The goal of this thesis is to explore how the HMI of a process control system can be improved by applying modern interaction technologies. Many new interaction possibilities are arising on the market, while the interaction in the industrial domain still is quite conservative, with computer mouse and keyboard as the central method of interaction. It is believed that by making use of technology available today, the user interface can provide further assistance to the process control operators and improve the effectiveness of the HMI.
A user study was conducted targeting a distributed control system to identify how they work with process control and to find improvement possibilities. The findings of the user study served as input for developing a number of concept ideas. The concept ideas were influenced by user interfaces that use other type of input channels, such as gestures, sound and touch.
One design concept was further explored by developing a concept demonstrator. Finally, the proposed concept was evaluated by a usability test. The concept demonstrator and other proposed concepts will serve as input to potential future projects.