The task of the designer is not to create a better button, but to determine if buttons are required in the first place.
 
— Florian Brody, from The Medium is the Memory

Introduction

Light Box is a limited study of the relationships between technology and social communication. The primary goal of this experiment is to observe individual behaviors and over arching patterns related to how individuals pursue and avoid avenues of direct personal interaction within the context and framework of an overtly technical environment.

To establish the conditions for this examination, primary rules for the system are developed at two levels: the explicit and the covert (undisclosed). The explicit level of system and interaction rules relies exclusively on technology and the individual's actions while the covert level exists as the direct and immediate result of an individual's direct contact with other users in the system.

The underlying premise behind these unique levels of interaction is based on the supposition that the richness of understanding and shared experience with others relies heavily on an uninhibited exchange in close physical proximity. Furthermore, these conditions exist to test the this assumption with particular attention to the proposal of the inherent limitations and failures in what are generally accepted advances in the facilitation of communication realized through technical innovation.

A secondary objective of this experiment involves the examination of perceptions of individual roles within the system, with specific focus on how users respond to unanticipated changes in their individual role within the system.

Finally, it is critical that this experiment is conducted in such a manner that these premises, system rules, and assumptions (to be discussed, confirmed, rejected) are bound in an engaging and immersive experience rich with the opportunity for physical human interaction. Accordingly, the proposed vehicle for this study takes the form of a physical installation as an interactive space rather than a terminal-based interactive system conducted with conventional input devices and screen displays.

Specifics of the Installation

The central physical element in the experiment is the "Light Box" itself- a 10-foot wide by 20-foot deep by 10-foot high elevated cubic space enclosed by glass on all six sides. Each of the six glass sides or walls are equipped with a densely populated grid of actively polarized cells, circular in shape. All cells are wired to a central computer that regulates the binary state of each cell. That is to say, each cell is either "on" or "off", producing an opaque or transparent property for each individual cell respectively.

The room is furnished with a single glass door (also equipped with polarized cells to complete an uninterrupted grid of cells on that wall) that permits entry into the interior of the space. The room is elevated approximately seven feet from the existing floor of the selected installation location to enable passage beneath the room by observers. Furthermore, it is important that the room is placed in a large atrium-like space equipped with existing structural elements like staircases, lofts, and or second-floor balconies to enable the room to be viewed by observers from multiple angles and elevations. If such accommodations are not possible, the installation of additional free-standing observation platforms positioned on all four sides of the elevated room is required.

There is but one additional tangible device required to complete the physical environment and enable the system rules to be deployed. This device is a wearable glove serves as the sole input device for users in the experiment.

The glove contains a small processor that enables data to be sent to the central computer on an ongoing and uninterrupted manner throughout the experiment. The data that is captured and fed to the central computer is (1) the position of the user's hand in three-dimensional space, (2) the position of fingers to identify whether the hand is open or closed, and (3) whether the glove is being worn or has been removed. A glove is worn by all six users in the experiment, including both performers and observers (described in "The Explicit Interaction"). In addition to serving as an input device, each glove is equipped with a small display and vibrating alert mechanism similar to the device included in cell phones to silently alert users of incoming calls. The purpose of these devices is described in "The Explicit Interaction" and "The Covert Interaction" sections.

The Explicit Interaction

The experiment begins when six participants are each handed a glove (randomly assigned) in a location outside of the room. Participants are instructed to put the glove on and follow the prompts. When participants put the glove on, the integrated display (see illustrations and explanation in "interface") becomes active. The first message briefly welcomes the participant to the LightBox experiment. This is immediately followed by instructions informing the participant whether they are an observer or a performer. The three observers are instructed to stay outside the room, while the three performers are instructed to enter the room. The performers are also assigned one of three colors, indicated prominently on their integrated display. For observers, the display goes blank (but minor illumination confirms the device is still functioning properly) following their initial instruction.

