I had a lot of fun at the Chronus exhibition. It reminded me of this particular exhibit in the Reina Sofia (it is a museum more notably known for housing The Guernica in Madrid, Spain).  The only reason that I was at the Reina Sofia was to see The Guernica, but, of course, I could not go directly to the only piece in the entire museum that I wanted to see. Naturally, I wandered around a little bit. I think it is rather comical in my head why I compared these two houses of art mostly because I did not particularly “get” either of them. I think instills this inquisitive nature in me and true desire to understand and to even attempt to put myself in the shoes of the creator. I think visiting the Chronus exhibit was extremely interesting because it was certainly technology based art, but I do not think that any of the exhibits were particularly interactive. One of the pieces that I keep going back to in my mind at the Chronus exhibit was Turing piece. For something like that, I don’t know if you could say that it is “above my level of comprehension” so to say, but looking at it really made me think that whoever created this put countless hours of time and effort into this piece. Something this also made me realize is that when I am creating things, I want to make sure that people “get” it. I do not, at least right now, have the desire to create something seemingly so sophisticated that I am the only one with the intellectual capability to understand it. I love art museums, but in the case of exploring the Reina Sofia, many of the pieces – I could attempt to make up a story about what they meant – but I some of them were abstract even for me. I want to make sure that my projects have meaning and send a clear message. Even if I design something that people have to “explore” to figure it out, I want their to be a sense of adventure in their journey to interacting with my work. 

This might sound ambitious, but for my final project, I want to create a device that allows people the ability to bend one of the four basic elements (water, earth, fire, air) of their choice. Avatar the Last Airbender style. I have listed the link below for reference to the projects from which I am drawing inspiration. In regards to my project, I think the University of Dayton Interactive Wall and Cleveland Art Museum Collection Wall are on the right track for what I am looking for. Both of these pieces create immersive experiences that inspire joy and curiosity in the people who interact with them. I want my project to have these qualities; even if people are not familiar with the show, I want to create something that allows everyone the ability to purely enjoy the magic that they are creating through their movements.

video on UD display

The second set of projects that I researched are part of a collection of exhibits in Rotterdamn used to allow people to experience what I would be like to work on an off-shore oil rig. This particular project is interesting because it is being used to train people, but I think the processes behind what is going on in the project is what I am looking for. In my head, I am thinking that a camera or some sort of sensor would see the person and would wait for certain poses to be made or positions to be held in order to create the effect of having control of the element. This project simulates the actions that people would actually be doing in this job; therefore, the camera is monitoring the actions of the participant and acting based on the signals he or she is sending. When I create my final project, I want my device to be able to respond to the actions of the person and not have a set order of actions forcing someone to interact in a certain way. 

After looking at various projects in combination with all the experiences and projects we have seen so far in Interaction Lab, in my interaction projects, I value the freedom of choice for the interacter. I think now that we have progressed thus far in the course that we now have the tools and capabilities to create something more than just one step yields this result. I want to be able to something that is fluid and allows the user unlimited interaction until he or she is satisfied. In the case of the exhibits in Rotterdam, if the correct stance is not made, or not made in ample time, then the user will fail. While the purpose of my device will not necessarily be for education purposes as this device was, I want my users to take away an experience and not simply an interaction which I think should be the heart of interactive projects.  

Referenced Works

Avatar the Last Airbender

Exhibitions at Rotterdamn – https://www.kossmanndejong.nl/project/offshore-experience/

Interactive wall displays – https://medium.com/mouth-watering-media/the-top-10-digital-interactive-display-walls-40b96066477c

After being in this class for a month and reading articles on interaction, watching videos of successful projects that incorporate an interactive element, and experiencing interaction in class, all together has led me to synthesize a definition of interaction. In order for an interaction to take place, there has to be an action done onto one object which results in a different output action thus creating an interaction. 

The first project I have chosen to reference is the project we witnessed in class on one of the first weeks of school. The project that involved the technology that granted the ability to an artist unable to use his limbs the ability to paint again. This project – at its core –  used the input of the movement of the man’s pupil’s which in turn interacted with his movements by producing a method for him to be able to create his art. The movement of his eyes were directly translated by the software they were using to then appear on a computer screen that allowed him to use his eyes instead of his hands to create his art. The results of the man’s actions directly result in a completely unrelated output that the technology allows him to do. For example, he only moves his eyes which then creates a work of art in the process which is a completely unrelated action to the movement of his eyes thus the act of interaction. The process to get to the final result changed the input to form a completely different output. 

