Entelechy and embodiment in (artistic) human-computer interaction

This paper points out the complementarity of HCI and cognitive science in studying agents' interactions with their environments. Embodied interaction is related to embodied and distributed cognition. A theoretical framework based on the distinction "potentiality/actuality" is outlined as an approach to the concept of "reality" in HCI and research on presence and copresence. Within this framework presence and copresence are specified in connection with an agent's potentiality to act upon its environment, i.e. to actively explore and manipulate its environment. Methodological problems concerning theoretical and empirical research on interaction are sketched. To explore new methodological ideas New Media Art is used as a test-bed and an ongoing exploratory experiment on communicating "emotions" through robots is briefly reported.