Interactive Digital Media

Multimedia Information Systems

Interactive Media and Interaction Styles

David Lamas, ULP, 2010

Part 1Interactive media


Contents

Etymology

Essential characteristics

The environmental thesis and the anti-deterministic view

Technology acceptance models

Digital natives and digital immigrantsThe Millennials

Innovation adoption stages

A look into the future

Related careers


The humanities

1978Computing in the humanities is a field dominated by

amateurs, in the best sense of this word. Nothing forces a critic to put texts on a computer; no composer is compelled to seek the aid of a machine; even the programmers employed on this kind of project are likely to be there by inclination rather than by accident. Economic motives are also largely absent: in general, nobody makes or saves money by using computers for such applications, and only occasionally can the machine save time.


Immersed

2010Interactive technologies are all around us…

Paying bills

Buying food

Fueling our cars

Opening doors

Global positioning systems

Closed-circuit television

Electronically recorded transactions

Mobile phones

Social networks

Information rivers


Immersed


Touch and multi-touch displays


Immersed


Augmented reality


Immersed


Ambient intelligence


Interactive media

InterAmong, between

ActionThe fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve

an aim

MediaThe plural form of medium, an agency or means of doing

something, something we use to communicate with


Interactive media

Interactive media is…The integration of digital media including combinations of

electronic text, graphics, moving images, and sound, into a structured digital computerized environment that allows people to interact with the data for appropriate purposes

Related to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user’s actions by presenting content such as text, graphics, animation, video, audio, etc…

Interactive media…allows users to participate and edit the content


Interactive media

But some argue that interactive media is not…limited to electronic media or digital media

They include board games, pop-up books and flip might be also considered examples of printed interactive media

Some will even argue that books with a simple table of contents or index may be considered interactive due to the non-linear control mechanism in the medium…


Interactive media

And interactive media is not…New media

On one hand, interactive media enables the dynamic life of the new media content and its interactive relationship with the prosumers

On the other, interactive media might just be use to “update” older media



Interactive media retains some of the qualities of both artistic media and mass mediaHowever, the very nature of these older media forms has

been subjected to change by the qualities of computing devices

With the relationship between old and new interactive media in mindIt is important to establish the fundamental characteristics of

which aspects of old media still apply to interactive media and more importantly, what is new about interactive media



The technological convergence of multiple mediaIntermedia

Multimedia

hypermedia

Generative content creation

The digitization, abstraction and simulation of old mediaIncreased fidelity

Quality of representation

Non-linearity

Immediacy

The interactive authoring and interpretation of meaningInteraction with and through the enabling technology

Relating production and interpretation



The fact is that…Interactive media is changing the way in which we relate to

our surroundings by changing the nature of the media that we are already familiar with

One should ask, how do we establish what these changes and the resulting characteristics of interactive media are?

But today, we will only try to further elaborate on the environmental thesis versus the anti-deterministic view problem


The environmental thesis

For McLuhan (1967) we are metaphorically fish that are unaware of the mediating water that surrounds usFish of course, having evolved to be perfectly adapted to the

life in the medium of water, are not aware of its existence

Water is the ecological niche into which they were born into


The anti-deterministic view

For Williams (1974) it is human agency and the activities of societies and cultures that affect the nature of technology, not the other way aroundIn this case…

Technology is always developed with some human need or intention in mind

It is aimed at solving some problem or improving some pre-existing social situation

People are always in control of its development


Technology acceptance modelDavis F. D. 1989. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quartely, 13/1989, pp. 319–339.


Extension of the acceptance model

Venkatesh, V. and Davis, F. D. 2000. Theoretical extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management Science, 46: 2, pp. 186–204.


Unified theory of acceptance and use

Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B. and Davis, F. D. 2003. User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 27. No. 3, September, pp. 425–478.


Basic acceptance model concepts

Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B. and Davis, F. D. 2003. User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 27. No. 3, September, pp. 425–478.


Digital natives

Digital natives grew up using digital technology, and they’re often acting as guides for digital immigrantsThey are typically Millennials

http://abm.typepad.com/mediapace/2008/07/index.html


Millennials?

Also named…Generation Now

has been used as well to reflect the urge for instant-gratification that technology has imparted

Computer Generation

Generation D

for Digital

Generation M

for Millennium or Multi-Task

Net Gen

a shortened form of Net Generation


Millennials?

Some interesting facts…97% own a computer

94% own a cell phone

76% use Instant Messaging

15% of IM users are logged on 24/7

34% use Web sites as their primary source of news

28% own a blog and 44% read blogs

49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing

75% of college students have a Facebook account

60% own some type of portable music or video device such as an iPod


Digital immigrants

Digital immigrants like their information delivered in a linear, logical sequence, but digital natives prefer random access to hyperlinked informationThey already entered the digital world as adults


Innovation adoption stagesRogers, E. M. 1995. The diffusion of innovations. Fourth edition. New York. Free Press.



InnovatorsInnovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation.

Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial lucidity, very social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Risk tolerance has them adopting technologies which may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures.

Rogers, E. M. 1962. Diffusion of Innovations. Glencoe: Free Press.



