Tired of the mouse

I recently watched a demos in TED about Siftables, small computing blocks manipulated in a really intuitive way. I’m very hopeful regarding future electronic interfaces.

Image by simonsmith001 via Flickr

I believe computer interfaces will change dramatically in the next years. We are already using devices with new kind of sensors (the most famous example, the iPhone, is sensible to touch and acceleration) but these innovations haven’t really gained a share of notebook and desktop pc.

Image via Wikipedia

Rather than being confined in videogames consoles and mobile phones these new input devices should replace the old and (let’s face it) unnatural mouse-pointer metaphor. I personally would consider a thin tablet pc, with wireless capability and a multitouch screen the perfect companion for everyday task and I hope we will see more and more of those in the future. I also imagine future desktop PCs as multitouch screens controlled by real, everyday objects (e.g. pens, rulers, post-its, …), becoming “simply” an extension of the desk.

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