Liberty on Parole? Challenges in Interactivity

Interactivity permeates AI, virtual reality and augmented reality, affecting sensory-motor experiences and creative processes. However, this pervasiveness comes with constraints, as virtual interfaces simultaneously enhance and restrict user freedom. This leads to philosophical reflections on user emancipation and the interplay between freedom and structural constraints in interactive relationships with digital technologies. The dynamic landscape raises important questions about the development of freedom in a digitally mediated world. The growing and spontaneous proliferation of mixed forms such as Augmented Reality and Immersive Extended Reality is associated with the emergence of new affordances and unprecedented modes of interactivity. It is game on: this issue of AN-ICON. Studies in Environmental Images intends to contribute to a more precise delimitation of the field, addressing the challenges posed by interactivity in various operational domains, both in artistic and non-artistic contexts.