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Bepaitment of Communication & Psychology
Aalboig 0niveisity
Teglgaius Plaus 1
9uuu Aalboig, Banmaik
mlunuhum.aau.uk


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Bouglas Auams, 1999

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This papei intiouuces an agenua foi uesigning "Natuial Inteiaction" that oiiginate in
investigations into new uigital technologies, embouiment, inteiaction-uesign anu natuial usei
inteifaces. The agenua intiouuces foui themes that seek to infoim piofessionals woiking with
communication anu piouuctivity about how cuiient uigital technologies coulu integiate anu
suppoit a "Natual Inteiaction" appioach to communication-, inteiaction-, anu infoimation-
uesign. The themes aie qualifieu thiough a case at Bangbo Nuseum in Fieueiikshavn,
Benmaik.

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0ne of the seminal texts in uefining the uiscouises of BCI in the past 2S yeais is
"@*1$%/'-*1)*+ A37B4'$%/ -*1 A3+*)')3*" by Teiiy Winogiau anu Feinanuo Floies. The fiist
chapteis sketch how computeis aie being integiateu into human activities anu how the
pieviously uominant "%-')3*-0)/'): '%-1)')3*" is not the only one ielevant to auiess the
questions occuiiing "2($* 2$ %$:3+*)C$ '(-' )* 1$/)+*)*+ '330/ 2$ -%$ 1$/)+*)*+ 2-&/ 39 5$)*+"
|Winogiau 1986j. The unueistanuings auvocateu by Winogiau & Floies have laigely been
integiateu into cuiient piactice anu euucation aiounu uesign of computei systems anu
inteiaction. Bowevei, computing has also giown moie complex, uistiibuteu anu embeuueu
than foieseeable in 1986. The cuiient manifestations anu potentials of uigital technology
inuicate that it is time to ievisit the "humanising computing" agenua of Winogiau anu Floies.
Computing anu uigital technologies aie no longei a novelty, but an integiateu anu
funuamental pait of most peoples lives anu as the Bouglas Auams quote inuicate, then the
geneiations boin aiounu 1986, have liveu all theii life with uigital technologies anu theiefoie
take the piesence anu abilities of uigital technologies foi gianteu. Actually one coulu question
if talking about 1)+)'-0 technologies is ielevant anymoie.
Ny favouiite anecuote to illustiate the coming of uigital natives is about a touulei
just capable of speaking, who hau taken ovei the familiy iPau anu gotten useu to biowse anu
manipulate images thiough gestuies. 0ne uay a piinteu photogiaph was on a table anu the
touulei staiteu gestuiing on the image, but no ieactions fiom the image - it maintaineu size,
position, oiientation, etc. So aftei a few attempts the touulei exclaimeu hei juugement ovei
the piinteu photogiaph: "D%3<$*E" |Kelly 2u11j. The age, use of language anu pievious iPau
only expeiience with photogiaphs inuicates that the little giil uiu inueeu think the piinteu
photogiaph was bioken as it uiu not exeicise any of the expecteu usual capabilities. She saw
the inteiactive anu uynamic capabilites of the uigital image as inheient piopeities of any
image; the lack of these cleaily being eiioneous.
The foui themes of this text iepiesent an attempt at aiticulating an up to uate
agenua entitleu "Natuial Inteiaction". Natuial Inteiaction is builu on solutions that exploit the
poweis of uigital technologies anu suppoit human piesence, peiception anu cognition. See
|}acob 2uu8j. The agenua looks like this: Theme 1 auuiess conciete technological possibilities.
Theme 2 summaiises a heimeneutic phenomenologically unueistanuig of human piesence
anu peiception. Theme S auuiess infoimation as a uesign-mateiial. Theme 4 auuiess the
consequences of Themes 1-S.

