Beyond the Visual in Urban Interactive Interfaces: Dialogue and Social Transformation

This paper discusses the hegemony of the visual and its pervasiveness in current urban installations and technological gadgets. It draws a distinction between functional and playful interactions, showing the prevalence of the former in the design of most interfaces. It discusses interfaces that despite being based on the visual surpass functional interaction by promoting the bodily engagement of people in a playful interaction. This leads to the distinguishing between the interface—which might be reactive, proactive, or dialogical—and the interaction it promotes. It then argues for an interactive interface that moves beyond the visual towards physical action, promoting dialogical interaction. Such a discussion draws from physical computing to enable remote physical actuation to enhance people's feelings of belonging and presence. It then presents an interface that connects two public spaces through the Internet using physical computing to enable remote actuation. It finally indicates pointers for those future interactive installations that are concerned with social transformation.