computers and interactivity

Jan 24, 2019

thinking about how much of our interactions with computers are restricted to (touch)screens, keyboards and trackpads… seems often that a computer is only as interactive as the output surfaces and input dimensions it has; an “interactivity surface area” if i may.

i’ve been pretty fascinated with dynamicland’s approach to computing and realized that the most appealing part to me is the near infinite interactivity of the system, and it’s nove approach to hybrid input-output devices using the projectors and paper with colored borders.

in a sense, we’ve been restricted towards screens and keyboards because we tend to define our computer systems around the interactivity models we have or seem practical, instead of desigining interactivity modes around our systems. to be fair, there was definitely a time when mouses and keyboards were cutting edge, but as there’s been an expansion in what we can do with computer systems, ther hasnt been a corresponding expansion in the physical interfaces/interactivity modes through which we can do these things.

i suppose this is why VR/AR seem promising, but there’s the worry that headsets will never quite be as tangible as we want because of the need to opt in… advanced projectors seem more ideal to me for this.