PARTICIPATORY THEATER - INTERACTING WITH AUTONOMOUS TOOLS FOR CREATIVE APPLICATIONS

Creating art can be seen as creative exploration through a design spac e defined by the artist and the tools. Artistic tools such as brushes and chisels are passive, stressing direct manipulation interaction tha t leaves exploration to the artist. If tools were more autonomous, cre ativity could be enhanced by allowing the artist to delegate aspects o f exploration. We describe a software environment called Agentsheets t hat combines direct manipulation and delegation into an interaction sc heme called participatory theater. The advantages of this approach are described in the context of two drawing applications. Art Pals and Ar t Dwarves, that involve the computer more actively in exploration. We also explore the utility of participatory theater in the physical worl d by describing our experiences developing and using autonomous painti ng robots in conjunction with a professional artist.