This site presents a modelling tool for describing and visualising interactions in interactive art. This tool is built upon a relational model previously developed for describing different forms of interaction in the context of interactive artworks. A detailed description of the model can be found in this publication1. Three key concepts are used in the model to dissect an interaction: element, action, and communication. An element refers to an individual actor participating in the interaction. Elements with the same properties and behaviours are grouped together in a profile with an index starting with "#". For an element, the model examines the actions performed by them to interact with other elements. Following an action, one or more forms of communication are created and directed at (an)other element(s). Various descriptors are used to facilitate the description of these concepts.

How to use the tool:
A video tutorial about the relational modelling tool can be seen here.

You can either directly work on an empty worksheet or browse the database to load existing interactive artworks for inspirations. An example is locked for view only if all input fields are disabled. You can click on the Unlock button to create an editable copy. Before you start, please name the current worksheet, such as 'Artwork Title (year) by Artist'. This allows you to store the data in the database and reload the worksheet data using the same name.

While working on the worksheet, you can hover over the text descriptors to view brief explanations. Clicking on the text input fields will prompt a suggestion list based on the data from existing examples. You may select an option from the list or input new content if nothing matches your description.

You can click on the visualisation button below to generate a visualisation of the current description. If no visualisation was shown after clicking on the button, there may be important data missing somewhere in the worksheet.

The generative components (experimental) of the tool can be accessed here.

Note:
There is no right or wrong way of describe an interaction. Feel free to tailor the level of details to suit your purpose and experiment with different approaches to find the most effective description. If you have any further questions or comments, please contact d.xu@liacs.leidenuniv.nl.

1. Dan Xu, Maarten H. Lamers, Edwin van der Heide: Towards a Relational Model of Co-located Interaction in Interactive Art. In: Emmanuel Mahé (eds.) Proceedings of the 28th International Symposium on Electronic Art 2023, pp. 723-732. École des Arts Décoratifs (2024).
ELEMENT: Individual actors in the interaction exhibit the same or similar set of behaviours.
Type:The categorical description helps to differentiate the elements. Common element types are human or art system in interactive art.

If an artwork has elements of the same type performing different roles, indicate the role of the element after '/'.
Count:The number of elements of the same type that can simultaneously participate in the interaction.

A '+' indicates that there is no upper limit on how many elements can participate simultaneously.
ACTION:Something that is done or performed by the element to participate in the interaction.

Either an action is intended for participating in the interaction, or its effects are registered by other elements thus 'forcing' the acting element to participate (unintended). Please select the corresponding case.

An action can be initiated by the element itself or as a reaction to other action(s). Please specify the necessary conditions in the form of "If ... do(es) ...". When there are more than three conditions, you can add a footnote to specify their order and relationships if needed.

When multiple actions are triggered by the same condition, you can also specify the relationship between these reaction after "Then this action".

Please enter the actions of the same elements and their conditions in a logical or chronological order if such relationship is present.
#1
If
do(es)
Then this action
COMMUNICATION: A form of communication is created when an action is done to another element. An action can be directed at different elements thus creating multiple forms of communication.

Please enter the communication in a logical or chronological order if such relationship is present.
To: To which element the action is directed at.
Means:The means by which the action reaches the receiving element.
  • Direct the action is performed to the receiving element directly without any intermediate element involved.
  • Via (intermediate element): The action is performed to an intermediate element and reaches the receiving element via the intermediate element. This type of communication is often termed mediated communication.
 
Config:Short for 'configuration'; indicates the number of elements at both ends of the communication.
  • From: the number of elements performing the action.
  • To: the number of elements receiving the communication.
Count:The number of the communication of this form that can take place simultaneously.
Access:The degree to which the communication is accessible or perceivable to all elements.
  • Private: the communication can only be perceived by the communicating elements.
  • Public: the communication can also be perceived by elements or spectators beyond the communicating elements.
 
Effect:The function(s), consequence(s) of the communication, its impact(s) on and relation(s) to the receiving elements.
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Additional information:

e.g. urls or notes about the artwork.

Footnotes: You can specify the relationships among the triggering actions in the condition of an action using a footnote.

The footnote function will be enabled once more than two triggering actions are specified.

Developed as part of the PhD research by Dan Xu, supervised by Maarten H. Lamers, Edwin van der Heide, Fons J. Verbeek