If we think of humans as interfaces, then this will give rise to new concepts about work: MITSUO ISO

January 21, 2015

This is a conversation with animator and screenwriter Mitsuo Iso about the way people will work in the future, conducted by Ricoh researcher Kenichiro Saisho (Part 1 of 3). Iso and Saisho discussed advancements in interfaces, as well as jobs and the office environment of the future, as imagined by Iso. When these two men's ideas come together, the future at which these ignited imaginations arrive is...

The office of the future, in which intelligences other than humans will work

• Saisho：

  Currently, I am involved in the development of human-machine interface (HMI) systems, including head-up displays (HUDs) that present virtual images on automobile windshields. As my specialty, I am researching "new ways of interaction between humans and machines, and between humans and data."

• Iso：

  That's fascinating. (Laughs) Even just being someone who used the display, I felt this premonition that humans and machines will work together—on just a single interface or device—on new jobs and tasks as they begin to blend, one into the other, going in both directions.

• Saisho：

  HMI is right on the edge of where humans and machines input and output data and actions. In an automobile, HMIs include such things as the odometer, the speedometer, and the navigation system. We are pursuing advancements in display technologies—enlargement and increased image resolution. But we are equally pursuing designs that involve the eyes and the brain, while we measure human reactions in terms of questions such as "How does one feel when one sees that image?" and "What kind of behavior does that cause?"

• Iso：

  Interfaces have made dramatic progress over the past few decades. But I think that, actually, the human body and language are also types of interfaces. Therefore, I have this fantasy that, if we specialize our bodies and language for the purpose of using them as interfaces, we will discover some new concept. Then if we let that concept go on to develop as it would naturally, perhaps we will be living in a world in which we can converse with all sorts of things.

• Saisho：

  The "Avatar Meeting" that you spoke about would be an example of this, wouldn't it, Mr. Iso? Types of people who have not appeared in offices previously, as well as non-human intelligences, participating in actual work places—I wonder if that's an actual possibility.

• Iso：

  Those avatars would be a type of middleware (software located in between people and machines) that has been given linguistic capabilities. In my fantasy, we put this middleware on top of the "soul" of some data, or on top of humans who are poor at communication, and, by giving them the capability to use language, they might be able to act as "previously non-existent intelligences."

• Saisho：

  The intelligence of an old man might put on an avatar of a young businessperson to go to a meeting. (Laughs)

• Iso：

  Yes, that might help with the aging labor force. (Laughs) Intelligences that have not been typically well-regarded because they are handicapped by their linguistic capabilities might suddenly start spouting incisive opinions. Currently, people think that the ability to use language equals intelligence, but I feel that perhaps it is now time to separate intelligence from language.

Even if the office environment changes, humans will still have a "sense of sharing things"

• Saisho：

  In 2036, it might be perfectly ordinary to work in places other than the office. This might be a bit extreme, but as long as you can use electronic mail to send and receive information, you can work anywhere. I feel as if maybe the infrastructure that supports people who work and the way that they work has already changed—shifting, for instance, to remote conferencing systems.

• Iso：

  The phenomenon of the office landscape suddenly changing will surely continue to occur in the future. Right now, everyone has a smartphone. But, before the advent of the smartphone, I doubt anyone ever imagined the current landscape. You saw communications devices in SF movies and the like, but you didn't at all get the impression that everybody would be fiddling with them all the time like this. The copy machine is another device that changed the world's landscape.

• Saisho：

  I wonder if, for instance, we won't lose that sense of sharing things and the sharing of information that people who work together have, if our environment changes in that way. I think that when, for example, you receive a PDF file scanned from a document and the edge of the document has a coffee stain or a fold in the paper, you can receive some kind of sense data that says, "He must have been working there all night."

• Iso：

  You mean our paper-based society. In the anime industry, back in the day, we couldn't record large volumes of key frames as movies, so we flipped through them by hand. If you put a lot of spirit into the key frames, you tend to end up with a rather thick sheaf of drawings. I put too much spirit into my key frames, so the sheets all got bent. (Laughs)

• Saisho：

  With paper, that enthusiasm stays there—in a form you can see.

• Iso：

  Yes, physical material retains information. However, today's digital technology and way of doing business isn't able to handle that kind of corporeal, non-verbal information at all. This is likely a completely unexplored area for research.

• Saisho：

  In 2036, perhaps that kind of sense data will be transmitted digitally, and the whole concept of "business"—which has until now been focused on just the actual text—will undergo a transformation.