Week1: A key figure and influence on Human Computer Interaction today.
February 27, 2009
Douglas Engelbart is an American inventor and pioneer of human computer interaction. His invention of the computer mouse and use the cathode-ray tube for the display of text, of graphics and of the mouse pointer (the monitor as we know it today) has revolutionized the world of computers today. He has since has help develop networked computers, hypertext, email and word processing. Douglas saw the technology in computers as the answers to the problem of dealing with the ever more complex modern world and has dedicated his life to the pursuit of developing computer technology.
Innovation
The research by Engelbart and his team laid to many innovations in computing and is now continuing in the development of an open hyperdocument system (OHS). As an intermediate step toward building the OHS, Engelbart has proposed the design for a hyperscope, a tool for browsing otherwise incompatible document types and facilitating linkages between them. The hyperscope would be built on top of the OHS’s hyperdocument architecture.
Open Hyperdocument System (OHS)
The OHS Project is developing open source tools for collaborative knowledge management, building on XML and other open standards. It is being designed to manage and create knowledge across the Internet, allowing users to package and share information for collaborative work. A scalable system meant for true international use, the OHS is being designed so that all groups and nationalities can build on top of its architecture.
More Information
This site will give you more insight into his life and in to the work he has completed in helping the human interaction with computers:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/engelbart.html
There is also another website which contains numerous videos of interviews with Douglas about his goals and achievements in computers:
http://www.invisiblerevolution.net/index-inside.html
