Krishti: A tangible interface to facilitate playful learning environment for conventional museums
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The thesis by Moupiya Ukil explores the design of a tangible interface to enhance playful learning in conventional museums, particularly focusing on the Assam State Museum. It identifies challenges in visitor engagement and proposes a design solution that integrates digital technology to enrich the museum experience, emphasizing the need for more interactive and participatory environments. The work details a comprehensive methodology including secondary and primary research, ideation, prototyping, and user testing to achieve its goals.
![1.4 Background
The museums have a long history, springing from what may be an in-
nate human desire to collect and explore the past in large collections
built up by individuals and groups before the modern era. In the recent
past when Peter Vergo’s(1989) invention of “the new museology” [1]
imerged argued for an increased emphasis on the visitors and their ex-
perience and for new thinking about museum education and the im-
portace of acesibility new theories related to museology have come up.
Museums are modernizing. They used to conserve, collect, and display
objects, and in addition perform tasks in the areas of research and ed-
ucation, but they are increasingly interactive in the attempt to appeal
to a wider public. One reason is intensifying competition from cultural
events and other activities that combine education and entertainment,
another that new insights have emerged about ways to introduce visi-
tors into the world of digital technologies. In the past decade constant
attempts has been made by the museum practitioners to use technology
to transform the museum experience. The latest trend is creative corpo-
ration of technology in the museums.
5](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-11-320.jpg)
![3.1 Literature Survey
3.1.1 INTRODUCTION
The English word “museum” comes from the Latin word, It is originally
from the Greek Μουσεῖον (Mouseion), which denotes a place or tem-
ple dedicated to the Muses (the patron divinities in Greek Mythology
of the arts), and hence a building set apart for study and the arts. [5]
A typical definition of a museum would be, an institution that cares for
a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural
or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing
through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Museums have
varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving
the general public. Museum are no longer, barely, treasure troves of the
past. The display of the exhibits is not limited to aesthetic enjoyment
only for the public. Rather it is an institution where cultural, historical,
archeological or any valued item of a society are treasured to save them
from further damage or extinction.
Over the time museum has undergone a substanial shift. Whatever wor-
thiness a museum may ultimately have derives from what it does, not
from what it is. Museums have a large collection but by just preserving
the artifacts the knowledge stored in the museum would not spread.
With the change in human behavior the mode of presentation in mu-
seums also need to change. In the modern world global transforma-
tions, a museum is expected to introduce new methods and new scien-
tific approaches at all levels of museum activity. In order to achieve this,
research and discussion is continuously going on in the design society
about how to bring in this change more significantly day by day.
11
Fig. 2. Graphic representation of the ‘traditional’ museum Davis
1999 (after Rivard 1984)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-17-320.jpg)
![percent of the 117 tracked visitors) and the highest number of repeat
number of repeat visits of all exhibits (eight of 32 repeat visits). Ad-
ditionally, visitors spent more time with the computer program (3.75
minutes mean) than with any other exhibit (1.3 minutes with exhibit
in the second ranking) [9]. Even after several months after their vis-
it, most respondents to the mail survey were able to recall many de-
tails of their experience. Visitors remembered not only what they had
done and felt during their visit, but could also describe what the ex-
hibition and the program had been about, what they had contained,
and the thoughts that these had triggered. By the above example it
is quite significant that this human–computer mode of communica-
tion, endowed with the ability for visitors to select from a rich store
of material which particularly interests them, and choose the way it is
presented, is one of the particular features of multimedia which can-
not be offered by more traditional means of museum presentation.
Visitors greatly appreciate graphics, photographs and video-clips of
where and how the objects were found; visual information on other ar-
chaeological features which cannot be displayed in the gallery, such as
buildings, earth works, and town plans; information on how these were
made and used, e.g. how pottery or bronze statues were made adds
to the additional knowledge and better understanding of the visitor.
Museum professionals need to investigate the rapid developments
of the technology in this direction (wall-size displays, ‘slave’ moni-
tors, hand-held devices, visitor-aware interfaces) and the possibili-
ties for extending the human–computer communication to include
more than one visitor and thus enhance the museum experience.
The digital technologies when designed well can have the po-
tential to positively impact visitor meaning making, by
1. Enabling visitors to customize their experience to meet their person-
al needs and interests
13](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-19-320.jpg)
![2. Extending the experience beyond the temporal and physical bound-
aries of the museum visit; and
3. Layering multisensory elements within the experience, thereby en-
riching the quality of the physical context. [10]
Supporting the “Virtuous Circle”: Multimedia tours are of-
ten used to create continuity between pre-, post-, and actu-
al visit experiences, through tools like bookmarking and annota-
tion. This process has been referred to as the virtuous circle [14].
The Exploratrium, for example, was one of the first museums to ex-
periment with technologies that allow visitors to take home “personal
souvenirs” of the exhibition “to encourage them to continue the explo-
ration at home”. This example has been followed by other museums
including Tata Modern, which introduced bookmarking for their perma-
nent multimedia tour in 2005[15]; the Museum of Science in Boston,
which allowed visitors to save information in the “ Star Wars: Where
Science Meets Imagination” exhibition tour; and at the City of Science
and Industry in Paris, for the “That’s Canada” exhibition in 2004[16].
When integrating into the visitor experience, bookmarking can be
a powerful tool for supporting the learning process[17], creating
a stronger relationship between the institution and the visitor. Re-
search indicates that repetition is a major mechanism for retain-
ing memories over time[18], so bookmarking can increase visitor’s
knowledge about a collection or exhibition as well as stimulate a
positive response about the visit and a desire to learn more[19].
While bookmarking is not unique to multimedia tours, be-
ing found also on some audio tours as well as kiosks, screen
based hand-held devices are well suited for this purpose because
they not only allow visitors to select objects in situ but also en-
able visitors to review and recognize bookmarks during the visit.
14](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-20-320.jpg)
![3.1.4 PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF MUSEUM
Brain Thinks Association conducted a find out how do visitors perceive
museums [6]. They cited the following observations after the study-
• There is strong, positive emotional attachment to museums by both
visitors and non-visitors. Indeed, it appears that attitudes towards muse-
ums have become more favorable over the last generation as they shed
their image of stuffiness and sterility and become more entertaining and
interactive.
• Participants have a relatively sophisticated understanding of museums
as shaping our future as well as our past. As such they are seen as having
an active role in sharing new knowledge rather, than as passive buildings
simply storing objects.
• Museums hold a unique position of being trusted, which is par-
ticularly important given the perceived lack of trusted organiza-
tions in society such as the government and the media. Both of
these are seen as biased and operating under agendas. Mem-
bers of the public, who took part, see museums as the guard-
ians of factual information and as presenting all sides of the story.
• There exists a widespread sense that museums are under
threat, due to lack of attendance, budget cuts or technologi-
cal advance. This threat informs the public’s evaluation of the
possible purposes of museums and their role within society.
• There is a consistent perception of museums’ current and essential
purposes, and museums ‘spreading themselves too thinly’ are a con-
cern. There is strong feeling that museums should concern themselves
with what they are good at first and foremost. This stems from the idea
that taking on additional purposes may undermine the essential purpos-
es for which museums are presently revered.
16
Fig 3. Word- cloud representing visitor’s mind associations of mu-
seums.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-22-320.jpg)
![3.1.5 NEW MUSEOLOGY
17
According to ICOM, ”Museology is the branch of knowledge concerned
with the study of the purpose and organisation of museums. It has to
do with the study of history and background of museums, their role in
society, specific systems for research, conservation, education and orga-
nization, relationships with the physical environment, and the classifica-
tion of different kinds of museums”. Though th old museology has not
been discarded yet in the late 90’s the term new museology was coined.
The 1960s and 1970s –social unrest, political activism, environmen-
talism, postmodernism –witnessed the re-evaluation of the purposeof
museums, leading to the ’second museum revolution’ and a ’new mu-
seology’. In 1980 the French museologist AndréDevallées wrote a
piece for the Encyclopedia Universalispromoting this new ’social de-
velopment’ vision for museums under the title ’Nouvelle Muséologie’.
The museum world has undergone radical change since the 1970s.
Political and economic pressures have forced its professionals to shift
their attention from their collections towards visitors. Whereas in the
past the museum tended to be exclusive and elitist, signs of a progres-
sive opening-up and greater accessibility have appeared. A climate of
increasing reflexivity within the profession is identified as a ‘new mu-
seology’[21]. The movement towards a more visitor-centred ethos can
be seen as entailing a corresponding shift in the identity of the muse-
um professional, from ‘legislator’ to ‘interpreter’ of cultural meaning
New museology defined challenges the spatially-bounded concept of the
museum(does it have to be a physical or single space) faced, increased
attention given to stakeholders and participants, greater awareness by
certain external groups of the authority and utlity of the museum as a
’public’ space, changes to the balance of power between museums, indi-
vidual collectors and the public, diversification of publics and audiences,
diversification of roles museums are expected to play.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-23-320.jpg)
![3.1.7 MUSUEM AND PUBLIC SPHERE
When designing new types of engaging interactive installations for cul-
ture related public spaces such as museums the challenged emerge ma-
jorly with respect to the following paradigms [7]-
1) Domain of public spaces: Challenges include how to design interactive
systems for public spaces that facilitate aesthetic communication, expe-
rience and active involvement of the users, and, thus, how to utilize the
inherent qualities of public spaces to their full potential.
2) Usage of the body when interacting: When exploring the body as an
interaction device, challenges are how to utilize the bodily potential in
the interaction context; and what influence and significance the use of
the body has on interactive experiences. Characteristics to be consid-
ered when utilizing the body include: small/large degree of bodily in-
volvement in the interaction; less/large accentuation of the significance
of the body in the user experience (the role of the body differs); and
finally, small/large degree of user influence.
3) Manner in which to communicate and stage the interactive space as
well as a given culture related content: Challenges consist of how to suc-
cessfully stage the body in interaction design relative to a given content;
how to combine the physical and digital spaces; and which dramaturgic
takes can be utilized in the context of interaction design for public spaces
Museum spaces nowadays are increasingly augmented with digital tech-
nology. While some systems primarily provide context-sensitive, dynam-
ic, and multimodal information (Oppermann and Specht 1999), others
offer novel services or enable new kinds of activities, such as treasure
hunts (Fraser et , 2003), the collection of souvenirs and photos (Fleck
et al, 2002), or change exhibition design and content with interactive
exhibits (Ciolfi, 2004, Heath et al, 2002). Public spaces and museums as
application areas and settings of use have turned into a respected field
of research for HCI.
Traditionally, museums aim for throughput and installations are de-
signed so as to only include enough interaction to get the point of the
20](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-26-320.jpg)
![3.1.9 MUSEUMS EXPLORED
Science museums have been uitilizing interactive technologies since
long back still, it is generally a challenge to introduce technology in art
museums without disturbing the domain of the art works. To understanf
the model of understanding used in the conventional and muti media
museums few of them around the globe were studied.
1. ARoS, art museum in Denmark
To explore the possibilities of communicating art through the use of
technology, and to minimize disturbance of the artworks, the research-
er applied four main approaches in the communication [11]:
1) gentle audio augmentation of art works;
2) conceptual affinity of art works and remote interactive installations;
3) using the body as an interaction device;
4)consistent audio-visual cues for interaction opportunities.
The Japanese artist Mariko Mori was chosen as the tar-
get for developing new art communication experienc-
es, since Mori’s art has built-in high tech elements.
A main issue in the communication strategy for art museums is to avoid
disturbing the pure art experience with the communication means cho-
sen.
As described by Grønbæk and Kortbek to the four main approach-
es as mentiond are formulated based on the following reasons-
Headphone based systems only provide a single user ex-
perience. To overcome this advantage they propose to uti-
lize a gentle audio augmentation of the environment
through the use of sensor controlled directional loudspeaker.
Making additional visual installations (e.g. projected over-
24](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-30-320.jpg)
![The Darshan Museum is a museum dedicated to the noted Sindhi Saint
and scholar, Sadhu Vaswani [13]. It is a biographical museum that offers
an insight into the life and therefore the teachings of Sadhu Vaswani.
A journey into Sadhu Vaswani’s life and activities, the museum creates
an entertaining, educative and moving experience for the soul, through
a series of immersive spatial experiences rich in audio, video and multi-
media, culminating in the darshan of the humble kutiya, where he spent
his last years. The museum is also essentially a repository of his teach-
ings – in the form of interactive and participatory exhibits engaging the
visitors, young and old alike.
This museum is being made by using a vast palette of museum based
technologies; like real life mannequins, graphic panels, holographic
screens, Peppers ghost, interactive, audio-visual material, films, et al.
The narrative and the dialogues, in the sound and light format, make
it a very emotive experience; as opposed to the written format. The
museum is divided into 8 zones, each zone has various experienc-
es from the life and teachings of Sadhu Vaswani, in the narrative
visitor hash choice of 2 different languages, viz Hindi and English.
2. Darshan Museum, Pune
28
Fig. 9 Life size mannequins are set-up with auido being played
in the background re-presenting life of Swami Vaswani (http://
www.darshanmuseum.org).
Fig. 8 Story of young Swami Vasvani by creating virtual real life
images (http://www.darshanmuseum.org).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-34-320.jpg)
![This museum in Anandpur Sahib is designed by Moshe Safdie. The mu-
seum gives an insight to the events that took place in Punjab five hun-
dred years ago that gave birth to Sikhism and finally the Khalsa Panth.
The museum aims to illuminate the vision of the Gurus, their message
of peace and brotherhood and the culture and heritage of Punjab. The
museum exhibits Guru Granth Sahib in the first phase and the histo-
ry of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur to partition in the second phase [22].
Popularly known as the ‘Ajooba’, the Khalsa Heritage Museum, the
first of its scale in the world, is a storytelling Museum covering 6500
square metres of fully air-conditioned space. The story to be told with-
in the Museum’s monumental architectural spaces is deeply spiritual,
passionate and emotional. The exhibition design therefore strives to
convey this spirit by the creation of a variety of immersive environ-
ments that transport visitors into a different time and space, there-
by enhancing their capacity to receive the intended communication.
A multi-layered communication strategy ensures that visitor aspirations
are met, in a language and level of detail of their choice. The visitor to
the Khalsa Heritage Museum will not only leave better informed but
will also be emotionally moved. Cutting edge communication technol-
ogies juxtaposed with original artefacts have been seamlessly integrat-
ed with the vernacular aesthetic to highlight a robust, living culture.
The Museum caters to a wide audience — Sikhs from rural, semi-urban
and urban milieu; non-resident Sikhs; the devout and the sceptic; other
Punjabis and tourists; the non-literate, the scholar, the aesthete; chil-
dren, teenagers, the aged. Each one would find something in this Mu-
seum that interests, informs or touches them, irrespective of who they
are, from where they come and whatever may be their faiths.
The Museum as conceived by AB Design Habit with a state-of-the art
3. Virasat-E-Khalsa, Punjab
Fig. 10 Multi sensorial expereince increases the v0[.istor expe-
rience in Virat-E-Khalsa (http://www.virasatekhalsa.in/
29](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-35-320.jpg)
![The Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum is one of the world’s first digital
multimedia museums in India. It is founded by Ranjit Makkuni, Project
Director Sacred World Research Laboratory, New Delhi[23]. It is located
at the site where Mahatma Gandhi attained martyrdom. The museum
presents the historical events of Gandhiji’s life as well as a spectrum of
information technology visions inspired by Gandhian thought. In doing
so, the project not only documents but also revives the values by which
India obtained freedom. It also redefines those values in order to ani-
mate modern products and design.
The technology developed does not ‘merely scan’ Gandhian images;
rather it interprets Gandhian vision in newer product design. The exhib-
its interpret Gandhian forms and values.
The project presents a language of physical interface actions. It is derived
fromclassicalsymbolsofthespinningwheel,turningoftheprayerwheels,
touching symbolic pillars, spinning wheels, the act of hands touching sa-
cred objects, collaboratively constructed quilts, sacred chanting in the
collective group, the satsanga, the touching and rotating of prayer beads.
These tradition-based interactions inspire a rich panorama of tactile in-
terfaces that allow people to access the multimedia imagery of Gandhi.
