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Interactive Environments Manual

Fundamentals

This minor program is called “interactive environments”. Did you wonder what the term “interactive environment” really means? The word “environment” on its own refers to everything that surrounds and influences us. It’s a very broad notion and we often use various adjectives to narrow it down.

For example, by referring to the “natural environment”, we typically mean everything around us that has not been transformed by humans. We can also use the term “built environment”, which refers to buildings and all kinds of other man-made structures such as roads or bridges. We can also think of a “social environment”, which refers to all other people that have some direct or indirect influence on us.

However, unlike the obvious kinds of environments listed above, the term “interactive environment” may be less straightforward to understand. We have chosen the name “interactive environments” to describe a new kind of environments whose many parts dynamically “interact” with one another and with people.

You might have encountered such environments in the form of interactive art installations, “smart” homes, or automated office spaces. Such environments may have many different functions, but what they have in common is the use of digital technology to enable them to interact with people. They also often leave us behind with a feeling that so many more functionalities and experiences could be created with interactive technology

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There are a number of topics relevant for the work in the minor. We have short descriptions and some references for each of these in the sections below.