This book chapter really opened my eyes in terms of how deep the idea of interactivity can really go. Before reading it, I think my definition of interactivity would simply include anything that reacts or changes based on an input from a user. However, now I think looking at interactivity through a scale makes much more sense. Aside from properly incorporating the listening, thinking, and speaking principles addressed by Chris Crawford, I think a strongly interactive system should respond to the different inputs provided by the user and be able to take them into consideration for future interactions, making the interactivity less of a ‘call and response’ and more of a continuous ‘conversation’. This changes the user’s role to an active participant in the interaction rather than just a passive presence giving commands. Ultimately, making it more of a live feedback loop.
For improving the degree of interaction for future p5 sketches, I think I’d want to focus on moving past merely having mouse-clicked interaction or having the sketch change with each interaction. I’d want to incorporate different ways for the user to interact with the sketch, like moving the mouse around the screen to change the color or speed of something. Additionally, I’ve seen a video of a ball that has some kind of gravity on it, so when the user clicks, the ball drops and bounces under the effect of gravity, eventually stopping. I’m not sure how advanced that would be to create or if it’s something we’ll cover eventually in class, but I think having a work where maybe the user can kind of physics system that allows the ball to react differently depending on how it was tossed. Overall, making the work more interactive.