Technical Interfaces

Tech interface! What are those? We like to think about them as a bridge between the system, digital or physical, and external entities (mainly humans). They are the communication channel between the system and the humans, just like our tap is between our overhead water system and us. Interfaces help us get the information from machines, customize them, receive feedback.

How we interact with systems currently is highly skewed by small screens, touchpads, keyboards, and mice. These systems are based on the following overarching theme: To allow humans (or users, the tag given to us by tech companies) to utilize the tech. This results in regularly seeking attention more than anything. We need to put our central attention to anything that we want to achieve from the machines.

Also, our interaction bandwidth with machines is limited in the current forms. By interaction, we mean the information transfer from humans to machines and vice versa. The only way we are currently trying to increase the bandwidth is by increasing the screens, and by increasing the size of screens. Both, I believe, are not sustainable in the long run.

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With the advent of AI, we believe, our future systems should work for us. Rather than requiring active engagement, the systems should work in the background. So that humans can put their full central attention to the task/objective at hand. And Machines can assist humans wherever required by perceiving the situation. And for this, we will need to rethink the idea of technology and their interfaces from level zero.

We believe an ideal tech interface should be fluid, ubiquitous, and attentional. To further deep dive into our quest for the ideal interface, in this note, we are looking into the low outputs given by machines and how can they be influenced by peripheral attention.

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Peripheral attention?

Our brain processes information from our surroundings through both central and peripheral attention. While central attention is our conscious focus, peripheral attention allows us to be aware of other stimuli in our peripheral vision. For instance, if you are looking at a clock in a picture, your brain is still able to perceive other elements in the image through peripheral attention, even though your focus is on the clock.

The human brain has the ability to process information perceived through peripheral attention in parallel, meaning that multiple stimuli can be processed simultaneously. This greatly increases the amount of information that we can be exposed to and take in. It is up to the processing unit to consciously shift human’s central attention and focus on the new incoming information.

Hypothesis → Utilization of peripheral attention to display low volume data from machines to humans to achieve one amongst the following objectives: 1) transfer of information without breaking human’s central focus, 2) increasing the information transfer bandwidth.

Low-volume data refers to information that is typically presented in a concise format, such as a list of options, a notification, or any data set with a limited number of data points. This data can be presented in various formats, including text, audio, or graphics.

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What ahead?

Still untested, but we believe that with this we will be able to send a new paradigm of sending information to humans. By helping in 1) making technology help from the background when the human is still concentrated on the objective, 2) increasing the bandwidth of data that can be sent and processed in a unit of time.

This interface would be attentional, and sensitive to the user's level of attention and mental bandwidth. It should be able to distinguish between when the user is focused and "in the zone", and when they're more relaxed and thinking in the background. Based on this, the interface can adapt and provide just the right amount of information and interaction. It will be something made for the conscious, as well as the subconscious mind.

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We would love to have your thoughts and perspectives and would be delighted to collaborate with you to further explore and test its various components. Currently (i.e. January 2024), we are focused on understanding the optimal amount of information that can be effectively communicated, the most effective formats for presenting this information, and how well it is retained by the recipient.

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