This paper presents the topic of "pragmatist aesthetics" and how it relates to designing an interactive system. The authors support the mentality of "aesthetics of use" rather than "aesthetics of appearance." The concept of aesthetics (as presented in this paper) promotes interaction that involves an individual's intellect, physical body and senses. Pragmatist aesthetics involves "designing for mind and body."
Aesthetic interaction involves the whole individual by encouraging an actively engaged user who draws on his/her cognitive skills, emotional values, physical capabilities and past experiences. The authors feel that a system's purpose evolves with use.
According to the authors "aesthetic interaction is not about conveying meaning and direction through uniform model; it is about triggering imagination, it is thought-provoking and encourages people to think differently about the encountered system, what they do and how they might be used differently to serve differentiated goals."
The authors present two systems in which aesthetic interaction has been applied. The first system is an interactive remote control that allows users to use physical movements to control musical devices, such as CD or DVD player. According to the authors, this device allows the user to better relate to the music as it is sensed, felt and interpreted instead of relating to music through button pressing.
The second device allows users in an interactive room to use a ball to move, add, and view documents. The authors are not concerned with the usability, effectiveness and accuracy of the input device, in this case a ball. The focus of this design is "playful interaction" and that "through use and practice the user can become better at interacting with the artifact and achieve greater expertise." The ball promotes playfulness rather than efficiency.
The authors conclude that the concept of aesthetic interaction is currently based on theoretical considerations and needs additional empirical experiments.
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