Multimodal and Federated Interaction

This chapter introduces the concepts of multimodal and federated interaction. Because multimodality means, simply, the combination of multiple modalities (or types of input and output), the authors first introduce some of the various modalities available for computer interaction. The chapter then discusses how multimodality can be used both in desktop and mobile computing environments. The goal of the chapter is to familiarize scholars and researchers with the range of topics covered under the heading “multimodality” and suggest new areas of research around the combination of modalities, as well as the combination of mobile and stationary computing devices to improve usability.