Semiotic Engineering Theory for Human-Computer Integration: An Applicability and Usefulness Evaluation

The relationship between users and autonomous technologies is evolving towards integration (in the sense of partnership), transcending the stimulus-response interaction between these two agents. To follow this evolution, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers have defined and characterized a new interaction paradigm, Human-Computer Integration (HInt), which extends the focus of the HCI area to cover this new relationship of partnership between humans and autonomous technologies. As HInt is an emerging paradigm, the concepts and ontology of Semiotic Engineering Theory have been extended to address HInt as an extension of the traditional HCI interaction. Thus, this paper aims to evaluate and discuss the applicability and usefulness of the extension of Semiotic Engineering to define, explore, and explain the phenomena involved in HInt. Our findings provide useful insights and reflections on the benefits and limits of Semiotic Engineering for HInt to support the study, design, and evaluation of the partnership between humans and autonomous technologies.