In regards to the three readings, all three texts had to do with the concept of interaction or interactivity. They contrast in the message behind interaction and interactivity, but they all develop a different message behind interactivity/interaction.
Firstly, the first text by Chris Crawford regarding the art of interactive design brings in the concept of what interactivity is where they describe it in terms of a conversation. Something must be able to respond to another thing upon an action of the other thing and vice versa to exhibit interactivity. Interactivity is not a reaction to an action. It is mutual interaction, but if this definition is applied to common day objects, there are levels to interactivity. Low interactivity includes the closing of a refrigerator where the lights go out when the door is closed. This is seen as a failure of interactivity by the author as it is “interaction for a small child, and just as surely not interactive for adults.” (Crawford 6) I personally believe that this message wants to refer to interactivity to be universal for all people rather than a specific group of people.
Afterwards, the second text discusses interactivity properties of new media, specifically AI. From this text, I learned how the most proper example of modern interactivity would be AI, artificial intelligence, which becomes an accommodation specific to the individual it interacts with. I think that this is a valid point with modern day examples such as Siri or “xiao du （小度, Baidu’s AI）”. This AI becomes a tool used to interact with us according to our needs e.g. maps, nearby food, and etc. Moreover, there are new sources of AI interactivity that have become more advanced for example the chat engine app Replika which is essentially interaction with data that continuously builds.
Lastly, the last text (Making Interactive Art: Set the Stage, then Shut Up and Listen by Tom Igoe) presents the concept of being truly interactive. I personally think that the points regarding human’s incorrect perception of interactive art is true where our focus is more on the “art” aspect of interactive art rather than “interactive”. This essentially means that we focus more on the message of our product rather than the functionality and interaction with humans. This is also a step that must be faced in order to create our product in the future. Our product mustn’t have to be explained. It should be user-friendly and understandable without explanation to truly be interactive with the individual.
Essentially from these readings, I learned that interactivity should be universal in application, be easy to understand, and also be able to react and contribute actions with the human individual. Any missing standard reduces or even stops the trait of interactivity to be applied to the product/object.
To conclude, I will introduce my definition of interaction which is that there is a reaction to every action where both parties can independently contribute a different input upon the situation. I looked at 24h Sunrise/Sunset by Filip Visnjic which is a work that follows the sun where the link is attached below. I think that the work doesn’t characterize as a interactive work as the cameras are only following the sun. There is no control of the interaction which is also a key component of interaction.
https://www.creativeapplications.net/arduino-2/24h-sunrise-sunset-the-beauty-of-unsecured-cctv-cameras/
I also looked at another work, Self-Choreographing Network by Filip Visnjic, which is more interactive. It has material components interacting with digital, providing input that is controlled. Both components contribute a different input where the material contributes the active design while the digital contributes active data and calculation of systemic properties. Humans can manipulate the structure which is also a pure form of interaction with the project.
Self-Choreographing Network – Cyber-physical design and interactive bending-active systems
Works Cited
“What Exactly Is Interactivity?” The Art of Interactive Design: a Euphonious and Illuminating Guide to Building Successful Software, by Chris Crawford, No Starch Press, 2003, pp. 1–5.
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