Touch the Future of HMI

Collaboration between human and machine is likely to change more profoundly than ever before in history. Whether this happens quickly or slowly is certainly a question of the viewer's perspective.

Technologies that we associate in our perception with certain brands and products are much older than expected. Head-up displays were invented in the 1940s and found their first use in aircraft. The first application in a commercial product was in the North American vehicle market in the 1980s. The invention of the touchscreen dates back to the beginning of the 70s. The first commercial products with optical touch system were available in the first half of the 80s, the first mobile device with projected-capacitive touch in 1992. From this small list it becomes clear that technologies that we use today, have a very noticeable own acceptance history.

The big boom of touch systems in mechanical and plant engineering came with a well-known product that has been anchored in the collective memory since its launch in 2007. The iPhone was able to base its triumphal march on two key factors, the online connection to an app / content store and the option of maximum usability for a wide range of usage concepts with a function-configurable touchscreen. This enabled a previously unknown range of functions in a portable, small and lightweight device for everyone. The world was now able to navigate without any specialist knowledge by typing and swiping gestures, make online transfers, create playlists or book a table in the restaurant. The new technology was filled with functionality and meaning by accessing the online store, making it easy to experience and operate with the touch screen, a combination that was more than the sum of the individual technologies.

The world was different now than before the iPhone. New operating gestures, conventions and operating concepts developed, and an enthusiasm for the new and seemingly unlimited possibilities. Today, 12 years later, the technology is tried and tested billions of times and almost perfect. Machinery and plant engineering is completely technologically saturated, and hardly anyone wants to miss the benefits of touch operation. Although, of course, many other technological approaches such as gesture control, voice control, and augmented reality / virtual reality can realize superior functionalities in sub-areas, none of these systems is so flexible, universal and at the same time easy to operate.

And what will the future look like? First we have to realize the fact, that in the past the human-machine interface was the most important, if not the only one for data exchange. In the future, this will no longer apply, the interface between human and machine will be one of many, but the only one optimized for the interaction of these two partners. the future will show a strong diversification of different technological approaches, but also more coherent overall concepts regarding the data in- and output. in intralogistics, for example, voice-controlled systems can be very useful, while in the field of furniture production, they are almost useless in the very loud production environment, referring to current state of technological development. Technologies, that have not yet established themselves will open up new opportunities supported by new sensor functionalities, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Here I see great potential in 3D Touch technology and eye tracking.

Overall, the human-machine interface will become simpler, more unequivocal and less technical for the user. The technology will step back and the user will be more and more guided by the graphic user interface. The specialized machine operator will be the exception in a few years, also taking the demographic development in a industrialized countries worldwide into account. Tomorrow's machine operator will have a much larger task area. The future human-machine interface will most likely be not a fixed control panel, but a flexible, highly portable unit, resulting in a head-up display in combination with 3D touch and/or eye-tracking in conjunction with complementary technologies like voice control systems

Have become curious? I would be pleased to welcome you for my lecture: HMI- graphic user interface or the key to digitization? at the Industrial Usability Day on 5th of November 2019 at the Vogel Convention Center, Würzburg

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