I was talking to my class today about possible future scenarios for wearables, and the question came up about what people will do with their hands.
As cool as it looks, the whole Tom Cruise in Minority Report scenario doesn’t seem plausible. Most people get tired after holding their arms up in the air for even a little while.
One question that came up was whether we would be holding something. People these days are used to holding a SmartPhone, which they use as both an input and an output device.
But what happens if you already have a perfectly good output device — those cyber-glasses perched on your nose. Do you still want to hold a phone in your hand?
Very likely, we concluded, because a device in your hand will still be useful for input. After all, our hands are wondrously dextrous, and extremely well suited for manipulating tools.
So why not, as we march resolutely into that brave new mixed reality future, give our hands some new tools to manipulate?
Sign language becomes the new typing.
Although it will be an interesting hybrid, because verbal speech will still be very prevalent. As gesture and speech become combined in new ways through computer enhancement, it will be interesting to see what the result will be.