Arduino and Interactivity in Museums

Arduino has revolutionized exhibition design in the world of Museums.

Last April, Arduino was used by The American Museum of Natural History to create an interactive exhibit called, "Brain: The Inside Story." The exhibit showcased "a new perspective and keen insight into the visitors own brains through imaginative art, vivid brain-scan imaging, and dynamic interactive exhibits for all ages." Basically, the visitors had the chance to view multiple interactive activities and were able to tests their ability to draw a shape while looking only at a reflection.

As stated on arduino.cc, "Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments." (from http://arduino.cc/en/)

This nondescript gadget has become the driving force behind most of the interactive exhibits seen in museums and galleries today.

[Nick Bilton] published an article about Arduino and how it influenced Interaction Design, with a close look about Exhibition Design.

“The Arduino has changed the way we can create and build exhibits,” said Hélène Alonso, director of interactive exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. “In the past, we would have used 50 percent of our budget on computers that have now been replaced with the simplicity of the Arduino.”

A current exhibit at the museum called “Brain: The Inside Story,” uses an Arduino to calculate a person’s accuracy and brain power while tracing the shape of a star. Another exhibit at the museum lets people see the relationship of the weights of some dinosaurs in relation to those of humans.

For artists and designers, one of the biggest draws of the Arduino is the cost. A single Arduino, which can be used to control a number of aspects of a museum installation, costs just $30. Once an artist has a chip, inexpensive sensors can be added to make the device sentient.

Sources:
http://arduino.cc/en/

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/brain/index.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/arduinos-provide-interactive-exhibits-for-about-30.html

"Digital Museums"

The new rise of digital world is having an effect on almost everything. Museums are a part of things going digital. There are both positive and negative effects of museums going digital. Some the most important effects of museums going digital is the access it gives a diverse number of people. In addition to that, museums have the ability to save cultures from the past. Museums also have the ability to bring those traditional cultures to people of modern times. Using digital technology, may appeal to a younger audience. The use of social media, will allow them to engage and share in different exhibits. It will also allow them to share their experiences with one another. This could create more learning.

Digital technology, also will give access to people, who would otherwise not be able to experience it. The digital world eliminates a lot of boundaries.
The largest positive effect is the educational benefit. People can be easier educated. There are negative effects, of digital museums. The greatest negative effect, is the lost of some cultures. For instance, some cultures only have spoken word traditions. If museums go digital those spoken traditions could be easily lost. Overall, there is are very few negative effects the good seems to far out weigh the bad. Digital technology, can allow exhibits to come to live for viewers. The use of new media can allow exhibits to be at peoples finger tips.

Sources
"Visible Language"; After the Death of Film: Writing the Natural World in the Digital Age; Tess Takahashi; 2008
John Driscoll, New York Hall of Science, 1993

Augmented Reality and Museums

Ever imagine going to a museum exhibit, where there is nothing actually physically exhibited? Well, think about this: augmented reality museum exhibits, where you can view "digital works of art" that aren't physically present.

In October, 2010, two artists created a "virtual exhibition of digital works" in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. MoMA had no involvement with exhibition, but the experiment, as part of the Conflux Festival, was used by the artists as a way to investigate the impact of augmented reality on public and private spaces. The artists hosted their own digital works, and invited " all AR artists worldwide to place their virtual artworks within the walls of the MoMA." Regular visitors of MoMA were not able to see the exhibition, as it was required to have an app called "Layar" downloaded on a smart phone to see it. "Uninvited" guests piled into the museum to check out what the hype was all about. Check out this video from Arts and Culture Marketing blog of visitors who attended this digital exhibition:

Even though this particular exhibit was uninvited, imagine the possibilities and opportunities museums have from using augmented reality. To be able to show works of art without them being physically present is a truly useful and fun idea. It is also a way to bring "digital art" into museums in a fun and creative way. Of course, AR can have it's disadvantages, and the artists focus on AR's impact on public and private space is interesting. If these artists can create an entire exhibit, and invite AR "artists" from around the world to showcase their digital art in said exhibit, who knows what the next person might use AR for in a museum. It opens an entirely new world that is unregulated - and one that may be unwanted, from museum goers and museum owners alike.

Although augmented reality is an entirely separate new media issue, it is interesting to explore the possibilities it can have in museums. I imagine walking through an open space in a museum, using augmented reality, to view a different era. To see and learn about a different time period of our world. The ideas and fun opportunities that could come from using AR in museums is something that I'm sure will be explored in more and more detail as new media becomes more prominent and more advanced in our society - and it may spark more interest and bring more people to museums!

Sources:

Arts and Culture Marketing blog

Wired article: Augmented Reality: AR Uninvited at MoMA NYC

Museum Next: Augmented Reality in the Museum

New Media & Museums = Changing Attitudes

As I did research for this assignment, I ran across an article from May 10, 1999 titled "Art Museums, The Internet and New Technology". This article highlighted some of the conversation amongst directors of the world's most famous museums: Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Louvre in Paris, British Museum in London, and Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. At this time, most art museums had been a bit slow in adopting new technology and there was a lot of expectation that museums should incorporate new technology into the museum experience. Of course, there was a feeling that museums would post photos of artwork online and that the physical presence of the museum would become obsolete.