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In 2u1u two giauuate stuuents fiom ExpeiienceBesign at Aalboig 0niveisity uesigneu,
implementeu (anu testeu) a novel exhibition-component at the Bunkei museum at Bangsbo
Nuseum in Fieueiikshavn, Benmaik. The component aims at communicating about the WW II
aiea anu in paiticulai Bangsbo Foit anu the uanish iesistance. visitois aie given an IB caiu
which iuentifies them when inteiacting with oi in pioximity to elements of the exhibition. The
component is uesigneu as a game, in the sense that paiticipants at the enu of the event will be
pioviueu a scoie. visitois must woik in paiis. Initially they aie pioviueu infoimation about
the time of WWII in Benmaik anu the uanish iesistance. This is uone while situateu in the
bunkei-enviionment anu a scieen-piojection of an actoi playing the pait of a uanish
iesistance leauei will then ask the paiticipants to entei anothei bunkei to solve tasks anu
collect infoimation in a geiman bunkei. In the geiman bunkei theie aie aitifacts anu lifesize
geiman soluiei ieplicas anu the bunkei is equippeu with vaiious sensois that tiack anu
monitoi the actions of the paiticipants In the geiman bunkei theie aie aitifacts anu
iesponsive lifesize geiman soluiei ieplicas anu the bunkei is equippeu with vaiious sensois
that tiack anu monitoi the actions of the paiticipants. The collecteu infoimation must be
iepoiteu back to the iesistance leauei anu togethei with infoimation collecteu about theii
conuuct in the geiman bunkei, the scoie is calculateu. |Naul 2u1uj. The thesis was awaiueu a
12, still a pait of Bangbo Foit anu veiy populai.

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Nuseums aie veiy human - oi they shoulu be. They tell us about ouiselves anu allow us to
exploie who we aie, the woilu we live in, how it became this way anu maybe wheie we'ie
heauing. Theiefoie the activities anu piocesses of communication, euucation, leaining,
exploiation, etc. aie at the heait of museumstiategies anu -objectives |Nuslov 2uu6j.
Nuseumvisitois shoulu expeiience a communicative continuity when moving
fiom the outsiue woilu to the iealm of a museum |Kiippenuoiff 1989j. The Natuial
Inteiaction agenua ieach beyonu the context of museums anu pioviue anchoiing in the
tenuencies, potentials anu unueistanuings of contempoiaiy computing. But uue to theii
communicative objectives, then museums have the oppoitunity to builu upon, extenu anu
exploie the tenuencies, potentials anu unueistanuings of uigital technology. As seen at
Bangsbo Foit wheie some inspiiation is founu in computei games anu the solution
contiibutes to the unueistanuing of what is possible when integiating uigital technology.
The agenua is ielevant to museums of all types anu sizes because the
consiueiations oiiginate in inteiaction anu inteiface uesign, which is basically about
communication. Inteiactivity has been uefineu as vaiious communicative moualities of powei
ovei content - uoes the consumei anuoi piouucei contiol the content |}ensen 1997j, |Pieece
2uu7j. Nuseums communication at all levels; fiom the veiy subtle inteiaction with some
element in the exhibition, to the oveiall puipose of the exhibition. Anu iueally these pieces of
communication connect meaningfully while contiolleu by the visitois.
A challenge to the piofessional museum-communicatoi is theiefoie to piopeily
unueistanu uigital technology befoie implementation. Because, as with any technology, then
it affects the possibilities of uesigning anu the potential unueistanuings of the visitois. Bonalu
Noiman uevelopeu the theoiy of Besigneis conceptual mouel, System image anu 0seis
conceptual mouel. Be explains how the uesignei expects the usei to have oi obtain the same
unueistanuing (the same mouel) as the uesignei put into hei mouel, but in ieality, then the
usei only sees the system image anu shapes hei conceptual mouel upon an inteipietation of
this |Noiman 2uu2j. The theoiy veiy simply explains why the task of uesigning is a sensitive
unueitaking that iequiie the uesignei to unueistanu the components that constitutes a uesign
anu thus manifest the system image to the usei.

