Heat, fire and temperature: the industrial revolution and HCI

HCI has many challenges and internal debates (for example, where is our theory? What is the role of design in HCI? What is the relationship between research and practice? How do we make an impact?) that recur at the CHI conference and that students either ask themselves or find they are asked by others. This paper takes a historical look at this issue and describes some of the discoveries made during the industrial revolution about heat, fire and temperature (the development of thermodynamics) and how these discoveries were made. The parallels to human-computer interaction today are explored with two primary intentions:

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: CHI
• Authors: David J. Gilmore
• Keywords: CHI 2009, Human Computer Interaction, Human-computer Interaction, Internal Debates, Primary Intentions