for human-centered computing (HCC) are known as human-centered systems (HCS). These systems analyse human tasks, allow per­form­ance mon­it­or­ing, and consider human cap­ab­il­it­ies. They are also adaptable to meet people’s changing needs.

Central topics and research fields in human-centered computing

The National Science Found­a­tion (NSF) – the US agency re­spons­ible for basic research in the non-medical field – considers human-centered computing to be a three-di­men­sion­al space that en­com­passes humans, computers and the en­vir­on­ment:

• The human dimension extends to in­di­vidu­al needs as well as goal-ori­ent­ated groups and society per se.
• The computer dimension includes sta­tion­ary and mobile computer devices as well as visual and acoustic systems.
• The en­vir­on­ment­al dimension covers not only physical devices, but also mixed reality systems and immersive virtual en­vir­on­ments.

As human-centered computing touches on various di­men­sions and thus numerous spe­cial­ist areas, the range of research and de­vel­op­ment fields is very broad. The relevant HCC subject areas include:

• Problem solving in dis­trib­uted systems, for example in internet and sensor-based in­form­a­tion systems
• Mul­ti­me­dia and mul­timod­al in­ter­faces, including haptic, gestural, spatial and portable in­ter­faces, but also brain-computer in­ter­faces and methods for in­ter­ac­tion with ar­ti­fi­cial in­tel­li­gence as human-tech­no­logy in­ter­faces
• In­tel­li­gent in­ter­faces and user modeling with in­form­a­tion visu­al­isa­tion and cus­tom­is­able content
• Multi-agent systems for con­trolling actions and solving complex problems in delimited areas of re­spons­ib­il­ity
• Tech­no­logy-supported com­mu­nic­a­tion between people, for example in video con­fer­ences or via high-bandwidth networks
• Defin­i­tion of semantic struc­tures for mul­ti­me­dia in­form­a­tion used for cross-mode input and output
• Assistive and adaptive tech­no­lo­gies providing improved access to in­form­a­tion, work and en­ter­tain­ment for people with physical, cognitive or social impair­ments
• Col­lab­or­at­ive systems that enable in­ter­ac­tions for knowledge gen­er­a­tion across or­gan­isa­tions, countries and dis­cip­lines
• Computer an­im­a­tions in augmented and virtual reality

Important areas of ap­plic­a­tion for human-centered computing

Human-centered computing is often applied in human-computer in­ter­ac­tion (HCI). This includes areas like touch in­ter­ac­tions with smart­phones or human-machine systems in air traffic control, where the focus is on un­der­stand­ing and ad­dress­ing users’ needs, par­tic­u­larly in terms of user in­ter­faces and in­ter­ac­tions. In contrast, human-centered computing takes a broader approach, in­cor­por­at­ing multiple dis­cip­lines and in­teg­rat­ing in­tel­li­gent systems more com­pre­hens­ively.

Another key ap­plic­a­tion is human-centered mul­ti­me­dia (HCM). This area can be divided into three cat­egor­ies: mul­ti­me­dia pro­duc­tion, analysis, and in­ter­ac­tion. Each category plays a role in designing systems that align with human needs and improve user ex­per­i­ence.

• Mul­ti­me­dia pro­duc­tion: It’s essential to involve people in all stages of media pro­duc­tion. HCM pro­duc­tion systems aim to consider cultural dif­fer­ences, social factors, and human cap­ab­il­it­ies through­out the process. This approach ensures not only an efficient pro­duc­tion process but also active par­ti­cip­a­tion.
• Mul­ti­me­dia analysis: In human-centered computing, the automatic analysis of human activ­it­ies and social behaviour is key. HCM ap­plic­a­tions improve com­mu­nic­a­tion between in­di­vidu­als and enhance access to in­form­a­tion in different contexts. Mul­ti­me­dia analysis offers a nuanced un­der­stand­ing of human behaviour, which can be used to optimise user ex­per­i­ence and system functions.
• Mul­ti­me­dia in­ter­ac­tion: To fa­cil­it­ate effective com­mu­nic­a­tion, it is crucial to un­der­stand how and why people interact with each other. Achieving natural in­ter­ac­tion requires con­sid­er­ing cultural dif­fer­ences and social context. While face-to-face com­mu­nic­a­tion occurs in real time and in person, computer-based live com­mu­nic­a­tion involves physical distance between the par­ti­cipants.

In addition, HCC is applied in the human-centered design approach. This problem-solving method is used in designing products, processes, services, systems, and even in areas like man­age­ment. The approach typically involves em­path­ising with the target group to address issues, and at times, com­pet­it­or analysis is also used.

Three current HCC projects

1. Project ECHO (Health Science Center of the Uni­ver­sity of New Mexico): Project ECHO – Extension for Community Health­care Outcomes – was launched in 2003 by Dr. Sanjeev Arora of the Uni­ver­sity of New Mexico. It aims to provide rural pop­u­la­tions in un­der­served areas with better access to spe­cial­ised health­care services through video­con­fer­en­cing.
2. Project Euphonia (Google): In 2019, the tech company started de­vel­op­ing tech­no­lo­gies aimed at helping people with speech disorders com­mu­nic­ate more ef­fect­ively with digital devices. Google utilises machine learning to customise speech re­cog­ni­tion systems, such as Google Assistant, to better un­der­stand and adapt to in­di­vidu­al speech patterns.
3. Seeing AI (Microsoft): Seeing AI is an app developed by Microsoft to assist blind and visually impaired in­di­vidu­als in per­ceiv­ing their sur­round­ings more ef­fect­ively. Available for free, the app can read texts, describe photos, and identify objects and products in real time. The re­cog­nised in­form­a­tion is then read aloud to the user.