Unit 2. GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

1. Make sure you are familiar with these words and phrases: interface, to interact, icons, folder, to delete, to require, considerable, to enable, device, cell phone, retail store.

2. Before you read the text below, discuss these questions:

1. What is GUI? Give your idea.

2. What are the advantages of GUI that made it so popular?

3. Can you name some computer systems that use GUI?

Graphical User Interface

Most modern computers have a Graphical User Interface. (The interface is the connection between the user and the computer). GUI, sometimes pronounced /`gu:i/, is a type of interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation.

We can point out the following types of GUI:

• simple: standard screen forms and standard user interface elements provided by the subsystem of the GUI;

• true graphics, two-dimensional: non-standard interface elements and original metaphors realized by the own resources of the application or extraneous library;

• three-dimensional.

The most common type of GUI uses a WIMP system. WIMP stand for Window, Icon, Menu (or Mouse), Pointer (or Pull-down/Pop-up menu).

Window. A window is an area of the computer screen where you can see the contents of a folder, a file or a program. Some systems allow several windows on the screen at the same time and windows can overlap each other. The window on the top is the one which “active”, the one in use.

Icons are small pictures on the screen. They represent programs, folders, or files. For example, the Recycle Bin icon represents a program for deleting and restoring files. Most systems have a special area of the screen on which icons appear. By moving the pointer to the icon and pressing a mouse button, you can execute a command or convert the icon into a window. You can also move the icons around the display screen as if they were real objects on your desk.

Menus give the user a list of choices. You operate the menu by pressing and releasing one or more buttons on the mouse.

The pointer is the arrow you use to select icons or to choose options from a menu. You move the pointer across the screen with the mouse. Then you click a button on the mouse to use the object selected by the pointer.

The first graphical user interface was designed by Xerox Corporation`s Paolo Alto Research Center in 1970s, but it was not until 1980s and the emergence of the Apple Macintosh that graphical user interface became popular. One reason for their slow acceptance was the fact that they require considerable CPU power and a high-quality monitor, which were prohibitively expensive.

New developments are often designed to make something easier. A GUI lets you point to icons and click a mouse button to execute a task. A GUI allows to use a computer without knowing any operating system commands. The X Window System enables Unix-based computers to have a graphical look and feel. Voice recognition software helps disabled users to access computers.

Cheaper and more powerful computers are making it possible to perform processor-intensive tasks on the desktop. Break-throughs in technology, such as speech recognition, are enabling new ways of interacting with computers.

It`s obvious that you won`t be ready to toss out the keyboard and mouse any time soon. Indeed, a whole cottage industry – inspired by the hyperlinked design of the World Wide Web – has sprung up to improve today`s graphical user interface. Companies are developing products that organize information graphically in more intuitive ways. XML-based formats enable users to view content, including local and network files, within a single browser interface. But it is more dramatic innovations such as speech recognition that are poised to shake interface design.

Speech will become a major component of user interfaces, and applications will be completely redesigned to incorporate speech input. Palm-size and handheld PCs, with their cramped keyboards and basic handwriting recognition, will benefit from speech technology.

Though speech recognition may never be a complete replacement for other input devices, future interfaces will offer a combination of input types, a concept known as multimodal input. A mouse is a very efficient device for desktop navigation, for example, but not for changing the style of the paragraph. By using both a mouse and speech input, a user can first point to the appropriate paragraph and then say to the computer: “Make that bold.” Of course, multimodal interfaces will involve more than just traditional input devices and speech recognition. Eventually, most PCs will also have handwriting recognition, text to speech (TTS), the ability to recognize faces or gestures, and even the ability to observe their surroundings.

A GUI may be designed for the requirements of a vertical market as application-specific graphical user interfaces. Examples of application-specific GUIs include automated teller machines (ATM), point-Of-Sale touchscreen at restaurants, self-service checkouts used in a retail store , airline self-ticketing and check-in, information kiosks in a public space, like a train station or a museum, and monitors or control screens in an embedded industrial application which employ a real time operating system (RTOS).

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.

