An analytical framework for facilitating interactivity between participants and interactive artwork: case studies in MRT stations

Abstract

This article presents a heuristic approach for analysing computer-based interactive art by the extent to which it produces an interaction, and by whether participants are able to gain a meaningful experience from the interaction. Interactive installations responding to participants' physical input have been increasingly displayed in public spaces outside conventional art domains. Nevertheless, people in such public spaces are often unaccustomed to engaging with art intellectually. Thus, although the interactive artwork with responsive multimedia effects are, to some extent, more capable of prompting physical engagements, it is not always clear whether participants are able to develop meaningful experiences from such interactive encounters. Here, an analytical framework for reviewing such experiences has been developed from examinations of interactive experiences on site, along with interviews with advisors, professionals in the field and the originating artists. Examples of the frameworks' application to three interactive artworks are demonstrated in this article.