My thesis continues to revolve around curiosity. I’m not looking at how to revive curiosity, but to look at how we can feed it, to let it grow wild. The core of the project is a curious entity (an interactive system or installation) that survives on its own, but truly flourishes through interaction with others. It’s alive in the way that a garden is, needing care, attention, and maybe might lead to a little unpredictability.
One of the ideas I’m exploring is this notion of cause and effect, that every input has an output. and sometimes it’s not a 1:1 relationship. Sometimes, multiple inputs combine to trigger something else entirely. This isn’t just about pressing a button and getting a sound. It’s about combinations, about layered actions, about mysterious reactions. That mystery is vital. It encourages deeper curiosity and experimentation. If something doesn’t react right away, participants may wonder…Did I do it wrong? Or is it waiting for something else? Someone else?
The other perspective that adds to this thesis is the relationship between human curiosity and machine curiosity. What happens when both humans and the machines are curious entities? If the machine is programmed to seek novelty, to respond more strongly to unexpected behaviors, then it’s not just being used it’s being intrigued. And as participants play, experiment, and get bolder, the system evolves in response.
This interaction space becomes a playful ecosystem where the line between input and output blurs. It’s not just “you interact with the thing.” It’s: “you and the thing are learning how to be curious together.”
The interfaces are intentionally strange. Not sleek. Not rational. Weird. Silly. Maybe even a little annoying. Because when things don’t immediately “make sense,” we’re forced to slow down, to touch, to listen, to wonder. That’s where the fun begins. It’s an invitation to not know, to experiment anyway, and to be rewarded not with clarity but with surprise.
How can a system be designed not just to respond to human interaction, but to participate in a cycle of curiosity and growth?
This theme looks at the dynamic between a curious human and a curious machine. How each influences the other’s development in an evolving feedback loop. It questions what it means for a system to be curious, and how co-creation can emerge from a relationship where both agents explore, learn, and adapt over time.
What happens when we design intentionally strange, ambiguous, or non-instructive interfaces?
With this the focus is on how unusual modes of interaction can create deeper, more playful curiosity. Rather than telling participants what to do, weird interfaces encourage touch, experimentation and exploration. Where surprise or unpredictability then becomes a central mechanism to provoke engagement and emotional investment.