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This theme is iooteu in the peispective on computing known as ubiquous oi peivasive
computing oiiginally uesciibeu by Naik Weisei of Xeiox PARK |Weisei 1991j. Weisei focus
on the consequences of the incieasing (visible anu invisible) piesence of enabling
technologies. The vision of ubiquous computing might be one of the most successful
pieuictions of how computing woulu evolve, but what is concietely the technological status
anu tenuencies.
Bigital, masspiouucable anu economically accessible input- anu output
technologies have enableu a pieviously unaccessible level of uetail in the uesign of uigital
inteiaction (eg. sensois). Anu theie is a wiuespieau piesence of technologies that link
infoimation, people anu places. The histoiian ueoige Byson, in a iecent inteiview, estimateu
that the "1)+)'-0 4*)#$%/$ 2-/ $;B-*1)*+ -' '($ %-'$ 39 F '%)00)3* 5)'/ B$% /$:3*1" |Kelly 2u12j.
Bow uoes that happen .
The gianulaiity foi collecting, accessing anu piocessing infoimation in a uigital
foimat has incieaseu uiamatically. By gianulaiity, I iefei to how many technologies aie uigital
(uepenuent on a uigital chip to function) anu I iefei to the numbei anu vaiiety of activities
they aie pait of. The teims collecting, accessing anu piocessing shoulu be unueistoou in the
bioauest possible sense (incluuing exchanging infoimation) anu aie not limiteu to activites
contiolleu by humans, but also those contiolleu by the uevices themselves.
Soem examples: Image captuie anu piesentation is uigital anu even useu as an
input technology (eg. QR coues). Auuio playback anu captuie is uigital anu voicecontiol has
seen commeicial success. Touch is common foi scieen anu othei suiface baseu input. Baptic
technology tactile feeuback is close to commeicial intiouuction. Location technologies have
cieateu new types of communication thiough mashups anu new activities like geocashing.
Connectivity via mobile, WiFi anu vaiious types of close iange communication (eg. keycaius)
aie taken foi gianteu. Location anu connectivity cieates mobility of uata - anything, anytime,
anywheie; anu possibly anyhow because of clouu-computing making access only uepenuent
on iu anu passwoiu. The Nintenuo Wii intiouuceu gestuie-baseu inteiaction, but was
suipasseu by Niciosoft Kinect that iequiie no contiollei to iecieve input fiom bouy-
movements anu gestuies. vaiious inteiaction moualities aie enableu by a multituue of
sensois: accelleiometeis, gyios, light, sounu anu pioximity uetectois, compass, theimometei,
fingeipiint, ietina anu facial expiession iecognition. Anu othei sensois monitoi physiological
uata like heaitiate anu galvanic skin iesistance. This iecital only auiess haiuwaie, while much
uigital technology actually happens in softwaie. Email, Twittei, Facebook, anu Youtube only
have a uigital existience anu so have the hunuieuthousanus of mobile apps.
Bumans anu animals useu to be the only entities capable of collecting, accessing
anu piocessing infoimation, but uigital technologies now piesent the same capabilities. The
physical woilu is getting uigitiseu anu we consume the woilu in this foimat. The gianulaiity
of collection, access anu piocessing has ieacheu a stage wheie uigital seems to have become
oi is in the piocess of becoming the piimaiy mouus foi meuiateu peiception anu inteiaction
with the woilu. Eg. then the sensitivity of a smaitphone acceleiometei makes it possible to
contiol a iemotely opeiateu helicoptei anu uoctois peifoim suigeiy via cameia anu othei
uigitally contolleu tools. The amount of infoimation collecteu anu exhangeu uigitally enable
the peifoimance of these actions because they allow the opeiatoi to focus on the task anu not
the tool. The gianulaiity of infoimation available cieates the possibility of a veiy close
connecteuness to the objective of the action anu not the tools useu to peifoim the action.
Bigital technologies makes the woilu peiceptible to humans on human teims. Bigital
technologies tuin infoimation into a mateiial anu the bitbaseu natuie of uigital extenus the
possibilities of weaving a fabiic fiom many anu uiffeient souices. Bits aie not, like atoms
limiteu to a ceitain context, but enable new constellations anu ielations, not only among bits.
Bits also allow atom-baseu aitifacts to be eniicheu, alteieu oi affecteu by infoimation taken
fiom othei atom-baseu aitifacts oi contexts |Negioponte 199Sj anu |Ishii 1997j.

