Symposium

Week 18

22/09/2005

Announcements:

1. The CALENDAR is on the Blackboard under Course:
2. We go in to build the show on Monday the 5^th of July and we have three days before the external examiners come in to assess the work on Thursday the 8^th of July.

Andy proposes that the bulk of the assessment is done the week before the show [log books, backup work, sketchbooks, blogs etc] to make the assessment more fair.

A list discovered by Paul on the Internet… to start us off.
What is INTERACTIVITY? A list of different kinds of interactivity

1. Object interactivity
2. Linear interactivity
3. Support interactivity
4. Update interactivity
5. Constructive interactivity
6. Reflective interactivity
7. Simulation interactivity
8. Hyperlinked interactivity
9. Non-immersive contextual interactivity
10. Immersive Virtual interactivity

Interrogation:

1. Where does work come from? ....where does it originate? Where is the artwork?

Examples: Interactivity: conversations / Story telling / Dialogue / Communication / Feedback.

2. Chat Rooms = Interaction… AN ACTION ELICITS A REACTION.
3. Interaction is a style of CONTROL…. Interactive systems exhibit that style… i.e. MANIPULATION
   CORE IDEA: COMMUNICATION.
4. Does an interactive presentation require some form of instruction / direction / description? or does the need for this indicate a failure of the piece to make a meaningful contribution?

We also addressed the problem of collaboration vs interactivity…
When does collaboration become interactivity?
Does the interactive element only enter the equation after the piece has been completed? When is a piece of work ever completed? How can you say the piece has reached a conclusion?

Then there is interactivity that occurs when the piece is being created…e.g. the performance piece that was mentioned by Peter who engaged in a confrontation that appeared to be on some footage when ultimately the other character entered the reality of the performance,….seemingly from the footage?

Collaboration can be serial or sequential… multi-tasking where each component in the piece is created by a separate individual according to his/her skill base.

Interactivity occurs after the piece has been concluded…but does it? If interactivity implies a change affected to/with/in the piece by the viewer…then the element of time changes completely and it becomes sub sequential.

Luisa mentioned the ‘law of physics’…that is “every action triggers an equal and opposite reaction.”

This must be the crucial component of interactivity.

Part of the defining characteristic of a piece of Art is that it is a form of communication… and therefore implies a receptor of some description. [one hand clapping in the forest?] The art piece surely triggers a response of some kind from the viewer… but this is not the same thing as “ interactivity”.

Look at www.rhizome.org ****

VRML – Similar to html… an open source 3d modelling language [Virtual Reality Modelling Language]

In Germany there are experiments to incorporate the HAPTIC sense [touch] into computer based work. Presently the senses that are accessed are sight and sound.
At this point the discussion veered off to the new technology associated with Mobile Phones.
Two examples encountered recently:

1. Comedian Jack Dee uses text messaging in his performances which are then presented on TV. At the end of the performance he reviews text messages sent to him on his mobile phone…this includes jokes, comments, etc.
2. In a recent production of ‘Playing with Fire’ at the Royal National Theatre [Olivier Auditorium] by David Edgar, the characters are constantly answering their phones which ring onstage [as part of the script] using the diversion to further/supplement the strategies of the plot.

Web Research: Googled ‘Interactivity’ =

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=interactivity&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

1. http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/interpres/ à http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/interpres/b.html
What's not interactive?
* Flash (and other forms of animated media)
* Shockwave (see above)
* JavaScript (rollovers aren't really interactive)
* Java
* Banner Ads (even those with Java games)
* Non-linear Narratives (simple choice isn't enough)
Technologies are not inherently or automatically interactive.
What else is not interactive?
* Almost every CD-ROM
* Interactive Television
* Content (Content is not king!)
* Reading a Book (it's not all in your head)
Other forms of new media have also suffered this confusion.
What's kind of interactive?
* Some Non-Linear Narratives
* Discussion Forums and Chat
* Some forms of Customization
* Video and Computer games
* MUDs (Multi-User Domains)
Interactivity is not what you think it is.

OK, so what is interactive?
* Conversations
* Most Storytelling
* (Productivity) Applications
* Playing Soccer
* Building and Decorating a House
* Games (of all kinds)

Interactivity is all around us and a deep part of our lives. It has been around for hundered of thousands of years. It is merely new to electronic media.

