Most computers are boxes. More often than not their shapes are determined by the smaller boxes they must contain; the rectangular chips and boards and the squarish monitor and storage devices. It makes sense.

Boxes are simple to design and manufacture, and very compatible with other boxes. The problem is that designing even the most wonderfully shaped block does little to integrate technology smoothly and unirritably into our lives. Consider the unhealthy posture the body assumes while working on a PC all day, wrist and hand injuries, or the abundance of cryptic products like VCRs and ATM machines. We hover over technology, scratch our heads and push buttons. It seems that the technology industry has forgotten that designed things affect experience. Instead, with each computer generation there seems to be another capitulation, another submission to the preconditions of keyboard, screen, mouse and windows. For the last six years the Engineering Design Research Center with contributing support from DARPA, has been trying to address these issues by computers, and inventing new interaction techniques for a variety of clients.

We believe technology is moving fast enough to catch up to the things people say they really want to do with it. And despite standards and numerous cases of technology lock-in there are opportunities to make computers more sympathetic, and maybe even poetic extensions of our lives. John Stivoric (right) is the Head of the Interaction Design Studio at ICES. He has been working with ICES, formerly the EDRC, for 7 years. During this time he has consulted with national and local companies, including Boeing, Intel, Digital, Daimler-Benz, The Robotics Institute and DARPA. John is also an Adjunct Faculty member in Carnegie Mellon's School of Design. He received his BFA in Industrial Design from Carnegie Mellon in 1993 and he received his MDes in Interaction Design from Carnegie Mellon's School of Design in 1998. Francine Gemperle (left) is a Design researcher and project leader with the Interaction Design Studio at ICES. She received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon's School of Design in 1996. Francine's interest in humanity is the driving force behind all of her design work.

Tad Hirsch is a graduate student in the interaction design program at Carnegie Mellon's School of Design. He is currently investigating interactive social spaces with the IDStudio.