The Stambha, or Pillar, for all cultures, represents a sacred centre. At
the heart of the museum, it stands as Gandhi’s Pillar of Truth. Eleven
rotatable discs spin around the axis. The turning of the prayer wheel
triggers off a visual representation of Gandhi’s 11 vows stipulated for the
Satyagrahi in order for him or her to become a Man or Woman of Truth.
The Charkha casts its shadow on the display table. When you touch it
the shadow morphs into a quote of Gandhi. This graphic animation sym-
bolizes the economic, political and spiritual meanings of the Charkha
symbol.
3. Eternal Gandhi Museum, New Delhi
Fig. 13 The Shadow Chakra (http://www.etern-
algandhi.org) 31
Fig. 12 The Stambha (http://www.eternalgand-](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-37-320.jpg)
![The author introduced the design and installation of a ‘digital proj-
ect room’ into an art museum. Munch & Multimodality was about ex-
ploring the use of digital resources in the National Gallery in Oslo
to engage young people with the work of the artist Edvard Munch,
and with art in general which was open for a period of 8 weeks.
The research in the museum aimed at finding answers to he following
questions [24]:
1) What are the implications for learning of the spatial technological
features of museum exhibits?
2) How does learning occur in these exhibits?
3) How can this knowledge inform the design of rich-
er learning experiences in interactive museum exhibits?
The researcher recruited teenaged visitors to visit the museum in small
groups of 2-4 in an out of school context. In addition, he collected data on
the general public that happened to visit this project room on their
own. The data collection methods he followed were video and audio re-
cordings of the space, as well as “walk-videos” (Gjedde & Ingemann 2008)
captured through camera glasses worn by visitors. He supplemented video
andaudiodatawith:datalogsfromtheinteractivestations,interviews,and
field notes. The video recordings were analyzed using methods from inter-
action analysis (Derry, et al., 2010; Hall, 2000; Jordan & Henderson, 1995).
The goal is to contribute to a better understanding
of learning in the settings of technology supported museum. The research
project explored the role of physical space in these new museum experi-
ences. The findings gave an understanding and created rich social learn-
ing interactions in museums.
5. National Gallery, Oslo
Fig. 14 Photograph of the installed room
32](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-38-320.jpg)
![6. Bunratty Folk Park, Ireland (Living History Museum)
In the paper, Designing for Meaningful Visitor Engage-
ment at a Living History Museum [25] the author have come
up with an interactive installation designed to facilitate and
support visitor engagement in a living history museum.
Recent trend in research is on how technology can facilitate appropri-
ation and engagement by visitor, as much as it has in the broader HCI
field, with increased attention on issues such as user experience [26]
and emotional connections [27]. In particular, current work is focusing
on novel ways to establish meaningful relationships between the users
of
technology and interactive artefacts that are not simply technolo-
gy gadgets, but that hold meaning and values for them [28][29][26].
Marc and Luigina aimed of supporting meaningful visitor engagement at
a particular type of heritage site – a living history museum - that visitors
explore with an interest in immersive reconstructions of ways of life,
people and activities from times past. Engendering deep connections
within these sites is linked to how well the museum holdings can be
contextualized in a real-life scenario, rather than a set of stat-
ic displays. Theier major contribution was to explore how
can interaction design be useful to museum experience.
Living history or ‘open air’ museums present complex heritage displays
that usually include entire buildings, historical artefacts and live perfor-
mances,allwithinoutdoorsitesoftenlandscapedtobealsopartofthedis-
play. Their curatorial goal is that of providing visitors with reconstructions
of everyday life in times past by both showcasing material for viewing and
engagingvisitorsthroughthere-creationofcostumesandcrafts[23].They
are more informal in comparision to convetional musuems, vis-
itors are allowed to have loud discussions , eat and drink.
33
Fig. 15 Heritage sites at Bunratty Folk Musuem](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-39-320.jpg)
![respect to technology intervention. However widely deployed technol-
ogy at living history/open-air museums are commercial systems such as
location-sensitive mobile guides for standard content delivery [30].
At the entrance of the museum, visitors are provided with detailed
map of the site where the buildings and other features are marked
with their name, location within the Park and a very brief discription.
The Park invites 3000 visitors per day. The research goals of the stud-
ies were to understand how people visited the site (from the point of
view of spatial paths, dwell time at specific locations, etc.), but most
importantly what of their visit they found particularly engaging and
memorable. Therefore to bring forth those aspects of the site and its
holdings that could be further developed and supported by interactive
technology, and subsequently build on such findings to guide design.
During observation study, an interesting fact that was noted is that many
of the visitors of a certain age personally recognize much of
what they see directly from their own past, not as historians or anthro-
pologists would, but as ordinary people who remember living in or visit-
ing similar buildings and seeing certain objects, and also hearing about
them in stories told to them by their parents and grandparents. This was
re-confirmed by the researchers during the semi-structured interviews.
Another observation was that personal connections are a powerful ele-
ment making people sensorially and emotionally relate to what they see
atalivedexperiencelevel.Thus,“Reminisce” theprototypedevelopedfo-
cused on supporting engagement and identification with the site, and on
extendingthisaspectofthevisitsothatitcouldbecomevisibleandappre-
ciated by a larger portion of visitors at a wider number of sites in the Park.
Participants could overlay their visit to a series of buildings with a set of
auditory digital “memories” narrated by fictional characters assosciated
with the sites (i.e. the farmer of the land and the woman of the house).
These took the form of brief audio snippets that could be collected
34
Fig. 16 The Components of “Reminisce”: A) The portal; B)
The mobile app; C) The tangible tokens D) The schoolhouse
desk; E) The Web resource.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-40-320.jpg)
![The Louvre or Louvre Museum, a central landmark of Paris, France is one
of the world’s largest museums and a historic monument. The museum
openedon10August1793withanexhibitionof537paintings,themajority
oftheworksbeingroyalandconfiscatedchurchproperty.Itwasclosedfor
ashortperiodfrom1796until1801.Accordingtoarecordintheyear2008,
the museum collection is divided among eight curatorial departments:
Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Ro-
man Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints
and Drawings. Louvre’s most popular attraction is DA Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
In 2008, IBM has come up with the Europe’s first smart museum [31].
Through the use of IBM Maximo Asset Management software the muse-
um’sstaffhasbeenabletostreamlinetheirmaintenanceprocessestoim-
prove customer service as well as the efficiency, real-time operation and
management of the museum. The software solution’s integrated data-
base helps the museum visualize processes including the initial planning,
cleaning, maintenance and disposal of the rooms and facilities systems
such as the air-conditioning system, heating system, elevators, lights for
each room or gallery, and the locking system for more than 2,500 doors.
Amongthevariousservicesthemuseumprovidesfewaretheguidedtours,
audio guides, live performances, exhibitions, workshops, films, lectures,
video trail , a highly informative website and a Louvre guide mobile app.
The Louvre’s new audio guide offers over 35 hours of audio content. In
lively and informal on-the-spot interviews, the museum’s curators and
lecturers share their expert knowledge of the Louvre and its artworks.
In addition to the audio commentaries, there are 3D photos of the gal-
leries, high-definition images of the artworks, and 3D reconstructions to
help you identify the exhibits and give you extra information. In-case a
visitor has less time he can choose amongst 700 recordings his choice.
38
4.1.1 Louvre Museum, Paris
Fig. 18 Interactive installations
Fig. 19 Mirror with super imposed images on the walls of the
corridor](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-44-320.jpg)
![The measurability and application of performance indicators is mainly
based on the indexes proposed by Shettel [1973], integrated and tested
in a very large number of museums and exhibitions. Examples include
the work of Serrell, who has analyzed and compared observations from
more than 150 museums and exhibitions[12].
The main indicators used are:
Attraction power. Indicates the relative incidence of people who have
stopped in front of an object/exhibit during the exhibition tour. It is cal-
culated by dividing the number of people who stop by the total num-
ber of people who have visited the museum or gallery The indicator
provides an initial idea of the power of attraction or attention exerted
by the object on show. The index varies from 0 to 1, and the closer it is
to 1 the greater is the power of the element to attract.
Attraction Index = No. Of people who stopped >1
No. Of people who observed
Holding power: measures the average time spent in front of an infor-
mation/communication element (e.g. a panel, a video, a caption, etc.).
It is calculated by dividing the average time of stay by the time “nec-
essary” to read an element. The calculation of the “necessary” time is
established by the researchers, who measure the time that is essential
for the entire communication about a particular object to be taken in.
The index ranges from 0 to 1 (it may be greater than 1 if the average is
greater than the time considered “necessary”, but this is a theoretical
case). The closer it is to 1, the greater the ability of the element to hold
the visitors’ attention will be.
Holding power= Average stopping time
Utilization time necessary
65
5.3 Site Analysis](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-71-320.jpg)
![6.1 Idea Generation
User reaches the set-up User picks a token
representing a clan and
puts in the circle
One by one user puts all
The tokens
All the tokens have been
placed
The system is in ideal state The system plays an audio
With respect to the clan
The audio with all the
clans are played
The totem appears on
The screen and it’s
significance is played
Concept 1: Jambili Athon is a woodcraft piece of the karbis, consisting of a central axis and a whorl of four branches. It is exhibited during the
Chomkan festival. It covers the philosphy of life & death [33]. In, Karbi tribe during the Chomkan festival the dead souls are invited and wor-
shipped. During this time, the karbi tribe members bring in a totem called Janabili Athan to each other’s house as a symbol of unity. It has 4
sticks which are inserted into the centre stick symbolizing unity is strength. This fact has been used in this concept.
75](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-81-320.jpg)
![76
User approaches the
totem
User picks one of the bars
And fits the main bar
Eventually he fits in one
by one all
User completes fitting all
The system is in ideal state The story about the particular
clan is projected on the
adjacent screen
The story about the next
Clan is projected
The totem glows entirely
Concept 2: Jambili Athon is a woodcraft piece of the karbis, consisting of a central axis and a whorl of four branches. It is exhibited during the
Chomkan festival. It covers the philosphy of life & death [33]. In, Karbi tribe during the Chomkan festival the dead souls are invited and wor-
shipped. During this time, the karbi tribe members bring in a totem called Janabili Athan to each other’s house as a symbol of unity. It has 4
sticks which are inserted into the centre stick symbolizing unity is strength. This fact has been used in this concept.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-82-320.jpg)
![77
User observes the karbi
Tribe lady being eve
teased
User creates a black
Strip on her face
The strip on her face
Appears
As the strip on her face
Appears men run away
The system is in ideal state The men on the screen are
Playing pranks to eve tease
The girl
The black strip scares the
men
The men move
Away on the screen
Concept 3: In, Karbi tribe duk, a black colored linear line from the forehead to chin is made to make them look ugly. Duk is unique and upholds
traditional views of the dignity of women in particular and cultural identity of the Karbis in general. Reason for putting this tatoo is that during
the burmese invasion many women of this tribe were molested [34]. In order to protect themselves and look less attractive they used this idea
as a](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-83-320.jpg)
![78
Concept 4: ‘Lalung’ belongs to Karbi word, it literally can be divided into two words where “Lang” means water and “Lung” means to sink in
it. The words compounded together became Lalung. According to some legend the Lalungs fell into river Kolong in Nagaon district while they
were trying to cross the river during the invasion of Assam by the Myanmarese. The Karbis rescued them and from then the Karbis called them
Lang-lung which the time passed became Lalung[35]. This mythological fact inspires this concept.
The user observes the interac-
tive floor
Virtual river ‘kolung’ runs on
the floor which is on the other
side of nagaon district.
User enters the area
being captured by the camera
As the, user is surrounded by a
cricle, ‘unkown tribe’ signifying
the person belongs to a tribe
which is unkown.
User enters the ‘vrtual river’
The reflection of the user falls
on the virtual river as if he is
sinking in it
User crosses the virtual river
and enters the land
User is surrounded by a circle,
‘lalung’ which is the new name
given to his tribe](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-84-320.jpg)
![79
Concept 5: Bagurumba is a folk dance of Assam, India performed by the Bodos. It is the usually practiced during Bwisagu, a festival of the Bodos
in the Bishuba Sankranti or Mid-April. The dance is sometimes referred to as the “butterfly dance” as its motion resembles butterflies. n this
day, Bodo women in their colourful dokhna, jwmgra and aronai (attire) perform the Bagurumba dance which is also called the Bardwisikhla
dance. It is also accompanied by musical instruments like serja (a bowed instrument), sifung (flute), tharkha (a piece of split bamboo), kham/
madal (a long drum made of wood and goatskin) [36]. This tribe inspires this concept.
The user observes the table top
The table top set-up set-up has
okens of the sifung, serja, kham
and torka on it
User places aby one on the
table
The musical instrumnet is sur-
rounded by 3 tunes of the same
on the touch table
User chooses the tune of his
choice
The system gives the option to
choose the tune
User rotates the token to in-
crease/ decrease the volume
The system increase/ decreases
the volume. Also, it provides
the option of mixing these
tunes and mailing them to your
friends and family](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-85-320.jpg)
![The user observes the interac-
tive wall
System displays a moving but-
terfly
User tries to copy the move-
ment of the butteflly
The system captures the user’s
movemnet
User enters captures the right
motion
The system displays a bodo
girl performing a bagurumbha
dance
Concept 5: Bagurumba is a folk dance of Assam, India performed by the Bodos. It is the usually practiced during Bwisagu, a festival of the Bodos
in the Bishuba Sankranti or Mid-April. The dance is sometimes referred to as the “butterfly dance” as its motion resembles butterflies. n this
day, Bodo women in their colourful dokhna, jwmgra and aronai (attire) perform the Bagurumba dance which is also called the Bardwisikhla
dance. It is also accompanied by musical instruments like serja (a bowed instrument), sifung (flute), tharkha (a piece of split bamboo), kham/
madal (a long drum made of wood and goatskin) [36]. This tribe inspires this concept.
80](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-86-320.jpg)
![This stage was an investigation about the design practicality. The sub
technology used was ReacTIVision [36]. ReacTIVision is an open source,
cross-platform computer vision framework for the fast and robust track-
ing of fiducial markers (as shown in fig. 69) attached onto physical ob-
jects, as well as for multi-touch finger tracking. This technology was used
along with TUIO [37]. TUIO is an open framework (as shown in fig.68)
that defines a common protocol and API (Application programming in-
terface) for tangible multi-touch surfaces. The TUIO protocol allows the
transmission of an abstract description of interactive surfaces, includ-
ing touch events and tangible object states. The protocol encodes con-
trol data from a tracker application (e.g. based on computer vision) and
sends it to any client application that is capable of decoding the protocol.Fig.68.TUIO Frameworks
Fig.69. Fiducial Markers Fig.70. Screenshot of ReactiVision
7.4.2 Software Prototyping
90](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-96-320.jpg)
![8.1 User Testing
User testing was conducted in Assam State Museum, Guwahati with 27
participants from varying age of 5- 63 years. The aim of the testing was
to evaluate effectiveness life size installations in conventional museums
in India.
The two major USABILITY GOALS were:
a. ease of use
b. ease of learning
Self-reported metrics was adpated for testing the user experience as the
data giveS the most important information about users’ perception
of the system and their interaction with it. At an emotional level, the
data may tell something about how the users feel about the system. In
many situations, these kinds of reactions are the main thing that mat-
ters Even if it takes users forever to perform something with a system,
if the experience makes them happy, that may be the only thing that
matters[38]
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory
The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) is a multidimensional measure-
ment device intended to assess participants’ subjective experience re-
lated to a target activity in laboratory experiments. It has been used in
several experiments related to intrinsic motivation and self-regulation
(e.g., Ryan, 1982; Ryan, Mims & Koestner, 1983; Plant & Ryan, 1985;
Ryan, Connell, & Plant, 1990; Ryan, Koestner & Deci, 1991; Deci, Eghrari,
Patrick, & Leone, 1994)[39]. The instrument assesses participants’ in-
terest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort, value/usefulness, felt
pressure and tension, and perceived choice while performing a given ac-
tivity, thus yielding six subscale scores. Recently, a seventh subscale has
been added to tap the experiences of relatedness, although the validity
of this subscale has yet to be established. The interest/enjoyment
101
Fig. 80. Setting up the installation
Fig. 81. Visitor Interaction](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-107-320.jpg)
![108
11 References
1. Barrett, J., Museum and the public sphere (2011), pp. 3, Wiley-Blackwell NY, USA
2. Tallon, L., Walker, K., Digital technologies and the museum experience- handheld guides and the other
media (2008), Altamira Press.