He maintains that the components of interactivity are: Feedback / Control / Productivity / Creativity / Communications / Adaptivity . Therefore Meetings / Conversations / Sports Playing are HIGH…and that examples from the Internet http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/interpres/d.html

are rare: including e.g.

http://www.monkey.com/lobby_flash.htm [cannot ‘go back’ from this site]

http://www.mousejam.com/ [for playing/making music]

http://www.stedelijk.nl/

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?vt This is a thesaurus for people who think visually. The Visual Thesaurus is a dictionary and thesaurus with an intuitive interface that encourages exploration and learning. Available in both a Desktop version https://www.visualthesaurus.com/store/buydesktop.do [$29.95] and an https://www.visualthesaurus.com/store/subscribe.do Online Edition. the Visual Thesaurus is a marvelous way to improve your vocabulary and your understanding of the English language.

http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/interpres/d.html On this page there are further links to web sites that the author maintains are examples of Creativity and Productivity / Communication / Adaptivity

Resources for learning more about Interactivity:

http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/process/index.html The Interactive Development Process

http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/unified/index.html Unified Field Theory of Design

http://www.nathan.com/resources/index.html Interaction Resources.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwitr/docs/interact/ Interactivity… A Forgotten Art? Rod Sims, Uts.edu.au University of Sidney.

http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci212361,00.html Word Search…definition? particularly related to computers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactivity Word Definition:

Interactivity is still under continuous debates over its meaning. There are several conceptual views of interactivity, one of the most acceptable have being the contingency view that examine interactivity as process related variable. According to this view,

Interactivity is similar to the degree of responsiveness, and examined as a communication process in which each message is related to the previous messages exchanged, and to the relation of those messages to the messages preceding them. Sheizaf Rafaeli, one of the cited authors regarding Interactivity defined Interactivity as "an expression of the extent that in a given series of communication exchanges, any third (or later) transmission (or message) is related to the degree to which previous exchanges referred to even earlier transmissions (Rafaeli, 1988).
This view defines three basic levels of interactivity:
* Non-Interactive - when a message is not related to previous messages
* Reactive - when a message is related only to one immediately previous message
* Interactive - when a message is related to a number of previous messages and to the relationship between them.
Human communication is the basic example of interactive communication. Because of that, many conceptualizations of interactivity are based on anthropomorphic definitions. For example, complex systems that detect and react to human behavior are sometimes called interactive. Under this perspective, interaction includes responses to human physical manipulation like movement, body language, and/or changes in psychological states.
In computer science, interactive refers to software which accepts and responds to input from humans -- for example, data or commands. Interactive software includes most popular programs, such as word processors or spreadsheet applications. By comparison, noninteractive programs operate without human contact; examples of these include compilers and batch processing applications. If the response is complex enough it is said that the system is conducting social interaction and some systems try to achieve this through the implementation of social interfaces

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Definition+of+interactivity&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official .Define interactivity:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&hs=6K4&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&oi=defmore&q=define:Interactivity Web definitions:

1. The characteristic of systems which accept user input as well as delivering output. Distinguishes, for example, conventional TV or video from multimedia or videoconferencing.
2. Interactivity involves two-way communications. Traditionally that two-way communication is live between instructor and student, but it may also be peer-to-peer communication in a collaborative learning environment. The communication may take the form of voice, data, video, or audio. See also, asymmetric and asynchronous.
3. reciprocal process of information exchange between two or more "players" in communication, or more specifically learning. "Players" can be pupils, facilitators, peers but also automated learner resources, like databases and other CAL devices.
4. There are several conceptual views of interactivity, the most general being the contingency view. According to this view, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactivity [see above]
5. http://www.interactivityconsultants.com/pages/resources/interactivity_definition_and_resources.htm Interactivity defined and explained, with helpful resources. The word interactivity isn't in the dictionary yet. Interactivity Consultants defines it as:
   interactivity n. an attribute or functionality, intentionally designed into man-made objects, physical, or virtual environments, characterized by the ability to sense accurately, then respond or react dynamically and intelligently to movement, gestures, expressions, or changes in human bodily or psychological states and intentions, changes in geographic location, changes in environmental condition, or any combination. Such dynamic intelligence may be achieved by the use of scripting or programming, embedded microcontrollers, sensors, GPS, haptics, and network connections to other systems and data. Ideas or concepts for new applications exhibiting interactivity are traditionally communicated to other people through user scenarios.Interaction / interactivity designers are experts at using interactivity tocreate objects and environments that are useful for uniquely human purposes; such environments range from web sites to "smart" architecture. This is "user centered design and computing."