The second project that provides a good example to counter my definition is another project we were originally shown in class: Hit Me. The basis of this project is a game where the players are attempting to hit a button on top of the other’s head which will result in a picture being taken of the space in front of the losing opponent’s head. The action is a hit of a button which simply takes a picture. For my proposed definition of interaction, this project does not align as strongly as the one previously stated because this is essentially a single-step process. If this project is classified as interaction, then it is the most basic form and would then prove that the simple act of me typing a key on a keyboard would be considered an “interaction”. As stated by the writing in the chapter, “What Exactly is Interactivity,” there are degrees of interactivity and if this project is to be considered an interaction, then this author would agree with the sentiment that it can only be considered the lowest degree of interaction (and arguably only an “action” versus an “interaction”) which would defeat the purpose of the big question: what is interactivity (6). 

The project that my group came up with tried to build up from a problem we would face or an idea that would be practical for the future. The end result of the project is a painting that is compiled from various bodily readings collected by a watch throughout your day. The point of the painting – aside from the fact of its potential beauty – is that the walls in the future will have thousands of LEDs where you can upload the output of your day onto your wall therefore solving the problem of having too much white space. The process to achieve this desired output is throughout your day your watch will collect data of your heartbeat, temperature, steps, and speed throughout the day. There will be an algorithm that will calculate the distance and length of each stroke based on a function of your steps and speed; the colors of the painting will be drawn from a previously constructed library that uses a combination of the function of heart rate and temperature to calculate your current mood which a human will assign as a certain color. These two processes together will create the movement and appropriate colors of your paintings thus “Painting your day.” Our project demonstrates our proposed definition of interactivity because the input has a clearly unrelated output that would not have resulted from a single-step action. 

Works Cited

Crawford, “What Exactly is Interactivity,” The Art of Interactive Design,  pp. 1-5.

http://Eyewriter.org

http://kahoabe.net/portfolio/hit-me/

Introduction:

The assignment for the first Interaction Lab Recitation was to follow the provided schematics of basic circuits and then build them. 

Objectives:

1. Learn how to read a circuit diagram
2. Complete the circuits
3. Learn to Solder
4. Create a button comprised of button and soldered wires

Materials (as listed on the IMA website):

• 1 * Breadboard
• 1 * LM7805 Voltage Regulator
• 1 * Buzzer
• 1 * Push-Button Switch
• 1 * Arcade Button
• 1 * 220 ohm Resistor
• 1 * 10K ohm Resistor
• 1 * 10K ohm Variable Resistor (Potentiometer)
• 1 * LED
• 1 * 100 nF (0.1uF) Capacitor
• 1 * 12 volt power supply
• 1 * Barrel Jack
• 1 * Multimeter
• Several Jumper Cables (Hook-up Wires)

Process:

Before we began to work with the circuits, we learned from Marcela how to solder where we then soldered wires to a button. We were able to complete objective 3 and 4 with no problems.

After the successful creation of our battery, we went on to begin our circuits. This section was less fruitful. Initially, we came to a pause trying to figure how to finish the circuit loop and “ground” it.

  We struggled time-wise to complete our circuits and were unable to complete the other two circuits. Through the assistants of learning assistance we were able to understand all the appropriate wiring and complete our circuit.

Reflection:

I am disappointed that it took us so long to complete the first circuit and therefore were unable to work on the other ones and experiment without own ideas. It has been well over four years since I have worked with a breadboard and I was a busy rusty. I really enjoyed getting to work with the components and refreshing my memory of how to build a working circuit and look forward to building more (and my own designs) in the future!

Questions:

1.  After reading The Art of Interactive Design, I think that the component of the circuit that includes the switch or button includes interactivity because the functions of the circuits depends on how we interact with them thus defining interactivity. 
2. In Zach Lieberman’s talk about interactive art makes me think that if our work has the ability to change function based on human act, then were are therefore creating an “interaction” and thus interactive art. In his case, he uses the input movements of his hands to move the art which outputs the art moving. We create interactive art when we combine in the human or some other real work action in which the end product varies based on initial action.