Intel wants a 'deep understanding' of people

USER FRIENDLINESS died a death and one wonders what catchphrase will emerge from Intel's research  that will, in the company's own words, reinvent the computing experience through a deep understanding of people.

Future users' interaction with computers will be through speech, gestures, objects and touch, according to Intel's chief technology officer Justin Rattner, who announced an interaction and experience research division for these modes of using computers at the company's 30 June ninth annual Research at Intel Day event. One wonders if this sudden interest in people and their technology has anything to do with the Computex announcement of the mysterious Canoe Lake that sounded like an Intel prototype laptop.

According to Intel's research day propaganda, it has been building up its capabilities in the "user experience and interaction" areas for over a decade and has come to a shocking realisation already. "We've learned, for example, that...browsing the web at 10 feet [from the screen] is an experience few people relish," said Rattner. Well yes, quite, the text gets a bit hard to read.

But in other revelations about Intel's technology show case day, a disturbing future looms on the horizon. The company says, "Also demonstrated was a more futuristic example, a computer that could read a user's thoughts, replacing the need for typing altogether." Read thoughts!? Perhaps the company is thinking of an Intel powered fridge that can figure out when you want another beer? Now that would truly be user friendly. µ