Graphical User Interface (GUI) (IPA: /ˈɡuːiː/) is a type of user interface which allows people to interact with electronic devices like computers, hand held devices( Mp3 Players, Portable Media Players, Gaming devices), household appliances and office equipment. The user interface (or Human Computer Interface) is the aggregate of means by which people&mdash the users '&mdash interact with the System Human–computer interaction or HCI is the study of interaction between people ( users and Computers It is often regarded as the intersection of As opposed to traditional interfaces, it presents graphical icons, visual indicators or special graphical elements called "widgets". In computer programming a widget (or control) is an element of a Graphical user interface (GUI that displays an information arrangement changeable by the user Often the icons are used in conjunction with text, labels or text navigation to fully represent the information and actions available to a user. But instead of offering only text menus, or requiring typed commands, the actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements. In Computing and Telecommunications a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a Computer or Communications system. Direct manipulation is a Human-computer interaction style which involves continuous representation of objects of interest and rapid reversible incremental actions and [1]
The term GUI is historically restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens with display resolutions capable of describing generic information, in the tradition of the computer science research at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) (formerly Xerox PARC and still a subsidiary of Xerox). The display resolution of a Digital television or Computer display typically refers to the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their PARC (Palo Alto Research Center Inc formerly Xerox PARC, is a Research and development company in Palo Alto California that began as a division of Xerox Corporation ( (name ˈziːrɒks is a global document management company which manufactures and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction The term GUI earlier might have been applicable to other high-resolution types of interfaces that are non-generic, such as videogames, or not restricted to flat screens, like volumetric displays. The user interface (or Human Computer Interface) is the aggregate of means by which people&mdash the users '&mdash interact with the System A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. A volumetric display device is a graphical Display device that forms a visual representation of an object in three physical dimensions, as opposed to the planar image [2]
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History
Precursors
The precursor to GUIs was invented by researchers at the Stanford Research Institute, led by Douglas Engelbart. The Graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer has over the last four decades a steady history of incremental SRI International, based in the United States is one of the world's largest contract Research institutes. Dr Douglas C Engelbart (born January 30 1925 is an American Inventor. They developed the use of text-based hyperlinks manipulated with a mouse for the On-Line System. In computing a hyperlink is a Reference or Navigation element in a Document to another Section of the same document or to another In Computing, a mouse (plural mice, mouse devices, or mouses) NLS, or the "oN-Line System" was a revolutionary Computer collaboration system designed by Douglas Engelbart and the researchers The concept of hyperlinks was further refined and extended to graphics by researchers at Xerox PARC, who went beyond text-based hyperlinks and used a GUI as the primary interface for the Xerox Alto computer. PARC (Palo Alto Research Center Inc formerly Xerox PARC, is a Research and development company in Palo Alto California that began as a division of The Xerox Alto was an early Personal computer developed at Xerox PARC in 1973. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. Most modern general-purpose GUIs are derived from this system. As a result, some people call this class of interface a PARC User Interface (PUI) (note that PUI is also an acronym for perceptual user interface).
Ivan Sutherland developed a pointer-based system called Sketchpad in 1963. Ivan Edward Sutherland (born 1938 in Hastings, Nebraska) is an American Computer scientist and Internet pioneer Sketchpad (aka Robot Draftsman was a revolutionary computer program written by Ivan Sutherland in 1963 in the course of his PhD thesis for which he received the Turing It used a light-pen to guide the creation and manipulation of objects in engineering drawings.
