Introduction

This chapter introduces the field of computational interaction, and explains its long tradition of research on human interaction with technology that applies to human factors engineering, cognitive modelling, artificial intelligence and machine learning, design optimization, formal methods, and control theory. It discusses how the book as a whole is part of an argument that, embedded in an iterative design process, computational interaction design has the potential to complement human strengths and provide a means to generate inspiring and elegant designs without refuting the part played by the complicated, and uncertain behaviour of humans. The chapters in this book manifest intellectual progress in the study of computational principles of interaction, demonstrated in diverse and challenging applications areas such as input methods, interaction techniques, graphical user interfaces, information retrieval, information visualization, and graphic design.