Modality (human–computer Interaction)

Modality (human–computer Interaction)

In human–computer interaction, a modality is the general class of:

• a sense through which the human can receive the output of the computer (for example, vision modality)
• a sensor or device through which the computer can receive the input from the human

In less formal terms, a modality is a path of communication between the human and the computer.

When multiple modalities are available for some tasks or parts of tasks, the system is said to have overlapping modalities. When multiple modalities are available for all tasks, the system is said to have redundant modalities.

Having too many modalities for a particular task is not a smart idea, however if you do not have enough modalities that will not be good as well.