An example of effective interactive

The term “interactive” is thrown around like a football in the design and advertising world. Interactive forms of communication have been around forever, but our generation describes it as Flash websites, pretty much. I won’t make this a history lesson, and talk about people like Howard Gossage, but I will provide an example of a recently launched website that uses a unique approach to be interactive.

Red Universe is the beta version of an agency called Red Interactive’s website. It’s a simple two-dimensional environment that allows you to explore the website as a character. There are limited features and elements you can adjust about your character right now, but I’m sure those will be expanded in the future.

One of the cool features is the ability to chat with everyone else that’s viewing the website. Several companies have tried to create browser applications that allow you to do this, but being that I nor you can name them, they haven’t been adapted too well.

I spoke about being able to converse with those watching the same television show as you a while back; Red Universe is a nice step in that direction.

Fuel Industries created a game called Cowboys and Engines a couple years ago that allowed you to interact with others in a 3d environment, kind of like Second Life. I can’t get it to work in my browser now, nonetheless it wasn’t interactive in the sense of combining a typical website with atypical interaction.

It’ll be interesting to see where Red Universe goes over the next year and how many websites attempt to replicate what they’ve done. This is the beginning of a new form of interaction.

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About the author, Travis

Website: http://www.younggogetter.com

One of the original members at YGG, Travis became a partner back in 2006. He's responsible for all the creative and mischief you see before you.