Study the vocabulary list:

notation n– обозначение

two-dimensional adj- двумерный

extraneous adj– внешний, посторонний

overlapv– перекрывать, частично совпадать, заходить один за другой

pointer n- стрелка, указатель

arrow n– стрелка-указатель

emergence n– появление, возникновение

recognition n – признание, распознавание, узнавание

options n- опции

prohibitively adv- непомерно

disabled adj– нетрудоспособный, инвалид

break-through n– прорыв, достижение

toss out v- выбрасывать

hyperlink n- гиперссылка

poise v– зд.:статьпричиной

incorporate v- включать

palm-sized adj– размеромсладонь

bold adj– жирный (шрифт)

embedded adj– встроенный, включенный

1. Practice reading the following words and collocations.

a) Recycle, area, appear, execute, release, Xerox, research, emergence, acceptance, prohibiting, disabled, break-through, hyperlinked, incorporate, multimodal, surrounding, automobile.

b) Visual indicators; secondary notation; extraneous library; two-dimensional, three-dimensional; prohibitively expensive; speech recognition; major component; cramped keyboards; multimodal input; appropriate paragraph; slow acceptance.

c) Through graphical icons; typed command labels; considerable CPU power; high-quality monitor; perform processor-intensive tasks; whole cottage industry; recognize faces or gestures; automated-teller machines; embedded industrial application; handheld game systems.

2. Find in the text English equivalents for the following:

Позволяют пользователям взаимодействовать с; программа для удаления файлов; просматривать содержание (контент); монитор высокого качества; основная составляющая; распознавание по голосу; распознавание по подчерку; осуществить задачу; свернуть иконку; регистрация в аэропорту, операционная система реального времени; эффективное устройство.

3. Give the most suitable Russian equivalents for the following expressions:

Opposed to text-based interfaces; to perform processor-intensive tasks; to shake interface design; will benefit from speech technology; inspired by the hyperlinked design; multimodal input; stand for;to toss out the keyboard; embedded industrial application; self-service checkouts; original metaphors; considerable CPU power; windows can overlap each other; a whole cottage industry.

4.Match the following words and phrases to make complete expressions from the text:

electronic

extraneous

research

hyperlinked

cramped

high-quality

dramatic

voice

handheld

airline

cell

monitor

recognition

innovations

keyboards

PCs

design

self-ticketing

devices

library

center

phones

Typed

Graphical

considerable

click

automated

the latest

in more

incorporate

embedded

a mouse

cell

intuitive

industrial

CPU

command

user

speech

teller

power

machines

input

ways

interface

button

phones

application

labels

5. Match the following words with their synonyms in the brackets: to design, to select, disabled, replacement, ability, to interact, to employ, access, toss out ( to choose, throw away, cripple, capacity, to project, substitution, admittance, to cooperate, to use)

6. Consult your dictionary and give the Russian equivalents for the following:

Interface: user interface, graphical user interface, network interface card, data interface, graphic interface, serial interface, optical interface, common gateway interface, command line interface, management interface

Menu: main menu, menu bar, set menu, drop down menu, start menu, context menu, menu of the day, menu item, menu button, shortcut menu.

User: user name, user friendly, user interface, end user, user defined, user-friendly, user profile, user data, user account, graphical user interface.

Screen: touch screen, the screen, computer screen, flat screen, screen size, screen door, screen capture,big screen, screen printing, screen resolution

Recognition: pattern recognition, speech recognition, brand recognition, voice recognition, optical character recognition, beyond recognition, in recognition, in recognition of, handwriting recognition, recognition at a glance

7. Match the following words and phrases with the correct definition from the list below:

Handheld, icon, check-in, convert, window, three-dimensional, recognition, stand for, screen

1. a symbol or graphic representation on a screen of a program, option, or window, especially one of several for selection.

2. cause to change in form, character, or function.

3. the act of reporting one's presence and registering, typically at an airport or hotel.

4. designed to be held in the hand.

5. the action or process of recognizing or being recognized, in particular.

6. an area of the computer screen where you can see the contents of a folder or a file.

7. a flat panel or area on an electronic device such as a television, computer, or smartphone, on which images and data are displayed.

8. intend to convey, indicate, or refer to (a particular thing or notion)

9. having or appearing to have length, breadth, and depth.

8. Complete the sentences with the words from the box. Use each word only once

menus keyboard bold interact graphical systems user

• Linux offers …………. user interfaces with high resolution, multiple windows and menus

• We'll make it as easy as possible by providing you with an online, automatic metadata generator that has pull-down ………. to select headings from a subject tree and support from ISL staff.

• Difficult words and phrases are usually highlighted in ….. .

• With the invention of the transportable ………………, pianists may own their keyboards , which can be installed in any piano of a given make and model.

• Input devices may consist of computer mice, keyboards , pixels of one or more video cameras, wearable computer devices, or other sensors with which users can ……….. .

• In some computer …………., such as the original implementation of Microsoft Windows and the Mac OS, the GUI is integrated into the kernel.

• Windows has modified its ………….. interface, almost every time a new major version of Windows is released.

