Human-Computer Interface:
The Human-Computer Interface, another
theory poised by Manovich,
takes a closer look at several elements already discussed. The
Human-Computer Interface, or HCI, looks at the similarities between
older versions of the interface (i.e. cinema, the printed word,
and general purpose interfaces) and a new media object. In this
section, I will discuss the similarities between the aforementioned
'old version' of the interface and Rashomon Café as a new
media object.
The most apparent similarity between
cinema and Rashomon Café is the dimensions of the screen.
The Flash movie itself is 750 x 480 pixels, a ratio of 16:9. Not
surprisingly, a film one would watch if they went to a cinema
or movie-house has a screen that has a 16:9 ratio. Therefore,
even though the size is smaller on the computer monitor, the dimensions,
in terms of ratio, are identical. Not only are the screen dimensions
the same but Rashomon Café uses a black frame around the
movie, much as one would see at any movie theater (80).
The printed word, as I brushed over
in the Transcoding section, is a
strong influential element in the development of Rashomon Café.
Rather than having an even flow from start to end like a movie,
Rashomon Café starts and stops much like one would do as
they read a book. As the user reads the story the Flash animation
stops, then when the user is ready to read more of the story they
press a button to get to the next section. This form of reading
is very similar to the process of reading a book, where the reader
controls the rhythm. The Flash animation that makes up Rashomon
Café even comes into view from left to right, a similarity
also shared by books.
Rashomon Café shares a similarity
with 'Choose Your Own Adventure' stories when examining the path
the story takes from beginning to end. Unlike traditional texts
where the reader would start on page 1 and end the book on the
last page (traveling in a sequential direction) the reader of
an 'Choose Your Own Adventure' starts on page 1 then when presented
with a question may go to another section of the book, allowing
the story to move in a different direction. In 'Choose Your Own
Adventure' stories, even in books, the path one reads the story
is almost never traditional in direction. The point of a 'Choose
Your Own Adventure' is that the user gets to decide what happens
next. The variability in the story makes traditional writing standards
insufficient.
The third section of HCI is the
general-purpose interface. Elements like dialog boxes, hierarchical
menus, and windows are all visible when one uses Microsoft's Windows
software. Some of these elements are clearly visible Rashomon
Café. There are dialog boxes used to distinguish text from
the artistic backgrounds. Hierarchical menus aren't necessarily
used but a hierarchical page structure is used, moving the reader
from the bottom of a hypothetical tree up the trunk and then on
to branches. When the user makes a bad decision, they are free
to move back down the tree, and head up another direction.
These use of these three sections
of HCI allow the users (readers) of this site to feel comfortable
with this new presentation of an old genre. The cinematic dimensions,
the similarities with text and printed word, and the similarities
with the operating system are visible in Rashomon Café.
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