B.Interactive Projects and Inspirations
One interesting interactive project I found is the piano staircase at the metro’s entrance of Odenplan. It’s a project lifted out by the Fun Theory. It transforms a plain staircase into a piano, aiming at making people more willing to use staircase, which leads to a more positive status both in people’s health and electricity saving. Its success in interaction not only lies in its physical interaction when people’s stepping on the stairs trigger the piano sound, but also lies in its phycological interaction that brings people a sense of fresh and silently changes their walking habits. I chose this project because of the meaningful and fun experience it provides, and that’s also what I want to achieve in my project.
Another one is the Forest of Resonating Lamps created by Teamlab. When an observer enters the room, the lamp near him/her will shine and other lamps near the starting lamp will follow to shine like chain reaction. If there’re other persons in the room, the lights shine in different color suggesting their existence. It’s an installation designed to convey the idea that we should put more attention to others’ and our own existence. I chose the project because it’s visually attractive. And as I look into it, I found that the interaction it provides is immersed and fascinating. All of the lights switch gently with soft colors, which conveys an incredible emotional enjoyment about what’s happening around us. As an inspiration, I will pay more attention to the visual and emotional experience of my work.
C.Successful Interaction Experience
I think a successful interaction experience contains two parts. One is a natural and fluent physical interaction. The sensors and actuators should be sensitive and work well. And another one is a convey of emotional expression, which can either be a sense of fun or warmth or something.
In the group research project, I mainly focus on the physical interaction process a work provide. But the reading of Ernest Edmonds’s paper reminds me of the importance of emotional experience of an interaction. In the paper, Ernest Edmonds talks about the long-term engagement of interaction, and introduces “the possibility of considering interactions that have effects in the future and that may even have no observable response at the time (Edmonds 7)”, and that’s what can be achieved by providing with emotional experience in an interaction process. Just like what the Forest of Resonating Lamps achieved. The gentle switching lights and soft colors are conveying a sense of enjoyment of beauty and silence, which leaves impression in observer’s mind and silently conveys the authors’ ideas.
Furthermore, emotional experience also helps to keep the process attractive. Ernest Edmonds considers engagement as 3 ways: attracting, sustaining, relating. Attracting attention is the first element a successful interaction should have. Without an attractive appearance, it’s hard to persuade people to spend more time on it. And the attraction should be maintained during the whole process. This time, the Piano Staircase can be a positive example. Although its interaction is simple, but it shares countless possibilities. The walkers-by can explore it in many different ways, even the pace they walk down the stairs can make a difference, so the staircase can stay attractive for people walk on again.
All in all, a successful interaction needs both successful physical installations and successful emotional experience. Fun, meaning and creativity is what I want to put in my works.
Resources
Ernest Edmonds, Art, Interaction and Engagement, 2011
Piano Staircase by the Fun Theory: https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/09/16/the-fun-theory/
Forest of Resonating Lamps created by Teamlab: https://www.teamlab.art/w/forest_of_resonating_lamps/