The Bangsbo case coulu not be iealiseu without the uigital natuie of the technology useu.
Wiieless connecteu iu caius that makes each visitoi unique anu likewise the infoimation
ieqisteieu about movements anu inteiactions. vaiious moualities foi inteiacting with the
iesistance leauei anu objets anu soluiei ieplicas in the geiman bunkei. Anu most of it
happening without the visitois actively inteiacting with the technology. The technology is
uiscieet anu allow each visitoi to have unique expeiience anu get the feeling of being
immeiseu into a uiffeient ieality, but still baseu on the same peiceptive anu cognitive abilities
useu in the outsiue woilu. The game inueeu uoes utilise the ability of peivasive piesence of
infoimation collection, access anu piocessing.

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This theme looks at how we unueistanu ouiselves, oui piesence in the woilu anu thus the
iequiiements foi the tools we uesign. The outset is the unueistanuing of human piesence in
the woilu as physical "bouy-fiist" entities anu not caitesian minu-baseu entities. The woilu is
piesent anu available befoie we peiceive it |uibson 1977j anu we peiceive it with oui senses
fiist anu oui intellect seconuly |Bouiish 2uu1j.
This becomes ielevant to the uesign of inteiaction as uigital aitifacts neeu not be
manipulateu via a pioxy (eg. mouse anu pointei), but coulu offei piopeities anu affoiuances
that auiess peiception anu ieaction baseu on a wiuei set of senses anu stimuli. Tools anu
aitifacts shoulu be ieauy-to-hanu in the Beiueggeiian sense |Bouiish 2uu1j, |Winogiau
1986j. Focus shoulu be on the task to peifoim, not opeiation of the tool. When sneaking about
in the geiman bunkei then attention shoulu be at moving quietly anu swift, not to wake the
sleeping guaiu. Attention shoulu not be at sweeping youi IB-caiu to iegistei piesence in the
ioom. I'm on a quest, not in a museum!
|Bouiish 2uu1j is focuseu on embouiment which he views as the "4*)9&)*+
B%)*:)B0$ 93% '-*+)50$ -*1 /3:)-0 :37B4')*+". Be piesents a uefinition of embouiment anu
embouieu inteiaction that builus on a heimenutic phenomenological unueistanuing of human
activities anu peiception. The uefinition is builu on the concepts of philosopheis Busseil,
Beiueggei anu Neileau-Ponty, sociologist Alfieu Schutz, cognitive psychologist }.}. uibson,
Nichael Polanyi anu otheis. Bouiish uefines embouiment as: "'($ B%3B$%'& 39 34% $*+-+$7$*'
2)'( '($ 23%01 '(-' -0032/ 4/ '3 7-<$ )' 7$-*)*+940" anu he goes on teo uefine embouieu
inteiaction as: "'($ :%$-')3*= 7-*)B40-')3*= -*1 /(-%)*+ 39 7$-*)*+ '(%34+( $*+-+$1
)*'$%-:')3* 2)'( -%')9-:'/". These uefinitions ieflect veiy well up against the peispectives
piesenteu by theme 1 anu S. The uefinitions have an implicit focus on infoimation as the
peiception anu inteipeiation of infoimation is also the souice of meaning.
|}acob 2uu8j piesents the iuea of Reality-Baseu Inteiaction baseu on a
fiamewoik foi uesciibing human ielation to the woilu. The fiamewoik intiouuces a veiy
opeiationally oiienteu unueistanuing of embouiment: Nave Physics - human common sense
knowleuge of the woilu; Bouy Awaieness & Skills - human attention on bouily piesence anu
skills foi contiolling anu cooiuinating the bouy; Enviionment Awaieness & Skills - human
sense of the suiiounuings anu abilites to negotiate, manipulate anu navigate this
enviionment; Social Awaieness & Skills - human attention to othei people anu skills foi
inteiacting with them.