PARC User Interface
The PARC User Interface consists of graphical widgets (often provided by widget toolkit libraries) such as windows, menus, radio buttons, check boxes and icons. A widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of widgets for use in designing applications with Graphical user interfaces (GUIs In Computing, a window is a visual area usually rectangular in shape containing some kind of User interface, displaying the output of and allowing input for one In Computing and Telecommunications a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a Computer or Communications system. A radio button or option button is a type of Graphical user interface widget that allows the user to choose one of a predefined set of options In Computing, a check box ( checkbox, tickbox, or tick box) is a Graphical user interface On Computer displays, a computer icon is a small Pictogram. Icons have been used to supplement the normal alphanumerics of the computer The PARC User Interface employs a pointing device in addition to a keyboard. A pointing device is an Input interface (specifically a Human interface device) that allows a user to input spatial (ie continuous and multi-dimensional data These aspects can be emphasized by using the alternative acronym WIMP, which stands for Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointing device. In Human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for " window, icon, menu, Pointing device " denoting a style of interaction A pointing device is an Input interface (specifically a Human interface device) that allows a user to input spatial (ie continuous and multi-dimensional data
Evolution
Following PARC the first GUI-centric computer operating model was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System in 1981. A workstation, such as a Unix workstation, RISC workstation or Engineering workstation, is a high-end Microcomputer The Star Workstation, officially known as the Xerox 8010 Information System, was introduced [1]
The GUIs familiar to most people today are Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and the X Window System interfaces. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Mac OS X (mæk oʊ ɛs tɛn is a line of computer Operating systems developed marketed and sold by Apple Inc, the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently Apple, IBM and Microsoft used many of Xerox's ideas to develop IBMs Common User Access specifications that formed the basis of the user interface found in Microsoft Windows, IBM OS/2 Presentation Manager, and the Unix Motif toolkit and window manager. Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer Common User Access ( CUA) is a standard for User interfaces to Operating systems and Computer programs It was developed by IBM and first Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. OS/2 is a computer Operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively Presentation Manager (PM is the graphical user interface ( GUI) that IBM and Microsoft introduced in version 1 Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX, sometimes also written as Unix with Small caps) is a computer In computing Motif refers to both a Graphical user interface (GUI specification and the Widget toolkit for building applications that follow that specification A window manager is Computer software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a Windowing system in a Graphical user interface These ideas evolved to create the interface found in current versions of the Windows operating system, as well as in Mac OS X and various desktop environments for Unix-like systems. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination In graphical computing a desktop environment ( DE) commonly refers to a style of Graphical user interface (GUI that is based on the Desktop metaphor which A Unix-like (sometimes shortened to *nix) Operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system while not necessarily conforming Thus most current GUIs have largely common idioms.
Components
A GUI uses a combination of technologies and devices to provide a platform the user can interact with, for the tasks of gathering and producing information. Graphical user interfaces, also known as GUIs make it easier for people with little computer skills to work with and use computer software The most common combination in GUIs is the WIMP paradigm. In Human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for " window, icon, menu, Pointing device " denoting a style of interaction
- Further information: WIMP
This style of interaction uses a physical input device to control the position of a cursor and presents information organized in windows and represented with icons. An input device is any Peripheral (piece of Computer hardware equipment used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system (such as a In computing a cursor is an indicator used to show the position on a Computer monitor or other Display device that will respond to input from a text input or Available commands are compiled together in menus and actioned through the pointing device. A window manager facilitates the interactions between windows, applications, and the windowing system. A window manager is Computer software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a Windowing system in a Graphical user interface A windowing system (or window system) is a component of a Graphical user interface (GUI and more specifically of a Desktop environment, which supports The windowing system handles hardware devices such as pointing devices and graphics hardware, as well as the positioning of the cursor. A windowing system (or window system) is a component of a Graphical user interface (GUI and more specifically of a Desktop environment, which supports
- Further information: Window manager
In personal computers all these elements are modelled through a desktop metaphor, to produce a simulation called a desktop environment in which the display represents a desktop, upon which documents and folders of documents can be placed. A window manager is Computer software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a Windowing system in a Graphical user interface A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated The desktop metaphor is an Interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by Graphical user interfaces to help users more easily interact with the In graphical computing a desktop environment ( DE) commonly refers to a style of Graphical user interface (GUI that is based on the Desktop metaphor which Window managers and other software combine to simulate the desktop environment with varying degrees of realism. A window manager is Computer software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a Windowing system in a Graphical user interface
