Interactive Projects Research
In this interactive project, the participant can interact with other people through interaction with equipment. Such interactions are both synchronous and asynchronous. The sense of transcending time and space adds fun to the equipment. In addition, people don’t need to wear external devices, which lowers the boundary of interaction and increases people’s sense of participation. It informs me that I need to think more about the interaction rather than feedback when I design my final project. And the interaction between users is also meaningful, maybe it is necessary to keep past users’ data. I also learned that keeping interaction requirements to a minimum to let more people get involved is also important.
2. Connected Worlds – Interactive ecosystem for NYSCI by Design I/O
This interactive project uses bright colors and original designs of creatures to build interactive ecosystems. I was attracted by the setting of the hall and I also noticed that there is no instruction in the stadium. It gives the audience freedom of exploring the equipment by themselves and have their own experience. Moreover, exploring how to interact with the equipment is also a part of the interaction, which adds fun to the project. It informs me that I need to let my final project interact with the users rather than I told them how to interact with or use it. Maybe fewer instructions will be better.
What contributes to a successful interactive experience
Before I actually take this course, my definition of interaction was “a process of communication between two participators (both objects and people are all right) ” Moreover, it emphasizes the loop of effective listening, thinking, and feedback”. In other words, a successful interactive experience needs two or more participants and they need to have a complete conversation that includes the process of sending a message to receiving a response.
Now based on the interactive projects I have made and found and the reading Art, Interaction and Engagement, I would like to explain more about the elements that contribute to a successful interactive experience.
I think the first element is variability. When people get the same or similar feedback, they quickly get tired of interacting. Different kinds of feedback are necessary for people to continue interacting. In other words, a successful interactive experience is uncertain. Just as Edmonds has explained “It will depend on the history of interactions with the work. In this case, either the artist from time to time updates the specification of the art object or a software agent that is learning from the experiences of interaction automatically modifies the specification.” (3). Variability is the key to adding fun to the interactive equipment.
Another element is immersion. It implies the users need to have a conversation with the project by themselves. As the project Connected Worlds has shown, a successful interacting experience doesn’t need instructions from the designers or experts. Exploring during the process of interaction makes the experience even more impressive.