3. Falk, H.F., Dierking, L.D., The museum experience revisited (2013), Left Coast Press.
4. Wunglengton, Y.S., Bulletin of the Assam State Museum No. XIX (2012).
5. Lewis, G., The history of museums, (Encyclopedia Britannica)
6. Public perceptions of and attitudes to -The purposes of museums in society, BritainThinks for Museums
Association, (March 2013).
7. Korthek, J.K., Interaction Design for Public Spaces, MM’08, October 26–31, ACM 978-1-60558-303-
7/08/10.
8. Wilson, H.M., Parezo, N.J., The role of museums.
9. Economou, M., The Evaluation of Museum Multimedia, Applications: Lessons from Research, Vol. 17,
No. 2, pp. 173–187, 1998.
10. Falk, H.F., Dierking, L.D., Pg. 27, Enhancing visitor interaction and learning with mobile technologies,
Digital technologies and the museum experience- handheld guides and the other media (2008), Altamira
Press.
11. Korthek, J.K., Grønbæk, K., Communicating Art through Interactive Technology: New Approaches for
Interaction Design in Art Museums, Proceedings of NordiCHI2008, October 20-22, 2008
12. Serrell B.[1997]. Paying Attention: the Duration and Allocation of Visitors’ Time in Museum Exhibitions,
in “Curator”,40/2, pp.108-125.
13. http://www.darshanmuseum.org (accessed on 7 October, 2013)
14. Barry, A., “Creating a Virtous Circle” between a Museum’s On-line and Physical Spaces”, in Museums
and the Web 2006: Proceedings, ed. Jennifer Trant and David Bearman (Toronto: Archives and Museum
Informatics, 2006), at www.archimuse.com/mw2006/papers/barry/barry.html(accessed on November 12,
2013).
15. Explratium, Electronic Guidebook Forum Report (San Francisco: Author, January 13-14, 2005).
16. Fantoni, S.F., Bowen, J., “Bookmarking in Museums: Exrendinf the Museum Experience Experience
beyond the Visit?” in Museums and the Web 2007: Proceedings, ed. Jennifer Trant and David Bearman
(Toronto: Archives and Museum Informatics, 2007), at www.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/filippini-fan-
toni/filippinin-fantoni (accessed November 13,2013).
17. Moyer,S.H., “The PDA Tour: We Did It; So Can You,” in Museums and the web 2006: Proceedings, ed.
David Bearman and Jennifer Trant (Toronto: Archives and Museum Informatics, 2006), at www.archimuse.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/final-170502164252/85/Krishti-A-tangible-interface-to-facilitate-playful-learning-environment-for-conventional-museums-113-320.jpg)
Krishti: A tangible interface to facilitate playful learning environment for conventional museums
- 1. Krishti - A tangible interface to facilitate playful learning environment for conventional museums Masters Thesis Project for the Degree of Master in Design Submitted by Moupiya Ukil M.Des (124205008) Under Supervision of Prof. Keyur Sorathia Department of Design Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Guwahati, Assam, India (May,2014)
- 2. This is to certify that the work contained in this report titled ‘A tangible interface to facilitate playful learning environment for conventional museums’ by Ms. Moupiya Ukil ( Roll No. 124205008 ) is an authentic work carried out by him/her at Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati under my guidance. The matter embodied in this project work has not been submitted earlier for award of any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and belief. Keyur Sorathia Assistant Professor
- 3. Acknowledgment I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my guide, Assistant Prof. Keyur Sorathia. He has been a constant mentor and the most important person responsible for the genesis of this thesis. His support and ad- vice gave me direction to tread on. He has been the most honest critic I would ask for- never punishing too far and nor too less. His guidance provided me space to come up with enough crazy ideas to emerge and be pursued, and tight enough to make good inquiries into these ideas and to reach the finish line. He showed confidence in me that gave me courage to pursue my thoughts. His wit made each session enjoyable and an experience I looked forward to. Without him, it would have been impossible to achieve, what I have achieved at the end of this project. This project has been strongly informed and supported by Mehul Agarw- al. His ideas and technical knowledge made this project go forward from a mere idea to a working prototype that could finally be installed and tested. He has been an invaluable part of this project. I extend my sincere regards to the Director, Curator and staff of Assam State museum for allowing me to conduct contextual inquiry in the mu- seum. They have provided full support whenever needed. Also, I am grateful to Mr. and his friends for sparing their precious time in recording music and enhancing our knowledge about the traditional Assamese musical instruments. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of Department of Design that has given me all the resources to test and conduct my design ideas. Last but not the least I am thankful to my friends, Anshika Gupta,
- 4. Aditi Dogra, Lavanya Pawar, Deepika Mittal, Vasudha Khandelwal, Soumya Wadhwa, Kushagra Kushwaha, Pranav Satpute, Shivansh Rai, Utkarsh Mishra, Vikas Goel and Safinah Ali for holding a high perspective and helping me to do the same. My family has been a great help in this process and most importantly my father who has been a constant pillar of strength. Moupiya Ukil IIT Guwahati May 2014
- 5. Table of Contents 1. Introduction _____________________________________________1 1.1 Abstract _________________________________________2 1.2 Problem Statement ________________________________3 1.3 Vision Statement __________________________________4 1.4 Background ______________________________________5 2. Methodology ____________________________________________6 2.1 Procedure _______________________________________7 2.2 Timeline ________________________________________8 2.3 Deliverable_______________________________________9 3. Secondary Research______________________________________10 3.1 Literature Survey _________________________________11 4. Primary Research________________________________________36 4.1 Contextual Inquiry________________________________37 4.2 Site Study_______________________________________47 4.3 User Shadowing__________________________________50 5. Data Analysis __________________________________________51 5.1 Affinity Analysis ________________________________52 5.2 Empathy Mapping ________________________________64 5.3 Site Analysis ____________________________________65 5.4 Problem Identification _____________________________70 5.5 User Identification ________________________________71 5.6 User Personas____________________________________73 6. Ideation _______________________________________________74 6.1 Idea Generation __________________________________75 6.2 Concept Evaluation _______________________________81 7. Realization _____________________________________________82 7.1 Final Concept Detailing ____________________________83 7.2 User Scenario____________________________________84 7.3 Information Architecture ___________________________85 7.4 Prototyping _____________________________________86 52
- 6. 7.4.1 Hardware Prototyping _____________________86 7.4.2 Software Prototyping ______________________90 8. Testing ________________________________________ 100 8.1 User Testing______________________________101 8.2 Test Conclusions ________________________________104 9. Future Work ____________________________________106 10. Conclusion ____________________________________107 11. References_____________________________________108
- 7. 1 Introduction 1.1 Abstract 1.2 Problem Statement 1.3 Vision Statement 1.4 Background 1
- 8. 1.1 Abstract Museums has been store house of large amount of artifacts . Over the time, museum has undergone a substantial shift. Museums are now driven by the need to engage with the public in new and innovative ways. The design approach adapted was to understand the visitor per- ception and expectations in a museum. The challenge was measuring the impact of museum learning. We identified key elements required for intersection of the three major contexts according to the contextual model of learning which bring in interaction in the museum i.e. the per- sonal context, the sociocultural context and the physical context. The conventional museum experience repels most of the crowd. This study has been used to develop a design that aims to foster visitor enjoyment, engagement, and, ultimately, learning, and to promote a variety of social behaviors among visitors interact-ing together and with hybrid exhibits in Assam State Museum. The possibility of adopting digital technologies in giving new meaning to the experience in Indian museum has been explored in this thesis. Keywords: Museum, Participatory, Learning, Story telling, Non textual, Engaging, Installation, User experience 2
- 9. 1.2 Problem Statement Museums hope to pique interest and curiosity, change behaviors, build self-actualization, promote the exchange of intellectual important ideas, and engage people in meaningful activities and processes. Despite of the overwhelming rich collection of the museums, relatively few visitors actually introduce key changes in their thinking or actions. They need to facilitate meaningful learning, they fail if the are mere conveyors of in- formation, storehouse of artifacts rather than rich multi sensory partici- patory venues. Such wealth of stimuli that is provided to visitors should result in a suffering with sensory overload. In a short span of time, a visitor wants to make sure that nothing import- ant is being missed. They desire both freedom and structure. The role of the facilitator is to find out how smartly can the knowledge stored is presented and passed on efficiently and effortlessly in the given time period. Indian museums have yet not been completely introduced to the multi sensory experience. Usage of the new digital media is still limited in public spaces. Visitors are curious about them and want no limitation in achieving the best of the museum experience. 3
- 10. 1.3 Vision Statement “ To educate through museums that has the capacity and the ability to impart cultural education effectively as it houses the tools and materials for doing so in its collections” 4
- 11. 1.4 Background The museums have a long history, springing from what may be an in- nate human desire to collect and explore the past in large collections built up by individuals and groups before the modern era. In the recent past when Peter Vergo’s(1989) invention of “the new museology” [1] imerged argued for an increased emphasis on the visitors and their ex- perience and for new thinking about museum education and the im- portace of acesibility new theories related to museology have come up. Museums are modernizing. They used to conserve, collect, and display objects, and in addition perform tasks in the areas of research and ed- ucation, but they are increasingly interactive in the attempt to appeal to a wider public. One reason is intensifying competition from cultural events and other activities that combine education and entertainment, another that new insights have emerged about ways to introduce visi- tors into the world of digital technologies. In the past decade constant attempts has been made by the museum practitioners to use technology to transform the museum experience. The latest trend is creative corpo- ration of technology in the museums. 5
- 12. 2 Methodology 2.1 Procedure 2.2 Timeline 2.3 Deliverable 6
- 13. 2.1 Procedure 2.1.1 Secondary Research (Phase 1) Literature Survey 2.1.2 Primary Research (Phase 2) Contextual Inquiry Site Study User Shadowing 2.1.3 Data Analysis (Phase 3) Affinity Analysis Problem Identification User Identification User Personas 2.1.4 Ideation and Conceptualization (Phase 4) Idea Generation Concept Evaluation 2.1.5 Realization (Phase 5) Final Concept Detailing Information Architecture Concept Development Scenarios Prototyping 2.1.6 Testing (Phase 6) User Testing Final Conclusions 7
- 14. Fig. 1 Timeline NEED ASSESSMENT VISTING MUSEUMS IN GUWAHATI FINDINGS FROM THE LITERATURE RESEARCH FINDINGS FROM SECONDARY RESEARCH INTERVIEWING VISTORS INTERVIEWING SME’s UNDERSTANDING THE MUSEUMS & THE EXPERIENCE STUDYING DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSEUM CONCEPT GENERATION CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT DESIGN FINALIZATION DESIGN GENERATION OF THE DESIGN COMPETETIVE ANALYSIS OF THE OVERALL RESEARCH AUG SEP OCTN OV INVOLVEMNETP HASEMILESTONE Milestone Occurence Less More INITIAL UNDERSTANDING LITERATURE RESARCH SECONDARY RESARCH FINDINGS CONCEPT GENERATION DIGITAL PROTOTYPE DEC JAN HARDWARE PROTOTYPING SOFTWARE PROTOTYPING USER TESTING AND ANLYZATION MARFEB APRIL 8
- 15. 2.3 Deliverables Results of user surveys and site analysis An installation to increase the user interest in Assam State Museum User tests and results for the above experiment, study and final design. 9
- 16. 3 Secondary Research 3.1 Literature Survey 3.1.1 Introduction 3.1.2 Role of Museums 3.1.3 Types of Vistors 3.1.4 Public perception of Museums 3.1.5 New Museology 3.1.6 Museum and interactivity 3.1.7 Museum and the public sphere 3.1.8 Contextual model of learning 3.1.9 Museums explored 10
- 17. 3.1 Literature Survey 3.1.1 INTRODUCTION The English word “museum” comes from the Latin word, It is originally from the Greek Μουσεῖον (Mouseion), which denotes a place or tem- ple dedicated to the Muses (the patron divinities in Greek Mythology of the arts), and hence a building set apart for study and the arts. [5] A typical definition of a museum would be, an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public. Museum are no longer, barely, treasure troves of the past. The display of the exhibits is not limited to aesthetic enjoyment only for the public. Rather it is an institution where cultural, historical, archeological or any valued item of a society are treasured to save them from further damage or extinction. Over the time museum has undergone a substanial shift. Whatever wor- thiness a museum may ultimately have derives from what it does, not from what it is. Museums have a large collection but by just preserving the artifacts the knowledge stored in the museum would not spread. With the change in human behavior the mode of presentation in mu- seums also need to change. In the modern world global transforma- tions, a museum is expected to introduce new methods and new scien- tific approaches at all levels of museum activity. In order to achieve this, research and discussion is continuously going on in the design society about how to bring in this change more significantly day by day. 11 Fig. 2. Graphic representation of the ‘traditional’ museum Davis 1999 (after Rivard 1984)
- 18. 3.1.2 ROLE OF MUSEUSMS The traditional role of museums is to collect objects and materials of cultural, religious and historical importance, preserve them, research into them and present them to the public for the purpose of education and enjoyment. The early museums were uninspiring and aloof as they encouraged only the educated people to visit them. The general pub- lic were excluded. This focus has today become too narrow and unac- ceptable in a changing world where there is sustained clamour for more openness, pragmatism and collective involvement in dealing with issues that impact on people, communities and nations. In our modern society, it has become necessary and indeed urgent for museums to redefine their missions, their goals, their functions and their strategies to reflect the expectations of a changing world. For museums to retain their relevance and become positive partners in the develop- ment of our societies, they should use their unique resources and po- tentials to become more responsive to the dynamics of modern society. The age and time of the silent museum is gone and we should reflect the mode of our modern society in our activities in the museum. Although the museum community is becoming increasingly aware of the need to evaluate multimedia displays (McNamara, 1986; Raphling, 1994; Dierking and Falk, 1998), it is surprising and disappointing that to date very few systematic, in-depth evaluation studies are publicly available. This section describes briefly examines the effectiveness of a multime- dia application created for exhibition interpretation and their wider im- plications for those involved in the design and evaluation of museum multimedia. In a formative evaluation of Ashmolean Museum during the Euesperides project, the computer program turned out to be one of the most pop- ular exhibits in the gallery, receiving the highest number of visitors (40 12
- 19. percent of the 117 tracked visitors) and the highest number of repeat number of repeat visits of all exhibits (eight of 32 repeat visits). Ad- ditionally, visitors spent more time with the computer program (3.75 minutes mean) than with any other exhibit (1.3 minutes with exhibit in the second ranking) [9]. Even after several months after their vis- it, most respondents to the mail survey were able to recall many de- tails of their experience. Visitors remembered not only what they had done and felt during their visit, but could also describe what the ex- hibition and the program had been about, what they had contained, and the thoughts that these had triggered. By the above example it is quite significant that this human–computer mode of communica- tion, endowed with the ability for visitors to select from a rich store of material which particularly interests them, and choose the way it is presented, is one of the particular features of multimedia which can- not be offered by more traditional means of museum presentation. Visitors greatly appreciate graphics, photographs and video-clips of where and how the objects were found; visual information on other ar- chaeological features which cannot be displayed in the gallery, such as buildings, earth works, and town plans; information on how these were made and used, e.g. how pottery or bronze statues were made adds to the additional knowledge and better understanding of the visitor. Museum professionals need to investigate the rapid developments of the technology in this direction (wall-size displays, ‘slave’ moni- tors, hand-held devices, visitor-aware interfaces) and the possibili- ties for extending the human–computer communication to include more than one visitor and thus enhance the museum experience. The digital technologies when designed well can have the po- tential to positively impact visitor meaning making, by 1. Enabling visitors to customize their experience to meet their person- al needs and interests 13
- 20. 2. Extending the experience beyond the temporal and physical bound- aries of the museum visit; and 3. Layering multisensory elements within the experience, thereby en- riching the quality of the physical context. [10] Supporting the “Virtuous Circle”: Multimedia tours are of- ten used to create continuity between pre-, post-, and actu- al visit experiences, through tools like bookmarking and annota- tion. This process has been referred to as the virtuous circle [14]. The Exploratrium, for example, was one of the first museums to ex- periment with technologies that allow visitors to take home “personal souvenirs” of the exhibition “to encourage them to continue the explo- ration at home”. This example has been followed by other museums including Tata Modern, which introduced bookmarking for their perma- nent multimedia tour in 2005[15]; the Museum of Science in Boston, which allowed visitors to save information in the “ Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” exhibition tour; and at the City of Science and Industry in Paris, for the “That’s Canada” exhibition in 2004[16]. When integrating into the visitor experience, bookmarking can be a powerful tool for supporting the learning process[17], creating a stronger relationship between the institution and the visitor. Re- search indicates that repetition is a major mechanism for retain- ing memories over time[18], so bookmarking can increase visitor’s knowledge about a collection or exhibition as well as stimulate a positive response about the visit and a desire to learn more[19]. While bookmarking is not unique to multimedia tours, be- ing found also on some audio tours as well as kiosks, screen based hand-held devices are well suited for this purpose because they not only allow visitors to select objects in situ but also en- able visitors to review and recognize bookmarks during the visit. 14
- 21. 3.1.3 TYPES OF VISITORS Museums without visitors would be like lifeless, empty halls with no pur- pose. Thus, the key role for museums is always to serve its visitors. To do this effectively and efficiently we have to understand the motivation and needs of different audience segments and create an atmosphere that offers a range of experiences. Understanding these differences amongst the visitors is essential for planning if one wants to provide all kinds of visitors/users with a valuable and engaging experience. The visitors may vary according to age groups and different areas of interest. Young children are primarily interested in gaming and the latest inter- active installations. Amongst youth some are interested specifically in new media and digital set-up. In particular the elderly, have a nostalgic interest in objects from their youth. Then there are the15-minute strollers. They are the one who encapsu- late the entire museum in 10-15 minutes. The set of visitors who take most interest in the museum visit are the homework doers. They study and learn quite a lot about the artifacts stored in the museum before visiting it. 15
- 22. 3.1.4 PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF MUSEUM Brain Thinks Association conducted a find out how do visitors perceive museums [6]. They cited the following observations after the study- • There is strong, positive emotional attachment to museums by both visitors and non-visitors. Indeed, it appears that attitudes towards muse- ums have become more favorable over the last generation as they shed their image of stuffiness and sterility and become more entertaining and interactive. • Participants have a relatively sophisticated understanding of museums as shaping our future as well as our past. As such they are seen as having an active role in sharing new knowledge rather, than as passive buildings simply storing objects. • Museums hold a unique position of being trusted, which is par- ticularly important given the perceived lack of trusted organiza- tions in society such as the government and the media. Both of these are seen as biased and operating under agendas. Mem- bers of the public, who took part, see museums as the guard- ians of factual information and as presenting all sides of the story. • There exists a widespread sense that museums are under threat, due to lack of attendance, budget cuts or technologi- cal advance. This threat informs the public’s evaluation of the possible purposes of museums and their role within society. • There is a consistent perception of museums’ current and essential purposes, and museums ‘spreading themselves too thinly’ are a con- cern. There is strong feeling that museums should concern themselves with what they are good at first and foremost. This stems from the idea that taking on additional purposes may undermine the essential purpos- es for which museums are presently revered. 16 Fig 3. Word- cloud representing visitor’s mind associations of mu- seums.
