What is Interaction?
For several years now, the term “interaction” has recurrently come to my attention. I’ve heard it when buying video games that are supposedly “more interactive”, I’ve heard it when a new movie came out that was “the first interactive film”, and of course I’ve heard it when my mom tells me I need more “human interaction”. Although this term has popped up around me countless times, I never once thought to know what it means. Throughout the research I’ve conducted, the definition most fit is that of computer game designer Chris Crawford, who beautifully summarizes interaction as “a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak”. This definition of interaction is exactly what my group had in mind when creating our interactive device and, almost as importantly, thinking about what interaction is not.
For our interactive project, my group and I decided to create a device called the “Fit Box”. The purpose of the Fit Box is to bring the capabilities of a personal trainer right into your own home without the need for a gym membership. Once turned on, the device tracks your workout routines and ensures that you are correctly following the exercises with scanning technology. A hologram display also allows for customers to receive the highest quality experience as it provides real-time examples of exercises and moral support when exercising alone. The Fit Box is perfectly aligned with Crawford’s definition of interaction as the customer and the device are recurrently undergoing a conversation, metaphorically speaking. In other words, the customer is able to speak to the device in order to turn it on, to which the device then sees the customer with scanning mechanisms. From there, the device thinks as it watches the customer perform exercises and speaks when it notices a mistake. This idea can be seen in other interactive projects using the same definition. For example, Scott Snibbe’s Shadow Bag fits within this same definition of interaction as a device “sees” the shadow of the recipient and then “thinks” to perform a movement as the recipient continues to stand in front of the device.
Although coming up with an idea for an interactive project was challenging, I found it somewhat more difficult to think of something that does not fit within this rather broad definition. As our group discussed the possibilities of non-interactivity, it was clear that something non-interactive would lack the ability to see, think, and speak in Crawford’s metaphorical definition. Therefore, our second project of something non-interactive was placing a thumbtack on a corkboard. Although the action of placing the thumbtack on the board requires one actor to think, there is no interaction because the recipient does not reciprocate with any “thought” or “speech”. The tack remains on the board without a cyclical conversation to be held and therefore is not interactive.
In summary, interaction is the ability of two actors to repeatedly see, think, and speak with one another, or in short, to have a conversation. Our first project represented this definition of interaction as two actors conversed with one another to achieve the task of performing exercises. Our second project, on the other hand, lacked the ability to have a conversation as only one actor had the ability to see, think, and speak. So now that a definition has been made clear, why is it important to know what interaction is? For me personally, interaction is important to understand because we have the opportunity to learn something from our interactions– or conversations. When one actor has the ability to see, think, and speak for itself, and a recipient is there to reciprocate this seeing, thinking, and speaking, a conversation is held that may allow for new ideas or information to be shared that would otherwise be kept to one of the two actors.
Works Cited
Crawford, Chris. “Art of Interactive Design.” Art of Interactive Design | No Starch Press, nostarch.com/interactive.htm.
Wilson, Steven. “ArtScienceNow-CH6-AlternativeInterfaces.pdf.” Google Drive, Google, drive.google.com/file/d/1q7adHt5BCv0QQMwBVBaGEfG6pGGfQX9b/view.