Where I'm Coming from: Studying the Novelty of Immersive Algorithms

This chapter looks at the challenges posed in trying to analyze readers' experience of works of ambient literature. As dynamically formed works which rely on the particular situation of the reader to complete the authorial text, works of ambient literature resist traditional methods of literary analysis. Building from the uses of ethnomethodology in human--computer interaction, this chapter describes the methodological approach taken to study works of ambient literature. This ethnomethodologically derived approach is used to examine three works of ambient literature, building out a theoretical account of readers' interactions with the works. From this, a picture of the algorithmic and immersive nature of these works is developed.