Analysis of an Interactive Work
The interactive work I chose to discuss and review is titled, “Guten Touch” created by Multitouch Barcelona. The purpose of this project was to exemplify and show how advancements in technology and old-fashioned human interaction can be bound as a whole in the same “social sphere.” “Guten Touch” incorporates two projected displays and consists of a multitouch wall that allows the viewers/participants to participate in the three activities designed for this interactive work. These include, “throwing foam balls to play Space Invaders, creating a virtual pixelated painting using a brush and manipulating a digital object using their hands.” The overall concept behind this interactive art installation is that the line between the digital and physical world is blurred and instead of acting as two separate realms they can be brought together and collaborated to create something interesting and unique for viewers. In the activity that allows the viewer to manipulate an object, circles gradually appear on the screen that can roll, bounce off one another, float, etc. However, what makes it interactive is that the viewer can place their hands on the screen to make the circles do whatever they would like. The viewer can hold a circle, throw one against another, lift it from the ground, catch them, etc. The fact that the circles have so many different functions that the viewer can make happen keeps this activity interesting and entertaining. If only one or two functions were offered then the activity may have lost the viewers interest in a short amount of time. However, with multiple functions available, this activity keeps the fun going and makes the viewers want to keep participating in the interactivity of the project. In the second activity, viewers can create a pixelated painting using a brush on the screen. This allows to viewers to “paint” whatever they would like and have total free range in creativity. Again, this ability to have unlimited freedom creates interest in the project and makes the viewer want to remain engaged in the work. If the viewer was limited to what they could draw or create they would have less interest, but the capability to do whatever you desire on a large space makes this interactivity extra exciting. The final activity allows participants can throw foam balls to play Space Invaders, which is generally played on a game machine using a controller. Therefore, this project allows you to play an old-school game in a completely different manner that is different from the standard controller. Throwing balls at the screen instead of pressing buttons to win gives the game a totally different and new effect which again, keeps the participants engaged and excited to play. After awhile, people get tired of playing something the same way over and over again so the fact that Multitouch Barcelona was able to create something new and unusual really shows that activities/games can be modified to add interest and desire to try something a different way. I believe Multitouch Barcelona was very successful in the creation of this interactive project and developed very interesting concepts to keep the participants engaged in the activities.
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