As we increasingly use touch and speech to operate our phones, tablets and other devices, will traditional keyboards disappear? That question was raised to Microsoft researcher Andy Wilson Tuesday at a Churchill Club event in Menlo Park, Calif. His answer? Touch won’t kill the keyboard altogether, Wilson said, but “eventually it will become more of a niche thing,” similar to how most programmers remain tethered to full-on computer workstations, while the rest of us now switch constantly between a variety of devices (phone, desktop, tablet, etc.) during a typical workday.
You can read more about the conversation in this PC World story about the event. It also includes the intriguing results of recent Microsoft research into how people behave while using various types of natural user interfaces to turn a light switch on and off. Interestingly, Wilson said, people preferred to make eye contact with the light and then speak to it – similar to how I might start a conversation with you. I’m sure the light switch doesn’t mind a little respect, either.
