Section: Overall Objectives

Computers as tools

In the early 1960s, at a time where computers were scarce, expensive, bulky and formal-scheduled machines used for automatic computations, Engelbart saw their potential as personal interactive resources. He saw them as tools, as things we would purposefully use to carry out particular tasks  [41]. Others at the same time had a different vision. They saw computers as partners, intelligent entities to whom we would delegate tasks. These two visions constitute the roots of today's predominant human-computer interaction paradigms, use and delegation. Our focus is on computer users and our work should ultimately benefit them. Our interest is not in solving the difficult problems related to machine understanding. It is not in what machines understand, but in what people can do with them. Instead of intelligent systems, we aim for systems supporting intelligent use and empowering people. We do not reject the delegation paradigm but clearly favor the one of tool use.