INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS

An interactive system is a computer system which responds to instructions from the user as they are given. The system responds fast enough to allow transactions to be completed almost continuously. The success or failure of each transaction is immediately obvious from the way in which the computer responds. The instructions are input via a device such as a mouse or keyboard.While the precise structure of the future interactive systems is not yet clear, many directions of growth seem apparent. One is the increased availability of wireless access. Wireless services enable applications not previously possible in any economical fashion. Global positioning systems (GPS) combined with wireless Internet access would help mobile users to locate alternate routes, generate precise accident reports, initiate recovery services, and improve traffic management and congestion control. In addition to wireless laptop computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), wearable devices with voice input and special display glasses are available with further facilities under development. Communications and exchange of information Communications deal with the mutual exchange of information between technological devices and individuals; a process central to human experience and social organization. The study of communication involves many disciplines, including technology, linguistics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. All forms of communication, from interpersonal to mass media communications, involve an initiator, who formulates a message and sends it as a signal, by means of a particular channel, to a receiver, who decodes and interprets the meaning. In interpersonal communication involving face-to-face conversation, communication is direct, using the code of language, and reinforced by non-verbal communication such as body movement, eye contact, gesture, and facial expression. Response is also direct. Interpersonal communication can also take place at a distance. Other forms of communications use writing and printing as the means of conveying messages. The invention of the printing press was the first step in the development of mass communication (publishing). Books, newspapers, and periodicals are able to convey messages to a wide audience; an even wider audience is reached by radio and television, film, and the recording industries. The mass media and the arts impose their own codes and characteristics on to their messages, which can range from relatively straightforward ideological tracts to complex texts carrying multiple layers of possible meaning. Communications revolutionThe communications revolution is an unprecedented advance in the speed of message transmission.