Æliens

Aesthetics

• intentions -- motives of the artist
• expression -- where form takes over
• representation -- the relation of art to reality

usage of aesthetics

1. design aesthetics is what relates to notions of form and expression in design practice.
2. design practice where aesthetic qualities are emphasied.
3. the aesthetics of an interactive artefact evolves in the relationship with the user.
4. experimental design aesthetics differ very little from art.
5. when pro-active technology goes home, pragmatic aesthetics is needed.
6. there is a need for a specific basic interaction design course and knowledge about the aesthetics of interactions.
7. recent trends call for a stronger focus on the aesthetics of user experiences.
8. this intention is aesthetics, and aesthetics for its own sake, and even goes beyond an interest of meaning.
9. to use software is to perceive, to grasp and to apply. We are right in the middle of aesthetics!
10. by turning to aesthetics the critical approach to computing thus includes an emancipatory aspect.
11. very few of these actually hold any artistic or aesthetic quality, which is not surprising at all with such a new media.
12. aesthetics have their root in philosophy, which defines aesthetics as the (perceived) sense of beauty.

usage of aesthetics (3)

• aesthetics of experience -- for subject (audience)
• aesthetics of appearance -- for object/artefact
• aesthetics of use -- in interaction
• aesthetics of design -- in creative process

perspective(s)

1. transcendental -- abstract form of experience,  [Kritik]
2. speculative -- criteria for beauty,  [Urteil]
3. phenomenological -- self-conscious subjectivity,  [Phenomenology]
4. psychoanalytical -- sub-conscious meaning,  [Witz]
5. pragmatical -- art as experience,  [Pragmatics]
6. hermeneutical -- understanding of the senses,  [Hermeneutics]
7. semiotics -- social construction of meaning,  [Semiotics]

dimensions of aesthetic awareness

• spatial -- topological relations, layout of image
• temporal -- order, rhythm, structure
• dynamic -- interaction, reflection, involvement

phases of awareness

• initiation -- appeal to curiosity
• promotion -- raising interest
• progression -- prolonged involvement

classic game model

• rules -- formal system
• outcome -- variable and quantifiable
• value -- different valorisation assignments
• effort -- in order to influence the outcome
• attachment -- emotionally attached to outcome
• consequences -- optional and negotiable

rules vs fiction

Game fiction is ambiguous, optional and imagined by the player in uncontrollable and unpredictable ways, but the emphasis on fictional worlds may be the strongest innovation of the video game.

frames of reference

It is one of the most important formal qualities of film that every object that is reproduced appears simultaneously in two entirely different frames of reference, namely the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional, and that as one identical object it fulfills two different functions in the two contexts.

PANORAMA

• self-reflection(s) -- e.g. picture/postcard(s)
• casual encounter(s) -- at coffemachine or printer
• occasional battle(s) -- optional direct interaction

semiotic rules

• self reflections: plain $==>$ ideal/new
• casual encounters: plain $==>$ ideal/given
• contextual stories: ideal/given $==>$ plain/new
• personell faces: ideal/new $==>$ plain/given
• occurring events: ideal $==>$ plain

framework

• experience occurs during the interaction between the user(s) and the interactive system(s) in the lived environment
• designers convey meaning (consciously or unconsciously) through the appearance, interaction and function of the system
• user(s) construct a coherent whole that is a combination of sensual, cognitive, emotional and practical forms of experience