9. Translate into Russian.

1. They use a natural interface which enables users to highlight, scribble notes, bookmark and annotate. 2. One of Linux's greatest assets is its ability to add value to legacy technology investments by connecting and interfacing with old equipment or software. 3. It also said that although the sales will come from services such as mobile phone graphics, icons , screen savers and novelty voice mail, it is ringtones that will dominate.4. I accidentally hit the tiny delete key instead of backspace. 5. As numbers added up they were inputted into computer databases - spewing out vote by ballot box after ballot box and available for all to see on the wall behind the tally centre through a projector aid. 6. Control sets are grouped onto floating windows, and are accessed by collapsible pull-downs. 7. In another embodiment, a cursor is displayed on a touch screen at a location that is offset from the contact area between a finger and the screen. 8. While technically a graphical user interface is not an operating system service, incorporating support for one into the operating system kernel can allow the GUI to be more responsive by reducing the number of context switches required for the GUI perform its output functions.9. In some computers, such as the original implementation of Microsoft Windows and the Mac OS, the GUI is integrated into the kernel.10. Graphical user interface evolve over time.

10. Answer the questions:

1. What types of GUI can you point out?

2. What are the components of a WIMP system?

3. What is the function of the pointer?

4. When and where was the first GUI designed?

5. What was the main reason for the slow acceptance of graphical user interface initially?

6. Why is voice recognition so important? What kind of people are prone to use it.

7. Which innovations will happen in future when a GUI will be redesigned?

8. In what spheres will anapplication-specific GUI be used?

11. Say if the statements are true or false.

1. The most common type of GUI uses a WIMP system.

2. Recycle Bin icon represents a program for editing files.

3. The pointer is a small picture on the screen.

4. Voice recognition software helps disabled to access computer.

5. Automated-teller machines are examples of application-specific GUIs.

6. Speech is a major component of user interfaces nowadays.

7. Newer automobiles use GUIs in their navigation systems

12. Say what you have learnt from the text about

1. Emergence of GUI

2. Components and types of GUI

3. Innovations that ease our life

13. Read and continue the following conversation:

-Why do you use a GUI for your application?

- Because the aim of a GUI is to provide an interface that is easy to learn and easy to use.

- Is it the only reason? What other advantages does a GUI have?

- The GUI encourages users to concentrate on their tasks, rather than on the functions provided by the application. A GUI is intuitive and encourages users to experiment and explore.

14. Translate into English.

1. Коммерческое воплощение концепция GUI получила с 1984 года в продуктах корпорации AppleComputer. 2. Графический интерфейс является «дружелюбным» для пользователей, которые начали знакомство с компьютером с графического интерфейса. В программах обработки графики он, зачастую, является единственно возможным. 3. Идея пользовательского графического интерфейса в том, чтобы выполнив визуальную задачу получить необходимый результат, например, нажав на ссылку, чтобы открыть новую страницу. 4. Мы помогаем нашим пользователям метафорами и ассоциациями (например, значок корзины), придерживаясь при этом стандартов веб-дизайна. 5. Природный пользовательский интерфейс является эволюцией, которую мы можем наблюдать в настоящее время. Природный интерфейс уже используется сегодня, хотя и не так часто, и он не используется в стандартной веб-среде. Но это всего лишь вопрос времени, когда интеграция естественного взаимодействия станет более заметной. 6. Ключевым элементом в природном пользовательском интерфейсе будет прямое взаимодействие. Пользователям нравится ощущать, что они непосредственно взаимодействуют с экраном (использование жестов).7. Чаще всего элементы интерфейса в GUI реализованы на основе метафор и отображают их назначение и свойства, что облегчает понимание и освоение программ неподготовленными пользователями. 8. В 1973 году в лаборатории Xerox PARC собрали молодых учёных и дали свободу исследований. В результате, кроме всего прочего, на свет появляется концепция графического интерфейса WIMP(Windows, Icons, Menus, Point-n-Click) и в рамках этой концепции создаётся компьютер Alto. Он не был выпущен как коммерческий продукт, но широко использовался на фирме как корпоративный Xeroxинструмент.В настоящее время GUI является стандартной составляющей большинства доступных на рынке операционных систем и приложений. Примеры систем, использующих GUI: Mac OS, GEM, Atari,TOS, MicrosoftWindows, Solaris, GNU/Linux, BeOS, Android, iOS, Bada, MeeGo.

15.Work in pairs.

Discuss the future of GUI in the group. Handwriting recognition, the ability to recognize faces, voice recognition. What other innovations will we face? Which ones will be the most useful? Enumerate the drawbacks and benefits of these developments. Use the patterns given below in your discussion:

What are you talking about?

Let's clear it up

I have no idea

It's new to me

I wish I knew

I stand my ground

16.Writing

Write on the following topic: “What is interface? Different types of interface.”

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