Weekly Task:
I have chosen ‘Interactive exhibitions in museums‘ as my topic. Through my research, I discovered that HCI in museums or galleries has gained significant traction in recent years (Mery Keitel, 2012), redefining the visitor experience. These exhibitions are not just limited to touch screens or audio guides. Instead, they encompass a broad spectrum of technologies, ranging from augmented reality (AR) to virtual reality (VR) and from gesture-based controls to responsive environments. By using those technologies, museums can offer visitors more interactive, educational, and immersive experiences(Morse et al., 2023).
In my finding, the Cleveland Museum of Art has departed from the traditional museum mode of directly viewing art pieces. Instead, museums adopted an interactive exhibition approach. The museum has established the largest multi-touch screen in the United States, presenting 4,100 significant art pieces from its collection on a 12.2-meter-long electronic screen, much like postcards. Detailed information about that piece is displayed when you touch the screen to select an artwork. Simultaneously, similar pieces also automatically appear around it. The images on the screen can be freely zoomed in and out, allowing viewers to see the minute details of the artwork. Through interactions between viewers and the collection, as well as interactions among viewers, the museum emphasizes interactivity as a key concept in modern museology. By integrating the latest technology, they promote effective dissemination and promotion of the museum’s exhibition and educational functions.
References:
Mery Keitel, A.S., 2012. Human computer interaction in museums as public spaces: A research of the impact of interactive technologies on visitors’ experience (Doctoral dissertation).
Morse, C., Niess, J., Bongard-Blanchy, K., Rivas, S., Lallemand, C. and Koenig, V., 2023. Impressions that last: representing the meaningful museum experience. Behaviour & Information Technology, 42(8), pp.1127-1154.