In Progress : Anna Interactive Project

In collaboration with the Zurich based Looking Lately studio, Algorithm is currently furthering development of the virtual 'Anna' interface design. The latest design is built to work online and be based in Macromedia Flash.

"You are about to meet ANNA. Feel free to name her differently if you prefer another name. We don’t know her real name anyhow. She is one of us. Her existence though, is limited, bound to a certain time frame. There was no before, there will be no after. Maybe a repetition if you like. It is a simple encounter, no extraordinary story. She expresses how she feels about you, on her face and in small sentances. You somehow control her, her reactions, her answers. But at times, she goes her own way. She seems familiar to you. In fact, you can recognize yourself in her emotions, in her words. Maybe you know her already? Some expressions on her face are common. You have noticed them on other people’s faces, of your friends, of strangers too. They always mean the same. But what if she only pretends, if she invents her emotions? Her face might display something different. But it feels intimate. You are face to face with her, looking into her eyes, reading her lips, listening to her voice. You interact with her, and she reacts to you, just like somebody you know."

References : Jonathan Cole ‘About Face’. Charles Darwin ‘The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals’. Erving Goffman ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’. John Suler ‘The Pyschology of Cyberspace’.