A) select one game of your interest and explain why does it have a good/bad game UI 

The Crypt of the Necrodancer is the game that whose UI I will be looking at as the layout is one that one an average game may seem cluttered but within the context of the game works so well. Now good UI has been described as something that “tells you what you need to know, and then gets out of the way.” (Desi Quintans 2013) Now with Crypt of the Necrodancer, the UI tells you what you need to know but doesn’t really go away as most of the information remains on-screen at all times, the only part of the UI that will ‘get out of the way’ is the pause menu screen. This approach isn’t all bad as there is still a good majority of screen dedicated to where the player and the world is.

Considering that the gameplay is made to be played in-time with the tempo of the music, having a UI like say Morrowind would be impractical and would make the game harder, possibly throwing players out of time with the music. The only brought up menu, the pause menu, stops the music whenever summoned and resumes the music at the exact point it left off when gameplay is resumed.

Everything on the games UI is necessary information to the gameplay and although a little claustrophobic the lack of boarders or boxes surrounding the UI prevents the screen from being too enclosed and tight, allowing the player to still be able to play the game and access the information easily.

B) discuss how technology augments human abilities. Reflect upon the implications of the future of HCI. 

Browsing through related articles for this question I stumbled upon an article on an article from a technology news website that explained how technology, specifically mobile phones and cameras augment humans and the weakness that is our memory. I thought that that was an interesting statement and the article explained itself very well saying that “nearly every human technological invention was designed to augment a fundamental weakness of human beings.” (Ben Bajarin 2017)

Expanding from that, cameras, video recorders, GoPros and other mobile devices are all, in some way, a form of memory augmentation. Why? Because they make better our ability to remember by capturing the image, sound and movement of the scene which can later be looked back on or posted to social media for others to see. Just from the evolution of cameras from large devices that had to be propped up on stands, with limited capabilities and constant errors to HD quality cameras that are in-built into most smartphones we can only assume that the technology will only become more adept to the active lifestyle humans leave.

A possible future for the devices that augment our memories could be the ability to record and keep track of actual memories from the perspective of the user much like the implant technology found in Black Mirror’s Season 1 Episode 3 ‘The Entire History of You’. The implant in that records memories which can be rewatched and reviewed like video clips on a phone. Sure the show has a darker take on technology and our relationship with it but the idea of this kind of technology being physically possible isn’t too much of a stretch.

Quintans, D (2013) Game UI By Example: A Crash Course in the Good and the Bad. [online] Available at: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/game-ui-by-example-a-crash-course-in-the-good-and-the-bad–gamedev-3943 [Accessed 2 December 2017]
Bajarin, B. (2017) Technology is created to augment the fundamental weaknesses of human beings. [online] Available at: https://www.recode.net/2017/6/20/15841086/smartphone-camera-sensor-augment-human-memory-technology-mobile [Accessed 2 December 2017]
Lamble, R (2011) Black Mirror episode 3 review: The Entire History or You [online] Available at: http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/10738/black-mirror-episode-3-review-the-entire-history-of-you [Accessed 2 December]