When I first started this course, I thought I knew what interaction meant. I knew what it meant, but I was not able to define it through specific words. Through the group project and the midterm, I started to put rules on what I believed was interaction. The first rule, there had to be multiple actors involved, and the actors did not have to be animated. Second, the outcomes of the actors cannot have been predetermined. Third, both actors on either side have the capability to respond to the other actor’s actions. Some examples that fit my interaction definition are: strangers bumping into each other while walking, a student talking to his teacher, and a man surfing the internet. Some non-interactive examples would be: in a play where people have scripted lines to say to each other, two robots having a pre-programmed conversation, and a man talking to himself.
Throughout this semester, my definition of interaction has evolved and been refined. Previously, it was a word that I thought I knew, but could not explain to a small child, but now it is something that I have defined. Interaction Lab taught me just how complicated an everyday word as “interaction” is. My definition of interaction is not the best and well defined, but merely it is how I see it. Everyone has their own views on what interaction is, and this class has taught me that everyone’s definition can be correct too. Interaction is truly an amazing word and concept!
Two great projects, one which aligns with my definition of interaction and one which does not, are the Digital Wheel Art by Younghyun Chung and the EM table. In the Digital Wheel Art, the technology allowed a 16-year-old boy, who has pediatric movement disorders, to use his wheelchair to express his artistic freedom. While the EM table, when turned on, transmits a small electromagnetic field around its center with the ability to power low energy demanding light. Both of these projects are amazing, but in the Digital Wheel Art, it allows the user to interact with the technology, while the EM table merely acts as a battery source rather than something interactive. The reason why Young’s project inspires me more for my final project is that not only was his project interactive, but it also brought joy to the user testing it. This brings to my new definition of interaction I would like to explain.
I challenge everyone to adopt my new type of interaction. It has all the previous rules, but now I have added one more: your interaction only counts if it brings joy and happiness to the person actor testing it. Whether that means making a wheelchair to help disabled children finally be able to express themselves, or even a game that brings joy and fun to their interaction with it. In any case, it must make the other user happy that he/she has tested your product. My current level in creation is not sufficient to be able to make practical technology which can benefit disabled people, but I can start by making a final project that will allow others to have fun and be happy. I want my project to be something that will make people say “let me try again, that was so much fun!” Interaction is a complicated word, but the interaction I hope to find is the one which brings out the happiness in others.
Sources:
Digital Wheel Art
EM Table