- 23. 3.1.5 NEW MUSEOLOGY 17 According to ICOM, ”Museology is the branch of knowledge concerned with the study of the purpose and organisation of museums. It has to do with the study of history and background of museums, their role in society, specific systems for research, conservation, education and orga- nization, relationships with the physical environment, and the classifica- tion of different kinds of museums”. Though th old museology has not been discarded yet in the late 90’s the term new museology was coined. The 1960s and 1970s –social unrest, political activism, environmen- talism, postmodernism –witnessed the re-evaluation of the purposeof museums, leading to the ’second museum revolution’ and a ’new mu- seology’. In 1980 the French museologist AndréDevallées wrote a piece for the Encyclopedia Universalispromoting this new ’social de- velopment’ vision for museums under the title ’Nouvelle Muséologie’. The museum world has undergone radical change since the 1970s. Political and economic pressures have forced its professionals to shift their attention from their collections towards visitors. Whereas in the past the museum tended to be exclusive and elitist, signs of a progres- sive opening-up and greater accessibility have appeared. A climate of increasing reflexivity within the profession is identified as a ‘new mu- seology’[21]. The movement towards a more visitor-centred ethos can be seen as entailing a corresponding shift in the identity of the muse- um professional, from ‘legislator’ to ‘interpreter’ of cultural meaning New museology defined challenges the spatially-bounded concept of the museum(does it have to be a physical or single space) faced, increased attention given to stakeholders and participants, greater awareness by certain external groups of the authority and utlity of the museum as a ’public’ space, changes to the balance of power between museums, indi- vidual collectors and the public, diversification of publics and audiences, diversification of roles museums are expected to play.
- 24. 3.1.6 MUSEUM AND INTERACTIVTY In order to make sure that the visitors have an enjoyable and engaging experience at the museum, museums use a model based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The needs at the bottom of the pyramid are the basic needsofvisitors,suchastoiletfacilitiesandfood,whichneedtobefulfilled sotheyenjoytheirtimeatthemuseum.Thentheyneedtoengagevisitors with the collection in order for them to have a Life Enhancing Experience. The term ‘interactive’ is admittedly difficult to define. The word ‘inter- active’ is freely used to describe a variety of experiences in museums. Other words are often used interchangeably to refer to what most peo- ple think of as interactive experiences, but sometimes researchers and/ or museum practitioners draw distinctions between the terms. Other words used are ‘hands-on/minds-on’ and ‘participatory’, and words such as ‘immersive’ are also used to refer to open-ended or virtual real- ity environments. The term ‘hands-on’ is used to refer to the mass of the exhibits that can be touched and manipulated. It is often used in connection to the term ‘minds-on’ to indicate that hands-on exhibits must provide something to think about as well as touch. The term ‘interactive’ emphasizes the part that visitors play in the process of ‘interaction’, although some people constrain the meaning of interactive to refer solely to computer-based experiences in the museum. The term ‘participatory’ refers to engaging visitors in a conversation with the exhibit and with other visitors. ‘Par- ticipatory’ or ‘immersive’ can be used to describe the experience that interactive works of art set up for viewers – that is, the opportunity to participate, in collaboration with the artist, in creating or changing the artwork. These terms imply different levels or types of engagement by visitors, and good arguments could be made to draw greater distinctions among these terms within the larger umbrella concept of ‘interactivity’. When there are opportunities for physical, intellectual, emotional and social engagement, visitors tend to say things such as ‘I get to do cool 18
- 25. stuff”, ‘I get to touch things’, and ‘It’s fun!’ Interactive activities can be like, a traditional tour might involve docents and visitors in open-ended dialogue or provide opportunities for visitors to touch examples of dif- ferent materials or examine artists’ tools. Additionally, a museum’s web- site or random access mobile wireless devices used in the gallery could also qualify as an interactive experience. Compared with science and children’s museums, art museums have been relatively slow to incorporate interactive spaces. Separate, ded- icated interactive spaces, primarily for children or families, have been present in some art museums for quite a few years but there appears to be more reticence to incorporate interactive stations within art exhibi- tions. Children’s museums and science centers are by their very nature and original mission interactive, whereas art museums, along with his- tory and natural history museums are artifact or object-centered. For these museums interactive spaces are in addition to, rather than cen- tral to, the primary mission of the institution. While many lessons can be learned from science and children’s museums and applied to art in- teractive spaces, this fundamental difference is important. Science and children’s museums essentially use interactive experiences to explain scientific concepts or phenomena. Certainly art museums wish visitors to understand and explore ideas and concepts, but the primary focus is, and arguably should be, on objects. Consequently there is an inherent tension for art museums between the ‘object’ and ‘interactivity’. Any interactive exploration of concepts or ideas in an art museum should therefore be to further visitors’ appreciation and understanding of the object, to assist them in making meaning. There is one important similarity between interactive experiences in art museums and those in other types of museum. Interactive spaces should be an extension of the museum’s mission; otherwise, they run the risk of becoming insignificant add-ons. 19
- 26. 3.1.7 MUSUEM AND PUBLIC SPHERE When designing new types of engaging interactive installations for cul- ture related public spaces such as museums the challenged emerge ma- jorly with respect to the following paradigms [7]- 1) Domain of public spaces: Challenges include how to design interactive systems for public spaces that facilitate aesthetic communication, expe- rience and active involvement of the users, and, thus, how to utilize the inherent qualities of public spaces to their full potential. 2) Usage of the body when interacting: When exploring the body as an interaction device, challenges are how to utilize the bodily potential in the interaction context; and what influence and significance the use of the body has on interactive experiences. Characteristics to be consid- ered when utilizing the body include: small/large degree of bodily in- volvement in the interaction; less/large accentuation of the significance of the body in the user experience (the role of the body differs); and finally, small/large degree of user influence. 3) Manner in which to communicate and stage the interactive space as well as a given culture related content: Challenges consist of how to suc- cessfully stage the body in interaction design relative to a given content; how to combine the physical and digital spaces; and which dramaturgic takes can be utilized in the context of interaction design for public spaces Museum spaces nowadays are increasingly augmented with digital tech- nology. While some systems primarily provide context-sensitive, dynam- ic, and multimodal information (Oppermann and Specht 1999), others offer novel services or enable new kinds of activities, such as treasure hunts (Fraser et , 2003), the collection of souvenirs and photos (Fleck et al, 2002), or change exhibition design and content with interactive exhibits (Ciolfi, 2004, Heath et al, 2002). Public spaces and museums as application areas and settings of use have turned into a respected field of research for HCI. Traditionally, museums aim for throughput and installations are de- signed so as to only include enough interaction to get the point of the 20
- 27. exhibit across (c.f. Harrison, Minneman and Balsamo, 2001), intentional- ly providing shallow functionality. The museum wants to offer everybody something of interest. But be- sides of an entertaining experience, museums aim to educate the public. As indicated above, we regard prolonged (or repeated) interaction as positive, indicating that visitors find an exhibit engaging and interesting. Somewhat orthogonal to duration is intensity of engagement (someone can merely play around or be men- tally engaged with content). Other criteria are for example, if an exhibit attracts many people, if it exposes them to topics they are unfamiliar with, or offers something for those with specific interests who otherwise might leave the exhibition disappointed. We see this as an exploration into interaction design of interactive installations. 21
- 28. 22 The contextual model of learning potrays the contextually driven di- alogue as both process and product of the interactions over time between three contexts: the personal, sociocultural, and the phys- ical contexts. None of these three are stable or constant; all are changing across the lifetime of the individual. This model draws from constructivist, cognitive, as well as sociocultural theories. The key feature of this framework is the emphasis on the context. The personal context represents the sum total of personal and genetic history that an individual carries with him or her into a meaning- making situation. It has been appreciated that the degree of choice and con- trol also affects visitor meaning making. One should expect meaning making to be highly personal and strongly influenced by an individ- ual’s past knowledge, interests, and beliefs. Meaning making should also be influenced by an individual’s desire to both select and control his or her own experiences in order to fulfill identity related needs. The sociocultural context recognizes that humans are innately social creatures, products of their culture and social relationships. Hence, one should expect museum meaning making to be always sociocultur- ally situated. Research has also shown that the quality of interactions with others outside the visitor’s own social group- for example, muse- um explainers, guides, demonstrators, performers, or even other visi- tor groups can make a profound difference in visitor meaning making. Finally, meaning making always occurs within a physical set- ting; in fact, it is always a dialogue with the physical environment. Research has also shown that a myriad of architectural design factoirs such as lighting, crowding, col- or, sound, and space subtly influence visitor making. The experiences occuring in the long term, actually determine what Fig. 4 Contextual model of learning (Learning from Museums: Visitor Experiences and the Making of Meaning John H. Falk,Lynn D. Dierking) 3.1.8 CONTEXTUAL MODEL OF LEARNING
- 29. meaning is actually “made” in the museum. After considering the findings from the research studies, twelve fac- tors or more accurately suites of factors emerge as influential for mu- seum meaning making experiences. The twelve factors are as follows: Personal Context • Visit motivation and expectatio • Prior knowledge and experience • Prior interests • Choice and control Sociocultural Context • Cultural background • Within group social mediation • Mediation by others outside the immediate social group Physical Context • Advance organizers • Orientation to physical space • Architecture and macroscale environmental factors • Design of exhibitions, programs, and technology • Subsequent reinforcing events and experiences outside the museum 23
- 30. 3.1.9 MUSEUMS EXPLORED Science museums have been uitilizing interactive technologies since long back still, it is generally a challenge to introduce technology in art museums without disturbing the domain of the art works. To understanf the model of understanding used in the conventional and muti media museums few of them around the globe were studied. 1. ARoS, art museum in Denmark To explore the possibilities of communicating art through the use of technology, and to minimize disturbance of the artworks, the research- er applied four main approaches in the communication [11]: 1) gentle audio augmentation of art works; 2) conceptual affinity of art works and remote interactive installations; 3) using the body as an interaction device; 4)consistent audio-visual cues for interaction opportunities. The Japanese artist Mariko Mori was chosen as the tar- get for developing new art communication experienc- es, since Mori’s art has built-in high tech elements. A main issue in the communication strategy for art museums is to avoid disturbing the pure art experience with the communication means cho- sen. As described by Grønbæk and Kortbek to the four main approach- es as mentiond are formulated based on the following reasons- Headphone based systems only provide a single user ex- perience. To overcome this advantage they propose to uti- lize a gentle audio augmentation of the environment through the use of sensor controlled directional loudspeaker. Making additional visual installations (e.g. projected over- 24
- 31. 25 proximity of artworks may potentially disturb the artwork so they propose to develop interactive installations in separate loca- tions, but with a conceptual affinity with the original artwork. This does not imply reproduction of the artwork, but mak- ing an interaction with a direct reference to the original artwork. Traditional touch screen and audio guide interfaces used in muse- ums typically apply button and menu based interaction, which re- quire users to focus and concentrate on the selection of relevant items in the interface. To avoid this need to focus on the inter- face rather than the museum experience, they proposed to make interaction that utilizes the body as the sole interaction device. In science museums interactive installations are very diverse and require a large number of different interaction techniques, thus requiring the user to spend time learning where and how to interact with the inter- active installations. However, in art museums the focus should be on the artworks so they decided to keep simple audio-visual cues to user. The above approaches was applied to the Mariko Mori exhibition en- couraging the visitors to explore, play and communicate with co-visitors. The exhibition “Mariko Mori – Oneness” was about interrelationships and connections between human beings and between them and the world. Few installations that Mori came up with were as following: The Sound of Art consists of 25 audio spots located in the exhibition next to the art works. Each spot consists of a visual silver circle at the floor and four meters above the circle a directional speaker and a PIR (pas- sive infra red) sensor which registers when a user is entering the circle. The user’s movement into the spot triggers played back recordings with clips of Mariko Mori’s voice gently supplementing the artworks. In this manner, the hearing experience is individual and somewhat intimate, Fiig 5. Audio spots marked by silver circles on the floor. (Museum Experience Re-visited, John H. Falk,Lynn D. Dierking)
- 32. Largecirclescontainoverarchingthoughtsontheworks,mediumandsmall circles contain more specialized and specific ideas and considerations. The advantages of the above installation is: 1) People standing in the silver circles can still hear what is go- ing on around them, and they may maintain conversation. 2) People may share the audio spots by putting their heads togeth- er in the listening zone, and experiencing the same audio clips. The second installation (shown in Figure 4 together with the artwork it is communicating about) is meant to communicate inspirational material for Mariko Mori’s piece “Wave UFO” (2003) which is a stunning sculp- tural object in which three people at a time can explore the relationship between the individual and being interconnected, through real-time computer graphics and brainwave sensing technology. The UFO instal- lation is a staircase with built-in pressure sensors located underneath a 42” screen displaying inspirational material behind the artwork. The staircase is a direct reference to the UFO artwork which contains a lad- der. The user can scroll the material by stepping up or down the stairs. Each part of the staircase (left, middle, right) displays material from three different categories; sketches from the building process of the UFO, brainwaves and patterns displayed inside the UFO, and architectur- al drawings and 3D models. When multiple users stand on the staircase at the same time, the screen is split in two or three “tracks” allowing multiple images from two or three different types of background materi- al to be displayed at the same time. The visual feedback is accompanied by a rumbling sound from a subwoofer in the staircase. The con- ceptual affinity is achieved through the utilization of a staircase and a monitor which constitute a hole that one can look into. The third installation (shown in Figure 5 together with the artwork it is communicating about) is meant to communicate inspirational material inspirational material for the piece “Oneness” which is six green aliens Fig. 6 Contemplation Installation – “UFO”. Communicating “Wave UFO” inspirational material: climbing a staircase to look into the UFO. (Museum Experience Re-visited, John H. Falk,Lynn D. Dierking) 26
- 33. (a) ”Oneness” artwork standing in a circle holding hands. When all six aliens are hugged at the same time by the audience, the floor lights up and the users can feel the heartbeatsofthealiens.Theconceptualaffinityinthiscaseinrepresented by the fact that the number six and pictures of aliens recur in the second contemplation installation. The installation is a floor with six built-in pres- sure sensors placed in a circle around a projection of inspirational materi- al. The pressure sensors providing the interaction opportunity are visual- ly indicated by six silver circles and a projection of an alien in the middle. When a user stands on one of the pressure sensors, the alien disap- pears and one sixth of an inspirational picture behind Oneness is dis- played. Further, six different sounds indicate each time someone steps on a silver circle. In the rim of the circular display a text is revealed with the inspirational picture. When the entire image and text has been re- vealed, the sound intensity increases and after a short period of time an animation of another one of Mariko Mori’s aliens appears. Thus the users would have to communicate and work together in order to find out what happens when all six pieces of a picture are revealed. Visitor reactions on the interactive communication was evaluat- ed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results support that the approaches have worked in the particular case, however, there are of course few issues that had come up. Two major issues were a) How the approaches of gentle audio augmentation and conceptual af- finity is developed in a way that make it more clear when an installation is art and when it is “just” communication of art. b) How to stimulate even more social interaction in the museum space, e.g. by making larger silver circles for shared augmented audio experi- ences, or by making more contemplation installations that require pres- ence of multiple visitors to reveal its material. (b) Communicating “Oneness”: All pieces of the picture are revealed when all six silver circles are activated. Fig. 7 Contemplation Installation – “Oneness”. (Museum Experi- ence Re-visited, John H. Falk,Lynn D. Dierking) 27
- 34. The Darshan Museum is a museum dedicated to the noted Sindhi Saint and scholar, Sadhu Vaswani [13]. It is a biographical museum that offers an insight into the life and therefore the teachings of Sadhu Vaswani. A journey into Sadhu Vaswani’s life and activities, the museum creates an entertaining, educative and moving experience for the soul, through a series of immersive spatial experiences rich in audio, video and multi- media, culminating in the darshan of the humble kutiya, where he spent his last years. The museum is also essentially a repository of his teach- ings – in the form of interactive and participatory exhibits engaging the visitors, young and old alike. This museum is being made by using a vast palette of museum based technologies; like real life mannequins, graphic panels, holographic screens, Peppers ghost, interactive, audio-visual material, films, et al. The narrative and the dialogues, in the sound and light format, make it a very emotive experience; as opposed to the written format. The museum is divided into 8 zones, each zone has various experienc- es from the life and teachings of Sadhu Vaswani, in the narrative visitor hash choice of 2 different languages, viz Hindi and English. 2. Darshan Museum, Pune 28 Fig. 9 Life size mannequins are set-up with auido being played in the background re-presenting life of Swami Vaswani (http:// www.darshanmuseum.org). Fig. 8 Story of young Swami Vasvani by creating virtual real life images (http://www.darshanmuseum.org).
