Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
decision-making processes of computer-based agents and the understand-
ing of the actions of human agents in representational contexts.
In keeping with Suchman's analysis is the fact that many factors con-
tribute to dramatic causality by dynamically infl uencing agents' choices
and actions. Among them are natural forces, coincidences, situations, and
conditions. Of course, “natural” forces represented in plays and imagi-
nary worlds may be very different from those at work in the real world.
Computer games select and modify the laws of physics, for instance. In
computer-based simulations, scientifi c developments such as fractal geom-
etry and mathematical representations of chaos theory make it possible to
emulate the natural world with much greater detail and accuracy than for-
merly possible, but even these techniques must be deployed selectively in
the process of representation-building; attempting to render the physical
world (or a comparably robust alternative)
completely
would currently bring
the world's most powerful computers (and programmers) to their (virtual)
knees. Even when selectivity is not an artistic choice, it is nevertheless a
necessity in computer-based modeling of physical worlds. The important
thing is to know that one is in fact exercising selectivity—to be explicit
about it, and to employ a notion of the
potential for action
in the world one
is creating as the primary selection criteria. Representing a natural force
makes certain kinds of actions more probable; for instance, simulating air
fl ow around an aircraft wing in a CAD program suggests that changes in
the wing will create changes in the air fl ow, implying both causality and
potential action. If the potential for adjusting the wing in some way is suc-
cessfully represented, then the possibility of adjustment becomes more
probable. Turbulence remains a chaotic problem.
Representations of functionality that do not model the physical world
still employ equivalents of natural laws in the ways that things behave.
Windows open and close with animated embellishments that suggest real-
world physical actions; folders appear to exert a gravitational force within
a limited area that sucks documents into them (when the representation
of such a force is fl awed, the comparison with black holes may be unin-
tentionally evoked); windows or documents are “shoved” around with
manual swipes. Whether in plays, computer games, simulations, or virtual
desktops, the representation of “natural” forces must be consistent and ex-
plicit enough to allow people to incorporate them into their understanding
of the particular world's potential.
The construction of situations that possess strong dramatic potential is
a central element in the playwright's art. Situations may have both physical
and character-related components (a gun on the desk; a desire for revenge).
