The Future of Interface Design: Virtual and Augmented reality? (Video)

As the last post might have indicated, we like to think about the future of interaction design and user interfaces. What the near future holds is an incremental change, such as the use of multiple screens, mobile screens, touch screens and hyper-personal screens. Add tiny sensors and data capture to the mix and you realise it will be interesting times ahead.

Creating a user interface that feels coherent on small screens and big screens, on the road, in the office and in the hospital will be our task for the coming five years. Shifting towards a less explicit user interface or no visual interface at all might even be a part of that task.

Sometimes, however, it is also nice to think a bit further into the future. Say, what will be the skills you need in ten to fifteen years? What we know is that virtual reality and augmented reality are really coming. Microsoft HoloLens, Google Glass and of course Oculus VR merely scratch the surface. They are the Bluetooth 1.0 of 2015. Bluetooth is about fifteen years old and it is just now starting to get really useful. I expect the same to happen with VR/AR.

Interface Design in 2030

What will our job as designers be in 2030? Will we become digital architects that shape the virtual world in 3D? What will the world look like in ten to fifteen years, and what will be our role in it?

Designer Mike Alger does a wonderful job explaining some of the pitfalls ahead of us. Kudos to him for making this wonderful video that is a nice summary of what a possible future might look like: