Embodied Communication in the Distributed Network

Abstract

Through the adaptation of new technologies, the creative industries are proposing new forms of interaction for the distributed network. This paper considers the new media artwork Intimate Transactions as an example of a creative, experimental approach to interaction and network technology. It discusses this artwork’s design of physical interaction, which includes whole-body interaction with a hands-free input device; the incorporation of choreographed interaction with its screen characters; the production of generative, multi-sensory feedback around a dramaturgical model; and the use of haptic devices to relay bodily movement across the network. It explains how this physical interaction produces a sense of flow that perceptually suspends awareness of the work’s actual site in favour of a shared virtual space. It then considers how this shared space becomes activated by multi-sensory feedback, including the physical sensation of touch. It concludes that these innovative approaches to physical interaction help to establish the potential for embodied communication and co-presence within networked space.