For this week’s reading reflection for Casey Reas’ lecture about chance operations, I have considered how randomness can be utilized in my work. In my current work in VR, I have seen that randomness could introduce an added level of immersive experience in my work. For example, having unpredictable environment shifts and interactions could generate a sensation of uncertainty, amplify the level of engagement for the user, and make them even more engaged in the experience. Nevertheless, a delicate balancing act must take place between randomness and control, for excessive randomness could disorient, and a lack of randomness could make the experience too rigid and lifeless. In my work, I’d like to experiment with randomness in bounded structures—generating a level of surprise but not compromising purpose and clarity of the experience.
The lecture challenged my thinking about randomness in my work. As I have liked having a level of control over my work, having calculated unpredictability in my work opens doors for new avenues for investigation and inquiry. It’s posed questions for me about an excessive level of randomness and whether an ideal sweet spot can stimulate and maintain a level of creativity and an involved level of user experience. Can excessive randomness destroy the narrative and emotional impact of a VR experience, or can it generate new dimensions of meaning? I’m interested in exploring these questions in my continued development of my work.