Recent progress in hardware technology has brought about computers that are small enough to carry or even wear. These new computers, however, preclude traditional user-interface techniques such as a graphical user interface (GUI) or desktop metaphor. To overcome these shortfalls, human computer interaction (HCI) technology is rapidly changing, resulting in a transition akin to the switch to GUI in the 80's.

I am interested in designing a new human computer interaction style for highly portable computers, that will be situation-aware and assistance-oriented rather than command oriented. Using this style, a user will be able to interact with the real world that is augmented by the computer's synthetic information. The user's situation will be automatically recognized by applying a range of recognition methods, allowing the computer to assist the user without having to be directly instructed by the user. Before the end of the decade, I expect that such computers will be as commonplace as today's Walkmans, electronic hearing aids, eyeglasses, and wristwatches.