- Further information: Desktop environment
Post-WIMP Interfaces
Smaller mobile devices such as PDAs and smartphones typically use the WIMP elements with different unifying metaphors, due to constraints in space and available input devices. In graphical computing a desktop environment ( DE) commonly refers to a style of Graphical user interface (GUI that is based on the Desktop metaphor which Post-WIMP refers to work on user interfaces mostly Graphical user interfaces, which attempt to go beyond the paradigm of windows icons menus and a pointing device i A smartphone is a Mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone often with PC -like functionality Applications for which WIMP is not well suited may use newer interaction techniques, collectively named as post-WIMP user interfaces. Post-WIMP refers to work on user interfaces mostly Graphical user interfaces, which attempt to go beyond the paradigm of windows icons menus and a pointing device i [3]
Some touch-screen-based devices such as Apple's iPhone currently use post-WIMP styles of interaction. The iPhone is an internet-connected Multimedia Smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc Post-WIMP refers to work on user interfaces mostly Graphical user interfaces, which attempt to go beyond the paradigm of windows icons menus and a pointing device i The iPhone's use of more than one finger in contact with the screen allows actions such as pinching and rotating, which are not supported by a single pointer and mouse. The iPhone is an internet-connected Multimedia Smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc [4]
A class of GUIs sometimes referred to as post-WIMP include 3D compositing window manager such as Compiz, Desktop Window Manager, and LG3D. Post-WIMP refers to work on user interfaces mostly Graphical user interfaces, which attempt to go beyond the paradigm of windows icons menus and a pointing device i A Compositing window manager is a component of a computer's Graphical user interface that draws windows and/or their borders Compiz is one of the first Compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast Compositing desktop Desktop Window Manager ( DWM, previously Desktop Compositing Engine or DCE) is a Compositing window manager, introduced with Windows Vista Some post-WIMP interfaces may be better suited for applications which model immmersive 3D environments, such as Google Earth. Google Earth is a Virtual globe program that was originally called Earth Viewer and was created by Keyhole Inc, a company acquired by Google in 2004 [5]
User Interface and Interaction Design
Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of GUI is an important part of software application programming. User interface design or user interface engineering is the design of Computers Appliances machines mobile communication devices, Software Application software is a subclass of Computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a task that the user wishes to perform Its goal is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored program, a design discipline known as usability. Computer programs (also software programs, or just programs) are instructions for a Computer. Techniques of user-centered design are used to ensure that the visual language introduced in the design is well tailored to the tasks it must perform. In broad terms user-centered design (UCD is a Design philosophy and a process in which the needs wants and limitations of the end user of an interface or
Typically, the user interacts with information by manipulating visual widgets that allow for interactions appropriate to the kind of data they hold. In computer programming a widget (or control) is an element of a Graphical user interface (GUI that displays an information arrangement changeable by the user The widgets of a well-designed interface are selected to support the actions necessary to achieve the goals of the user. A Model-view-controller allows for a flexible structure in which the interface is independent from and indirectly linked to application functionality, so the GUI can be easily customized. Model-view-controller ( MVC) is an architectural pattern used in Software engineering. This allows the user to select or design a different skin at will, and eases the designer's work to change the interface as the user needs evolve. In Computing, skins may be associated with themes as custom graphical appearances ( GUIs) that can be applied to certain software and Nevertheless, good user interface design relates to the user, not the system architecture.
The visible graphical interface features of an application are sometimes referred to as "chrome". [2] Larger widgets, such as windows, usually provide a frame or container for the main presentation content such as a web page, email message or drawing. Smaller ones usually act as a user-input tool.
A GUI may be designed for the rigorous requirements of a vertical market. A vertical market is a group of similar businesses and Customers which engage in trade based on specific and specialized needs This is known as an "application specific graphical user interface. " Examples of an application specific GUI are:
- Touchscreen point of sale software used by waitstaff in a busy restaurant
- Self-service checkouts used in a retail store
- Automated teller machines (ATM)
- Airline self-ticketing and check-in
- Information kiosks in a public space, like a train station or a museum
- Monitors or control screens in an embedded industrial application which employ a real time operating system (RTOS). A real-time operating system ( RTOS; generally pronounced as "are-toss" is a multitasking Operating system intended for real-time
The latest cell phones and handheld game systems also employ application specific touchscreen GUIs. Newer automobiles use GUIs in their navigation systems and touch screen multimedia centers.
