• A graphical system consists of objects and actions. Objects are what people see on the screen as a single unit.
• Objects can be composed of subobjects. For example, an object may be a document and its subobjects may be a paragraph, sentence, word, and letter.
• Objects are divided into three meaningful classes as Data objects, which present information, container objects to hold other objects and Device objects represent physical objects in the real world.
• Objects can exist within the context of other objects, and one object may affect the way another object appears or behaves. These relationships are called collections, constraints, composites, and containers.

Characteristics of the Graphical User Interface

• Sophisticated Visual Presentation.
• Pick-and-Click Interaction.
• Restricted Set of Interface Options.
• Visualization.
• Object Orientation.
• Use of Recognition Memory.
• Concurrent Performance of Functions.

Sophisticated Visual Presentation :- 

Visual presentation is the visual aspect of the interface. It is what people see on the screen. The sophistication of a graphical system permits displaying lines, including drawings and icons. It also permits the displaying of a variety of character fonts, including different sizes and styles.

The meaningful interface elements visually presented to the user in a graphical system include windows (primary, secondary, or dialog boxes), menus (menu bar, pulldown, pop-up, cascading), icons to represent objects such as programs or files, assorted screen-based controls (text boxes, list boxes, combination boxes, settings, scroll bars, and buttons), and a mouse pointer and cursor. The objective is to reflect visually on the screen the real world of the user as realistically, meaningfully, simply, and clearly as possible.

Pick-and-Click Interaction:-

To identify a proposed action is commonly referred to as pick, the signal to perform an action as click. The primary mechanism for performing this pick-and-click is most often the mouse and its buttons and the secondary mechanism for performing these selection actions is the keyboard.

Restricted Set of Interface Options:-

The array of alternatives available to the user is what is presented on the screen or what may be retrieved through what is presented on the screen, nothing less, and nothing more. This concept fostered the acronym WYSIWYG.

Visualization:-

Visualization is a cognitive process that allows people to understand information that is difficult to perceive, because it is either too voluminous or too abstract. The goal is not necessarily to reproduce a realistic graphical image, but to produce one that conveys the most relevant information. Effective visualizations can facilitate mental insights, increase productivity, and foster faster and more accurate use of data.

Object Orientation:-

• A graphical system consists of objects and actions. Objects are what people see on the screen as a single unit. 
• Objects can be composed of subobjects .For example, an object may be a document and its subbjects may be a paragraph, sentence, word, and letter.
• Objects are divided into three meaningful classes as Data objects, which present information, container objects to hold other objects and Device objects, represent physical objects in the real world. 
• Objects can exist within the context of other objects, and one object may affect the way another object appears or behaves. These relationships are called collections, constraints, composites, and containers.

Use of Recognition Memory:-

 Continuous visibility of objects and actions encourages to eliminate “out of sight, out of mind” problem

Concurrent Performance of Functions:-

Graphic systems may do two or more things at one time. Multiple programs may run simultaneously. It may process background tasks (cooperative multitasking) or preemptive multitasking. Data may also be transferred between programs. It may be temporarily stored on a “clipboard” for later transfer or be automatically swapped between programs.

DIRECT MANIPULATION :-

Direct manipulation (DM) is an interaction style in which users act on displayed objects of interest using physical, incremental, reversible actions whose effects are immediately visible on the screen. Direct manipulation is one of the central concepts of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and is sometimes equated with “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG). These interfaces combine menu-based interaction with physical actions such as dragging and dropping in order to help the user use the interface with minimal learning.

The term direct manipulation is given by Shneiderman (1982) as they possess the following characteristics:

i. The system is portrayed as an extension of the real world.

ii. Continuous visibility of objects and actions.

iii. Actions are rapid and incremental with visible display of results.

iv. Incremental actions are easily reversible.

Example for direct manipulation:

On a mobile phone you can pinch out to zoom into an image and pinch in to zoom out. The action of using your fingertips to zoom in and out of the image is an example of a direct-manipulation interaction. Another classic example is dragging a file from a folder to another one in order to move it.

INDIRECT MANIPULATION :-

Indirect manipulation substitutes words and text, such as pull-down or pop-up menus, for symbols and substitutes typing for pointing. Most window systems are a combination of both direct manipulation and indirect manipulation.

