Over the past 10-20 years, the IT world has gone far ahead. Ways of interacting with devices have changed a lot, thus changing many aspects of life. But some industries continue to struggle against progress. And one of them is home appliance interfaces.
It can't go on like this forever, and sooner or later the manufacturers will have to start catching up.
In this article, I will consider how, from the point of view of interaction with the user, home appliances can become better today or at most in a couple of years.
I will not consider new principles of devices functioning (for example, replacement of mechanical washing machine with ultrasonic or cleaning nano-robots) at once, but I will concentrate only on interfaces of devices.
1. the technology should become easier
Let's look at the interface of a typical washing machine:
There is a set of programs, each program can still select a number of parameters (temperature, spin speed, some cloudy options, delayed start, and so on). In general, heroically scrolling through the instructions you can learn how to use your favorite program of quick washing, occasionally returning to the manual, when you need to wash something special.
At the same time, for 98% of cases of use it would be enough to use such a set of buttons:
By default, each program erases at a safe temperature. All the other elements of the interface, which are needed very rarely, in vain overload the control, making it difficult and incomprehensible.
I foresee righteous anger: "What about me in 2% of cases? For example, I need a high temperature for washing. And in general, I like to set up the program taking into account the moon phase. About this - in the next section.
2. the tool should be separated from the control interface
The problem with a typical household appliance interface is that it thoughtlessly tries to take into account all the possibilities of controlling the appliance. Even those that will be used once a year or will not be used at all. So it turns out that 2-3 necessary modes are lost among dozens of useless ones.
It is clear that it is necessary to use a principle of dynamization and to make the interface varying depending on requirements to it (as transition from push-button smartphones to touch-devices).
And there are even such attempts. For example, to build a display into the washing machine. The display, however, is built-in resistive, unimaginably low quality and small size. And the interface on it is so terrible that in a nightmare will not dream. All this leads to the fact that it becomes impossible to use the device at all.
"Well, not to build in the washing machine iPad! It is too expensive" - will object attentive reader. Correctly, it is not necessary to build in - it is not necessary. It is necessary to give the chance to operate technics from iPad, iPhone or in general from a browser window.
In fact, this is a familiar principle of MVC. In the case of washing, the model is a motor, drum, etc., the controller is a low-level controlling electronics, and the representation is a control interface, which can be carried out in a separate device.
What advantages can arise when separating the interface from the executive part. Well, first of all, it is possible to remove everything superfluous from the device itself, leaving only the most necessary (such as emergency shutdown) and frequently used (washing in 25 minutes, etc.) functions, thus simplifying the interaction with the device. That is, 98% of the operations can be started with one button from the device itself, and the remaining 2% (e.g., something with high temperature needs to be washed) - through the tablet.
Secondly, there is no need to localize the front panels of the equipment (which is usually done very curtly), as only the most basic functions will remain on them.
And, thirdly, once sold the equipment with a basic set of functions (cost reduction), you can then sell new programs to it. For example, for microwave ovens, it will be cooking programs, for laundry - cashmere washing programs, etc.
3. the technique should become more independent
Nowadays, most of the devices are trying to put all the solutions on the shoulders of the user. While various sensors have long ago started to cost a penny and can make almost any device much more independent.
For example. The microwave can determine the weight and temperature of the product it contains by choosing the power and operating time. The washing machine can determine what things are put in it (colored, dark or white), as well as the type of fabric, and then choose the appropriate washing program. Warn the fridge that it is almost empty and send pictures of what is left in it.
Of course, some attempts to do something like this are made, but only in the narrow class of "high end" technology, so they do not get widespread, which in turn hinders the development of infrastructure for such technology and inhibits its development.
Conclusion
Although digital technologies have come a long way in the last couple of decades, their application in-home appliance interfaces have frozen at the level of twenty years ago.
Partly it is connected with marketing - it is possible to make one device, and to sell it twice more expensive simply at the expense of addition in it of additional "programs", without change of everything else.
But so it will not proceed forever. And the one who will be the first to start actively introducing new technologies can tilt the amorphous market in his direction.
