From Representational Events to Cognitive Ecologies: Designing Meaningful Interactions in AI-Driven Cultural Interfaces

Abstract

This article explores the concept of representational events as performative and cognitive acts at the heart of interactive digital environments such as serious games, digital narratives, and immersive cultural simulations. Rather than viewing representation as static reflection, we propose it as an event, a temporally situated moment of meaning-making where users construct possible worlds through the interpretation of symbols. Drawing on ergodic literature, ludology, and phenomenology, we argue that users engage in situated co-authorship, navigating through branching narratives and ludic structures that foster reflection, immersion, and identity construction. The representational event becomes a critical site for activating both cognitive and emotional faculties. Examples from role-playing games,VR museums, and AI-driven cultural platforms illustrate how these events empower users to explore, reshape, and reinhabit cultural narratives. Referencing theorists like Huizinga and Gadamer, we trace the ritual and symbolic dimensions of these environments. We propose a framework for user experience design in cultural heritage systems that redefines representation as an act of embodied cognition and cultural engagement. This re-framing positions learners not as passive recipients, but as active meaning-makers and co-creators within digital heritage ecosystems.