Imagination is highly valued and sought-after, yet elusive and
ill-defined. Definitions range from narrowly cognitive accounts to those
which endow imagination with world-making powers. Imagination underpins
our ability to speculate about the future and to re-experience the past.
The everyday functioning of society relies on being able to imagine the
perspectives of others; and our sense of who we are depends on the
stories our imaginations create. Our soaring imaginations have taken us
to the moon and allowed Einstein to race a light beam. Unsurprisingly,
imagination underlies every aspect of human-computer interaction, from
the earliest conceptual sketches, through the realistic possibilities
portrayed variously in well-known tools as scenarios and storyboards,
through to the wilder shores of design fictions. Yet, curiously,
imagination is very rarely addressed directly in the design and HCI
literature (and is wholly missing from virtual reality).
This book addresses this gap in our accounts of how we imagine,
conceptualise, design and use digital technologies. Drawing on many
years of practical and academic experience in human
computer-interaction, together with a wide range of material from
psychology, design, cognitive science and HCI, seasoned with a little
philosophy and anthropology, Imagination + Technology first considers
imagination itself and the principal farthings of a new account. Later
chapters discuss the role of imagination in the design, aesthetics, use
and experience of digital technologies before the concluding chapter
focusses on the provocative nature of imagination. The book will be
stimulating reading for anyone working in the field of interactive
technology and related areas, whether academics, students or
practitioners.
