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.