The Bangsbo case uoes quite obviously only woik because it is baseu on embouiment, but
|Chiistensen 2uu7j is moie inteiesting foi this theme as the stuuy compaies thiee quite
uiffeient attiactions to computeigames anu pioviue finuings on the iole of bouily piesence
anu inteiaction acioss thiee attiactions. 0ne attiaction allow visitois to follow walkways in
exotic enviionments with fiee-iangeing animals. Anothei attiaction is a classic ait-museum
with pieces exhibiteu on walls anu pieuestals anu explanatoiy plaques. The thiiu attiaction is
a laige shopping-mall anu stoie of stable goous. Both museums offei a museum-shop. The
stuuy founu that the zoo, the shopping-mall anu the museum-shops have integiation of bouily
inteiaction in common - anu involves the components piesenteu by the Reality-Baseu
Inteiaction fiamewoik. The ait-museum uses the bouy to move the minu aiounu. This is not
wiong fiom the peispective of tiauitional museum-communication, but it uoes not suppoit
how humans ielate to the woilu anu how the woilu is expeiienceu. It coulu be aigueu that a
tiauitional ait-museum is embouieu as you move aiounu anu use youi eyes to peicieve the
iooms anu objects. But the expeiience is piimaiily baseu on piesupposeu knowlege of the
aesthetic, histoiic, cultuial, etc. context in which the pieces shoulu be unueistoou.
|Chiistensen 2uu7j compaie the ait-museum to an encyclopeuia by. It's like walking in a
book. This is fine, but the engageu auuience is limiteu to those that accept the piemises anu if
compaieu to the potentials of combining technological capabilities anu the unueistanuing of
embouiment anu consiueiing how the Bangsbo case manages to simultanously engage,
involve anu euucate the visitois (without compiomising the histoiical integiity), then the
Natuial Inteiaction agenua uoes inueeu allow anu encouiage ie-invention of communication
at the classic ait-museum. This howevei, may challenge the view of what is ait anu the line
between enteitainment anu communication.

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0ui ielation anu unueistanuing of infoimation is shapeu by the piesence we give infoimation.
As an example, then mouse-baseu inteiaction (uiiect manpulation) anu the giaphic uesktop
metaphoi have pioviueu the image of file-containeis as folueis, actions anu piocesses as
taking place in closeu aieas (calleu winuows) anu tools as text-baseu lists oi images (calleu
icons). The uesktop metaphoi is fine - eg. fiom a stanupoint of familiaiity, efficiency anu
piouuctivity, but if uone uiffeiently then othei aspects of infoimation anu the ielations heieof
woulu occui. A uiffeient metaphoi woulu have yielueu othei moues of piesentation, othei
iepiesentations, etc. But the uesktop metaphoi was the one selecteu at Xeiox PARK anu latei
uuplicateu by the Nacintosh anu Niciosoft opeiating systems. Basically, then metaphois like
the computei uesktop aie abstiact skeuomoiphism. Skeuomoiphism has some auvantages,
but it also sustain the piopeities of the iefeienceu object anu influence expectations foi the
inteiaction. I believe we neeu to ievisit the uigital mateiial anu unueistanu uigital
infoimation anu inteiaction on the teims of its binaiy natuie. What chaiacteiises uigital .
|Wigoi 2u11j call attention to the uistinct oppoitunity of uigital inteiaction that
they call "G4B$% %$-0)/7". The uigital uesign may mimick some tiait of ieality, but it may also
auu non-ieal capabilites; capabilites that builu upon anu extenu the mimickeu mouel. Eg. a list
of objects on a touch-scieen is sciolleu by a flick gestuie, but the list will move fastei anu
fuithei than if the same flicking powei was applieu to a ieal woilu iolouex. The fast sciolling
is peifectly acceptable anu compiehensible, but has capabilities fai beyonu the oiiginal ieal
woilu mouel. So theie is a skeuomoiphism in the iefeience to the iolouex, but the uigital
natuie of the uesign allow an extension anu ie-invention, that contains the positive siues of
each paient. Aithui C. Clake saiu: "H*& /499):)$*'0& -1#-*:$1 '$:(*303+& )/ )*1)/')*+4)/(-50$
9%37 7-+):" I woulu paiaphiase him anu say: "H*& /499):)$*'0& -1#-*:$1 '$:(*303+& )/
)*1)/')*+4)/(-50$ 9%37 %$-0)'&".
When uesigning with the uigital mateiial then we shoulu consiuei how it is
B%$/$*'$1: the oiuei anu stiuctuie; how it is %$IB%$/$*'$1: the shapes, colouis, sounus,
movements, tactility, etc.; the *-#)+-')3*: the ielations that enable tiavel anu suppoit of
technical means of inteiaction (touch, auuio, spacial oiientation, haptics, etc.); /$-%:(-5)0)'&:
suppoiting uiffeient seaich stiategies |Noiville 2u1uj anu 9)*1-5)0)'&: how to signify the
infoimation, so that it can be iuentifieu anu founu if ielevant anu iequiieu |Noiville 2uuSj.

