The robot is animated: it ‘waves’ at the user, and it ‘hovers’. These поп-directed and
symbolic movements of the robot represent it as a generalised potential for action
(enacting the rule), and for interaction with the user.
Condition
The condition of a ‘rule’ is met when all holes in the input box match those in the
Robot’s thought bubble. The first condition (i.e. ‘when the control key is pressed’) is
represented in writing and animation by the flashing sensor displaying ‘yes’ or ‘no’
depending on whether the control key is being pressed or not. This condition is met
when the sensor shows ‘yes’, thus matching the condition in the thought bubble of the
robot. The second and third conditions simply require that any number be in the
subsequent two holes. In the Toontalk programming mode therefore, a condition is
met through ‘sameness’, indicated by the matching of the boxes. The modal
affordances of the program mode are orchestrated to produce sameness. While the
condition is not met the robot continues to wave and hover.
Action
The modal affordances of movement, in the form of animated robots within the
system, are central to the realisation of the action. When a robot is trained to carry out
a ‘rule’ the user ‘enters’ the ‘thought bubble’ of the robot. In this domain the user’s
movement of the mouse controls the movement of the robot and its arms. Through
movement the robot is represented as an extension of the user and the user is
represented (positioned) within the programming mode itself. This positioning of the
user is both a result of the system design and the modal affordances of the system.
The action ‘move 15 units to the right’ is ‘carried out’ by the robot. The robot copies
the number 15 with the wand tool, it moves to the central box that contains the
horizontal co-ordinates of the object, and drops the number 15 onto it (the box
containing the 517 figure). The robot is the actor engaged in a directed action on the
box. The ‘addition’ of the two numbers is ‘carried out’ by the tool ‘Bammer’- an
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