Vector Spaces as the Basic Component of Interactive Systems: Towards a Computer Semiotics
Peter Bøgh Andersen · New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia · 1992
The practical point of departure is design and implementation of interactive multimedia applications. The focus is on the aesthetic aspects, ranging from graphical display to narratives structures. In particular, I am interested in developing a theory of narration that exploits the special dynamic characteristics of computer systems, namely that the reader can interact with the system and the system can act itself. It is suggested that a vector space consisting of objects and vectors can form the basis for such a theory; its basic narrative unit is the vector, a force emanating from an object that either attracts other objects or repels them. An interactive multimedia product will contain sets of vector spaces, each with a simple internal structure but with the ability to generate a richness of events, most of which may not even have occurred to the author. The paper presents arguments in favor of the vector in the domain of interactive narratives and public information systems. A final section suggests that René Thom's catastrophe theory may provide at theoretical basis for the ideas.