Comparison to other interfaces
Command line interfaces
GUIs were introduced in reaction to the steep learning curve of command line interfaces (CLI), which require commands to be typed on the keyboard. The term learning curve refers to the graphical relation between the amount of Learning and the time it takes to learn In Computing, a keyboard is an Input device partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys Since the commands available in command line interfaces can be numerous, complicated operations can be completed using a short sequence of words and symbols. This allows for greater efficiency and productivity once many commands are learned, but reaching this level takes some time because the command words are not easily discoverable. WIMPs ("window, icon, menu, pointing device"), on the other hand, present the user with numerous widgets that represent and can trigger some of the system's available commands. In Human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for " window, icon, menu, Pointing device " denoting a style of interaction In computer programming a widget (or control) is an element of a Graphical user interface (GUI that displays an information arrangement changeable by the user
WIMPs extensively use modes as the meaning of all keys and clicks on specific positions on the screen are redefined all the time. In User interface design a mode is a distinct setting within a computer program or any physical machine interface in which the same user input will produce perceived different Command line interfaces use modes only in limited forms, such as the current directory and environment variables.
Most modern operating systems provide both a GUI and some level of a CLI, although the GUIs usually receive more attention. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination The GUI is usually WIMP-based, although occasionally other metaphors surface, such as those used in Microsoft Bob, 3dwm or File System Visualizer (FSV). Microsoft Bob was a Microsoft Software product released in March 1995, which provided a new nontechnical interface to Desktop computing File System Visualizer, also known as fsv is a 3D file browser using OpenGL, created by Daniel Richard G
Applications may also provide both interfaces, and when they do the GUI is usually a WIMP wrapper around the command-line version. This is especially common with applications designed for Unix-like operating systems. A Unix-like (sometimes shortened to *nix) Operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system while not necessarily conforming The latter used to be implemented first because it allowed the developers to focus exclusively on their product's functionality without bothering about interface details such as designing icons and placing buttons. Designing programs this way also allows users to run the program non-interactively, such as in a shell script. A shell script is a script written for the shell, or Command line interpreter, of an Operating system.
Text user interfaces
Text user interfaces (TUI) share with GUIs their use of the entire screen area and exposure of available commands through widgets like form entry and menus. TUI short for Text User Interface or Textual User Interface (and sometimes Terminal User Interface) is a Retronym that was coined sometime However, TUIs only use text and symbols available on a typical text terminal, while GUIs typically use high resolution graphics modes. This allows the GUI to present more detailed information and fine-grained direct manipulation.
Three-dimensional user interfaces
For typical computer displays, three-dimensional is a misnomer—their displays are two-dimensional. Three-dimensional images are projected on them in two dimensions. Since this technique has been in use for many years, the recent use of the term three-dimensional must be considered a declaration by equipment marketers that the speed of three dimension to two dimension projection is adequate to use in standard GUIs.
