Physical Computing’s Greatest hits and misses
This was definitely an interesting read. I was surprised at how many of the experiences we have, such as the dancing game at the arcade, incorporate the concepts we learned in class. This definitely made me think of just how simple some of these experiences really are built when I actually once thought they were extremely complex to build. Especially since we touched over some of the concepts in class such as the hand cursor. It helped me gain some inspiration of what I may want to include in this week’s assignment. I was confused by the title of the text after I finished reading it, because of all the examples mentioned in the text, I didn’t find an example or theme mentioned that would be considered a “miss.”
Making Interactive Art: Set the Stage, Then Shut Up and Listen
This reading made me reflect back on the text we read in the first half of the semester about giving users indicators of how to use certain systems. I remember when I read that specific reading, I fully agreed with the author that indicators should definitely be included in designs, but after reading this text, my opinion has changed.
I think the idea of just giving hints to the users of what to do, instead of fully spoon-feeding it to them, makes an experience much more entertaining and fulfilling.
I think what fully changed my opinion is when I thought of my previous experiences in an interactive space, which was TeamLab, in order to fully decide whether I would have enjoyed explicit indicators or not. I remember in one the zones, you had the opportunity to write your name on a lizard or drawing of your choice, and it would be scanned and projected on the ground. Naturally, I followed my lizard, and was completely surprised when my lizard was “killed” when I stepped on it. I definitely think my discovering of this on my own made it much more entertaining experience than it would have if someone had told me that this is possible. It made it feel more fun as I felt that I “discovered” or “achieved” something new.