- 35. This museum in Anandpur Sahib is designed by Moshe Safdie. The mu- seum gives an insight to the events that took place in Punjab five hun- dred years ago that gave birth to Sikhism and finally the Khalsa Panth. The museum aims to illuminate the vision of the Gurus, their message of peace and brotherhood and the culture and heritage of Punjab. The museum exhibits Guru Granth Sahib in the first phase and the histo- ry of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur to partition in the second phase [22]. Popularly known as the ‘Ajooba’, the Khalsa Heritage Museum, the first of its scale in the world, is a storytelling Museum covering 6500 square metres of fully air-conditioned space. The story to be told with- in the Museum’s monumental architectural spaces is deeply spiritual, passionate and emotional. The exhibition design therefore strives to convey this spirit by the creation of a variety of immersive environ- ments that transport visitors into a different time and space, there- by enhancing their capacity to receive the intended communication. A multi-layered communication strategy ensures that visitor aspirations are met, in a language and level of detail of their choice. The visitor to the Khalsa Heritage Museum will not only leave better informed but will also be emotionally moved. Cutting edge communication technol- ogies juxtaposed with original artefacts have been seamlessly integrat- ed with the vernacular aesthetic to highlight a robust, living culture. The Museum caters to a wide audience — Sikhs from rural, semi-urban and urban milieu; non-resident Sikhs; the devout and the sceptic; other Punjabis and tourists; the non-literate, the scholar, the aesthete; chil- dren, teenagers, the aged. Each one would find something in this Mu- seum that interests, informs or touches them, irrespective of who they are, from where they come and whatever may be their faiths. The Museum as conceived by AB Design Habit with a state-of-the art 3. Virasat-E-Khalsa, Punjab Fig. 10 Multi sensorial expereince increases the v0[.istor expe- rience in Virat-E-Khalsa (http://www.virasatekhalsa.in/ 29
- 36. multi-sensorial experience based on the metaphor of centring — the land of Punjab, the watan that sustains its people, draws the non-resi- dent Sikh homewards in pilgrimage. The show locates its people in their innermost selves, in the home, in the countryside, in the global work place, in their sacred spaces, in an attitude of kirt, Naam and wand ch- hakhna. Then the visitor is introduced to 15th Century Punjab, the milieu in which Guru Nanak was born, leading up to the spirit of his Revelation, encapsu- lated in a luminescent installation evoking the concept of Ek Omkar, the space gently echoing to the sound of the Mool Mantra. The Museum culminates within a serene space encouraging the vis- itor to quietly reflect on their experiences. The same luminescent in- stallation seen earlier continues from above to plunge into the depths, thereby conceptually connecting the beginning to the end. This sum- mation space resonates with the message of universal good for hu- manity embodied in the last lines of the Ardaas — “Nanak Naam chardi kala, tere bhane sarbat da bhala”, reiterating the contemporary global significance of the Gurus’ teachings. The first level of the Museum galleries with their lofty sweeping roofs is devoted to the lives and teachings of the Gurus. A highlight are the gal- leries that describe significant events leading to the Birth of the Khalsa, conceived as a visual narrative and special effects show to dramatise the event. Shadow play of larger than life imagery with battlefield sounds captures Khalsa valour and the heart-rending saga of the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas. The lower level galleries chronicle Khalsa trials, tribulations and tri- umphs from Banda Bahadur up to the immediate aftermath of Partition, when Sikh dynamism transformed the Punjab with its élan, energy and resilience. 30 Fig. 11 Multi sensorial expereince increases the v0[.istor expe- rience in Virat-E-Khalsa (http://www.virasatekhalsa.in/
- 37. The Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum is one of the world’s first digital multimedia museums in India. It is founded by Ranjit Makkuni, Project Director Sacred World Research Laboratory, New Delhi[23]. It is located at the site where Mahatma Gandhi attained martyrdom. The museum presents the historical events of Gandhiji’s life as well as a spectrum of information technology visions inspired by Gandhian thought. In doing so, the project not only documents but also revives the values by which India obtained freedom. It also redefines those values in order to ani- mate modern products and design. The technology developed does not ‘merely scan’ Gandhian images; rather it interprets Gandhian vision in newer product design. The exhib- its interpret Gandhian forms and values. The project presents a language of physical interface actions. It is derived fromclassicalsymbolsofthespinningwheel,turningoftheprayerwheels, touching symbolic pillars, spinning wheels, the act of hands touching sa- cred objects, collaboratively constructed quilts, sacred chanting in the collective group, the satsanga, the touching and rotating of prayer beads. These tradition-based interactions inspire a rich panorama of tactile in- terfaces that allow people to access the multimedia imagery of Gandhi. The Stambha, or Pillar, for all cultures, represents a sacred centre. At the heart of the museum, it stands as Gandhi’s Pillar of Truth. Eleven rotatable discs spin around the axis. The turning of the prayer wheel triggers off a visual representation of Gandhi’s 11 vows stipulated for the Satyagrahi in order for him or her to become a Man or Woman of Truth. The Charkha casts its shadow on the display table. When you touch it the shadow morphs into a quote of Gandhi. This graphic animation sym- bolizes the economic, political and spiritual meanings of the Charkha symbol. 3. Eternal Gandhi Museum, New Delhi Fig. 13 The Shadow Chakra (http://www.etern- algandhi.org) 31 Fig. 12 The Stambha (http://www.eternalgand-
- 38. The author introduced the design and installation of a ‘digital proj- ect room’ into an art museum. Munch & Multimodality was about ex- ploring the use of digital resources in the National Gallery in Oslo to engage young people with the work of the artist Edvard Munch, and with art in general which was open for a period of 8 weeks. The research in the museum aimed at finding answers to he following questions [24]: 1) What are the implications for learning of the spatial technological features of museum exhibits? 2) How does learning occur in these exhibits? 3) How can this knowledge inform the design of rich- er learning experiences in interactive museum exhibits? The researcher recruited teenaged visitors to visit the museum in small groups of 2-4 in an out of school context. In addition, he collected data on the general public that happened to visit this project room on their own. The data collection methods he followed were video and audio re- cordings of the space, as well as “walk-videos” (Gjedde & Ingemann 2008) captured through camera glasses worn by visitors. He supplemented video andaudiodatawith:datalogsfromtheinteractivestations,interviews,and field notes. The video recordings were analyzed using methods from inter- action analysis (Derry, et al., 2010; Hall, 2000; Jordan & Henderson, 1995). The goal is to contribute to a better understanding of learning in the settings of technology supported museum. The research project explored the role of physical space in these new museum experi- ences. The findings gave an understanding and created rich social learn- ing interactions in museums. 5. National Gallery, Oslo Fig. 14 Photograph of the installed room 32
- 39. 6. Bunratty Folk Park, Ireland (Living History Museum) In the paper, Designing for Meaningful Visitor Engage- ment at a Living History Museum [25] the author have come up with an interactive installation designed to facilitate and support visitor engagement in a living history museum. Recent trend in research is on how technology can facilitate appropri- ation and engagement by visitor, as much as it has in the broader HCI field, with increased attention on issues such as user experience [26] and emotional connections [27]. In particular, current work is focusing on novel ways to establish meaningful relationships between the users of technology and interactive artefacts that are not simply technolo- gy gadgets, but that hold meaning and values for them [28][29][26]. Marc and Luigina aimed of supporting meaningful visitor engagement at a particular type of heritage site – a living history museum - that visitors explore with an interest in immersive reconstructions of ways of life, people and activities from times past. Engendering deep connections within these sites is linked to how well the museum holdings can be contextualized in a real-life scenario, rather than a set of stat- ic displays. Theier major contribution was to explore how can interaction design be useful to museum experience. Living history or ‘open air’ museums present complex heritage displays that usually include entire buildings, historical artefacts and live perfor- mances,allwithinoutdoorsitesoftenlandscapedtobealsopartofthedis- play. Their curatorial goal is that of providing visitors with reconstructions of everyday life in times past by both showcasing material for viewing and engagingvisitorsthroughthere-creationofcostumesandcrafts[23].They are more informal in comparision to convetional musuems, vis- itors are allowed to have loud discussions , eat and drink. 33 Fig. 15 Heritage sites at Bunratty Folk Musuem
- 40. respect to technology intervention. However widely deployed technol- ogy at living history/open-air museums are commercial systems such as location-sensitive mobile guides for standard content delivery [30]. At the entrance of the museum, visitors are provided with detailed map of the site where the buildings and other features are marked with their name, location within the Park and a very brief discription. The Park invites 3000 visitors per day. The research goals of the stud- ies were to understand how people visited the site (from the point of view of spatial paths, dwell time at specific locations, etc.), but most importantly what of their visit they found particularly engaging and memorable. Therefore to bring forth those aspects of the site and its holdings that could be further developed and supported by interactive technology, and subsequently build on such findings to guide design. During observation study, an interesting fact that was noted is that many of the visitors of a certain age personally recognize much of what they see directly from their own past, not as historians or anthro- pologists would, but as ordinary people who remember living in or visit- ing similar buildings and seeing certain objects, and also hearing about them in stories told to them by their parents and grandparents. This was re-confirmed by the researchers during the semi-structured interviews. Another observation was that personal connections are a powerful ele- ment making people sensorially and emotionally relate to what they see atalivedexperiencelevel.Thus,“Reminisce” theprototypedevelopedfo- cused on supporting engagement and identification with the site, and on extendingthisaspectofthevisitsothatitcouldbecomevisibleandappre- ciated by a larger portion of visitors at a wider number of sites in the Park. Participants could overlay their visit to a series of buildings with a set of auditory digital “memories” narrated by fictional characters assosciated with the sites (i.e. the farmer of the land and the woman of the house). These took the form of brief audio snippets that could be collected 34 Fig. 16 The Components of “Reminisce”: A) The portal; B) The mobile app; C) The tangible tokens D) The schoolhouse desk; E) The Web resource.
- 41. 35 through a mobile phone at certain locations. Moreover, through the mobile phone, participants also had the opportunity to record in real time their impressions, comments and reactions to what they saw and heard at each site, and to share them with other visitors. The memo- ries of each fictional character could be followed thanks to the physical presence of small tangible tokens that visitors could collect as they moved about the Park and that acted as both a support for going from one building to the next and a “keys” to access further digital content. As they entered the Park, participants were directed to a central web portal (Fig. 2 A) where they created a unique profile that stored all the content they collected and recorded during their visit. They could also select which character they wished to hear memories from, and receive an initial cue about where to find the first auditory memory. At the end of their tour, visitors came back to the portal and they were presented with a map of their visit annotated by sound with the memories they had collected and the comments they had themselves recorded. They could also access this data through a personalized link. After performing shadowing the researches found out that visiotrs were keen to access the link after they left and were excited when they had come to know that they could share their experience with family and friends back at home. The element that worked most effectively to keep the levels of interest and participation high were the tangible tokens. Communication was inititaed between different groups showing each other what they had got as souveniers. Informal conversations also occurred between strangers, both between participants who happened to be at the same site, and between participants zand other visitors. However, presence of several components were daunting at times and should be kept least and minimum. Another issue was that set-up time required at the beginning of “Reminisce” through the web portal was too long. The prototype provided an additional layer of possibilities and fostered engagemnet and personal experience. Fig. 17 Interaction with the desk in the school house through the tan- gible tokens.
