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Direct manipulation was coined by Ben Shneiderman in 1982 to describe those days’ successful
systems. Schneiderman explains the direct manipulation goal as "to create
environments where users comprehend the display, where they feel in control, where the
system is predictable, and where they are willing to take responsibility for their actions".
The aim with direct manipulation is to let users directly manipulate objects presented
to them. To help users learn and use the interface, intuitiveness such as having realworld
metaphors for actions would help. An instant feedback would help users to reduce
their error because with direct manipulation the users see the results of their actions
before completing the procedure. A great example of direct manipulation is for instance
Windows paint program, to resize a graphical object, such as a rectangle, the user has
to touch on one of the edges and drag it with the mouse. While the user holds down
the mouse button and drags the object the interface shows the user how the object is
being reshaped.
Even if some researches argue that direct manipulation is more intuitive and natural,
and Ben Shneiderman arguing that direct manipulation is the only way to go, Pattie
Maes does not see eye to eye with them. She says that users need software agents
because "our current computer environment is getting more and more complex, and the
users are becoming more and more naive, the number of tasks to take care of, and the
number of issues to keep track of, are continuously increasing". In Shneiderman and
Maes debate in intelligent User Interface conference she said:
As we know from other domains, whenever workload or information load gets too
high, there is a point where a person has to delegate. There is no other solution than to
delegate. For example, many of you may have students that you delegate certain tasks
to, or you may have personal assistants that you delegate certain tasks to, not because
you can’t deal with those tasks yourself, but because you are overloaded with work and
information. I think the same will happen with our computer environments: that they
become just so complex and we use them for so many different things that we need to be
able to delegate. We need to be able to delegate to what could be thought of as "extra
eyes or extra ears" that are on the lookout for things that you may be interested in. We
also need "extra hands or extra brains," so to speak, because there will be tasks that
we just cannot deal with because of our limited attention span or limited time, and we
need other entities to be able to represent us and act on our behalf. "
Tech Materials (Free)
Direct Manipulation versus Interface Agents Extra Eyes or Extra Ears
Intelligent Interface Agents What is an Intelligent Interface Agent?
Interface Agents What can agents do for the user?
Robot System The Robot System
EPSON Micro PowerDrive EPSON PowerDrive Servo System ensures Maximum Robot Performance
HRP 2W Humanoid Can now serve tea and wash the cup
Robot Behaviors Exploring the T-Maze: Evolving Learning-Like Robot Behaviors using CTRNNs
Humanoid Robotics A Biochemical Subsystem for a Humanoid Robot
Industrial Automation Systems Applying Agents for Engineering of Industrial Automation Systems
Robot Team Cooperation A Descriptive Model of Robot Team and the Dynamic Evolution of Robot Team Cooperation
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