This theme connect to consiueiations about why people visit a museum anu how they use the
museum. What is inteiesting anu why is it inteiesting. Bow is something maue inteiesting.
What infoimation shoulu be accessible anu in which foimat. I supeiviseu a gioup of stuuents
analysing the new "Expeuition Noithsee" exhibition at Noiusen 0ceanaiium, Benmaik. The
stuuents founu that few visitois actually got involveu into the intenueu expeiience, but hau a
goou expeiience anyhow. The exhibition uesign is a failuie on the conceptual level, but fiom
the visitois peispective it is successful. Among othei things because both auults anu chiluien
weie alloweu to biowse anu skip aiounu, they neeueu not follow the expeiience uesign. The
Bangsbo case is similai as it use uigital technology to cieate an enviionment, but no stiuctuie.
It also suppoits the possibility that theie might be as many answeis as theie aie visitois, but
the uigital mateiial allow a uynamic uesign with many entiy-points to the infoimation in the
game. Besigning foi seaich, finuability anu navigation is as ielevant to the Bangsbo case as it
is to the ait-museum. Piesentation anu ie-piesentation of infoimation shoulu be uynamic anu
ieflect who, why, anu wheie. Infoimation is a mateiial, not a goal. Bypeitext, mashups anu
supei iealism will enable novel moues of piesentation, ie-piesentation, navigation, finuability
anu seaich.

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This theme is both a consequence of the thiee othei themes anu a theme in itself.
As a theme in itself, then it shoulu be seen as an onthological anu epistemological
appioach that questions the concept of ieal. Bigital is often in science anu populai uebate
equateu with viitual anu seen as the opposite of physically ieal. Real as in "occuiiing in the
physical multiuimensional woilu of atoms". viitual is usually conceptualiseu as aitificial oi
"not ieally existing". But many phenomenons only exist viitually - eg. uigital images,
Facebook anu mobile text-messages - anu this (socalleu) viitual piesence is theii ieal anu
oiiginal instantiation. Boes the concept of viitual pievent a piopei unueistanuing of these
phenomenons. I think not. Theii useis tieat them on the teims of theii actual existence anu
manifestation - as uigital phenomenons that aie uynamic, hypeilinkeu, supeiieal anu weaveu
togethei in a fabiic of many bitbaseu souices. Nobouy piints a Facebook upuate - to make it
moie ieal oi the contents moie ieliable, but they happily click, foiwaiu, comment anu "like"
upuates, links, images, viueos, etc. Facebook is as ieal as a uagueiieotype - it's just anothei
technology - anothei foimat of infoimation. They even shaie the featuie of hanuhelu mobility:
a uagueiieotype is a glassplate anu so is Facebook when vieweu on a touchscieeneu
smaitphone oi tablet. In some iespect, then Facebook is even moie ieal than a uagueiieotype,
because the lattei is actually a copy of ieality. A unique copy of those few seconus of ieality.
Facebook is uynamic anu ieflects the actions of the paiticipants. It is always new. Facebook is
ieal-time ieality, but a faiily new mateiial foi ieality.
So, it sounus as if phenomenons that oiiginate in the uigital iealm aie peiciveu as
ieal anu tieateu as ieal, but pieviously atom-baseu technologies, that have tuineu uigital oi
aie in the piocess aie peiceiveu as viitual - oi atleast as not iightly ieal. 0nless of couise
you'ie a touulei who has nevei seen a piinteu photogiaph, then the piinteu photogiaph is
bioken. in oiuei to piopeily unueistanu anu utilise the potentials of the uigital mateiial then
an onthological anu epistemological peispective that unueistanu uigital phenomenons as ieal
must be attaineu.
Seeing this theme as a consequence of the thiee othei themes, constitute a
movement that will consequently cieate a tiansgiession between ieal anu viitual which will
eventually tuin the line between ieal anu viitual into an invisible two-way contiuum. Anu by
uefining '%-*/+%$//)3* as an inuiviuual theme I hope to push this movement, whichI see as
inevitable. It is a movement that is alieauy happening anu veiy eloquently uesciibeu by |Pine
2u11j, who piesents a mouel calleu the J40')#$%/$. The mouel is meant to inspiie new
thinking about how uigital anu physical iealities ielate to each othei anu what aie the
posssibilites of these iealities. The mouel is S uimensional anu consist of thiee axises: Nattei
(Atoms) vs. No-Nattei (Bits); Space (Real) vs. No-Space (viitual) anu Time (Actual) vs. No-
Time (Autonomous). These axises cieates a cube of 8 uiffeient -veises. Each with uiffeient
piopeities uepenuing on the uefining axises. This mouel biilliantly shows how the
tiansgiession is possible anu alieauy happening. Anu it illustiates the iole of uigital
technology anu theiefoie also why the agenua must now focus on unueistanuing this mateiial
that has been iapiuly matuiing foi 2u yeais.

