1. My definition:
As I mentioned before, an interactive design includes listening, thinking, and speaking. However, to achieve a high level of interaction, we should pay attention to how the system responds (speaks). According to Ernest Edmonds, an effective interaction system should be: varying, responding, influencing, and communicating (Edmonds 13).
Below, I will analyze some successful examples according to the four aspects I mentioned above.
2. Examples:
(1)The door (The Door – Interactive Spaces Urban Studio)
This installation is called the door. When opening it an alternative reality of possibilities in the visuals will appear on a screen. Digital objects might appear on the screen – changing with the visitor’s body movements and it sometimes serves as a portal into another world or switches to a live connection to people by the other red door.
This project includes all four aspects.
responding&varying: The door “listens” to the visitor’s body movements, the time of the day, and the local weather, then it comes up with various responses-the screen’s content might change.
influencing: The door isn’t simply an interactive installation, it also serves as an influencer, for it can make an impact on the visitor’s internal state by showing them things or connecting them with people by the other red door. And people might want to revisit it.
communicating: The door encourages only not communication between the machine and humans but also encourages communication between people on the two ends of the door (one door was located in Helsingborg and the other door was placed in Copenhagen).
(2)Portals (a Networked Mixed-Reality Playground By Zephyrbunny)
To interact with the portal, you reach inside the box, going behind the screen instead of gesturing in front of it or touching it. The two portals are networked so you can collaboratively play with someone in a shared space, even if they’re physically far away. The system recognizes and responds when special objects are inside, tracking the id, position, and rotation.
This project includes three aspects.
responding&varying: This project responds to users in various ways according to the user’s choice of objects and the choice of placing position.
influencing: Not so much influencing, and it doesn’t have a long-term engagement. And the fun isn’t very sustaining, meaning that people might not want to return to this project in the future.
communicating: This project has multiple users. As you can see from the picture, there are two sides of the “Portals”. So, different users can change the screen’s content simultaneously.
3. Conclusion:
A good interaction design should not only include “conversations”, but also guarantee it to be fun by including communication between people or having different responses accordingly. And to deepen its impact, it should also be influencing as it can change people’s internal states or feelings so that it can gain a long-term engagement with people willing to re-visit the device.