1 - Introduction to mobile human-computer interaction

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to the academic area of mobile human-computer interaction (HCI) and it discusses the various types of mobile devices and technologies that are currently available. It talks about the component disciplines of HCI and how it is an interdisciplinary subject bringing together knowledge from different disciplines such as Psychology, Computer Science, and Sociology. HCI is defined as the study of the relationship between people and the mobile computer systems and applications that they use on a daily basis. HCI is a multidisciplinary area with various academic subjects making contributions. This is a reflection of the complicated nature of an individual's interaction with a computer system. This includes factors such as an understanding of the user and the task that the user wants to perform with the system; understanding of the design tools, software packages that are needed to achieve this; and an understanding of software engineering tools.