- 42. 4 PRIMARY RESEARCH 4.1 Contextual Inquiry 4.2 Site Study 4.3 User Shadowing 36
- 43. 37 4.1 Contextual Inquiry 4.1.1 Louvre Museum 4.1.2 Madame Tussauds, Amsterdam 4.1.3 Science Museum, Guwahati 4.1.4 Kalaskhtera, Dispur 4.1.5 Assam State Musem
- 44. The Louvre or Louvre Museum, a central landmark of Paris, France is one of the world’s largest museums and a historic monument. The museum openedon10August1793withanexhibitionof537paintings,themajority oftheworksbeingroyalandconfiscatedchurchproperty.Itwasclosedfor ashortperiodfrom1796until1801.Accordingtoarecordintheyear2008, the museum collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Ro- man Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings. Louvre’s most popular attraction is DA Vinci’s Mona Lisa. In 2008, IBM has come up with the Europe’s first smart museum [31]. Through the use of IBM Maximo Asset Management software the muse- um’sstaffhasbeenabletostreamlinetheirmaintenanceprocessestoim- prove customer service as well as the efficiency, real-time operation and management of the museum. The software solution’s integrated data- base helps the museum visualize processes including the initial planning, cleaning, maintenance and disposal of the rooms and facilities systems such as the air-conditioning system, heating system, elevators, lights for each room or gallery, and the locking system for more than 2,500 doors. Amongthevariousservicesthemuseumprovidesfewaretheguidedtours, audio guides, live performances, exhibitions, workshops, films, lectures, video trail , a highly informative website and a Louvre guide mobile app. The Louvre’s new audio guide offers over 35 hours of audio content. In lively and informal on-the-spot interviews, the museum’s curators and lecturers share their expert knowledge of the Louvre and its artworks. In addition to the audio commentaries, there are 3D photos of the gal- leries, high-definition images of the artworks, and 3D reconstructions to help you identify the exhibits and give you extra information. In-case a visitor has less time he can choose amongst 700 recordings his choice. 38 4.1.1 Louvre Museum, Paris Fig. 18 Interactive installations Fig. 19 Mirror with super imposed images on the walls of the corridor
- 45. The latest developments are interactive installations that the museum has come up in the underground section as shown in Fig. 19. Also, in the corridors one can find half picture and half mirror installed where in you can fit yourself in and get a click in another world as shown in Fig. 18. Although the museum has highly unique collection but they are trying to bring in the new public installations to the museum. 39 Fig. 20 Audio guides provided at Louvre Museum (http://www. louvre.fr/en/visites-guidees)
- 46. Madame Tussuad is a wax museum in London with branches in a num- ber of major cities. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussuad. MadameTussuad isamajortouristattraction,displaying waxworksofhis- torical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and infamous murderers. In its Amsterdam branch few famous wax sculpture are of Lady Gaga, Elvis Presley, Beyond, Barack Obama, Angelina Jolie, Prin- cess Diana, Ronaldhino, David Beckham, Pablo Picasso, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Mona Lisa, Dalai Lama and many more. It’suniquenessisthelifesizesculptureswhichallowthemuseumtofeelas ifhe’sstandinginfrontoftherealbeing.Thelatestadditionsinthemuseum isfewinteractiveinstallations,providingthevisitoralikedressasthatofthe sculpture to increase it’s affinity towards the celebrity as shown in figure One of the interesting interactive installation was getting a vid- eo recorded with Charlie Chaplin as if you are actually danc- ing with him. The fig. 22shows two shots from a clipping where in you stand in front of the LCD it reflects back your live image cap- tured by kinect and reflects back the next real time frame. The user has the opportunity to flaunt back home as if he is with Charlie. The museum has few activities at display here and there for the visitor to keephimselfengaged.Also,fewsculptureshaveanaudiobeingplayedinthe voiceofthecelebrityatdisplaygivinghim/hermorerealisticperspective. 4.1.2 Madame Tussauds, Amsterdam 40 Fig. 21 Ayoung boy immiating Marilyn Mon- roe while wearing the same costume Fig. 22 Copying the steps of Charlie Chaplin while video is being played as if the visitor is dancing with him live
- 47. Regional Science Centre, Guwahati is an activity driven non formal sci- ence education destination for all spectrums of population. Here science comes alive with a vibrant science park with an adja- cent Prehistoric park,3D science movies, science shows. The indoor and outdoor expositions like the mirror magic, Fun science, Chil- dren’s corner, Butterfly corner, large aquarium, and much more. An interesting section in the centre is the Innovation Hub. The activities conducted here are Thod phod Jod (Break & Remake), students learn by breakingandremakingthingswiththeirownhands; KabadSeJugad(Build from Scraps), students make thing from scraps materials; Make your own science kits, students can make working model or kit by using their in- novative idea; Real Life Problem Identification and Experiment, students identify a real life problem and then solving it in a form of a product; Mini Research Projects (Investigative type), students generate mini research projects and work under the experts. The activities built in keen interest in students via fun and play and connects them to the world of science. Three most engaging and interactive installa- tions that were observed in the museum were: a) World of Chemistry: Here, chemistry is taught visually and in in- teractive fashion, this gallery helps children “see” the chemistry you need to learn. 45 exhibits in this gallery take up the instances from everyday experiences and explain the underlying Chemistry involved. b) Usage of body as a mode of interaction is seen in fig. 25 Vis- itor simply waves hands in air and create his own music. Not only hands but legs are equally skilled in music. Visitor can sim- ply walk on huge piano keyboard and generate your own melody. c) Visitor can venture into the virtual pond and do fishing without getting wet. The interactive floor allows the child to create ripples in the virtual water on the floor via Kinect. 4.1.3 Regional Science Centre, Guwahati 41 Fig. 23 World of Chemistry Fig. 24 Interactive Floor Fig. 25 Embodied interaction to create music
- 48. It is commonly called Kalakshetra which is a cultural institution includ- ing a cultural museum, library and various facilities for preserving, demonstrating and performing cultural items, besides a children’s park. The museum provides summary of the life and culture of the peo- ple of Assam, of its diverse ethnic groups and sub-groups who have created the cultural mosaic which is the essence of the State. Theculturalmuseumhasartifactsenhancingtheknowledgeaboutmusic, dance,textilesanddailylifeofNorth-East.Themuseumthoughhavingarich collectionhasverypoormaintenanceandalmostnouserengagingactivities. An initiative was taken few years ago of setting up an interac- tive Kiosk which is in non- functional stage now as shown in fig. 26 . Amongst the other activities are the cultural shows that take place in the museum in the open air theater as shown in fig. 27. 4.1.4 SRIMANTA SANKARADEV KALAKSHETRA 42 Fig. 26 Non- functional Kiosk Fig. 27 Open air theater
- 49. 4.1.5 ASSAM STATE MUSEUM The Assam State Museum, since its inception in 1949 has relentlessly pursuing collection, conservation, documentation and presentation of cultural heritage of Assam and neighboring states in a scientific man- ner. The museum today is treasure house of 14000 objects, of which about 5000 are in display. The museum has following galleries- A. Ethnography Section: In this section arts and artifacts of different groups of the tribal popu- lation of Assam are displayed in order. At present the tribes which are represented in this section are Bodo, Dimasa, Rabha, Tiwa, Mishing, Hajong, Sonowal Kachari, Kuki, Jemi Naga, Hmar, Khelmas, Karbi, Deori, etc. Rich colorful textiles of Rabha, Mishing and Dimasa, peculiar jacket “Dagla” and water proof jacket “ Daran” of the Tiwa, musical instru- ment “Muri” of Dimasa, “Baddung-Duppa” and clay flute of the Rabha, “Kham” and “Serja” of the Bodo tribe are some of the noteworthy items which are displayed among other in this section. B. Sculpture Section: Sculptures preserved in the Assam State Museum are housed in the ground floor of the new building. Majority of these sculptures were fashioned in the pre Ahom period belonging from 6th to 13th centu- ry A.D. which roughly corresponds to the reign of the Varmana, the Salastambha and Pala dynasties of ancient Assam. The ideals of Indian treatise of art has had been followed in the execution of these sculp- tures. There are also others which belong to the Ahom age. The fine distinction and the rhythm of classical Indian sculptures are lacking in these later sculptures. In some of the sculptures influence of the tribal 43 Fig. 28 Ethnography Gallery Fig. 29 Sculpture Gallery
- 50. wood craving are discernible. A hoard of sculptures which are discov- ered by the archaeological excavation at Ambari and some of other sculptures received from the Bharat kala bhavan, Benaras Hindu Uni- versity are on display. The Sculptures from the Ambari excavation are displayed separately where besides the stone sculptures are preserved pot & Potcherd. Terra-Cotta items,etc of which some are made of ka- olin like the South Indian variety. C. Painting Section: This section houses some of the paintings by the modern painters of Assam. Some of the notable paintings are Battle of Kurukshetra by Ranesh Ghosh, last stage of Sati Joymati by Mukta Bordoloi, Bodo weavers by Benu Mishra, Village scene of Assam by Lambohdar Hazari- ka. D. Village Life section: This section is housed in the first floor of the new building. Some as- pects of the village life of Assam has been depicted in this section. It includes almost scale model of an Assamese household. Small scale models of a number of cottage industries, model of Namghar(Prayer hall), etc. Besides, musical instruments, puppets fishing implements, etc is also displayed here. E. Freedom Fighter Section: It is pictography gallery. It includes the photographs on the life history of Mahatma Gandhi and some of his associates. A small part of the gallery houses some of the photographs and a list of martyrs of Assam of the Quit India Movement. F. Manuscript Section: Manuscript of the late medieval period in the old Assamese, Tai, Bur- mese, etc are displayed here. These manuscript are written on sanchi- pat(bark of Agar tree), talpat(palm leaves), etc. Some of the Assamese 44 Fig. 30. Village life section Fig. 31. Manuscripts Gallery
- 51. manuscripts preserved here are illustrated with colors. G. Arms Section: Items such as cannons of the Ahom, Koch and Mugal origins, swords, hengdam (traditional Ahom sword), daggers, shields,etc belonging to the medieval period are displayed here. Besides some of the modern specimens of arms and ammunition which were used by the Japanese army and air force during the Second world war are also displayed here. H. Epigraphy section: Stone and copper plate inscriptions belonging to the period from the 5th century to the 18th century are preserved here. Royal proclamation regarding deeds such as war victory, grant of land, construction of tem- ple,etc. are found recorded in them in various scripts and languages. Earliest of these inscriptions are in Sanskrit language and in Eastern Indian type of Brahmi script, out of which the Assamese language and script have evolved subsequently. Such Assmese inscriptions are also displayed in this section. Besides, these Tai and Persian inscriptions are also displayed in a proper way. I. Pre and Protohistoric and terracotta Section: The section is housed in the old building. There are displays of main- ly the original specimen collected from Archeological Survey of India which belong to the Indus valley civilization. Ther were discovered during the exploration and sxcavation of the sites at Harappa and Mo- henjo- Daro. There also in display the Teracotta objects collected from various places of Assam and North East India. K. Numismatics and metallic sculptures section: Some metal sculptures such as Mahisamardini, Vishnu and Buddha are displayed. The museum has a coin cabinet which holds more than 6000 45 Fig. 32 Arms Section Fig. 33 Numismatics and metallic sculptures section:
- 52. coins of different period. L. Textile Section: This section houses some costumes of late medieval period. Old textile in Assam was famous and its reputation had spread even to China. Particularly Pat Chadar, Muga Chadar, Riha, Muga and silk dresses of men and women are displayed. Be- sides, costumes of Ahom royal dynasty are also exhibited here. M. Woodcraft gallery: The woodcraft gallery displays the various items made basically of wood and bamboo, by the local artisans. The gallery displays the artistry of the local artisans of some divine characters and mythic animals. Some of the exhibits are Buddha, Vishnu, Lion(from Barduwa than) Garuda, Gajavya- la, wooden pillar, wooden masks (find place- Habangiri, Meghalaya). At the end, after doing observational studies in three museums in Guwahati it was concluded that Assam State Museum has the rich- est collection and gives a good opportunity to explore and introduce a digital interactive experience. Further, site study and semi structured interviews with SME’S and visitors’s in the museum was conducted. 46 Fig. 34. Textile section Fig. 35. Woodcraft Gallery
- 53. 47 Fig. 36. Floor Plan of underground and ground level of Assam State Museum 4.2 SITE STUDY 4.2.1 FLOOR PLANS Floor plans (as shown on the page 46 and 47) were prepared for all the floors in the museum and further the measurability and application of per- formance indicators mainly based on the indexes proposed by Shettel were calculated. These indexes gave insights of where in the museum most attention is needed (i.e the visitor strength is low).
- 54. 48 Fig. 37. Floor Plan of first and secondlevel of Assam State Museum
- 55. 4.2.2 SEMI STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS 12 user interviews were conducted with visitors in the Assam State Museum. The visitor age- group varied from 13 to 62 years. The visitor had varying professional backgrounds like school and college students, a professor, social activist, lawyer, engineer, etc. We were fortunate enough to gain insights from Rosemary, an australian peace activist who has been travelling in the sub-continent since late 80’s. The next set of interview was with two SME’s (Subject Matter Experts), the Director and Assistant Curator of Assam State Museum. Further in the next chapter the data collected is analyzed. 49 Fig. 38. Users being interviewed in Assam State Museum
- 56. 3.3 USER SHADOWING User shadowing is a research method for understanding how people interact with the world around them. The user is observed using a service so that the service provider understands their needs. In order to understand the trails and behavior in the museum videos were recorded while they visited various galleries in the museum. These videos were later on analyzed to create heat maps ( a heat map is a graphical representation of data where the individual values contained in a matrix are represented as colors) combining with floor plans. 50 Fig. 39. Screen shots from video clipping showing visting trails of the two different set of visitors.
