The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design

Happily, the microcomputer world has flourished and our field has flourished along with it. Microcomputer-based expert system shells and neural network development packages abound, and other intelligent technology environments operate on personal computers. Connecting these technologies with mainstream software like spreadsheets and databases already makes life easier for people in a variety of endeavors. Connecting AI with multimedia holds great promise.

The hardware, of course, has made strides we couldn't have imagined when our first issue appeared. No longer confined to desktops, today's computers travel in our briefcases, sit in our laps, and do their work in the palms of our hands. Portable pen-based machines which recognize handwriting make interacting with a computer less cumbersome and more natural than ever before. Our new subtitle "Intelligent Solutions for Today's Computers" reflects these trends.

We start the year with articles that represent an array of intelligent technologies. We cover systems that extend our senses, judgements, and decision-making capabilities. Our Feature Article, Judith Markowitz's "Automatic Speech Recognition", introduces you to the potentially hottest technology of the 90s -- a technology starting to appear in everyday hardware. Also in the speech realm, Steve Eisenberg describes researcher Hiroaki Kitano's parallel processor-based system for translating English into Japanese ("A New Approach to Speech Translation"). Moving from speech to vision, Glenn Becker and Peter Bock present applications of ALISA, an adaptive machine vision system which learns specific tasks ("Collective Learning Systems III"). Another type of adaptive system, a neural network for recognizing errors in athletic performance, is the subject of William Sands, Barry Schultz and Daniel Paine's "Neural Nets and Gymnastics."

"Expert Systems: An Overview of the Field" John Durkin summarizes the roles that expert systems play in the real world. In this issue's installment of "Managing Expert Systems" Lyle Wilcox, Jay Liebowitz, Richard Roberds, and Ed Mahler report on the roles expert systems play in an innovative undergraduate curriculum. In the latest installment of "AI in Business and Management", Merrill Warkentin and Saeed Roohani discuss expert systems for accountants and auditors. Steven Oxman rounds out our expert system-related features with a review of the latest release of LEVEL5 OBJECT.

A software review and a book review complete this first issue of our eighth year. Seth Flanders reviews @BRAIN, the neural net development package from Talon Development Corporation. Andrew Stevenson reviews Brenda Laurel and S. Joy Mountford's The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design.

These articles and reviews show how our world is changing and how the technology is evolving. No matter how far or how fast things move ahead, however, our goal remains the same: PC AI will bring you the latest information on intelligent technology and how it solves important everyday problems -- information you can use to meet the challenges you face.

Let's have a great year.

Joseph Schmuller