Editorial pointers

COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM February 2000/Vol. 43, No. 2 5 COMING NEXT MONTH: Two special sections that spotlight on the ways that humans and computers interact: perceptual user interfaces, and programming by example. ONLY a few years ago it was difficult to imagine that one day we would have the ability to access the latest news—instantly—about anything in the world from anywhere in the world. Today, it’s difficult to believe that having access to all this news is oftentimes too much of a good thing. In fact, what we really want is an intelligent system that automatically processes and customizes a news presentation to our own specifications. Help is at hand, as this month’s special section demonstrates with a fascinating account of emerging News on Demand technologies that integrate speech, image processing, and multistream content for tailored news displays. “The ability to manage information is a necessity in our digital age,” contends guest editor Mark Maybury of the MITRE Corp., “especially in the area of news where the user is barraged with international, national, and local news sources available in a heterogeneous collection of print, Web, radio, and TV.” The authors in this special section represent some of the leading forces in News on Demand technologies and products from government and industry. They examine the current systems available, the built-in intelligence required, and the obstacles still to overcome.