In practice, direct manipulation of all screen objects and actions may not be feasible because of the following:

i. The operation may be difficult to conceptualize in graphical system.

ii. The graphics capability of the system may be limited.

iii. The amount of space available for placing manipulation controls in the window border may be limited.

iv. It may be difficult for people to learn and remember all the necessary operations and actions.

Artificial intelligence (AI), also known as machine intelligence, is a branch of computer science that focuses on building and managing technology that can learn to autonomously make decisions and carry out actions on behalf of a human being.

The task domains of AI are

The domain of AI is classified into different task categories such as Mundane/General tasks, Formal tasks and Expert tasks.  

Mundane tasks are the ones that we( the humans) do on regular basis without any special training such as computer vision, speech recognition, Natural language processing, generation and translation etc. Common sense, reasoning and planning are the common characteristics of these tasks. 

Formal tasks - are the ones where there is an application of formal logic, some learning etc. Verifications, Theorom proving etc are the common characteristics. Games such as Chess Checkers, Go etc are classified in these task.

Then there are

expert task which comes under functional expert domain such as engineering, fault finding, manufacturing planning, medical diagnosis etc.

Expert tasks- Tasks which requires high analytical and thinking skills, a job only a professionals can do.

Energy Audit:

Energy Audit is defined as “the verification, monitoring and analysis of use of energy including submission of technical report containing recommendations for improving energy efficiency with cost benefit analysis and an action plan to reduce energy consumption”.

Need for Energy Audit :

In any industry, the three top operating expenses are often found to be energy (both electrical and thermal), labour and materials. If one were to relate to the manageability of the cost or potential cost savings in each of the above components, energy would invariably emerge as a top ranker, and thus energy management function constitutes a strategic area for cost reduction. Energy Audit will help to understand more about the ways energy and fuel are used in any industry, and help in identifying the areas where waste can occur and where scope for improvement exists.

The Energy Audit would give a positive orientation to the energy cost reduction, preventive maintenance and quality control programmes which are vital for production and utility activities. Such an audit programme will help to keep focus on variations which occur in the energy costs, availability and reliability of supply of energy, decide on appropriate energy mix, identify energy conservation technologies, retrofit for energy conservation equipment etc.

In general, Energy Audit is the translation of conservation ideas into realities, by lending technically feasible solutions with economic and other organizational considerations within a specified time frame.

The primary objective of Energy Audit is to determine ways to reduce energy consumption per unit of product output or to lower operating costs. Energy Audit provides a “ bench-mark” (Reference point) for managing energy in the organization and also provides the basis for planning a more effective use of energy throughout the organization.

1. Identification and tracking of Energy Pattern:-

Th​e first step of any program is identifying and tracking the energy pattern of that program. If we do not have the knowledge of when and where the energy is used, then there is no way to estimate the relative importance of any Energy Management Project.

2. Controlled energy system’s use:

To obtain more energy saving, it is not important to install more and more efficient components like electronic ballasts for T-8 lamps, etc. Instead, what is more important is that we must keep a check on the system’s use and ensure that the resources are aptly used.

3. Properly maintained and managed facilities:

A program with effectively maintained and managed facilities is the only program that offers effective Energy Management. The quantity of technological equipment has nothing to do with the success of the energy management program.

4. Good Maintenance practices:

To attain the highest rates of return on Energy Conservation, it is important to keep in mind the maintenance practices in the program. We know that Great Maintenance and Successful Energy Management go hand in hand, so simply by performing maintenance, we can achieve success in any energy management programs.

5. Preventive and Reactive Maintenance:

Despite the funding limitations, we know that waiting for any crisis to take place is a waste of time, i.e., reactive maintenance is imprudence. On the contrary, preventive maintenance is critical for the program’s success. It can be ignored when systems are new, heat exchange systems are clean, seals are tight and calibrations are precise. However, as the system ages, these items need care or preventive maintenance.

6. Distinction between Maintenance and Energy Management:

One should know the clear distinction between Maintenance and Energy Management. Cleaning and fixing of equipment for better use come under good maintenance while installation of more efficient equipment comes under good energy management. Both of these serve different purposes. It is very important to remember their differences whenever a budget is being prepared for any program.

7. Automated Energy Management Systems:

Even the most overrated technologies of automated energy management systems cannot recompense for a poor HVAC system design. No automation can bring more performance out of any system components if heating and cooling of loads is incorrectly calculated or if the set of equipment is inappropriate.