In addition to that article, I've found an article from 2005 about the Indianapolis Museum of Art which designed interactive and 3D devices to enhance visitors' experience of their physical displays. The conversation was not so much about technology replacing physical displays, but, more about how technology could enhance physical displays while expanding access to information about the artists and their work. The technology involved was quite amazing in that at some points visitors physically interacted with the technology displays to customize their experience. The museum didn't just relegate visitor interaction to a screen. The 3D display allowed visitors to customize and display information on four walls of the space containing special collections. It seems at this point, more museums are trying to incorporate technology to allow more access, more customization and more visitor engagement.

Now in 2011, I found an article about Google's new Art Project. It is a website that displays more than 1,000 works of art, view 360-degree virtual tours of selected galleries, and zoom-in on brush-stroke level detail of some of the artwork. The majority of the 17 participating museums are in Europe. So, there is very little chance that the online availability will detract from physical museum visits. In fact, one of the hopes is that the Website will engage visitors more and encourage physical visits to the museums.



It seems that in the span of a dozen years, the skepticism that surrounded museums' use of technology has changed. Fears about driving visitors away have developed into the realization that more access online could encourage visits. Then, once visitors are in the museums, new media and technology can engage and inspire them all the more.

Museums & Mobile III Online Conference

It looks like smartphones have become an invaluable resource for the future of museums.

The Museums & Mobile III is an online conference which will take place next week from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26, 2011. The conference offers hands-on workshops on "in-house mobile content development." The Museums & Mobile Virtual Expo will offers multiple conferences such as "Thinking about Best Practice for Museum Mobile / ‘Mobile Apps for Museums" among others. In addition, the conference will also include a one-day online trade show for museum professionals interested in deploying mobile experiences and creating mobile content.

"The Virtual Expo includes a series of live presentations by companies and organizations providing mobile products and services for museums, as well as virtual booths where you can stop in and visit in real-time in an informal setting with representatives from each company."

Source: http://www.museums-mobile.org/virtual-expo/

I wish that I could participate to conference to see what type of products and services will be offered, but unfortunately it is not free.

MUSEUMS TO GO

"The Museums to Go Working group is an ad hoc consortium of museums aiming to build open-source mobile browser and/or app solutions quickly and efficiently!"

http://museummobile.info/archives/229

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (26.0MB)

In the podcast above, Chris Alexander from San Jose Museum of Art and Ted Forbes of Dallas Museum of Art explain the cell phone tour which they are using in their respective museums (via wireless). The cell phone tour allows people to visit the museum on their own and get the most of the experience with their cell phone. It is convenient because visitors don’t need to wait (and pay) for a guide. However, the interview was conducted in 2009, at the time Alexander and Forbes stated that they were lending iPods (which they bought) to visitors because everyone did not have a smartphone , however today this is not true anymore (according to Nielson 19% in 2009 compare to 49% today).


Source: Smartphones to Overtake Feature Phones in U.S. by 2011

On the negative side, we are, as the theorist Marx stated, witnessing the replacement of men with machines. This means that ultimately tour guides will lose their jobs and the career will completely disappear.

Today multiple museums have joined the cohort (listed alphabetically):

· Dallas Museum of Art (Ted Forbes)

· British Museum (Silvia Filippini Fantoni)

· Indianapolis Museum of Art (Rob Stein, Charlie Moad, Daniel Incandela)

· J. Paul Getty Museum (Steven Gemmel, Susan Edwards, Molly Callender)

· Metropolitan Museum of Art (Koven Smith)

· MoMA (Allegra Burnette, Beth Harris, Sara Bodinson)

· Museum of London (Paul Clifford)

· National Air and Space Museum (Vicki Portway)

· Powerhouse Museum (Seb Chan- sebc [at] phm.gov.au): donating requirements & mobile CSS from http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/m/

· San Jose Museum of Art (Chris Alexander)

· Smithsonian American Art Museum (Nancy Proctor)

· Van Gogh Museum (Marthe de Vet)

Source: http://wiki.museummobile.info/museums-to-go

QR codes in Museums

Museums are jam-packed full of information. But let's face it - there's only so much space to share only so much information. What then, should museums do, so that museum attendees can continue to learn once they leave the museum? How can museum attendees easily follow up on sparked interests?

What other than QR codes, linking to Wikipedia articles!?

Check out this blog post from Museum Media, New Media for Museums:

Jane Darnell on Linkedin writes: ” There is a Wikipedia multi-lingual challenge going on for the Derby museum in the UK. The idea is to use QR codes to link to Wikipedia articles. If the object itself is notable enough, there may be an article devoted to the object, but there may also be QR codes directing the user to Wikipedia articles on general terms used in the museum.”

Go to this page and paste a Wikipedia URL into the box to create a language-detecting, mobile-friendly QR code.

Idea: Terence Eden & Roger Bamkin

Site: Michael McNeela

With help & inspiration from Tom Morris, Alison Wheeler & many others

I think this is a very cool way to utilize QR codes and to bring new media to museums. This way, if you need or want further information on something in the museum, or just want to look up general terms, you can snap the QR code on your smart phone, and all the information is at your fingertips. Of course, Wikipedia isn't a "scholarly site," but if museums had websites with more information, or if there were other scholarly articles related to what was in the museum, the QR codes could direct them to those links. I'm interested in seeing how hisorical museums, or musuems in general, utilize the web. Do they have their own websites? What information is on those websites?