Before this reading, I had never had a clear definition of what interactivity means. Now I realize that one cannot call something interactive just because it reacts to input. If we consider the superficial meaning of interactivity that many people use, then even turning on a light is considered interactive. You press a button, and in response the light bulb turns on. Using this definition of interactivity is meaningless, since it makes almost everything interactive. For something to be truly interactive, it has to involve two sides that alternately listen, think, and speak.
It has to be like a dialogue between two sides, where each action shapes and changes future inputs. This made me rethink my last assignment, where I created a sketch with fireflies that fly away when the mouse cursor gets close. I used to think of this as interactivity, but it is really just a simple reaction to input. It is not an interactive dialogue, since only one side is speaking while the other is just listening without giving any response back.
I think I could make the fireflies respond differently depending on how the user moves the mouse. For example, if the user moves the mouse slowly, the fireflies could drift away calmly, but if the cursor moves faster, the fireflies could fly away more dramatically. This would at least make the interaction feel like the fireflies are thinking before reacting, rather than just responding the same way every time.