In a blog post at my site, Omega HR Solutions, I wrote about the “humanization of IT”. In that post I wrote about the contention that technology is too complicated. As he put it,

Tech in the business world is still needlessly complicated – designed by experts for experts. How many tech initiatives at work require training before full use can be made of the product or service? Excel, for example, has functions that the vast majority of people never make use of. Complicated technology ultimately hinders productivity at user level, to the detriment of the business.

His contention was that we can make things simpler and capture the potential of our employees in helping in the computational aspects of many of the things we do.

Technology you can immerse yourself in

In doing some research I came across a developing technology that takes the concept of the “humanization” of technology to a new level. James Patten feels that technology should be felt. To that end he has created a device called the Sensetable that creates a table top display that you can interact with. It is advanced beyond a touchscreen. On the website Serious Wonder they say “What Patten’s Sensetable system gives us is an opportunity to grow new layers of digital interaction on surfaces that were always one-dimensional.”

Human Resources uses

Patten has created a number of applications for the Sensetable both serious and fun. I imagined the uses a business could make of this technology, especially the HR department. What I am writing may not make much sense until you have watched the video of his Ted talk (which is below here), but I can imagine a use such as manpower planning and team development. You will be able to have each employee represented and you can move them around on the Sensetable to make teams or departments. The computer would know the history of each employee, their performance, the abilities, their interests, their personalities and more. By moving their avatars around into different positions you could perhaps find the best combinations of people to work on projects. I see this has having great potential.

Managers would also be able to use such a tool for optimal staffing without having HR involved. They would be able to move resources around and have their compatibilities and capabilities determined before making any move.

So check out the YouTube video. How would you use this tool in HR?