The Observer: We Perceive, We Become Aware

As mentioned in Chapter 1, animated phenomena are technology-mediated presentations of digital objects reminiscent of our everyday experiences of life, including spontaneous reactions to stimuli (e.g., the fight-or-flight response in case of threats), recurrent behaviors (e.g., breathing), gradual changes (e.g., growth), and even quick shape-shifting (e.g., metamorphosis). For instance, an application icon bouncing restlessly in response to a user click demonstrates reactivity. Many screensaver programs on personal computers display animated graphical patterns, which seem to vary and repeat themselves indefinitely. A few video games use gradually extending graphical objects, such as a ‘growing’ pile of dirty dishes awaiting the players, to be an indicator counting down to the end of the game. A user-controlled character in a computer platform game like Super Mario Bros, might intermittently change its appearance. When an observer perceives similar signals in the digital environment, to what degree is one reminded of life or living things? Would one consider the restlessly bouncing application icon to be performing just a mechanical springboard effect? Or is it a funny character attending to a user’s needs? How do you feel when a graphical dog silhouette runs on the computer screen during file transfer? When an iPhone user drags an app icon across the screen and other icons make way for it, does it conjure up the idea of a person making his or her way through a crowd?