- 57. 51 5 DATA ANALYSIS 5.1 Affinity Analysis 5.2 Empathy Mapping 5.3 Site Analysis 5.4 Problem Identification 5.5 User Identification 5.6 User Personas
- 58. Affinity analysis is a qualitative content analysis method. It is is a data analysis and data mining technique that discovers co-occurrence rela- tionships among activities performed by (or recorded about) specific in- dividuals or groups. In general, this can be applied to any process where agents can be uniquely identified and information about their activities can be recorded. Here, according to the data the categories are defined. As shown in fig- ure and affinity diagrams were created for all the user interviews and categorized under age and profession, most likeable gallery in Assam state museum, technological knowledge, views on present growth of culture of Assam and general knowledge of museums. The major categories were- • Literacy • Technological Knowledge • Cultural Knowledge • Multimedia museums • Assam State Museum • Interest in New Media Next the statements, observations, problem areas, insights and design ideas gathered from affinity analysis is discussed. 5.1 AFFINITY ANALYSIS 52 Fig. 40. Affinity Diagrams
- 59. Visitor 1 Statements • I belong to Assam, work as a research scholar and have a good knowledge about various new technological products • I have not visited any multi-media museum uptil now. Also, I believe they somehow take away the historical importance of an artifact • Assam state museum has a rich collection of artifacts. The best gal- lery I liked was epigraphy and numismatics gallery. It is really very informative. Though the presence of a guide is needed Observations • The visitor was very ethusisatic while the interview and was keenly interested in contributing to his culture Problem Areas • The visitor has not visited many museums and is not open to the idea of multimedia museums • The artifacts present are very unique in rich but the additional information is hardly available. The visitor does not gain the holistic knowledge Insights • Even though he is well-educated his scope of traveling Is limited to Assam. Thus, he has only visited museums withing the state and there are hardly any multi media museums in Assam • A guide/extra guidance is needed to bridge the gap between the visitor’s expectation and the artifact displayed Design ideas • Build a design which carries the historical essence of artifact pres- ent in the museum • Design a guide for the visitors who are completely unknown to the artifacts displayed Fig. 41. Interviewing Visitor 1 53
- 60. Visitor 2 Statements • I am a lawyer and belong to Assam. I am married to a Punjabi guy settled in Assam. I use both, a smart-phone and a laptop. I am them quite comfortable using them • I have visited science museum in Guwahati as the only multimedia museum. My children enjoyed the museum because of the new interactive installations they have come up with • Multimedia museums attract kids and they enjoy more in such an environment but cultural museum like this is equally important so that our children stay connected to their roots • The village life section was appealing to me. It relates to our cul- ture and children also enjoyed it more. Need of such museums are required so that the younger generation knows about their culture and stays connected to them Observations • The kids were drolling here and there in middle of the interview. The visitor was concerned about them waiting for her. • Parents are concerned about how children learn and enjoy in muse- ums • Village life section attracted many visitors as life size huts and rooms were build. The visitors could enter it and could experience the life of the villagers Problem Areas • There is scope to make Assam State museum more attractive for kids • Children are not able to learn in the traditional museum as they are no engaging/fun activities • More sections like village life section needs to be build Insights • Interactive installations/ engaging activities help youngsters learn Fig. 42. Interviewing Visitor 2 54
- 61. more • Parents no matter how open minded wish their children to stay connected to their culture and learn about and from them • Life size displays attract visitors Design Ideas • Build an engaging set-up in Assam state museum for youngsters • Build a set-up focusing on how to teach youngsters about historical artifacts displayed • The design if life size attracts more public Visitor 3 Statements • I am a 13 year old school student studying at Nalbadi, Assam • I do not carry any cellphone or laptop • I have visited the Kalshetra in the city and few local museums. I have not visited any multimedia museum • The cultural section attracted me, I spent most of the time in that section • My friends and I do have less knowledge about our culture Observations • The visitor was not fluent in speaking Hindi and spoke basic English • The visitor was not very use to using laptops or smart-phones. Basic knowledge of the technological devices • Village life section attracted many visitors as life size huts and rooms were build. The visitors could enter it and take the feel of how people staying there felt Problem Areas • Unable to communicate/ share his thoughts effectively • Unaware about the latest technology coming up • More sections like village life section need to be build • Youngsters are getting disconnected to their culture day by day Fig. 43. Interviewing Visitor 3 55
- 62. Insights • Assamese school students are fluent in speaking their native lan guage i.e. Assamese but face issues while speaking other languages • There are hardly any multimedia museum in Guwahati and nearby local areas. • Life size displays attract visitors • A source needs to be designed to bridge in the gap between the young generation and the cultural values. Design Ideas • The design should have an option of switching between languages, probably between English (universally known language) and As- samese (native language of the location) • The design should be a simple to use with respect to the vistor’s technical skills • The design should be life size; Connection with the real world and the system is demanded. • Build a design which can impart knowledge to the youngsters about their culture Visitor 4 Statements • I am a B.Tech student at IIT-G and belong to North India. I use a basic NOKIA cellphone and laptop. I am quite comfortable with the new technological devices coming up. • I have visited museums in Kolkata and Jaipur. In Kolkata, I visited Victoria memorial. Apart from the rich collection they had also, there was a kiosk set-up. It showed extra information about the artifacts displayed. It was useful for a person like me who did not have any prior knowledge about the artifacts displayed. • I have friend who belongs to Assam but they don’t seem to be very much attached to their culture • The Assam state museum has a section division which helps a bit in navigation. I really liked the village life section in the museum. Fig. 44. Interviewing Visitor 4 56
- 63. Observations • The visitor was confident and was willingly participating in the interview. The visitor was comfortable using Hindi/English as lan- guage for communication. But did not know Assamese • The visitor was excited about the kiosk set-up in the Victoria memo- rial Problem Areas • Youngsters are getting disconnected to their culture day by day • Better navigation direction is needed in the Assam state museum Insights • The kiosks may act like a guide to the visitors • A source needs to be designed to bridge in the gap between the young generation and the cultural values Design Ideas • Build up a device which is synonymous to guide in a museum. It should share extra information about the artifacts displayed • Build a design which can impart knowledge to the youngsters about their culture • The design can guide them through the museum and help in way finding Visitor 5 Statements • My name is Jayananda Das. My age is 62 years and I am a priest in gorinath district. I don’t use any technological device • I have visited a few local museums. I have not visited any multime- dia museum • I liked the epigraphy gallery Observations • The visitor understands only Assamese and was not able to share his thoughts comfortably Fig. 45. Interviewing Visitor 5 57
- 64. • Was not aware of multimedia museum • Highly keen in gaining knowledge and sharing it with his kids. In- clined towards gaining information about own culture and place. Problem Areas • The visitor was not aware of multimedia museum • The visitorwas highly keen in gaining knowledge and sharing it with his kids. Inclined towards gaining information about own culture and place he expected a better experience in the museum Insight • Though the visitors may not be well educated but they wish to be learn about their culture and are keen to do so Design Idea • The design should definitely use Assamese as a mode of communi- cation Visitor 6 Statements • My name is Rosemary, my age is 54 years. I am an Australian and work as a Japanese interpreter and peace activist. I own a desktop and a basic cellphone • I have lived for 3 years (‘89-’92) in Asian sub-continent. Previously visited quite no. of museums in Pune, Delhi and Lahore • I have visited few multimedia museums in my country. I feel they are a great idea. Though the conventional museums and the multi- media museums cannot be compared. Each has there own positives • I have been in India many times before and I strongly feel that the Indian culture is decreasing. Adapting the positives from west is good but one should not forget their own culture. Mixture of design and new technologies should be introduced in the museum • I appreciate the efforts put in the village life section in the museum. I never would get a chance to go out and visit a village in India so through this gallery I got a chance to learn the life in a village Fig. 46. Interviewing Visitor 6 58
- 65. Observations • The visitor has intermediate knowledge of tech devices Problem Areas • The visitor suggests that Indians are adapting western culture and are ignoring their own culture Insights • Even after being above 50 years of age unlike many visitors in the museum, the visitor knows how to use tech devices • Has traveled and lived in the Asain countries for quite some time • Supports multimedia museum but the essence of a conventional museum should not be lost • Real life displays connect people to reality Design Ideas • The design should have tinch of Indiannesss in a design • Real and system world should maintain similarity Visitor 7 Statements • I am Ananya Kar, age 30 years and belong to Mizoram. I am a B. Sc, LL.B. and have a degree in social service in rural management. I have been traveling and roaming in different parts of the country • I do not own a smart-phone but use a laptop and am dependent on Internet for gathering knowledge and socializing • Multimedia museums are not popular in India I have generally seen them in metro cities of India only • I feel young generation is not bothered about culture. Gap is pres- ent in the culture now and before and it is growing • The purpose of a museum is to preserve. In the multimedia muse- um this purpose should not be defeated • Create something that is breath taking, that takes to a new com- plete level rather than just modifying the present dispalys Fig. 47. Interviewing Visitor 7 59
- 66. Problem Areas • Assam is not growing at the same pace as the other parts of India is growing. • Youngsters are getting disconnected to their culture day by day. Insights • The user has traveled a lot and has a fair knowledge of the new developments done in the field of museum and technology. • Mid-aged indians belonging to upper middle class family use inter- net to socialze with friends and often use internet. • Introducing an installation/design as in multimedia museums would eventually also make a growth in the state • A source needs to be designed to bridge in the gap between the young generation and the cultural values Design Ideas • Build a design which can impart knowledge to the younsters about their culture • Any new design that is built should not disturb the essence of a museum • Something totally new is expected from the crowd that is aware of the new technologies in the market Visitor 8 • I belong to kolkata and I recently retired as a senior engineer. I am comfortable using new techological devices coming up. • I have visited various museums around the world and in India. While my stay in Paris I visited louvre museum quite number of times • Multimedia museums are a must • Assam state museum has a rich collection. Unforunately the infor- mation is imcoplete. For eg. In the paintings gallery the life span of the artist is not mentioned. Fig. 48. Interviewing Visitor 8 60
- 67. Problem Areas • Incomplete data is presented in the museum Insights • Well educated visitors are able to communicate their beliefs well • User had a rich knowledge about various kinds of museums • Multimedia museums are encouraged by the ones who are aware about them • Visitors expect to know more about the artifacts displayed so as to get a holistic view Scope of work • The details should be precise and much more than displayed at present The next two visitor had sent self reported their experience with respect to Louvre Museum Paris, Kunstahaus Museum Zürich and Darshan Museum Pune. Visitor 9 Statements • I am from Indian but have been staying in Paris for past few years since I am studying engineering here. I play tennis and music in free time. I use Google nexus 4 and mac book. I feel I am highly capable of using all the technological devices available. • I have visited museums in Paris, Zürich and Delhi. Also, in Bangalore I have visited visveraya industrial & technological museum “My Vote goes to Louvre as being the best museum ever. Primarily because of its well organized structure, its quality of service and its high quality paintings. While the Kunstahaus museum in Zürich was organized, spacious and attractive, yet, I personally did not find the showcased paintings much attractive, even though they were drawn by many prolific writers. Louvre on the other hand had a plethora of spell- binding paintings. I avow that I have never seen such beautiful pieces “ 61
- 68. of art and sculptors. The Mona Lisa, the Consecration of Napoleon, the Phoenix to name a few.” “The museums in India are no comparison to these European counter- parts, so there is no points broaching the comparison whatsoever “I believe, the way, the images were presented also played a great role in boosting the User experience in Louvre. The artifacts were assorted theme-wise, civilization wise and the whole museum was ‘neatly’ divid- ed into sections.” “Though both Louvre and Kunsthaus Museum had Audio Guides avail- able at nominal rates, the Map of the Louvre takes away the cake. The maps they provide are very comprehensive, suggesting you the most popular of the artifacts and their location. It was a small booklet, each page covering a single floor and using colors to neatly demarcate differ- ent types of artifacts.” “ In Louvre, some places did not have any shortcuts. That is, some- times, to view one thing, there was no direct path on the same floor. So , to reach the place, I had to first climb the stairs down, take some route on the floor below and then take the stairs up again. Believe me, this can be quite frustrating at times.” Problem Areas • The new modes adapted in museums are not that efficient. • No effective way finding system Insights • Visitor is tech savy • The ratings of a museum varies with respect to the collection of the museum • A neat division of the museum helps visitor to decide which all rooms to visit • Audio guides are provided but visitors are not use to it. Even if they try to, the conventional modes are better they don’t wish to adapt 62
- 69. new ones. Design Ideas • The richness of the artifacts displayed can be presented • In case of a time constraint it is useful if visitor can decide what all he interests him in tme musuem in the beginning • A user friendly guide should be designed which can provide over all guidance • Design way finding system Visitor 10 Statements • I work as an ASE in Pune. I like reading, cooking and dancing. I own a smart-phone and a personal laptop. I am quite comfortable using them • I have visited 6-7 others museums in India. I recently visited Dar- shan museum, the multimedia museum in Pune • Darshan museum made an impact as soon as I entered it. It has various set up of life size mannequins and audio with respect to it being played. It attracts you! • In case, I go to a conventional museum, perhaps I would have not been that interested Insights • Visitor was highly tech savy • Visitor does have knowledge about the multimedia museums com- ing up • Multimedia museum encourage interest in the history amongst people Design Ideas • Life size mannequins bridges the gap between reality and virtual wo rld • Stories are useful when telling history • Creating scenarios with the combination of mannequins and audio 63
- 70. 5.2 Empathy Mapping The interviews of the SME’s were evaluated by empathy mapping. The insights gained by analysis of Dr. Y.S Wunglegton, Director, As sam State Museum were: • Influenced by progress International museums have made • Assam state has a rich collection • Youngsters are quite moved by the advent of technology • For visitors, other than scholars, visitors may not connected to the history as it may not be of any interest in present. • Cultural roots should be maintained Insights gained after analysing Mr. Jiten Shyam, Asst. Curator’s interview were : Assam state museum keeps enhancing and comes up with new galleries • The response of visitors towards the museum is also affected by the different demographics they hail from • Before presenting an artifact in the museum it should be found out whether it is worth presenting or not • The maximum visitors in the Assam state museum visit during winter or summer vacations 64 Fig. 49. Empathy Maps
- 71. The measurability and application of performance indicators is mainly based on the indexes proposed by Shettel [1973], integrated and tested in a very large number of museums and exhibitions. Examples include the work of Serrell, who has analyzed and compared observations from more than 150 museums and exhibitions[12]. The main indicators used are: Attraction power. Indicates the relative incidence of people who have stopped in front of an object/exhibit during the exhibition tour. It is cal- culated by dividing the number of people who stop by the total num- ber of people who have visited the museum or gallery The indicator provides an initial idea of the power of attraction or attention exerted by the object on show. The index varies from 0 to 1, and the closer it is to 1 the greater is the power of the element to attract. Attraction Index = No. Of people who stopped >1 No. Of people who observed Holding power: measures the average time spent in front of an infor- mation/communication element (e.g. a panel, a video, a caption, etc.). It is calculated by dividing the average time of stay by the time “nec- essary” to read an element. The calculation of the “necessary” time is established by the researchers, who measure the time that is essential for the entire communication about a particular object to be taken in. The index ranges from 0 to 1 (it may be greater than 1 if the average is greater than the time considered “necessary”, but this is a theoretical case). The closer it is to 1, the greater the ability of the element to hold the visitors’ attention will be. Holding power= Average stopping time Utilization time necessary 65 5.3 Site Analysis
- 72. Where possible, it is important to apply both indicators, since joint analysis makes it possible to carry out both quantitative and qualitative assessments. The information panel in a gallery, for example, might have a very high attraction index, but only a modest holding-power index: this would suggest that the panel is placed in an area of great visibility, but that it either provides too much information, or the style and content of the information do not encourage reading. Utilization times: the average utilization times (for the complete visit, for particular sections, by type of user) Sweep Rate Index (SRI): this index is calculated by dividing the total size of the exhibition in square meters by the average time spent by visitors within this exhibition area. It is used to calculate if visitors move slowly or quickly through the exhibition. Analyzing about 150 museums and exhibitions, Beverly Serrell has come up with an average index value of between 35 sq.m/min for small exhibitions, and 60 sq.m/min for larger ones. Diligent Visitor Index (DVI): this index is obtained by calculating the percentage of visitors who have stopped in front of more than half the elements that make up the exhibition. The percentage of “diligent visitors” helps evaluate to what extent the exhibition has been visited. The index also helps to assess whether or not the ratio of the density of objects to the time available is adequate. A low value might be inter- preted as indicating that the exhibition is too long or too dense for the available time or for the attention-span of the average visitor, rather than as indicating a low level of study and interest. The SRI and DVI work as audit data, elements that are capable of rec- reating the conditions of the museum environment in which the visit takes place, thus making it possible to calibrate comparisons between different museums, weighing up the results that emerge from the ap- plication of attraction and holding-power indexes. 66
- 73. As concerns behavior modeling, innovative methods of conceptual and graphic representation of the results were experimented during the study. Attraction index was calculated for all the galleries after the observa- tion study. The indexes for the galleries were as follows: Paintings and freedom fighter gallery = 0.25 Sculpture gallery = 0.50 Arms gallery = 0.15 Numismatics gallery = 0.50 Village life section = 0.75 Ethnography gallery = 0.30 The heat maps were created as a result of above data calculated. Warm is represented by ‘orange’ color and cold by ‘blue’ color. The area where visitors show high area of interest is warm and vice-versa is cold. Since, the attraction index for epigraphy was least further this gallery was studied. The six main tribes the this gallery represents are Karbi, Bodi, Mishing, Lalung, Hajong and Rabhas. 67
- 74. 68 Fig.50.Heat maps on the floor Plan of underground and ground level of Assam State Museum
- 75. 69 Fig. 51. Heat maps on the floor Plan of first and ground level of Assam State Museum
- 76. 5.5 Problem Identification Assam State Museum has a rich collection but the information displayed with respect to it is low. Hardly any textual information is provided and there is no audio/ visual information. This leads to the death of curiosity and the interest of the visitor. Thus, low attraction index is maintained since past many years and there is very low variation. 70
- 77. 5.5 User Identification Primary target users are the visitors in the Assam State Museum, ma- jorly who belong to Assam. There are visitors from out of India and few from foreign countries too. The literacy rate is not very high and most of the visitors are familiar with multimedia museum. The age group varies from 5-70 years of age. The museum employees are the secondary users. 71
- 78. 5.6 User Personas USER PERSONA 1 Rakesh Goyal Rakesh Goyal is a 34 years a lecturer in New Delhi. He completed his bachelor’s and masters in biotechnology from University Of Delhi. He uses a laptop, a cellphone, all that a mid- aged man from a metro city from India would use.Rakesh has a son of 5 years and a wife who is also a lecturer in the same college. He is passionate about travelling and hence, travels with his son and wife in every summer or winter holidays. Rakesh is keen about gaining knowledge about different cultures in India. He believes India is a country of a rich and diverse culture. There is a lot to learn in and from this country. Unfortunately, amongst his students he sees the culture fading away. This makes him feel uncomfortable and pushes him to put an effort to make his kid learn about the Indian culture. He feels concerned about whether or not Indian culture would be inculcated in his child’s blood. Museums he says are a place which aims at preserving history. They are the homes to great knowledge. Youngsters should go more often to museums. Also, he considers the multimedia museums engaging and fun oriented but they should not take away the essence of the historical museum. 72
- 79. USER PERSONA 2 Ankita Baruah Ankita Baruah is a 16 years old high school student from naogaon in assam. Her school is affiliated to an assamese board. The language she uses for communication with friends and family is assamese. She is fond of singing and dancing. At home she uses his father’s cellphone but does not own a computer desktop/ laptop. She is not a very tech savy teenager and is not aware of the new technologies coming up. Often they get assignments to go and gather information about the assamese culture. She visits few museums around with her friends but is not very much concerned about the artifacts displayed. When she visits a musuem she roams about and passes by the artifacts displayed without paying much attention to the reading materials displayed. She shares that she and her friends donot have good knowledge about their own culture. They lack strongly not in cultural values but are inaware about what is the history behind the land she belongs too. Ankita feels enthusiastic about vsisiting a multimedia museum. She thinks that may attract her more and ehe would conecntrate more on the artifacts displayed 73
- 80. 6 Ideation 6.1 Idea Generation 6.2 Concept Evaluation 74
- 81. 6.1 Idea Generation User reaches the set-up User picks a token representing a clan and puts in the circle One by one user puts all The tokens All the tokens have been placed The system is in ideal state The system plays an audio With respect to the clan The audio with all the clans are played The totem appears on The screen and it’s significance is played Concept 1: Jambili Athon is a woodcraft piece of the karbis, consisting of a central axis and a whorl of four branches. It is exhibited during the Chomkan festival. It covers the philosphy of life & death [33]. In, Karbi tribe during the Chomkan festival the dead souls are invited and wor- shipped. During this time, the karbi tribe members bring in a totem called Janabili Athan to each other’s house as a symbol of unity. It has 4 sticks which are inserted into the centre stick symbolizing unity is strength. This fact has been used in this concept. 75
- 82. 76 User approaches the totem User picks one of the bars And fits the main bar Eventually he fits in one by one all User completes fitting all The system is in ideal state The story about the particular clan is projected on the adjacent screen The story about the next Clan is projected The totem glows entirely Concept 2: Jambili Athon is a woodcraft piece of the karbis, consisting of a central axis and a whorl of four branches. It is exhibited during the Chomkan festival. It covers the philosphy of life & death [33]. In, Karbi tribe during the Chomkan festival the dead souls are invited and wor- shipped. During this time, the karbi tribe members bring in a totem called Janabili Athan to each other’s house as a symbol of unity. It has 4 sticks which are inserted into the centre stick symbolizing unity is strength. This fact has been used in this concept.
