Why do we still need paper?

Why do we still need paper?

Visual design professionals use it, mathematicians use it, we all still use it – but what is it about sketching and writing on a piece of paper that is so hard to give up in our computer age?
Visual design professionals use it, mathematicians use it, we all still use it – but what is it about sketching and writing on a piece of paper that is so hard to give up in our computer age?

The reason is that drawing and writing on paper are fundamental to human problem-solving, it allows us to think. Sketching on a white board or piece of paper frees up our working memory so we can think through a problem in depth.

So far, trying to use a computer in the same way we use a piece of paper just doesn’t work as well – the interaction is more complicated, the representation too formal and we’re constrained by the rules of whatever software programme we are using.

Can we have the best of both worlds? Associate Professor Beryl Plimmer of the University of Auckland’s Department of Computer Science researches pen and ink input devices for computers and she believes that they are on the horizon.

“It’s a long-term dream of mine to make the paperless office a possibility and my research into pen-based input devices is based on the idea that this might be available to us in the future,” she says. “The big research challenges are to design and develop algorithms that recognise and convert pen and ink sketches automatically.”

Associate Professor Plimmer will give the second public lecture in the Gibbons Lecture series this week,Thursday May 7. She will discuss research into input devices for computers and her work in designing new technology for the visually impaired.

“Computers need to be both useful and usable and I’m a strong advocate for user-centred design in all phases of software development,” she says.

The Gibbons Lectures series theme this year is Human-Computer Interaction. The series provides a chance for the general public to hear from leading researchers in the field and from Air New Zealand’s Chief Architect on the role of technology within a company that deals directly with thousands of consumers each day.

Lectures are free and open to the public and held on Thursdays at 6pm (for 6.30pm start) and running until May 21.

Venue for each lecture is the Owen G Glenn Building, University of Auckland, 12 Grafton Rd, commencing in level 1 lobby and moving to Room OGGB3/260-092 on Level-0 for the lectures. Public parking is available in the basement of the Owen G Glenn Building.

The series will also be streamed live.

Schedule:

May 7: Beyond Touch: using everyday tools as input devices
Dr Beryl Plimmer
Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science
The University of Auckland
May 14: Innovation in Airline Human Computer Interaction: from ALC to IoT
Paul McGlashan
Chief Architect
Air New Zealand
May 21: From Interaction to Understanding
Professor Mark Billinghurst
Human Interface Laboratory New Zealand
The University of Canterbury
For more information go to: https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/gibbons_lectures/#next

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