Prior to taking this class, my definition of interaction was “any object that is able to engage the five senses with a human being or able to react to another object”. Looking back, this is a very shallow interpretation of interaction. I would definitely say that my definition of interaction has changed throughout this class. Bret Victor the author of “What Exactly is Interactivity” thought that “the term interactivity is overused and under understood”. After reading his article, and creating several recitation projects, Interaction is the series of movements by at least two actors, both of which actively responding to one another. I have created several projects in which there was almost a domino effect of actions resulting from one interaction. For example, a sensor had to pick up a reading in order to activate the servo motors which would activate the LEDs. This project amongst any others has changed the way I perceived what it meant to interact.
As for the final project, I have several ideas that I want to try out, however I am unsure if they will work out. Currently I am taking a Contemporary Dance class and it is difficult to quickly understand what the professor wants us to look like as a group. One of the ideas for my final project, is creating a device that will animate what the group dance would look like. There would be a box used as a platform for the dancers, and the dancers would have limbs that would be movable. The user would attach sensors all over their body so when the user jumps, the dancers on the platform would mimic the same movement. This way, the Professor is able to demonstrate what the overall group performance should look like with advanced movements across the stage. However, I am afraid that this might be too ambitious due to time constraints and lack of experience with the more difficult Arduino gadgets. My other idea would be to create a dinosaur from Jurassic park that would eat anything anything that came within its path. I wanted to continue using one sensor to trigger more functions. If I placed something in front of the ultrasonic sensors on the dinosaur, it would trigger the speakers to produce a “roar” sound. It would also trigger the servos in the arms of the dinosaur to pick up the victim with flashing red LEDs. I also want to implement some kind of screen to display words to the victims that say “RUN!” or “Oh no!” I believe this project would be more challenging because I will try to 3D print the dinosaur and implement skills from processing to create a display. Either way, I would like to stick with the idea of creating something that is entertaining or only slightly useful. An entertaining experience will make the user want to continue interacting with the device. I also feel a lot of pressure when I want to create something useful for those who are disadvantaged and it becomes more difficult to do so. Interactivity from a device that is meant to entertain motivates me to find other ways to make either object more reactive to the other.