Early AdoptersThis is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt

an innovation. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories. Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters. More discrete in adoption choices than innovators. Realize judicious choice of adoption will help them maintain central communication position.




Early MajorityIndividuals in this category adopt an innovation after a

varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority tend to be slower in the adoption process, have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system.




Late MajorityIndividuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the

average member of the society. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, very little financial lucidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority, very little opinion leadership.




LaggardsIndividuals in this category are the last to adopt an

innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be advanced in age. Laggards typically tend to be focused on “traditions”, have lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity, oldest of all other adopters, in contact with only family and close friends, very little to no opinion leadership.



Innovation adoption chasmMoore, G. A. 1999. Crossing the Chasm. Second Edition. Capstone Publishing, Oxford.



Five powerful trendsMost growth in the interactive media market will occur outside of

today’s high income, or “advanced,” economies

Global governance of the Internet will remain substantially unchanged

Digital natives will relate to the Internet in markedly different ways than earlier generations

The QWERTY keyboard will not be the primary interface with the Internet

Consumers will pay for Internet connectivity in a much wider range of ways

(with flat pricing a rarity)

Monitor Global Business Network and Cisco. 2010. A Look Ahead to 2025 by Cisco and Monitor's Global Business Network.



Three areas of uncertaintyWill broadband network build-out be extensive as a result of

the combined effect of private and public investment, or more limited?

Will technological progress be characterized more by breakthroughs or mostly represent incremental advances?

Will user behavior, including the appetite for ever-richer interactive media applications, lead to demand growth being unbridled or more constrained?




Four possible scenariosFluid frontiers

A world in which the Internet becomes pervasive and centrifugal

Technology continues to make connectivity and devices more and more affordable, in spite of limited investment in network build-out, while global entrepreneurship and fierce competition ensure that the wide range of needs and demands from across the world are met quickly and from equally diverse setups and locations




Four possible scenariosInsecure growth

A world in which users, individuals and business alike, are inhibited from intensive reliance on the Internet

Relentless cyber attacks driven by wide-ranging motivations defy the preventive capabilities of governments and international bodies

Secure alternatives emerge, but they are expensive




Four possible scenariosShort of the promise

A frugal world in which prolonged economic stagnation in many countries takes its toll on the spread of the Internet

Technology offers no compensating breakthroughs, and protectionist policy responses to economic weakness make matters worse both in economic terms and with regard to network technology adoption




Four possible scenariosBursting at the seams

A world in which the Internet becomes a victim of its own success

Demand for IP-based services is boundless, but capacity constraints and occasional bottlenecks create a gap between the expectations and reality of Internet use

Meanwhile, international technology standards don’t come to pass, in part because of a global backlash against decades of U.S. technology dominance



Related careershttp://www.skillset.org/interactive/careers/


Related careershttp://www.skillset.org/interactive/careers/

Where the bars fade out, this indicates that career progression usually requires moving into a different role at this point - typically to one that is adjacent or nearby on the diagram above

Where the bars do not fade out, this indicates that career progression is possible within the role, with increasingly senior positions usually being available


Interactive media recap

Etymology


The environmental thesis and the anti-deterministic view

Technology acceptance models

Digital natives and digital immigrantsThe Millennials



Related careers


One final question

So… do we drive or are we driven by the development of interactive media?Does any of the initially presented models prevail?

Does the answer depend on our digital citizenship status?


Product life cycle


Part IIInteraction styles

Click icon to add picture


Contents

Etymology

The relation between the evolution of computing and the main interaction styles

The technological hype cycle and adoption timings

Related knowledge domains

Beyond interacting with digital media


Personal computing

1978It is generally thought that a computer must cost under USD

1000.00 to have mass-market appeal. A machine at that price today is a minimal computer system. It has as little as 8KB of user memory, uses audio cassettes for mass storage, and has a CRT display for output. Today’s computer is programmed in BASC. Small amounts of application software are available on cassettes.


Data storage

1978A new approach to storing data in computers, using a

tunable dye laser, is described in US Patent 4,101,976 awarded to scientists at IBM’s San Jose Research Laboratory. Based on a photochemical process called ‘hole burning’, the new system provides a unique method for increasing the amount of information that can be packed into a given space.


Mobile computing

1994Recent advances in technology have provided portable

computers with wireless interfaces that allow networked communication even while a user is mobile. Whereas today’s first-generation notebook computers and personal digital assistants are self-contained, networked mobile computers are part of a greater infrastructure. Mobile computing will very likely revolutionize the way we use computers.


