Susan Weinschenk's talk at TriUXPA the other night on the future of human-technology interaction surfaced some intoxicating ideas.
One of them was that, as humans, we anthropomorphize our devices and machines. We build relationships with them (i.e., Eliza), even name them. As Alexa and Siri devices proliferate, we should expect devices to encourage more relationship-building. (We should also expect voice-control to be the interface of the near-future, so start practicing now.)
The technology will get better at anticipating or reacting to human expressions and actions. But as these devices get better, we can expect those people who have difficulty maintaining person-to-person relationships to prefer programmed familiarity.
Susan demoed the video for Qoobo -- "the headless robotic cat pillow" -- that I hope is an evolutionary path leading off a high cliff and deep into a bottomless crater of dark. It is one of the most horrific things I've ever seen -- surely its makers are having a laugh?
I shared this Verge article with Liz, who said this about the video:
Love that they say “hate the unconditional love?” - there's irony for you. Also, I can’t fathom why they couldn't have included a head too. Creepy and unnatural!
