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Zero UI – The Screenless Future For UI/UX

April 3, 2021 |
Design, UI Design, UX Design
Zero UI

We have taken in a ton about easy to understand, user-friendly UI/UX. However, do we truly know a standard format that guarantees the success of a  mobile application design? From corporates to SMEs, everybody goes through various hit and trial measures. During this activity, a couple of applications win the heart of clients, and the rest never see the daylight. Designing a delightful UI/UX is a pain for even the most talented and skilled designers, as it’s very hard to meet constantly changing and profoundly unique requests of the millennials. As per nature’s standard, “Necessity is the mother of invention”. This is the reason for the development of the most recent UI/UX pattern called “Zero UI”.

Concept of Zero UI

Zero UI is another worldview and a part of UI design that carries a transition to Graphical User Interface by changing the manner in which users communicate and behave with devices. Mobile applications will be obsolete in a few years because of the growing use of ground-breaking innovations like the Internet of Things (IoT), an idea of associated things. IoT zeros in more on devices than applications. In this way, the tech business will begin launching devices as much of the time as we are launching a mobile application right now. This will get a huge change in the manner in which users communicate with online content. 

Zero UI communications will be more natural in contrast to screen-based as the industry is focusing more on creating potent gadgets that identify and respond as per the human voice, gesture, and context. Zero UI is a design thinking approach that accepts no or moderate UI for the progressive business application and product. 

The design and development of Zero UI are very perplexing, as it doesn’t contain visual presentation. It requires a combination of wearables, data analytics, sensors, connected everything, distributed PCs, etc. Every one of these components will be processed through logically mindful, anticipative and adaptive systems to convey the specific result that users are searching for.

The main piece of this idea is, it tends to be utilized for savvy urban cities, homes, and even ecosystem alongside home gadgets. Thus, this technology makes an enormous impact on the whole society.

Types of Interactions in Zero UI

1. Voice Recognition and Control

It’s a process in which software or gadget identifies human voice and guidance, and takes a specific action based on it. When a user poses a question or gives an instruction to the software, the tool perceives user’s question and responds to it relatively. To give an appropriate response, the system must be sufficiently smart to comprehend user’s words, phrases, and syllables. 

Designing a conversation UI needs careful user research to analyse how users construct their statements or commands. A significant challenge of voice recognition and control system is to adjust to provincial slang and dialect. The Zero UI-based system can perceive the expression and phrasing of users by understanding their intents, needs and motivations. Siri and Amazon Echo are the best examples of voice recognition.

2. Ambient

Ambient devices create a link between the physical and digital space. It works on the principle of glanceability, where there is no need to open applications and notifications. Ambient device-based interactions are connected and offer a browserless experience. Here, the devices permit users to access only needed information and details. Indeed, the existence of these devices is not so long, as they are not able to adapt to changing information needs of users and updated technologies. Chumby and Nabaztag Rabbit are the best examples of ambient interaction.

3. Haptic Feedback

Haptic Feedback aids users with vibration-based feedback. It gained popularity with the Apple Watch; users feel the vibration on their hand when a message comes in, or a notification pops up. Haptic feedback is an important part of wearable products like smartwatches and fitness trackers, since they enable users with notifications.

Sooner rather than later, it will be available with smart clothing. That said, one must avoid the overuse of haptic in order to enhance the feedback value for users. Additionally, ultrasounds and ultra-haptics will improve the sense of touch to virtual reality and Kinect style gaming.

4. Context Awareness

Contextually aware applications and gadgets ease users with more simplified digital and physical experience by predicting their needs. Such devices lessen the overall needs to interact with the settings of an app or device to provide users with what they are looking for. Popular examples of context-awareness devices are Nest Thermostat and Apple AirPods. By installing sensors into a device or fetching location data, we can design a cutting-edge contextual experience that offers more implicit interaction rather than explicit.

These are one of the most advanced types of interactions; many more are getting developed as the concept of Zero UI is still in its early days. Once the trend is adopted and easy to implement, we will have other ultra-modern devices and products which will smoothen the way users interact with apps without requiring them to touch the mobile screen.

5. Gesture-Based User Interface

It is perhaps the most natural ways of interaction. This concept was first adopted by the gaming world. Microsoft Kinect, Think Wii, and PlayStation Move are the best examples of gesture-based user interface. It permits users to assimilate more property of motions and physical space than just performing button-based commands.

 ‘Project Soli’ is a gesture control product launched by Google. It is a sensing innovation that detects touchless gesture interaction using a little radar. Gesture-based devices allow to perform the tasks and access the information without touching the screen directly.

To Conclude

Zero UI is the super-current version of artificial intelligence. Before long, Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri will turn into recollections of the valuable past of the tech world. The arrival of Zero UI has set to build mind-blowing devices or products like Google Home, Amazon Echo and Amazon Dot that enable users to experience more human-like interactions. Very soon, many breakthrough devices with outstanding capabilities of speech science, extending voice tech, ultrasound, multi-tasking, etc. will be launched. Zero UI helps in boosting the concept of a smart home at lightning speed by advancing the way you manage various home appliances and activities.

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