Engaging Interactivity in Public Space

As computer-based interactive technologies and devices become more accessible to artists, various creations of interactive artworks are being increasingly displayed in public settings. Nevertheless, unlike audiences in more carefully choreographed exhibition contexts, those in transient public spaces are usually involuntary audiences. In order to capture their interest and enhance experience, more tactical approaches are necessary. With the author's in-depth analysis and explication by means of applying his Analytical Framework (Incentive, Transfer, Accessibility, Play, and Challenge) a deeper understanding of how audiences' experiences develop when they encounter computer-based interactive artworks and under what circumstances these experiences are meaningful to them is facilitated. The outcome produced from this research can be utilised within a broader exhibition context in particular but not limited solely to mass transport systems; it can be used to assist artists, designers and researchers in their pre-planning and follow up evaluations of the degree of engagement generated by computer-based interactive artworks displayed in similar public spaces.