From rituals to magic: Interactive art and HCI of the past, present, and future

Myounghoon Jeon (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA), Rebecca Fiebrink (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK), Ernest A. Edmonds (De Montfort University, Leicester, UK) and Damith Herath (University of Canberra, Australia) published in International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Volume 131 (November 2019)

Highlights

• Interactive art and HCI have contributed to one another.
• Interaction, creativity, embodiment, affect, and presence are common elements.
• Machine intelligence will open new potentials in interactive art.
• Challenges and opportunities for collaboration between the two were identified.

Abstract

The connection between art and technology is much tighter than is commonly recognised.

The emergence of aesthetic computing in the early 2000s has brought renewed focus on this relationship.

In this article, we articulate how art and Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) are compatible with each other and actually essential to advance each other in this era, by briefly addressing interconnected components in both areas – interaction, creativity, embodiment, affect, and presence.

After briefly introducing the history of interactive art, we discuss how art and HCI can contribute to one another by illustrating contemporary examples of art in immersive environments, robotic art, and machine intelligence in art.

Then, we identify challenges and opportunities for collaborative efforts between art and HCI.

Finally, we reiterate important implications and pose future directions.

This article is intended as a catalyst to facilitate discussions on the mutual benefits of working together in the art and HCI communities. It also aims to provide artists and researchers in this domain with suggestions about where to go next.

Full text (PDF 12pp) and there are colour images which is not usual for an academic journal.

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