interactive - definition

When a product is designed to transform its form/shape in response to its use.

To Interact is ‘to act on one another’. The word ‘inter’ means ‘between’.
This implies there are ‘one’ and ‘another’, meaning two parties are involved and there is some relationship between the two such that the action of one party influences the other.
Therefore, an ‘interaction’ is ‘a mutual or shared action’.
In one sense, the notion of interactive products is consistent with every product that has ever been developed. For instance, any tool that is held in the hand immediately proclaims a relationship between the hand that holds it and at the very least, the surface texture of the ‘handle’.
This level of relationship between product and user has now been significantly altered. In recent years we have seen the emergence of a range of products that are no longer fixed in a single form or configuration.
For example a traditional bicycle frame was intended to be rigid to ‘resist’ the forces upon it. Today, we have a range of bicycle frames that are deliberately designed to deform and change their shape in response to the weight of the rider and the road surface.
The key here is that the product is designed from the point of view of changing itself in some way in response to it being used.