Multimodal Interaction for Future Control Centers: Interaction Concept and Implementation

We present an innovative multi-modal interaction concept based on a human-centered design for control centers. The applied multi-layered hardware and software architecture directly supports the users in performing their lengthy monitoring and urgent alarm handling tasks. We combine visual cues, gestural interaction, audio information, and intelligent data processing into a single, universal interface. We further realized the presented concept by a prototypical implementation, using state-of-the-art interaction technologies. Moreover, the paper critically reflects on the long-term applicability of the proposed interfaces and outlines immediate plans for their evaluation. Finally, we indicate several research challenges regarding the real-world application of the presented interaction concepts.