Mobile Human–Computer Interaction

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview on basic concepts and current research in mobile human–computer interaction (HCI) by showing where it extends the notion of interaction with stationary devices. Important differences next to basic hardware properties (size etc.) are that the corresponding devices offer instant access to the internet and are used in a variety of situations or contexts, where location information so far appears to be the primary way to assess this context. As a consequence, a couple of new research paradigms for field testing emerged, which are structured along the dimensions of scalability (number of users) and research outcomes. The majority of these studies appears to be rather exploratory, less explanatory at the moment. Possible reasons as well as future research directions are discussed.