">>oh<<" is a "concrete cyberpoem, an interactive audio-visual by Reiner Strasser. It is based on a visual poem by Dan Waber, created on a short poem by Jennifer Hill-Kaucher” (>>oh<<'s website). Gray dots simulating the effect of rain fall on the page and by passing over them with the pointer an audible “Oh” sound is triggered and a ripple effect extends out from it, briefly illuminating the background text of the poem. The uncovered text and the voiced “Ohs” differ between dots and when one has moused over each one a blue dot appears. When clicked, like a fresh rainfall it washes the entirety of the poem's background text into view." -- From ELMCIP
Experiencing the Work
Visitors experience an animation that gradually gives way to a collection of dots across the screen. Visitors may interact with these dots by moving the cursor over them, though this requires fine control. This interaction prompts visual and auditory effects. The font size on the starting screen is small, as is the text in the description and caption at the bottom of the piece, which may prove difficult to read. The work itself uses serif fonts, but sans-serif is used on the title screen and "further info" section. Though the menu and further info section can be read and navigated with a keyboard and other non-mouse tools, the work's main textual content is unavailable to screen readers and is not navigable without mouse input controlling the cursor to hover. The majority of the work is low-contrast, with the dots, which are a focal point of the work, in very low contrast to the white background. The starting screen has very low contrast, displaying white text against a light grey background. Hovering over the dots produces various sound clips at an inconsistent volume.
1 COPY IN THE NEXT
The Reiner Strasser Collection
An unpublished copy.
Reiner Strasser gave the files for this collection to Dene Grigar in October of 2021.
COPY MEDIA FORMAT
Web