The paper I read is this one: Designing emotional, metaphoric, natural and intuitive interfaces for interactive art, edutainment and mobile communications by Laurent Mignonneau, Christa Sommerer
Findings
This paper described a wide variety of interactive artworks, environments, and other projects that used computers and other computer-based technology as their main interface. The authors prefaced their collection of works with an introduction to standard human-computer interaction, and then described how they developed new interfaces through vastly multisensory exploration. One of their more memorable examples included using a live plant that could be manipulated by different degrees of closeness, as well as physical interaction, as a means to educate users about plant life. Another used egg-shaped interfaces to share heartbeat, breath, and head as means of communication between two remote users. Reading about all these different ways of interacting with technology led me to believe that a multisensory approach to building products will cause those products’ users to be more engaged and find them more unique than those which utilize only one sense. Something else that occurred to me was that a multisensory approach can also benefit those who are lacking one sense, since they may still be able to use the product based on some other interface.
Application to a2a
I found that this paper gave me a lot to consider about how a2a presents artworks to its users. The way we have it now is that a user uploads a file which is shared with the community. As we are a mobile application, I realize that the ways in which a user can interact with artwork through a2a are unfortunately limited. However, perhaps we could have considered different ways to make the experience of art on mobile more multisensory. One possibility includes supporting multiple files for a single artwork. As we have it, an artist can only upload a single file; this other way would allow an artist not only to upload, say, a work of fiction, but also a visual file to convey mood and meaning to the audience, and perhaps an audio file to give auditory ambience or vocal deliver to enhance the piece (and make it more accessible to the visually-impaired). This could allow the audience to be more engaged and immersed in the work, and give the artist more ways to add depth to their pieces.