Recognition


 * Cognition** in the scientific circle often refers to the ability of a man-made machine that is expert in nature to acquire human cognitive thought. That is, machines that through extensive programming acquire a sort of artificial-intelligence and can emulate human actions and thought processes.

From the etymological point of view “cognition” comes from the Latin verb “conoscere”, which means “to get to know”, while “recognition”, from the word “reconoscere” meaning “to get to know again”

And thus the word “**recognition**”, with its obvious prefix, denotes a manner that can only occur subsequent to first acquiring a certain knowledge; a manner of recalling an earlier occurrence or input.

This word denotes two possible sectors in the field of interactive design.


 * 1. Pattern Recognition Systems**

This pertains to the fields of Artificial Intelligence and computer/software engineering. Simply put, it is the ability of a machine or an expert program to recall a specific data input package from its library of stored information, and then through processing such data concocts an output package of data. This type of recognition system includes applications which we are familiar with, such as: speech recognition programs, visual sensory recognition programs, automated text classification programs (such as virus detection programs or spam checkers), even the games like Eye-Toy(TM) are enabled by the application of a pattern recognition system. Some machines being developed today can also learn from a pre-set pattern recognition system, where it matches new-inputs with a specific pattern already stored within its system.


 * 2. Neuropsychological Analysis**

Neurophysiology, from the Oxford American Dictionary, is “the study and relationship between behavior, emotion, and cognition on one hand, and brain function on the other”.

A particular neuropsychological study analyzes the brain process required to make meaning of particular objects and its subsequent categorization within the brain. The study concerns aspects such as the kind of knowledge that is needed when recognizing particular objects, how visual similarity within a category influences object recognition and representation, and the semantic knowledge about different objects. The study concludes with a model that the team calls “Hierarchical Interactive Theory” (Humphreys), and suggests through examples that humans have “a hierarchy of highly interactive stored representations”.

Although Graphic Design should not concern itself too much with scientific and engineering theories beyond its middle-brow role in society, it is interesting to note that this type of research into how the human brain reacts to sensory inputs and organizes stored visual information will greatly benefit interaction design: for ultimately interactivity deals significantly with the intuitions and constant input/output signals shared between machine and the human brain. This is a matter of great importance, for if our goal is to generate user-oriented interfaces it is then imperative that we get to know how human beings come to recognize and store visual patterns. For instance, once we know where to look for something specific, or how to get from one point to another through certain interactive steps we are then able to repeat it without further hindrances. i.e, the touch circular rolly interaction of Apple iPods: it increases volume in certain stages and scrolls in others.

Works Cited

Humphreys, Clyn W. and Emer M.E. Forde. "Hierarchies, similarity and interactivity in object recognition." 9 Jan 2008 <[|http://www.bbsonline.org/documents/a/00/00/05/39/bbs00000539-00/bbs.humphreysforde.html>.]

“Pattern Recognition.” 9 Jan 2008 

“Pattern Recognition.” 9 Jan 2008 