The Bangsbo case is a tiansgiession. The iesistance leauei is bits, but the task he oiueis can
only be solveu among atoms in ieal time. The actants act as they always uo, but monitoieu
anu theii actions collecteu, piocesseu anu masheu up with the iesult of theii quest. The
bunkeis, guaiu ieplicas anu objects founu, seen anu toucheu aie atoms of histoiical iefeience
anu useu to concietise anu immeise the visitois into a stoiy intiouuceu via uigital meuia. In
the multiveise mouel of |Pine 2u11j, the Bangsbo solution woulu qualify as "Waipeu ieality"
as space anu mattei aie significant, wheias time is that of the past. Clevei use of uigital
technologies cieates a new ieality that waip the paiticipants back to the uanish iesistance of
WWII. Those that cieateu the Bangsbo solution weie not hesitant about the uigital mateiial
anu focuseu on the iuea, not the technology.

6)"310,-)"
The foui themes of Natuial Inteiaction aie ciiculai in the sense that one woulu not exist
without the othei. They uesciibe an appioach to unueistanu the consequences of uigital in an
equally philosophical anu conciete sense. Puisueing the agenua will ieveal a spiial: the moie
we tiansgiess iealities the closei we get to cieating uesigns that suppoit embouiment. Anu
the closei we get to suppoiting embouiment, the moie integiateu must oui unueistanuing
anu hanuling of infoimation have become.
The ciux of the agenua is theme S. Theme S uefines unueistanuing of uigital as a
uesign-mateiial. This unueistanuing is baseu on an acceptance of uigital phenomenons as just
as ieal as atom-baseu phenomenons (theme 4); anu it is baseu on a final bieak with the split
between minu anu bouy establisheu in the late ienaissance (theme 2); anu it is baseu on the
binaiy natuie of uigital technologies that enable constellations not pieviously possible (theme
1).

But uigital technology begins anu enus in the physical univeise. Atoms aie captuieu anu
conveiteu to bits, piocesseu anu piesenteu thiough moualities that allow consumption by
atom-oiienteu humans. The human appioach to the woilu is iooteu in oui physical piesence
anu Natuial Inteiation is the next agenua foi computing; anu this will help us bettei tell oui
stoiies.

J%(%*%"3%,
|Auams 1999j Auams, Bouglas 1999. Bow to Stop Woiiying anu Leain to Love the Inteinet.
The Sunuay Times, August 29th 1999. www.uouglasauams.comuna1999u9u1-uu-a.html

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