What Is Physical Interaction?

According to Chris Crawford in The Art of Interactive Design, Physical interaction is where a human interfaces with another entity, such as a person or computer, and that entity responds based on that action.  It must be two-way; uni-directional communication is not interaction.

Examples of physical interaction:

• Typing in a text editor and seeing letters appearing.
• Painting with hand-help controllers in virtual reality.
• Having a conversation with another person.
• Playing a competitive sport.

By this definition, physical interaction is not:

• Reading a newspaper.
• Looking at art in a gallery.
• Watching a speech.
• Jogging

Examples of usages of digital technology that are not interactive:

• Listening to a podcast.
• Watching a video on youtube.
• Watching 360 video in VR.
• Reading blog posts.

I’m looking exploring new forms of physical interaction at ITP!