The Intelligent Graphic Interface Project: Operator Interfaces for the Year 2000

Managing a complex computerized process such as a telecommunications network, an electric power system or a pulp and paper mill is an increasingly difficult task. Developing effective human-computer interfaces for the supervisory control centres of the future requires an interdisciplinary approach, applying research results from a range of academic disciplines to the real-life problems faced by industrial users of the technology. This is the approach of the Intelligent Graphic Interface (IGI) Research Project, a unique applied research project linking Canadian industry and academic communities. The goal of this five-year, $6.8 million project, which began in 1991, is to combine artificial intelligence research with advanced computer graphics technology and human factors engineering to produce an Intelligent Graphic Interface; essentially an “expert assistant” for operators in real-time supervisory control environments, dedicated to enhancing the interactions between people and these complex computerized systems.