Once all six participants are in place and the door to the room has been closed (all conditions that are observed by the central computer, which feeds instructions like "please close the door" to participants as needed), the core experiment begins. The primary visual cue that the experiment has begun occurs as the polarized cells that cover all six sides of the room turn at once from transparent to opaque. This event produces significant separation between the performers and observers, though the spaces between cells provide a limited view between these groups. For performers, gloves are now fully activated, marked by the functionality of the three "stage" indicators (small lights positioned above the glove displays). As performers begin to move about the room, some may discover that touching the polarized cells elicits a response from the cells.

Through experimentation, exploration, and observation of others, users may discover that the cells respond not only to their touch, but also to the act of throwing imagined objects about the room. The central computer is equipped with the logic that computes the various inputs that are required to simulate a thrown object in the room. The position of the user's hand in space and time, when the hand moves from the closed to the open position, and the proximity of the user's hand to surrounding walls all work together to provide the central computer with the data required to compute the requisite cell effects based on the user's color and level. Through this exploration, users will quickly find that each of their capabilities with respect to their ability to impact their surrounding environment is quite different. While the red user immediately impacts multiple walls at level one and will activate an entire wall of cells at level two, while the yellow user enjoys only a small fraction of this impact even at their highest level. And although the users likely won't realize the cause of switching between levels early in the experiment, their movement within the space will no doubt impose frequent changes to levels among users.

The Covert Interaction

Two distinct but supportive system rules make up the covert level of interaction in this experiment. The first was alluded to but not explained in "The Explicit Interaction" section. It involves the relative position of performers inside the room. As a general rule, the closer a user is to the other performers within the room, the higher the level assignment for that user. As an example, all three performers standing next to each other will each enjoy the effects of level three, with visual indication to the effect on their gloves. Accordingly, a user with roughly seven feet or more of distance between the nearest performer will be set at level one. When the distance narrows to roughly four feet, level two is achieved. It is worth noting that the assignment of level is not based on the linear computation of two users, but rather the triangulation of all three users in the space. As such, two users can remain in a fixed position while the third user moves away from them and experience a negative change in level. As a final variation of this proximity principle, the experiment may benefit by a fourth level of "off" which is engaged when the largest distances between users exist.

The second covert level of interaction is designed as the ultimate discovery and intended destination of the experiment for users. It involves direct contact between performers in the experiment, most notably in the form of a handshake or other glove-to-glove contact. This action results in the exchange of color assignment between users with all of the respective capabilities that go with the color assignments. When this contact is made between users, the colors indicated on the user's gloves immediately shifts to visually represent and reinforce the identity exchange. The vibration alert mechanism in the user's gloves are also activated during the exchange as positive reinforcement of the act. Other effects such as a short but complete change in cell transparency on all six walls may also be advisable to reinforce the user actions.

The proximity principle is designed to provide users with a suggestion that their relation to other users and interaction with these users plays an important role in the experiment. It may prompt some users to take their interaction with users to the next step, where physical contact and identity exchange occurs and the "human moment" realized. For others, this level of interaction may not be discovered and the experiment may end without this experience.

Class Division: Extending Dynamic Role Exchange

What about the three observers who likely entered the experiment with the expectation of active involvement, but were immediately demoted to the role of inactive observer asked to stay outside the room where the action has been taking place? An important aspect to this experiment is the unanticipated change in a user's role within the system, something already explored at a few levels with performers, their level assignments, and potential for identity exchange. The two distinct "classes" of performer and observer provides another rich opportunity for this type of study and can be handled in a number of ways either through variations of the same experiment or as a fluid set of conditions and rules that is regulated by the central computer in either a predetermined or random manner.

Conditions that trigger an exchange of identity between performers and observers may include:

However this switch occurs, the result is that the observers outside the room now enjoy fully active gloves which turn on in the course of the role exchange. The users outside the room are now the performers with the same ability to effect cells that comprise the room but from the exterior rather than interior. Users inside the room that were previously performers are now powerless observers whose surrounding environment is now under the sole control of the users outside the room.

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