Interactive systems and their documentation : a perspective on multimedia installation art

Interaction with multimedia technology and sensory devices for artistic purposes is an intriguing domain, with strong links to the industrial sectors of virtual reality, gaming, medical rehabilitation, and learning. The process leading to their realisation normally involves a highly interdisciplinary team and its practice is informed by a range of different disciplines: theatre, architecture, visual art, computer music, perceptual psychology, cultural theory, and engineering. Contextual information desirably includes a documentation of the creative process that led to the realisation of the work, providing valuable insight into the complex dynamics that shape the creative acts, and into the effects of technology, with all its attributes, on creativity. R. Rinehart’s Media Art Notation System has three layers of implementation: the conceptual model of documentation, the preferred expression format (vocabulary) for the model, and the score, which serves as a record of the work that is database-processable.Interaction with multimedia technology and sensory devices for artistic purposes is an intriguing domain, with strong links to the industrial sectors of virtual reality, gaming, medical rehabilitation, and learning. The process leading to their realisation normally involves a highly interdisciplinary team and its practice is informed by a range of different disciplines: theatre, architecture, visual art, computer music, perceptual psychology, cultural theory, and engineering. Contextual information desirably includes a documentation of the creative process that led to the realisation of the work, providing valuable insight into the complex dynamics that shape the creative acts, and into the effects of technology, with all its attributes, on creativity. R. Rinehart’s Media Art Notation System has three layers of implementation: the conceptual model of documentation, the preferred expression format (vocabulary) for the model, and the score, which serves as a record of the work that is database-processable.B