AI interactions. How is AI changing the way we operate devices?

Thanks to artificial intelligence, a keyboard or mouse may soon become obsolete, Why bother pasting in individual letters when you simply speak a sentence or ask a question that gets typed automatically? With the new Intelligent User Interfaces (IUIs), operating other devices and machines will also get both simpler and faster. What are the prospects for AI-assisted methods of interacting with devices? In today’s article, we present new AI interactions.

New AI interactions – table of contents:

New AI interactions. Introduction
Touch interfaces
Virtual reality and gestures in three dimensions
Voice control
New AI interactions. Summary

New AI interactions. Introduction

Imagine that you just want to do something – at work, at home, in the car or in the factory. You think about it and thanks to brainwave readings, the devices immediately take the right action. If the way to perform the task is not sufficiently specified, the computer or machine asks additional questions in voice form through an interface that incorporates natural language processing (NLP).

The ideal way to interact with devices would be natural, that is, completely invisible to the enjoyer. And this is not pure fantasy. There are already prototypes of brain-machine interfaces that operate at unimaginable speeds akin to electronic telepathy. Such futuristic solutions, however, raise as many hopes as concerns. On the one hand, just think – post a note on social media about a company event with a portrait photo of the CEO taken during the opening of the meeting. On the other hand – how do we make sure the connection doesn’t eavesdrop through our private thoughts?

But let’s focus on solutions closer to implementation in the business world. What AI-supported ways of interacting with the digital world already exist? Which ones have entered the market? Are there any that look promising?

Touch interfaces

We still often interact with devices by controllers such as a keyboard or mouse. However, most of us daily tend to have visual touch interfaces with icons, drop-down lists of options or sliders, some even read our gestures. This has been made possible by the ubiquity of touch screens, popular with various types of gear:

mobile devices,
wearables such as smartwatches and wristbands,
many laptops,
kiosk-type devices.

They are common due to their versatility. With touch and gesture interaction, we simultaneously type on the keyboard displayed on the screen, push the buttons, as well make movements of one or more fingers or even the whole hand.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, touch devices have not only become more default – as they are capable of completing bits of movement that is not correctly recognized by the device. They also combine data flowing from the touch interface with gestures recognized by the camera and microphone to improve the fluidity of the user experience, enhancing pleasure as well as safety.

Virtual reality and gestures in three dimensions

Another interesting area of development is the expansion of gesture control into the third dimension. Virtual reality goggles and glasses have made it happen. Thanks to them, while holding adapted controllers in our hands, we can perform complex and precise actions at a distance, such as repairing machines or assembling equipment, or even surgical operations. They also feature in creative work, such as creating 3D models and animations for computer games and movies.

Applying artificial intelligence to detect gestures without touching the surface of the device – for example, to read body and hand gestures – holds great promise for improving workplace safety. In hazardous industries, it reduces the presence of humans in accident-prone areas to a minimum. With sensors placed at the right distance, you can control the machines remotely which enables specialists to perform their tasks from a safe, adapted room. Meanwhile, the developments in artificial intelligence indicate that learning models will gradually do repetitive tasks on their own, even correcting contractor errors in real-time.

Voice control

The role of artificial intelligence is increasing exponentially just like the number of devices and applications that have Voice User Interfaces (VUI). These systems employ technologies that convert speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS).

Voice control is already broadly applied in business, to interact with product and marketing voicebots, virtual assistants as well as automatic translators. Many people also have voice control in their cars to execute actions keeping their eyes on the road. For instance, they set a navigation destination, turn on cruise control and air conditioning or control smart home management devices.

New AI interactions. Summary

New ways of interacting with devices via voice, touch and gestures are becoming more perfect thanks to artificial intelligence. Perhaps in the coming decades we will test direct brain-machine interfaces that will obey our commands before we have time to speak them.

For now, however, artificial intelligence is getting better at recognizing gestures in three-dimensional space, as well as learning the user’s voice and the way he or she speaks, to help most accurately and efficiently possible, both in entering text while writing an email and in driving safely.

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Author: Robert Whitney
JavaScript expert and instructor who coaches IT departments. His main goal is to up-level team productivity by teaching others how to effectively cooperate while coding.
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