Broadening the mind: how emerging neurotechnology is reshaping HCI and interactive system design

Abstract

People are increasingly eager to know more about themselves through technology. To date, technology has primarily provided information on our physiology. Yet, with advances in wearable technology and artificial intelligence, the current advent of consumer neurotechnology will enable users to measure their cognitive activity. We see an opportunity for research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the development of these devices. Neurotechnology offers new insights into user experiences and facilitates the development of novel methods in HCI. Researchers will be able to create innovative interactive systems based on the ability to measure cognitive activity at scale in real-world settings. In this paper, we contribute a vision of how neurotechnology will transform HCI research and practice. We discuss how neurotechnology prompts a discussion about ethics, privacy, and trust. This trend highlights HCI’s crucial role in ensuring that neurotechnology is developed and utilised in ways that truly benefit people.

Keywords

• neurotechnology
• cognitive activity tracking
• cognitive personal informatics
• neuroethics
• adaptive user interfaces