Motivation
Three-dimensional GUIs are quite common in science fiction literature and movies, such as in Jurassic Park, which features Silicon Graphics' three-dimensional file manager, "File system navigator", an actual file manager that never got much widespread use as the user interface for a Unix computer. Jurassic Park is a 1993 Science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel of the same name by Michael Silicon Graphics Inc (commonly initialised to SGI, historically sometimes referred to as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) is a company In fiction, three-dimensional user interfaces are often immersible environments like William Gibson's Cyberspace or Neal Stephenson's Metaverse. Cyberspace &mdash from the Greek el Κυβερνήτης (el kybernētēs steersman governor pilot or rudder &mdash is the global domain of electro-magnetics accessed The Metaverse is a Virtual world, described in Neal Stephenson 's 1992 Science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans as avatars
Three-dimensional graphics are currently mostly used in computer games, art and computer-aided design (CAD). There have been several attempts at making three-dimensional desktop environments like Sun's Project Looking Glass or SphereXP from Sphere Inc. Project Looking Glass is a Free software project under the GPL to create an innovative 3D Desktop environment for Linux, Solaris A three-dimensional computing environment could possibly be used for collaborative work. For example, scientists could study three-dimensional models of molecules in a virtual reality environment, or engineers could work on assembling a three-dimensional model of an airplane. In Chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable electrically neutral group of at least two Atoms in a definite arrangement held together by This is a goal of the Croquet project and Project Looking Glass. The Croquet Project is an International effort to promote the continued development of Croquet a free software platform and a [3]
Technologies
The use of three-dimensional graphics has become increasingly common in mainstream operating systems, but mainly been confined to creating attractive interfaces—eye candy—rather than for functional purposes only possible using three dimensions. For example, user switching is represented by rotating a cube whose faces are each user's workspace, and window management is represented in the form of Exposé on Mac OS X, or via a Rolodex-style flipping mechanism in Windows Vista (see Windows Flip 3D). Exposé is a feature of the Mac OS X Operating system. First previewed on 23 June 2003 at the Worldwide Developers Conference Mac OS X (mæk oʊ ɛs tɛn is a line of computer Operating systems developed marketed and sold by Apple Inc, the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently A Rolodex is a rotating file device used to store business contact information (the name is a Portmanteau word of Rol ling and In' dex') currently manufactured Windows Vista (ˈvɪstə is a line of Operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and business desktops Windows Vista (formerly codenamed Longhorn) has many new features compared with previous Microsoft Windows versions covering most aspects of the operating In both cases, the operating system transforms windows on-the-fly while continuing to update the content of those windows.
Interfaces for the X Window System have also implemented advanced three-dimensional user interfaces through compositing window managers such as Beryl and Compiz using the AIGLX or XGL architectures, allowing for the usage of OpenGL to animate the user's interactions with the desktop. A Compositing window manager is a component of a computer's Graphical user interface that draws windows and/or their borders Beryl was a Compositing window manager for the X Window System which forked from Compiz in September 2006 and was re-merged in 2007 under the Compiz is one of the first Compositing window managers for the X Window System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast Compositing desktop Accelerated Indirect GLX (" AIGLX " is an Open source project founded by Red Hat and the Fedora community to allow accelerated Xgl is an X server architecture designed to take advantage of modern graphics cards via their OpenGL drivers layered
Another branch in the three-dimensional desktop environment is the three-dimensional GUIs that take the desktop metaphor a step further, like the BumpTop, where a user can manipulate documents and windows as if they were "real world" documents, with realistic movement and physics. BumpTop is a prototype Graphical user interface, designed to enhance traditional Computer desktop functionality by more closely supporting the normal behavior of a
The Zooming User Interface (ZUI) is a related technology that promises to deliver the representation benefits of 3D environments without their usability drawbacks of orientation problems and hidden objects. In Computing, a zooming user interface or zoomable user unterface ( ZUI, pronounced zoo-ee is a graphical environment where users can change the It is a logical advancement on the GUI, blending some three-dimensional movement with two-dimensional or "2.5D" vector objects. 3D computer graphics (in contrast to 2D computer graphics) are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer 2D computer graphics is the Computer -based generation of Digital images mdashmostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models text and digital 25D (two-and-a-half Dimensional is an informal term used to describe visual phenomena which are considered "between" 2D and 3D
See also
References
External links
- Graphical User Interface Gallery, screenshots of various GUIs
- Marcin Wichary's GUIdebook, Graphical User Interface gallery: over 5500 screenshots of GUI, application and icon history
- The Real History of the GUI by Mike Tuck
- A History of the GUI by Jeremy Reimer of Ars Technica
Dictionary
graphical user interface
-noun
- (computing) A type of user interface which allows people to interact with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulation of graphical images and widgets in addition to text. Abbreviation: GUI.
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