Communication Theory Lecture 4: Technologies for communication and collaboration in museum settings Dr. Danaë Stanton Fraser

Course Aims Novel topic each week Discuss the challenges involved in evaluation of technology for communication and collaboration Consider current applied areas of research

Designing Technology for Public Spaces Demographics Number of users Expense Safety Individual/collaborative

Designing Technology for Public Spaces Physical delivery e.g audio Robustness Intuitive Evaluation techniques ethics

Designing Technology for Museums: Aims Educational and cultural To enrich museum visit Connect museums and sites of interest To encourage new forms of participation (after at home, in class) To encourage cultural experiences when exploring a city To enable individual and collaborative experiences

Design sensitivities in a museum context Maintain ambience of museum Not to replace experts but to work with them Support a range of users User control of experience

The classification problem Description and grouping of objects –where does this fit? –where do these fit? –What on earth is this? Design strategies –Embed visitor opinion into interaction –Apply technologies only for what cannot be achieved by traditional means –Allow traditional and novel components to co- exist (e.g. docents, handling)

Studies of museum visitor behaviour Dwell time Navigation patterns Visits social in nature – important to understand what visitors want to share Peripheral awareness of other visitors is important

Some technology deployed in museums Portable electronic guidebooks – since 1950s Desktop information displays Video, web and VR presentations Touchscreens – often designed for individuals but used collaboratively (e.g Science Museum) Personal and handheld devices– HIPS, Exploratorium, Sotto Voce

example applications…..

Unearthing Virtual History Actively searching for history is engaging for visitors

Hunting for history at the castle

Re-tracing the Past: A Living Exhibition

Augurscope

Mixed reality in the Lighthouse A mixed reality system to enable web, virtual reality and physical visitors to share a museum visit together in real time

Selected References Benford S,Bowers J,Chandler P,Ciolfi L,Flintham M,Fraser M,Greenhalgh C,Hall T,Hellström S,Izadi S,Rodden T,Schnädelbach H,Taylor I, ( 2001 ) Unearthing virtual history: using diverse interfaces to reveal hidden virtual worlds. In Ubicomp Programme Chairs, editor, Proc Ubicomp 2001, pages ACM Brown B,MacColl I,Chalmers M,Galani A,Randell C,Steed A, ( 2003 ) Lessons from the Lighthouse: Collaboration in a Shared Mixed Reality System CHI, April 2003, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. Fraser M,Stanton D,Ng M,Benford S,O'Malley C,Bowers J,Taxn G,Ferris K, Hindmarsh J, ( 2003 ) Assembling History: Achieving Coherent Experiences with Diverse Technologies Proceedings of ECSCW 2003 Helsinki, Finland, Kluwer R. E. Grinter, P. M. Aoki, A. Hurst, M. H. Szymanski, J. D. Thornton and A. Woodruff. Revisiting the Visit: Understanding How Technology Can Shape the Museum Visit. Proc. ACM Conf. on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, New Orleans, LA, Nov. 2002, Schnadelbach H,Koleva B,Flintham M,Fraser M,Izadi S,Chandler P,Foster M,Benford S,Greenhalgh C, Rodden T, ( 2002 ) The Augurscope: A Mixed Reality Interface for Outdoors in Proceedings of CHI 2002 and Chi Letters Vol: 4 No: 1 pp ACM Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, April 2002 (ISBN: ACM /02/0)