Based on URANOS and its instantiations for human beings, integral thinking and coordination, this chapter presents a model for human-machine collaboration. Nine design principles are presented. They ensure that designing and operating human-centered systems respects human integrity in any human-machine collaboration, i.e. not harmed, or enslaved, reduced, etc. A central component of this model is the conversation between human and machine. It allows humans and machines to enter into an adaptive learning organization, a prerequisite for any mutual beneficial collaboration. Finally, a concrete use case addressing smart industrial machines operating in the context of the fourth industrial revolution is presented.
TopHuman-Centered Systems: State Of The Art
Designing an HCS is about putting humans in the center of design and system processes (Gill et al., 1993). The term “human-centered” is often mistaken for “user-centered”. User-centered design regards humans as technology users. In contrast to that, human-centered design opens the scope to also include the social and organizational context of users, system designers, engineers, and other persons affected by the system (Gasson, 2003).
This section gives an overview of three important aspects of HCSs. First, an outline of the background and related work of HCS is given. Then, Schwartz's theory of universal human values is presented in the context of HCSs. Then, human-centered design is brought to light in relation to positive emotions, such as enthusiasm. And finally, some background on bio-cost and stress as quantitative metrics is presented.
Human-Centered Approaches
Human-centered approaches began to evolve in the 1990's. They emerged from the vision of letting human beings participate in the system processes while taking into account their social and cultural contexts. K.S. Gill (1996) argued, that “human-centredness expounds an emancipatory tradition which places human needs, purpose, skill, creativity, and human potential at the centre of activities of human organisations and the design of technical systems” (p. 1). He stated that the idea of human-machine symbiosis is central in approaching human-centered design, as there will be a symbiotic relationship between humans and machines. According to M. Cooley (2008), in the context of HCS, the human handles the qualitative and subjective aspects, and the machine manages the quantitative elements of that relation. The symbiosis may encompass not only a single machine and a single human being, but could include a network of machines and human beings (Gill, 1996).
Human-centered computing (HCC) is a research discipline which deals with computer technologies and human beings, and the way they interact with each other. HCC has its roots in, among others, human-computer interaction (HCI), user-centered design and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). As mentioned by A. Jaimes et al. (2007), “HCC facilitates the design of effective computer systems that take into account personal, social, and cultural aspects and addresses issues such as information design, human-information interaction, human-computer interaction, human-human interaction, and the relationships between computing technology and art, social, and cultural issues” (p. 31). They mentioned three main characteristics of HCC: (1) the system must encounter human abilities and limitations on an individual basis; (2) it must be aware of socio-cultural issues; and (3) it must be adaptive in terms of interacting with individuals and in special situations.