ABSTRACT
In this chapter we explore engagement in the outdoor urban setting mediated through multi stimuli interventions. The focus is placed on cross-modal perception of simultaneous or sequential audio and visual stimuli, such as light and sound, and its influence on people's engagement with such media. An empirical study was carried out in the real world setting where a responsive installation The Rods was implemented using light and sound as feedback in two different ways (simultaneous and sequential) when touched by passers-by. We analyse the interactions and the data log and describe how often people interacted, what type of interactions they had and how long they lasted. Findings from the field study reveal that: (a) people respond to interaction using multisensory-stimuli feedback better than interaction based on single-stimulus feedback, (b) experiencing stimuli sequentially enhances interaction compared to simultaneous stimuli in the sense of the number of interactions and their duration; moreover, stimulating the auditory sense before the visual during the first encounter attracts more people to interact compared to the other way round. Based on this, we propose possible ways to overcome ‘interaction blindness’ and provide ‘windows of opportunity’ for planners, urban designers and interaction designers of urban interaction experiences.
