Technologies should adapt to users' needs, not the other way round

Technologies should adapt to users. needs, not the other way round; they should protect its users from getting flooded by too much information in the future. These are only some of the ideas introduced by the director of Institute of Intermedia, Ing. Roman Berka, Ph.D., at a conference held under PROUDY 2012 (CURRENTS 2012) Festival. The theme 'How will multimedia and technology change our world in 2012 and sooner' attracted many speakers from the academic world as well as from major international companies in the field of multimedia such as Microsoft, Seznam.cz, IBM, Quix, Dark Side, Sherwood, 3DSense and others.

"The question is not what the future will be like but rather what we want it to be like," said Berka in his speech. He particularly appealed to the engineers, graduates of technical universities, to remember that the main character in multimedia communication will always be a human being. He defined multimedia as a set of technologies enabling communication between people or between a human being and some machine or program. According to him, this communication has deep roots: "The idea of audiovisual communication has been here for hundreds or thousands of years."

As Berka suggested, the technological development is moving up on a spiral, always bringing something new and thus allowing humans to adapt. "Advanced technologies go hand in hand with an advanced user who is able to use them", he added. Berka introduced a field of study called HCI/HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION which explores questions such as how should an ideal and user-friendly communication between a human and a computer app look like. Such issues are also addressed by the researchers and professionals from the Department of Computer Graphics and Interaction at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

According to Berka, there will be further development in the field of data search or communication by using movements and gestures. He also pointed out that due to the internet influence there will be a need to adjust copyright rules.

For more information on PROUDY 2012 (CURRENTS 2012) Festival, go to proudy2012.cz, proudydigital.cz or facebook.com/socialniproudy. Information about Romana Berka and other speakers and lecturers from the conference are available here http://www.proudy2012.cz/proudy-konference/profily-prednasejicich/.