IoImmersive believes that the future of human computer interaction is immersion.

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The future of human computer interaction will revolve around immersion in a virtual world where one can manipulate widgets as one would move objects in the physical world.

The IoImmersive working group was formed in 2007 to provide guidance in realizing the full potential of the technological movement combining the versatility of hand motion-based computer interface with the depth of interaction made possible by three dimensional computing environments.

Two Fronts of Immersion: Hardware

Human computer immersion is occurring on the level of hardware and software simultaneously. On a hardware level, new interfaces are being built and on a software level new algorithms are being built.

The iPhone's input system exemplifies this combination by providing both a touch screen keypad, which is for most a new type of hardware interface in this context, and software algorithms that distinguish keystrokes for letters in close physical proximity on the virtual keyboard, interpret "gestures" (finger movements, as displayed to the left), and handle other multi-touch features.

Two Fronts of Immersion: Software

Continuing our discussion of immersive interaction environments let's move on to the software front.

The iPhone's software contains modifications designed to enhance and enable the functionality of hardware changes, like the touch screen. The most significant of these are gestures which convert mouse or finger actions into computational actions.

Expanding User Interaction Beyond Two Dimensions

The evolution of operating systems has been in the direction of maximizing the amount of information the user can manipulate on the desktop at any one one time.

However, for the most part, current operating systems have been confined to operating in a layered two dimensional environment. Recent additions to Microsoft's window manager offer a limited three dimensional perspective.