Interaction styles

InterAmong, between

Actionthe fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim

InteractionReciprocal action or influence

Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another

The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect

StyleA manner of doing something

A way of painting, a way of writing…

A way of interacting


Interaction styles

In our case…Ways of interacting with and through interactive media

Ways of communicating with and by means of computerized environments


The evolution of computingWaldner, J-B. 2007. Nano-informatique et intelligence ambiante: inventer l'ordinateur du XXIe siècle. Hermes Science Publications, 2007


Main interaction styles

Command line interfaces

Graphical user interfaces

Natural user interfaces


Physical programming

In the beginning it wasall about interacting with the computer


Card punching and reading

Batch processing


A teletypewriter

The birth of the CommandLine Interface


Early graphic workstation

An initial GraphicUser Interface


A mouse prototype

Invented byDouglas Engelbart


A video-display unit

The oN-Line System featuring a display, a keyboard and mouse


The oN-Line System

…or the Augmentation of Human IntellectA system envisioned by Douglas Engelbart, to help Increasing the

capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems

Increased capability in this respect is taken to mean a mixture of the following: more-rapid comprehension, better comprehension, the possibility of gaining a useful degree of comprehension in a situation that previously was too complex, speedier solutions, better solutions, and the possibility of finding solutions to problems that before seemed insolvable

Complex situations we include the professional problems of diplomats, executives, social scientists, life scientists, physical scientists, attorneys, designers--whether the problem situation exists for twenty minutes or twenty years…

http://www.dougengelbart.org/pubs/augment-3906.html


The oN-Line System

The system was called oN-Line System, because it was also networked between multiple computersComputers were no longer isolated

The display system was based on vector graphics technology and could display both text and solid lines on the same screen

Because of limited memory space in the mainframe computer, it could only display upper-case characters, although true upper-case was displayed by the use of a short horizontal line directly above any capitalized letters


The Xerox Alto

The Alto was not a microcomputer as such, although its components did fit under a desk


The Xerox Star

The Star had some differences from the Alto, most significantly the ability to overlap windows was removed as it was thought too confusing for the general public…


The Apple Lisa

The Lisa user interface invented some of the Graphical User Interface concepts we still use today. Icons could represent all files in the system and the drag and drop was used for file


The Apple Macintosh


Other early graphic user interfaces


A graphic user interface timeline

Examples of graphic user interface styles are…Menu selection

Forms fill-in

Direct manipulation

Metaphors (ie. The desktop)

Web navigation



…is the common designation used by designers and developers of computer interfaces to refer to a user interface that is effectively invisible, or becomes invisible with successive learned interactions, to its usersThe word natural is used because most computer interfaces

use artificial control devices whose operation has to be learned

Such an interface relies on a user being able to carry out relatively natural motions, movements or gestures that they quickly discover control the computer application or manipulate the on-screen content



The most distinct identifier of a natural user interface is the lack of a physical keyboard and or mouseHence, the most common examples are…

(multi-)touch interfaces; and

voice-operated interfaces

The natural user interface removes the metaphors, and many of the artificially learned devices, to allow users to more directly manipulate content using more natural movements, motions and gestures

Enthusiast defend that these interfaces are fast to learn and, as such, freely apply the adjective 'intuitive’ to describe how users interact with them


Perceptive pixel


Microsoft Surface


Xbox Kinect


Natural user interfaces are… not natural

According to Don NormanFundamental principles of knowledge of results, feedback, and a good

conceptual model still rule

The strength of the graphical user interface has little to do with its use of graphics

It has to do with the ease of remembering actions, both in what actions are possible and how to invoke them

Visible icons and visible menus are the mechanisms, and despite the well-known problems of scaling up to the demands of modern complex systems, they still allow one to explore and learn

The important design rule of a GUI is visibility: through the menus, all possible actions can be made visible and, therefore, easily discoverable. The system can often be learned through exploration

Systems that avoid these well-known methods suffer.

Are natural user interfaces natural? No, he says, but they will be useful.


Other user interfaces


Technological hype cycleLinden, A. and Fenn, J. 2003. Understanding Gartner's Hype Cycles. Strategic Analysis Report R-20-1971. 30 May 2003. Gartner Research.


Technological hype cycle


Technological hype cycle and adoption timings

Linden, A. and Fenn, J. 2003. Understanding Gartner's Hype Cycles. Strategic Analysis Report R-20-1971. 30 May 2003. Gartner Research.



Human-computer interactionThe study of how people interact with computers and to what

extent computers are or are not developed for successful interaction with human beings

Recent advances in mobile, ubiquitous, social, and tangible computing technologies have moved human-computer interaction into practically all areas of human activity

This has led to a shift away from the usual stress on usability to a much richer scope of user experience, where user's feelings, motivations, and values are given as much, if not more, attention than efficiency, effectiveness and basic subjective satisfaction



Interaction designA design discipline dedicated to defining the behavior of

artifacts, environments and systems

User experience designThe field of user experience was established to cover the

holistic perspective to how a person feels about using a system

The focus is on pleasure and value rather than on performance


Human-computer interaction


Interaction design


User experience design


But…

Interactivity is not limited to technological systemsPeople have been interacting with each other as long as

humans have been a species

From this broader viewpoint, reasoning about interaction styles should also address the interaction between human beings by means of a interactive media


Interaction styles recap

Etymology

The relation between the evolution of computing and the main interaction styles

The technological hype cycle and adoption timings


Beyond interacting with digital media


Two final questions

How do you see the evolution of interacting with and through interactive media?Are natural user interfaces the future or part of the future?

Are the previous interaction styles dead or condemned?

Should mobile user interfaces be regarded as a completely new interaction style?If so, what would their distinctive characteristics be?

Interactive Digital Media

Education

Transcript of Interactive Digital Media