A. When we visited the Chronus exhibition, the first thing that came to my mind was how intricate the projects are compared to other types of art exhibitions. I realized that not only the artist put a lot of work on the physical appearance of his project, but also in the coding of the project. The perfect mixture of both aspects is really what makes it really interesting. Each of the projects has its own appeal and meaning behind it. One that I found to be really captivating is this:
I immediately noticed that there are a lot of small servos pulling strings around the structure. In the middle, they have a box of red strings enclosed by many white strings. The shape of the strings changes as the servo moves. The unique ways of how each of the parts moves in coordination with the others nicely illustrate how technology-based exhibition differs from other types of exhibition.
B. The project that I think aligns with what I think as a successful interaction is Click Canvas, an interactive project made back in 2018 in Bangkok with the objective of creating a display as the viewers desire.
The project is basically a collection of small boxes arranged into a square. The small lightbox will light up with different colors each time it is pressed. This allows people to make a display of whatever they want within the wall. Even though this project is pretty simple and straightforward, people who see it were instantly drawn to interact with it because they find the project really interesting. This reminds me that even with simple type of interaction, it could attract people and give them a long-lasting impression. I really want to make my final project as something interesting that people would remember.
The second project that also inspires me is NailO, a small device that you put in your thumb when cooking to help you use your computer or phone while your hand is dirty. NailO functions as a trackpad that tracks your hand gesture and translate it into your phone or laptop, allowing you to keep scrolling the menu or do your work on your device while cooking. This project compels me to make something useful for others even if it’s on a small scale.
C. My definition of interaction mainly derives from Crawford’s definition. It involves a back and forth relationship between at least two actors that allows “input, processing, and output” to happen. I am also inspired by the definition from Tate.com, that the most crucial part of the whole project is the “participation of the spectators”, so we need to make sure that the people who interact with it are inclined to do it again, promoting a cyclic process. What I learned from my midterm project is that it is important to make sure that these three steps should not be a one-time thing. The project has to be interesting and engaging. The project also needs to make impactful effects on people, so they will remember the interaction.
References
Crawford, Chris. “Art of Interactive Design.” Art of Interactive Design
https://gizmodo.com/this-little-device-turns-your-thumb-nail-into-a-track-p-1698423402
https://www.hackster.io/natthakit-kim-kang/click-canvas-an-interactive-wall-04332c
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/interactive-art