History of Computers - Intelligent User Interfaces
Clippy[1]
Introduction
Intelligent user interfaces first appeared in the 60’s and 70’s, and became popular within academia in the 80’s. In Microsoft Office 97, Microsoft introduced its Office Assistant known as Clippy, an animated IUI designed to help users navigate the various Office programs, teach shortcuts, and assist with general formatting. [2]While most users found Clippy to be intrusive, some argue that it helped further the path to virtual assistants and A.I., as well as displayed do’s and don’ts of how to build interaction between humans and interactive programs.
Overview
The purpose of an IUI is to assist the user. What separates them from virtual personal assistant is that they are designed to only aid the user with certain programs. IUIs teach the user how to use the program(s), and can assist the user with more complex commands, such as keyboard shortcuts. The most well know IUI is Clippy, and animated paperclip introduced in Microsoft Office 97 as part of the Office Assistant program. The Office Assistants came in many forms, including a dog, a globe, a cat, and more. However, Clippy was the default. Clippy welcomed users to the program and gave tips as the user typed. A well known example is letter writing. If the user typed “Dear,” Clippy would ask if the user wanted aid with writing a letter. If the user accepts, Clippy continues to comment on heading, formatting, and other things the program did not read as correct letter formatting.[3]
Significance
The Office Assistants were not received well by most users, and were removed from all Microsoft Office Programs by Windows 7, although extensions and emulators can still be found around the internet. The Microsoft Office Assistants were a step further in human-computer relations because they failed. They showed tech companies what users didn’t want: a childish caricature to hold their hand, and helped lead to the development the sophisticated virtual personal assistants we have today.
