Non-Verbal+Comm'n

The process of designing new technologies and interactive systems is one that is undertaken very carefully and thoroughly. Obstacles, in the form of nonverbal communication, are a primary factor that drives the creativity of the production process that designers are involved in when working on a project. The designers, particularly those employed by or associated to the technology industry, are constantly attempting to out do one another's ideas by trying to come up with new and innovative solutions and practices that can overcome these obstacles. Incorporating these new innovations to the design of interactive systems and technologies can prove to be a trailblazing as well as a successful venture in several avenues such as: technology and technological research, business and business practices, trading and the global economy, military applications, and an endless array of other field and real-life applications.

Nonverbal communication can be defined as a means of using non spoken "symbols" to communicate a specific message from one source to another. A broader definition of the term nonverbal communication can be to refer to elements of the environment that communicate by virtue of people's use of them (Jandt, 122). People's interactions with technologies and interactive systems in the world today are usually one form of nonverbal communication or another. It is fair to say that a person interacting with an ATM machine is in essence performing nonverbal communication with the machine. The same can be applied to someone playing a videogame, or shopping online, or reading their e-mail. Yet another and more detailed way to define nonverbal communication is by splitting it into different categorical forms or elements, each of which translate a unique message code; that communicate by virtue of people's use of them. The following is a list of the categories including a brief explanation of each of their traits, as well as an example of how they can be incorporated into the design of certain technologies to make better use of them:

This is the term used to describe the use of our personal space. Example: Positioning one's self appropriately before being able to enter through automatic sliding doors.
 * Proxemics:**

This refers to our body movements, gestures, and facial expressions. Example: The swiping of a debit card when making a purchase.
 * Kinesics:**

This means the way in which we use our time and/or the study of timing. Example: Setting the cook time on our microwaves.
 * Chronemics:**

This itself can be de-constructed into three sub categories: Example: Setting up and making use of voice activated dialling on our cellular phones.
 * Paralanguage:**
 * Vocal characterizations, such as laughter, sighing, sobbing, shrieking, etc...
 * Vocal qualities such as intensity(loudness/softness), pitch (high/low), and extent(long, short)
 * Vocal recognizers such as "ah", "a-ha", "umm", "ooo", etc...

This is the study of touch in the context of communication. Example: Playing video games. The design of the controllers of control pads are being made more and more sensitive and responsive to our touch and the pressure we exert when pressing the buttons.
 * Haptics:**

This is the study of communication as sent and received by the eyes. Example: Using retinal scans for personal identification technologies.
 * Oculesis:**

The following is an example that shows how all(or some) of these factors can be incorporated into and directly influence the design and corresponding usage of a technology. The technology in question is that that people use to train and hone their tennis skills, the computerized tennis coach, better known as the tennis ball launcher :-

//The launcher must be positioned in a desired location so that the user himself can position himself appropraitely on the opposite side of the court (Proxemics). The user can also set the direction of the path of the ball to either train his forehand or his backhand (Kinesics). He can also set the speed of the ball when it is launch so he can adjust and train the power and accuracy of his strokes (Haptics). Also, the user has the option of setting a delay to either speed up or slow down the rate at which the balls are being launched (Chronemics).//

//__**References:**__//
>
 * Benyon, David, Phil Turner, and Susan Turner. //Designing Interactive Systems//. London: Addison-Wesley, 2005.
 * Jandt, F. //An Introduction to Intercultural Communication//. California: Sage Publications Inc., 2007
 * Information on tennis ball launcher available onlite at : http://www.sportstutor.com/tennis/tower/frame_tower.html