From my own perspective, the definition of “interaction” would be: a cyclic process in which at least two characters alternatively input from the physical world, process and output. I made some adjustment based on Crawford’s definition of “interaction”: a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think, and speak (Crawford, 5). The reason why I stress the “input from the physical world” is that after I browse many interactive projects, most of them would contain multiple sensors for the physical world. If the “input” is just like what it is in the digital world, then every project that involves computer would be considered as interactive project.
The project I choose that accords with the definition is “Click Canvas”. This project has 187 Boxes of light constructed as creative tools likes pen and pencil, but the color of each box would be changed each time the audiences press it. And the other project that I found which doesn’t align with definition is “Neo-Natur”. It features an elaborate and huge sculpture that could stimulate your thought to some extent.
It’s the feature of “Click Canvas” that only when people press the light boxes, the lightness or the color of the light boxes would be changed that triggers my thought. A person’s pressing on the boxes equals to the “input from the physical world” and the change of the boxes represents “process and output” in the definition. In addition, when other people press the boxes, the process mentioned above would repeat itself, aligning with the cyclic process in the definition.
Link: https://www.creativeapplications.net/member-submissions/click-canvas/
For the “Neo-Natur” project, the purpose of it invokes my thinking. The purpose is merely to let people think after walking around the sculpture, yet this sculpture would not respond to anything. If appreciating the sculpture is considered as the input and people’s thinking is interpreted as processing, but it’s still impossible to find anything as the output. Therefore, it’s just a single-way communication, let alone the cyclic process.
Link: https://www.creativeapplications.net/environment/neo-natur-a-space-for-thought-about-and-for-nature-artcom/
The idea of our group is an interactive device called “FitBox”. It could project a hologram that can both detect the mistakes you make when you are exercising and provide moral support and lift your spirit when you need. The Fitbox intends to provide people with the possibility that they could work out in whatever environment that they like. The most common way to learn how to exercise without any instructor would be watching videos. Yet this way is not interactive because you don’t get any response from the video according to your movement. In order to derive from that, we add another character—hologram that could provide feedback according to your movement. The physical input would be people’s movement, and then after the box processes it through scanning and analyzing, the box creates an output, using a hologram to either correct the improper form or life one’s spirit. Whenever you make a mistake or your form indicates that you are not motivated to work out, it could offer output accordingly, which can be considered as a cyclic process.
Bibliography
Crawford, “What Exactly is Interactivity,” The Art of Interactive Design, pp. 1-5.
“Click Canvas.” Accessed October 10, 2019. https://www.creativeapplications.net/member-submissions/click-canvas/.
“Neo-Natur – A Space for Thought, about and for Nature / @artcom @FuturiumD.” Accessed October 10, 2019. https://www.creativeapplications.net/environment/neo-natur-a-space-for-thought-about-and-for-nature-artcom/.