Plenary: Sci-Fi @CHI: Science-Fiction Authors Predict Future User Interfaces

Tuesday 09:00 - 10:30.

Aaron Marcus, Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc.
Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan
Bruce Sterling, Science Fiction Author
Michael Swanwick, Science Fiction Author
Vernor Vinge, Science Fiction Author, San Diego State University

What will the human-computer interface be like in the future? Who better to speculate on the distant future of HCI than the people who do it professionally... science fiction authors?

Science fiction novels have recently featured neurochemistry, DNA-engineering, micro-manufacturing, silicon-carbon merging, and virtual reality. They portray distinct visions of user interfaces for computer-based communication, e.g., the use of direct neural-system implants, controlled hallucinations, and hay-wired virtual cyber-worlds. In these scenarios, the user interface becomes a fantastical interplay of dramatic personae, real and imagined, together with signs and symbols in three-dimensional, full-media environments.

Leading science fiction authors Bruce Sterling, Michael Swanwick, and Verner Vinge bring powerful visions about the impact of these new technologies and how we should evaluate their impact. Notable CHI persona, Eliot Soloway, will praise, denounce, and debate their views. Sci-Fi@CHI 92 was one of the most memorable and popular CHI events ever held. The panelists were provocative, opinionated, and outrageous�and played to a packed audience. Expect the same mental fireworks, and more, for SciFi@CHI 99. Arrive early, get a good seat, and feel the heat!

Bruce Sterling has authored Schismatrix, Islands in the Net, Heavy Weather, and Holy Fire. His nonfiction writings have appeared in World Art, Details, and Wired, and he is a popular speaker about high technology.

Michael Swanwick, the author of In the Drift, Vacuum Flowers, Griffin's Egg, Stations of the Tide, The Iron Dragon's Daughter, and Jack Faust, has received the Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, and World Fantasy awards.

Vernor Vinge is best known for True Names, The Peace War, and Marooned in Realtime, which were both nominated for the Hugo Award, and for A Fire Upon the Deep, which won the Hugo Award. His newest novel is A Deepness in the Sky.

Panel discussant Professor Elliot Soloway researches, publishes, and develops products that explore the future of computers and education. He teaches at the University of Michigan, College of Engineering, School of Education, and School of Information.

Panel moderator Aaron Marcus of Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. has worked with Apple, AT&T, DARPA, Motorola, MCC, and NCR on advanced user interface designs that are five to 15 years ahead of commercial applications.