Paper Information
| Title | Body Centred Interaction: Meaningful Design and Aesthetic Distance |
| Presenter(s) | Mitu Khandaker |
| Session | Body-Centered Interaction |
| Time | Thursday, October 21, 1:30p-2:30p |
| Location | Lake Huron Room |
| Format | Paper Presentation |
| Description | If we accept that video games are a form of art (Costikyan, 1994), then it is proposed that the concept of "aesthetic distance" should also apply to them; this is a literary term, defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as "the frame of reference that an artist creates by the use of technical devices in and around the work of art to differentiate it psychologically from reality" (2010). In other words, the aesthetic distance is the degree of separation required in order for a player to be able to be able to appreciate and critically evaluate a game as art.
This discussion explores this notion of aesthetic distance as it applies to video games, particularly in the context of innovations in controller technology, and the increasing trend toward interfaces which increasingly engage our bodily proprioceptive systems (our sense of the different parts of our body in relation to one another). This is a paradigm defined by Slater & Usoh (1994) as "Body Centred Interaction." That is, interaction techniques that match bodily proprioceptive and sensory data; in other words, the action you perform is the action you expect to see on the screen. Body Centred Interaction therefore includes gestural and kinesthetic control mechanisms, such as the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Move, and Xbox Kinect, which have become increasingly notable for their commercial interest. Though the concept of gestural interfaces is not at all new (earlier examples include the Nintendo Power Glove (Date), the Sega Activator (Date), and so on), these previous examples were notably commercial failures. However, due to improvements in sensor technology being able to more accurately reflect a player's real-life bodily input within a game, novel interfaces of all types are becoming more prevalent. This discussion draws upon not only interaction design and psychology, but also cognitive science, aesthetic theory, and moral philosophy. Subsequently, this discussion seeks to encourage consideration of the implications this may have upon game design, both in considering ethical issues, and in terms of positive, new possibilities. |
| More | View PDF of extended abstract |