Interactive art

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Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in some way. Some sculptures achieve this by letting the observer walk in, on, and around the piece. Other works include computers and sensors to respond to motion, heat or other types of input. Many pieces of Internet art and electronic art are highly interactive. Sometimes visitors are able to navigate through a hypertext environment; some works accept textual or visual input from outside; sometimes an audience can influence the course of a performance or can even participate in it.

Interactive art can be distinguished from Generative art, Electronic art, or Immersive art in that it is a dialog between the piece and the participant; specifically, the participant has "agency" (the ability to act upon) the piece and is furthermore invited to do so in the context of the piece, i.e. the piece has "affordance" or "affords" the interaction. In contrast, Generative Art tends to be a monologue -- the artwork may change or evolve in the presence of the viewer, but the viewer may not be invited to engage in the reaction but "merely" enjoy it.

In terms of the creation of agency, unique interface design, electronic artists are at the forefront of the artistic exploration of interactivity. Such artists have been early adopters of new interfaces and techniques for obtaining user input (such as dog vision, alternative sensors, voice analysis, etc.); new forms and tools for information display (such as video projection, lasers, robotic and mechatronic actuators, etc.); new modes for human-human and human-machine communication (through the Internet and other telecommunications networks); and new social contexts for interactive systems (including but not limited to utilitarian tools, formal experiments, games and entertainment, social critique, and political liberation).

The Prix Ars Electronica is a major yearly competition and exhibition that gives awards to outstanding examples of (technology-driven) interactive art. Other major festivals and exhibitions of interactive and media arts are DEAF Dutch Electronic Arts Festival, Transmediale Germany, FILE - Electronic Language International Festival Brazil, AV Festival England.

The Association of Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group in Graphics (SIGGRAPH) is another annual conference that highlights many interactive artists in both their Art Gallery and Emerging Technologies venues.