- 83. 77 User observes the karbi Tribe lady being eve teased User creates a black Strip on her face The strip on her face Appears As the strip on her face Appears men run away The system is in ideal state The men on the screen are Playing pranks to eve tease The girl The black strip scares the men The men move Away on the screen Concept 3: In, Karbi tribe duk, a black colored linear line from the forehead to chin is made to make them look ugly. Duk is unique and upholds traditional views of the dignity of women in particular and cultural identity of the Karbis in general. Reason for putting this tatoo is that during the burmese invasion many women of this tribe were molested [34]. In order to protect themselves and look less attractive they used this idea as a
- 84. 78 Concept 4: ‘Lalung’ belongs to Karbi word, it literally can be divided into two words where “Lang” means water and “Lung” means to sink in it. The words compounded together became Lalung. According to some legend the Lalungs fell into river Kolong in Nagaon district while they were trying to cross the river during the invasion of Assam by the Myanmarese. The Karbis rescued them and from then the Karbis called them Lang-lung which the time passed became Lalung[35]. This mythological fact inspires this concept. The user observes the interac- tive floor Virtual river ‘kolung’ runs on the floor which is on the other side of nagaon district. User enters the area being captured by the camera As the, user is surrounded by a cricle, ‘unkown tribe’ signifying the person belongs to a tribe which is unkown. User enters the ‘vrtual river’ The reflection of the user falls on the virtual river as if he is sinking in it User crosses the virtual river and enters the land User is surrounded by a circle, ‘lalung’ which is the new name given to his tribe
- 85. 79 Concept 5: Bagurumba is a folk dance of Assam, India performed by the Bodos. It is the usually practiced during Bwisagu, a festival of the Bodos in the Bishuba Sankranti or Mid-April. The dance is sometimes referred to as the “butterfly dance” as its motion resembles butterflies. n this day, Bodo women in their colourful dokhna, jwmgra and aronai (attire) perform the Bagurumba dance which is also called the Bardwisikhla dance. It is also accompanied by musical instruments like serja (a bowed instrument), sifung (flute), tharkha (a piece of split bamboo), kham/ madal (a long drum made of wood and goatskin) [36]. This tribe inspires this concept. The user observes the table top The table top set-up set-up has okens of the sifung, serja, kham and torka on it User places aby one on the table The musical instrumnet is sur- rounded by 3 tunes of the same on the touch table User chooses the tune of his choice The system gives the option to choose the tune User rotates the token to in- crease/ decrease the volume The system increase/ decreases the volume. Also, it provides the option of mixing these tunes and mailing them to your friends and family
- 86. The user observes the interac- tive wall System displays a moving but- terfly User tries to copy the move- ment of the butteflly The system captures the user’s movemnet User enters captures the right motion The system displays a bodo girl performing a bagurumbha dance Concept 5: Bagurumba is a folk dance of Assam, India performed by the Bodos. It is the usually practiced during Bwisagu, a festival of the Bodos in the Bishuba Sankranti or Mid-April. The dance is sometimes referred to as the “butterfly dance” as its motion resembles butterflies. n this day, Bodo women in their colourful dokhna, jwmgra and aronai (attire) perform the Bagurumba dance which is also called the Bardwisikhla dance. It is also accompanied by musical instruments like serja (a bowed instrument), sifung (flute), tharkha (a piece of split bamboo), kham/ madal (a long drum made of wood and goatskin) [36]. This tribe inspires this concept. 80
- 87. 6.2 Concept Evaluation The ideas generated were evaluated on the basis of following keywords, • Interest/ Enjoyment • Effort/ Importance • Pressure/ Tension • Value/ Usefulness • Engaging • Participatory • Story telling • Life Size On evaluating these concepts the last two, inspired from the Bagurum- bha dance of the Bodo tribe was rated the highest. However, depend- ing on the feasibility of the resources and time available the two were combined and a new concept related to these two was generated as discussed in the next section. Fig. 52. Bagurumbha dance and the musical instruments played during the dance ( concept 5 & 6) led to fnal ideation phase. 81
- 88. 7 Realization 7.1 Final Concept Detail 7.2 User Scenario 7.3 Information Architecture 7.4 Prototyping 7.4.1 Hardware Prototyping 7.4.2 Software Prototyping 82
- 89. 7.1 Final Concept Detail The final concept is based on the ‘Bagurumbha Dance’ of the Bodo tribe. Bagurumbha is a folk dance of Assam, India is performed by the bodos (as showin figure in figure 52). It is accompanied by musical instruments serja, sifung, torka, kham ((as showin figure in figure 53). Bagurumbha dance is referred to as the butterfly dance as its motion resembles but- terflies. Bagurumbha dance is usually practiced during bwisagu, a festival of the bodos in the bishubasankranti or mid April. Bagurumbha dance prevails in bodo inhabited areas of udalguri, kokrjhar ,baksa, chirang, bongaigaon, nalbari, darrang & sontipur districts. An istallation was set-up to interest visitors in this dance by showing them the traditional steps and making them familiar with the traditonal instruments. The choice was given to them to create their own music and watch different steps of the dance one by one. In the next sub- section, the functioning of the installation has been ex- plained in detail.Fig. 53. Bodo tribe girls and boys performing ‘Bagurumbha dance’ Fig. 54. Torka, Sifung, Serja and Kham 83
- 90. 7.2 User Scenario Fig. 55(a) The initial table top set-up with tokens ready to be placed on the table and interact with them Fig. 55 (b) The music mode token when plaved on the table display the 4 musical instruments options and play the music of the toke/token placed on the table Fig. 55(c) When video mode token is placed on the table the instructions to play with the token comes up Fig. 55(d) Bodo girls perform Bagurumbha dance on the tune of traditional music 84
- 91. 7.3 Information Architecture WELCOME SCREEN VIDEO MODE (PLACE THE MUSICIANS ON THE TABLE IN THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE INSTRUMENTS, SERJA, SIFUNG, TORKA AND KHAM) AUDIO MODE (PLACE THE MUSICIANS ON THE TABLE AND CREATE YOUR TUNE FROM THE FOLLOWING INSTRUMENTS, SERJA, SIFUNG, TORKA AND KHAM) GROUP OF 4 GIRLS DANCE ON THE TUNE OF SERJA (WHEN SERJA IS PLACED ON THE TABLE) GROUP OF 4 GIRLS DANCE ON THE TUNE OF SERJA & SIFUNG (WHEN SERJA & SIFUNG IS PLACED ON THE TABLE) GROUP OF 4 GIRLS DANCE ON THE TUNE OF SERJA, SIFUNG & TORKA (SERJA, SIFUNG & TORKA IS PLACED ON THE TABLE) GROUP OF 4 GIRLS DANCE ON THE TUNE OF SERJA, SIFUNG, TORKA & KHAM (WHWN SERJA, SIFUNG, TOR- KA & KHAM IS PLACED ON THE TABLE) SERJA + TORKA SERJA + SIFUNG SERJA + SIFUNG + TORKA SERJA + SIFUNG + TORKA + KHAM SEQUENCE: SERJA, SIFUNG, TORKA, KHAM IS NOT FOLLOWED, THE USER IS NOTIFIED AND THE RIGHT SE- QUENCE REMINDED SERJA + KHAM SIFUNG+ TORKA SERJA + SIFUNG + KHAM SERJA SIFUNG TORKA KHAM SIFUNG+ KHAM TORKA+ KHAM KHAM+ SIFUNG + TORKA SERJA +KHAM + TORKA SERJA + SIFUNG + TORKA + KHAM THE TOKENS CAN BE PLACED IN SINGLE, DOUBLE, TRIPLETS OR QUADRUPLETS SETS 85
- 92. 7.4 Prototyping 7.4.1 Hardware Prototyping Fig. 56. Preparing the clay models used as tokens Fig. 57. Initial clay models prepared Fig. 58. Final clay models 86
- 93. 87 Fig. 59. Preapring the curved display screen.
- 94. 88 Fig. 60. The curved screen along with the table top set-up Fig.61. Tokens used to interact with the system Fig.62. Music token to be kept on the table to start the music mode Fig.63. Video token to be kept on the table to start the video mode
- 95. 89 Fig.64. Serja token being placed on the table Fig.65. Sifung token being placed on the table Fig.66. Torka token being placed on the table Fig.67. Kham token being placed on the table
- 96. This stage was an investigation about the design practicality. The sub technology used was ReacTIVision [36]. ReacTIVision is an open source, cross-platform computer vision framework for the fast and robust track- ing of fiducial markers (as shown in fig. 69) attached onto physical ob- jects, as well as for multi-touch finger tracking. This technology was used along with TUIO [37]. TUIO is an open framework (as shown in fig.68) that defines a common protocol and API (Application programming in- terface) for tangible multi-touch surfaces. The TUIO protocol allows the transmission of an abstract description of interactive surfaces, includ- ing touch events and tangible object states. The protocol encodes con- trol data from a tracker application (e.g. based on computer vision) and sends it to any client application that is capable of decoding the protocol.Fig.68.TUIO Frameworks Fig.69. Fiducial Markers Fig.70. Screenshot of ReactiVision 7.4.2 Software Prototyping 90
- 98. 92 Fig. 73. Welcome Screen
- 99. 93 Fig. 73. Music mode
- 100. Fig.74. Options of the musical instruments available 94
- 101. Fig. 75. When the token, kham is placed then the image appears on the screen and it’s tune starts playing. When rotatated anti-clokwise its volume can be increased and vice-versa. 95
- 102. Fig. 76. When the token serja and kham are placed then the image appears on the screen and theretune starts playing. When rotatated anti-clok- wise its volume can be increased and vice-versa. Like- wise combination of different tunes can be made using these instruments. 96
- 103. Fig. 77. Video Mode 97
- 104. Fig. 78. When all the serja token is placed group of four bodo girls dance on the tune of serja. When serja & sifung tokens are placed group of eight bodo girls dance on the tune of serja & sifung, When serja, sifung, kham token are placed group of twelve bodo girls dance on the tune of serja, sifung and torka. Here, when all the tokens are placed group of sixteen girls dance on the tune of serja, sifung, kham and torka. 98
- 105. Fig. 79. If a wrong sequence is placed then the visitor is notified about the right sequnce to be followed. 99
- 106. 8 Testing 8.1 User Testing 8.2 Testing Conclusions 100
- 107. 8.1 User Testing User testing was conducted in Assam State Museum, Guwahati with 27 participants from varying age of 5- 63 years. The aim of the testing was to evaluate effectiveness life size installations in conventional museums in India. The two major USABILITY GOALS were: a. ease of use b. ease of learning Self-reported metrics was adpated for testing the user experience as the data giveS the most important information about users’ perception of the system and their interaction with it. At an emotional level, the data may tell something about how the users feel about the system. In many situations, these kinds of reactions are the main thing that mat- ters Even if it takes users forever to perform something with a system, if the experience makes them happy, that may be the only thing that matters[38] Intrinsic Motivation Inventory The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) is a multidimensional measure- ment device intended to assess participants’ subjective experience re- lated to a target activity in laboratory experiments. It has been used in several experiments related to intrinsic motivation and self-regulation (e.g., Ryan, 1982; Ryan, Mims & Koestner, 1983; Plant & Ryan, 1985; Ryan, Connell, & Plant, 1990; Ryan, Koestner & Deci, 1991; Deci, Eghrari, Patrick, & Leone, 1994)[39]. The instrument assesses participants’ in- terest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort, value/usefulness, felt pressure and tension, and perceived choice while performing a given ac- tivity, thus yielding six subscale scores. Recently, a seventh subscale has been added to tap the experiences of relatedness, although the validity of this subscale has yet to be established. The interest/enjoyment 101 Fig. 80. Setting up the installation Fig. 81. Visitor Interaction
- 108. subscale is considered the self-report measure of intrinsic motivation; thus, although the overall questionnaire is called the Intrinsic motiva- on Inventory, it is only the one subscale that assesses intrinsic motiva- tion, per se. As a result, the interest/enjoyment subscale often has more items on it that do the other subscales. The perceived choice and per- ceived competence concepts are theorized to be positive predictors of both self-report and behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation, and pressure/tension is theorized to be a negative predictor of intrinsic mo- tivation. Effort is a separate variable that is relevant to some motiva- tion questions, so is used it its relevant. The value/usefulness subscale is used in internalization studies (e.g., Deci et al, 1994), the idea being that people internalize and become self-regulating with respect to activities that they experience as useful or valuable for themselves. Finally, the relatedness subscale is used in studies having to do with interpersonal interactions, friendship formation, and so on. The POST EXPERIEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE framed evaluated Interest/ Enjoyment, Effort/Importance, Pressure/Tension and Value/ Usefulness. The questionnaire was based on the following scale: 1 Not at all true 2 3 4 Somewhat true 5 6 7 Very true The questions were as follows: 1. I enjoyed doing this activity very much 2. This activity was fun to do. 3. This activity did not hold my attention at all. 4. I would describe this activity as very interesting. 5. I put a lot of effort into this. 102 Fig. 82 Visitor Interaction Fig. 83. Visitor Interaction
- 109. 6. I tried very hard on this activity. 7. I would be willing to do it again 8. I feel such products should be kept in museum 9. I feel nervous at all while doing this. 10. I felt very tense while doing this activity. 11. I felt pressured while doing these. 12. I believe this activity added to my knowledge 13. I feel such products will increase learning in museums 14. I’d like a chance to know more about such traditional dances more often. 15. I’d like not to know more about such traditional dances more often. 16. I feel close to this activity 17. I am satisfied with my performance at this task 103
- 110. 104 8.2 Testing Conclusions The 27 participants who particpated showed keen interest in the set-up. Few statements passed were: “ It’s appreaciable that the culture of assam is being brought back to it’s people through the new technologies” “Can we give full rating for the system” “ Please do extend the dance forms and next time, create something for Bihu Dance” The participants were highly enthusiastic while playing with the tokens. Also, they expressed the desire to know about the functionality. The overall individual rating for the four factors, Interest, effort, pressure and value are 6, 5, 6 and 6 out of 7. In future, we look forward for intensive data analysis using Cronchbach’s alpha.
- 111. 9 Future Work The installation has been designed after ethnography study in Assam State Musem and set-up in the same. The installation is a fun based learning about the Bagurumbha dance of bodo tribe. During the user testing phase it was observed that the visitors enjoyed multimedia set- up in the conventional museum and wished to have more of these. They expressed the desire of knowing more dance forms of different tribes of assam. In future, the intearction modalities can be improved and also, the content is to be extended for a longer period of learning. 106
- 112. 10 Conclusion The installation, ‘Krishti’ is a tangible user interface using tokens to inter- act with the system to learn about the Bagurumbha dance of the Bodo tribe. The ethnography study was conducted in the Assam State Mu- seum in Guwahati and various other museums around the globe were studied to understand the user experience built in the museums. Par- ticipatory museums is the new demand in the 21st century. Hence, we adapted the same idea to pass on the facts about the traditional Bagu- rumbha dance of the tribe of Assam, Bodo. The design focusses on a user centered design including fun, non- textual learning and personal- ization. Overall, the system received a highly positive response from the visitors in the Assam State Museum. 107
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