The Emergence of Interactivity Fields and What it Means for HCI Research

Interaction and interactivity is no longer necessarily something that takes place between a person and a single, clearly defined artifact and interface. A new kind of diffused or confused interaction has become an everyday experience for many of us and we are gradually getting more used to it. We will in this article argue that what we are experiencing reflects the first steps in a larger, coming change in the style and conception of interaction, interactivity, and interfaces. We conceptualize what emerges as interactivity fields. We believe interactivity fields are a new way of thinking about interaction that we will argue, has consequences for HCI research and interaction design practice. We explore the notion of an interactivity field, and what it would consist of in terms meaningful to interaction theory. We continue with a discussion about the impact of interactivity fields and how they may affect users and designers. Finally, we discuss what this emerging new reality may mean for HCI research.