In a purely digital product a change of state can be done
instantaneously, but it has become common for interaction
designers to utilize physics-based motion algorithms to design
transitions that feel more “natural.” One example is Tweetbot 3.0
for iPhone, which allows a user to close out of an image detail
view by flicking the photo in any direction, causing it to animate
off screen in proportion to the speed, direction, and angle of the
user’s gesture. The result feels much richer than a simple close
button, although ultimately this animated reaction is an
abstraction that relates only generically to physical forces, with
no intrinsic relationship to the content being acted upon.
As physical products become increasingly embedded with
computation and network connectivity they are able to react not
only to a user’s direct physical presence, but to changes in
remote data as well. Designers of such products should hew
towards reactions with an innate connection to the specific
material or subject they are working with, resisting the full
abstraction that the digital world makes possible.
It’s great that our products can keep track of changes in remote
data, but when the object reacts to that change, and starts a
conversation with us, it should be done in a manner that strongly
communicates the meaning of the data itself. Otherwise our
environments will be full of objects trying to engage our senses
without us knowing how to interpret their message. An instructive
comparison can be found in two of the simplest and earliest
explorations of physical objects representing remote data:
Ambient Orb and Availabot.
Figure 2.x Ambient Orb
Ambient Orb, created in 2002 as the first product by the
company Ambient Objects, is a frosted glass orb with a glowing
programmable light inside of it. The color of the light can be
associated with variable data sources, and the value of the data