Press Release
For Release 10.30am BST
2 April 2008
Report by World’s Leading Computer Systems Researchers and Designers
Claims Human Values Key to Successful Innovation
Microsoft Research Cambridge report sees human-centred design as the vital
ingredient in successfully harnessing technology’s huge potential by 2020.
LONDON — 2 April 2008 — A new report launched today looks at how emerging computer
technologies will change our lives by 2020. “Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year
2020” details the findings of a Microsoft Research-hosted conference that gathered together 45
leading human-computer interaction (HCI) specialists from around the world in March 2007. The
conference in Seville, Spain, addressed the question, “What will human-computer interaction look like
in the year 2020?” The report explores new technologies and examines their potential impact, both
positive and negative, on human behaviour and environments. “Being Human” makes clear
recommendations that aim to set human experience at the heart of progress to ensure that the
computer’s increasing influence in society is a positive one.
“Computers have shaped so many aspects of the modern world that we wanted to explore
how today’s emerging technologies might shape our lives in 2020,” said Abigail Sellen, senior
researcher at Microsoft Corp and one of the editors of the report. “Computing has the potential to
enhance the lives of billions of people around the world. We believe that if technology is to truly bring
benefit to humanity, then human values and the impact of technology must be considered at the
earliest possible opportunity in the technology design process.”
According to the report, advances in interfaces — the physical way we interact with
computers — such as surfaces that allow fingertip control of on-screen objects, devices that can
sense and react to movement, and other techniques of controlling computers will supplement the role
of the traditional keyboard and mouse. Display technologies will soon allow us to embed screens of all
sizes in a variety of fabrics; by 2020, we will still be reading paper books and magazines, but we will
also be using paper-like digital screens to distribute content. For example, “paper” used in books and
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magazines may be digitised on foldable screens we can put in our pockets, and our clothing may be
capable of performing health diagnostics.
Vastly increased and cheaper digital storage is allowing people to electronically record and
keep more and more aspects of their lives. Our hyperconnected world gives us the ability to interact
with people from around the globe, sharing information ever-more effectively and liberating ourselves
from fixed telephone lines, desks and offices. At the same time advances in robotics led by the
computer’s ability to learn from, and make decisions based on, experience provide the opportunity to
protect humans from dangerous situations, assist the physically impaired and even provide
companionship in the shape of artificial pets.
“New computing technology is tremendously exciting,” said another of the report’s editors
Tom Rodden, professor of Interactive Systems at the University of Nottingham, “but the interaction
between humans and computers is evolving into a complex ecosystem where small changes can
have far-reaching consequences. While new interfaces and hyperconnectivity mean we are
increasingly mobile, we can also see that they are blurring the line between work and personal space.
Huge storage capabilities raise fundamental privacy issues around what we should be recording and
what we should not. The potential of machine learning might well result in computers increasingly
making decisions on our behalf. It is imperative we combine technological innovations with an
understanding of their impact on people.”
The report argues that without proper oversight it is possible that we — both individually and
collectively — may no longer be in control of ourselves or the world around us. This potentially places
the computer on a collision course with basic human values and concepts such as personal space,
society, identity, independence, perception, intelligence and privacy. These are questions HCI needs
to consider now.
The report gives seven recommendations for the HCI community to adopt to ensure that
human values inform future development. These include recommendations to educate young people
so that they understand HCI and the impact of computer advances early on; to engage with
governments, policy-makers and society as a whole to provide counsel and give advance warning of
emerging implications of new computing ecosystems; to set the boundaries of HCI’s remit and
recognise when specialists from other disciplines (eg, psychology, sociology and the arts) offer more
insightful perspectives; and to recognise the need for other disciplines to be part of the research
community inventing these systems.
“This report makes important recommendations that will help us to decide collectively when,
how, why and where technology impacts upon humanity, rather than reacting to unforeseen change,”
Sellen concluded. “The final recommendation is something towards which we should all aspire: by
2020 HCI will be able to design for and support differences in human value, irrespective of the
economic means of those seeking those values. In this way, the future can be different and diverse
because people want it to be.”
The report, “Being Human: Human Computer Interaction in the Year 2020”, and a short
readers’ guide are available from http://research.microsoft.com/hci2020/download.html.
About Microsoft Research
Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in
computer science and software engineering. Its goals are to enhance the user experience on
computing devices, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing
technologies. Researchers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and collaborate with leading
academic, government and industry researchers to advance the state of the art in such areas as
graphics, speech recognition, user-interface research, natural language processing, programming
tools and methodologies, operating systems and networking, and the mathematical sciences.
Microsoft Research currently employs more than 800 people in six labs located in Redmond, Wash.;
Cambridge, Mass.; Silicon Valley, Calif.; Cambridge, England; Beijing, China; and Bangalore, India.
Microsoft Research collaborates openly with colleges and universities worldwide to enhance the
teaching and learning experience, inspire technological innovation, and broadly advance the field of
computer science. More information can be found at http://www.research.microsoft.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and
solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.
About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)
Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft employs more than 16,000
people in over 64 subsidiaries, delivering products and services in more than 139 countries and
territories.
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