Most of these systems allow users to interact with voice and touch. If there was only one modality mechanism, it would negatively affect the user experience and the design would “fail” in the mind of the user.Īn example is a car infotainment system. As everyone uses products in different ways and in different contexts, users are provided with several feedback mechanisms and given multiple ways to interact with their computer.ĭesigners make life easier for users by incorporating and automating actions through different modalities. The idea behind multimodal design is to combine multiple modalities in order to improve a product’s user experience. This brings many more opportunities to create a unique and engaging user experience.

Think about playing a game of tennis on a console and using the gamepad to emulate the movement of the racket. More complex examples are accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers that help with motion detection. In this case, users rely on various mechanisms to communicate with and command computers. A few examples are keyboards, mice, touchscreens, trackpads, and speech recognition. We’ve invented several ways to interact with computers. A few examples are computer graphics, audio playback, phone vibrations, and smartwatch taptic feedback. The most common computer-human modalities rely on vision, hearing, and tactile abilities. Computer-human ModalitiesĬomputer-human (or computer-to-human) modalities help a computer understand what the user wants.

Each of these interactions includes various modalities such as voice, touch, and taptic feedback. Using multiple modes of interaction is what multimodal design is based on.īefore we explore multimodal design, let’s begin with a basic understanding of two types of interactions: computer-to-human and human-to-computer. If she chooses, she can tap on the screen instead of using her voice. Using touch and voice she interacts with the app, telling the video to pause, fast forward, or replay a specific section. A mother getting ready to prepare dinner at home opens a cooking app on her iPad or SmartTV.

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