This article explores the ludic interface design potential of com- bining interactivity and playfulness, where the former term is under- stood as some specific type, degree or quality of interaction possessed by a component, or aspect, of some interactional system, be it hu- man–human, human–machine, or human–environment, and where the latter term is understood as a disposition to discover, or create (also together with others), opportunities for amusement. To this end we interrogate in some detail the notions of interaction and interactivity, with amongst other things reference to a classical approach to studying different forms of human interactions in cultural and material environ- ments: Symbolic Interactionism, passing from there to more recent approaches to human–machine interaction. Then follows a brief look at how the fields of media convergence and media ecology studies were developed on the basis of a marriage of ideas from traditional ecolog- ical sciences, coupled with currents from cultural semiotics, cultural studies and new media studies, ending up with the contemporary field of new media literacies, where the main emphasis is on participatory culture, where media consumers are increasingly invited by media con- tent producers to participate in the creation and circulation of reworked, re–contextualised, digital content. This is followed by a brief look at some current principles for interaction and interactivity design as a cultural process, where the focus is on developing systems that offer affordances that tend to maximise the agency of interactors, the latter a preferred term in relation to the earlier more commonly used term “user”. The next section interrogates some criteria commonly used by interactivity design professionals for defining and evaluating the degree of playful- ness inherent in any given communication or interaction situation (or system), with special emphasis given to discussion of the rhetorically based procedural logic models used by designers of so–called persuasive   Patrick J. Coppock videogames, that aim to stimulate players to reflect on critical personal, social and cultural issues, both during and after play. This leads into a brief discussion of the recent tendency in international game studies and esthetics circles to consider video games as new media art forms, with a particular interactive component not so common in traditional art forms. The paper is rounded off by a look at how interactivity, play- fulness, creativity, innovation today interrelate closely with one another in the design, diffusion and private and (increasingly) public use of ad- vanced forms of largely image based ludic interfaces that will contribute over time to increasing our accessibility to, and competencies regarding, desired interactions with, and serious uses of complex sophisticated technical systems and services, while hopefully nurturing our creativity and innovation potential as interactors, and our future opportunities for self– (and other–) realization.

Interactivity + Playfulness How to Do Things With Images in Ludic and Social Media / Coppock, Patrick John. - In: LEXIA. - ISSN 1720-5298. - STAMPA. - 17-18 2014:(2014), pp. 725-743.

Interactivity + Playfulness How to Do Things With Images in Ludic and Social Media

COPPOCK, Patrick John
2014

Abstract

This article explores the ludic interface design potential of com- bining interactivity and playfulness, where the former term is under- stood as some specific type, degree or quality of interaction possessed by a component, or aspect, of some interactional system, be it hu- man–human, human–machine, or human–environment, and where the latter term is understood as a disposition to discover, or create (also together with others), opportunities for amusement. To this end we interrogate in some detail the notions of interaction and interactivity, with amongst other things reference to a classical approach to studying different forms of human interactions in cultural and material environ- ments: Symbolic Interactionism, passing from there to more recent approaches to human–machine interaction. Then follows a brief look at how the fields of media convergence and media ecology studies were developed on the basis of a marriage of ideas from traditional ecolog- ical sciences, coupled with currents from cultural semiotics, cultural studies and new media studies, ending up with the contemporary field of new media literacies, where the main emphasis is on participatory culture, where media consumers are increasingly invited by media con- tent producers to participate in the creation and circulation of reworked, re–contextualised, digital content. This is followed by a brief look at some current principles for interaction and interactivity design as a cultural process, where the focus is on developing systems that offer affordances that tend to maximise the agency of interactors, the latter a preferred term in relation to the earlier more commonly used term “user”. The next section interrogates some criteria commonly used by interactivity design professionals for defining and evaluating the degree of playful- ness inherent in any given communication or interaction situation (or system), with special emphasis given to discussion of the rhetorically based procedural logic models used by designers of so–called persuasive   Patrick J. Coppock videogames, that aim to stimulate players to reflect on critical personal, social and cultural issues, both during and after play. This leads into a brief discussion of the recent tendency in international game studies and esthetics circles to consider video games as new media art forms, with a particular interactive component not so common in traditional art forms. The paper is rounded off by a look at how interactivity, play- fulness, creativity, innovation today interrelate closely with one another in the design, diffusion and private and (increasingly) public use of ad- vanced forms of largely image based ludic interfaces that will contribute over time to increasing our accessibility to, and competencies regarding, desired interactions with, and serious uses of complex sophisticated technical systems and services, while hopefully nurturing our creativity and innovation potential as interactors, and our future opportunities for self– (and other–) realization.
2014
17-18 2014
725
743
Interactivity + Playfulness How to Do Things With Images in Ludic and Social Media / Coppock, Patrick John. - In: LEXIA. - ISSN 1720-5298. - STAMPA. - 17-18 2014:(2014), pp. 725-743.
Coppock, Patrick John
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