Sophisticated Visual Presentation

• Visual presentation is the visual aspect of the interface. It is what people see on the screen. The sophistication of a graphical system permits displaying lines, including drawings and icons. It also permits the displaying of a variety of character fonts, including different sizes and styles.
• The meaningful interface elements visually presented to the user in agraphical system include windows (primary, secondary, or dialog boxes), menus (menu bar, pull down, pop-up, cascading), icons to represent objects such as programs or files, assorted screen-based controls (text boxes, list boxes, combination boxes, settings, scroll bars, and buttons), and a mouse pointer and cursor. The objective is to reflect visually on the screen the real world of the user as realistically, meaningfully, simply, and clearly as possible.

Pick-and-Click Interaction

• To identify a proposed action is commonly referred to as pick, the signal to perform an action as click.
• The primary mechanism for performing this pick-and-click is most often the mouse and its buttons and the secondary mechanism for performing these selection actions is the keyboard.

Restricted Set of Interface Options

• The array of alternatives available to the user is what is presented on the screen or what may be retrieved through what is presented on the screen, nothing less, and nothing more. This concept fostered the acronym WYSIWYG.

Visualization

• Visualization is a cognitive process that allows people to understand information that is difficult to perceive, because it is either too voluminous or too abstract.
• The goal is not necessarily to reproduce a realistic graphical image, but to produce one that conveys the most relevant information. Effective visualizations can facilitate mental insights, increase productivity, and foster faster and more accurate use of data.

Object Orientation

• A graphical system consists of objects and actions. Objects are what people see on the screen as a single unit.
• Objects can be composed of subobjects. For example, an object may be a document and its subobjects may be a paragraph, sentence, word, and letter.
• Objects are divided into three meaningful classes as Data objects, which present information, container objects to hold other objects and Device objects represent physical objects in the real world.
• Objects can exist within the context of other objects, and one object may affect the way another object appears or behaves. These relationships are called collections, constraints, composites, and containers.
• Properties or Attributes of Objects : Properties are the unique characteristics of an object. Properties help to describe an object and can be changed by users.
• Actions: People take actions on objects. They manipulate objects in specific ways (commands) or modify the properties of objects (property or attribute specification).
• The following is a typical property/attribute specification sequence:
  • The user selects an object—for example, several words of text.
  • The user then selects an action to apply to that object, such as the action BOLD.
  • The selected words are made bold and will remain bold until selected and changed again.

Use of Recognition Memory 

•  Continuous visibility of objects and actions encourages to eliminate ― out of sight, out of mind‖ problem.

Concurrent Performance of Functions 

• Graphic systems may do two or more things at one time. Multiple programs may run simultaneously.
• It may process background tasks (cooperative multitasking) or preemptive multitasking.
• Data may also be transferred between programs. It may be temporarily stored on a clipboard for later transfer or be automatically swapped between programs.

Importance of Good Design 

• Inspite of today’s rich technologies and tools we are unable to provide effective and usable screen because lack of time and care.
• A well-designed interface and screen is terribly important to our users. It is their window to view the capabilities of the system and it is also the vehicle trough which complex tasks can be performed.
• A screen’s layout and appearance affect a person in a variety of ways. If they are confusing and inefficient, people will have greater difficulty in doing their jobs and will make more mistakes.
• Poor design may even chase some people away from a system permanently. It can also lead to aggravation, frustration, and increased stress.

Benefits of Good Design 

• The benefits of a well-designed screen have also been under experimental scrutiny for many years. One researcher, for example, attempted to improve screen clarity and readability by making screens less crowded. The result: screen users of the modified screens completed transactions in 25 percent less time and with 25 percent fewer errors than those who used the original screens.
• Another researcher has reported that reformatting inquiry screens following good design principles reduced decision-making time by about 40 percent, resulting in a savings of 79 person-years in the affected system.
• Other benefits also accrue from good design (Karat, 1997). Training costs are lowered because training time is reduced, support line costs are lowered because fewer assist calls are necessary, and employee satisfaction is increased because aggravation and frustration are reduced.
• Another benefit is, ultimately, that an organization’s customers benefit because of the improved service they receive.
• Identifying and resolving problems during the design and development process also has significant economic benefits.