Learning from SF movies

   
▲ Kim Jin-woo

(Prof., Dept. of Business Admin.)
EVER IMAGINED having a relationship with computers? Looking back on modern everyday life, the object that many people interact with most often is not a live person, but an inanimate, immobile computer. Undeniably, computers have become the most important creation in modern society. To investigate this new kind of relationship between normal people and these ubiquitous computers, the study of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) was born.
20 years since its inception, as of yet, neither a department nor research center of HCI exists in Yonsei Univ. However, professor Kim Jin-woo (Dept. of Business Admin.) is offering Yonseians a valuable opportunity to get a glimpse of HCI. His "Introduction to Human Computer Interaction" class aims to teach basic elements of HCI through sci-fi movies including "Star Trek", "Minority Report", "The Matrix" and "Bicentennial Man". The class attempts to learn the ideal human computer relationship from SF movies and to invent a computer system that would deliver the optimum experience to its users. For that reason, the main question the professor throws out to students is: "How can we invent fun and easy-to-use computer systems like those shown in SF movies?"
All students are recommended to watch an assigned SF movie before class for later discussion and group presentations. While one group gives an in-depth presentation on the connection between the movies and academic topics of HCI, the rest of the students prepare for discussions and hand in short papers that summarize their opinions of the movies. They all refer to the textbook named "Human Computer Interaction" to study the basic concepts of HCI. Also, the professor encourages students to use creative tools like plays, poems and cartoons for their assignments. Since the class is centered on students' activities, the professor's lecture is not the main class activity, but rather a supplement to students?opinions.
A class participant, Yi Ye-nah (Jr., Dept. of Human Environment and Design) states, "This summer, I worked at Samsung Electronics as a design membership scholar, learning about graphic design and digital content, including computers. While studying the commercial part of computers, I always felt that I was ignorant about the more fundamental and humanitarian part. So, I decided to take this class to understand the basics of the relationship between humans and computers and later use it to create better designs."
In the near future, computers are predicted to develop into robots that engage in the human emotional process. A new kind of interaction between humans and computers will preside over our future life. For Yonseians, the class "Introduction to HCI" will help prepare for this next era.
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