Mediators in visual interaction: An analysis of the “Poietic Generator” and “Open Studio”

Abstract

The Poietic Generator and Open Studio are examples of interactive art, a form of art intended for the viewer's direct participation. They are based on distributed applications for visual interaction enabling to collaborate on the creation of visual images and narratives. This paper reports the analysis of the visual activity generated by their users. Such an analysis is founded on the phenomenological hypothesis that the visual activity generated by the participants in the Poietic Generator and Open Studio allows the study of the interaction process in terms of a co-determining relationship between perception and action. The results of this analysis indicate five classes of mediators capable of tuning the development of the interaction process according to the context and emotional state of the participants. These classes are based on: (1) spatial relationships, (2) chromatic relationships, (3) figurative elements, (4) textual elements, and (5) temporal events. By sustaining the intersubjective processing of information among participants, mediators sustain their socially intelligent ability of constructing and sharing meaningful activities; that is, they sustain co-creation. For this reason, mediators are particularly important in the design of social interactive systems that have purposes but not explicit goals (as in the case of art and creative activities in general).