Exhibit Design Inspiration: Zimoun

The artist Zimoun uses a variety of familiar materials (primarily combinations of boxes, motors, and wire) to create sound sculptures and environments.  As you can see from the video above there is a very compelling, almost hypnotic effect to the sounds and motions the art pieces create.

In the words of the artist: "My audio compositions are less focused on getting from A to B but rather to create static sound architectures and spaces. They should be entered and explored acoustically like a building."

 

Find out more about the artist, and see more examples of Zimoun's work by clicking over to the Zimoun website.


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Guest Post from Jim Spadaccini on Computer-Based Exhibits

Jim Spadaccini is the Director of Ideum and Principal Investigator for the NSF-funded Open Exhibits initiative.  In the last century, he was Director of Interactive Media at the Exploratorium.  Jim was kind enough to share some thoughts about computers and exhibits with ExhibiTricks readers:

Computer-Based Exhibits: Challenges and Changes

Having been in the field for nearly 20 years, I have to admit many of the computer-based exhibits developed by and for museums have fallen short of expectations.

Most computer interactives found in museums are isolating, information-heavy experiences: single-user kiosks with layers of text, images, and the occasional video. 

Most exhibit developers would agree that good exhibits, generally, are ones that encourage visitor engagement and social interaction. These exhibits tend to be more experiential than informational.   

While I believe computer-based exhibits have not lived up to their promise, I also believe that is beginning to change.

Multitouch screens, gestural interfaces, and intuitive multiuser interactions are emerging. Multiple screens, spherical displays, networked exhibits, and other more compelling computer-based installations are becoming more common. 

 ( A group of visitors to Adventure Science Center in Nashville Tennessee, gather around 100” multitouch, multiuser exhibit exploring the EM Spectrum.)

These more complex installations don’t ensure that an exhibit is more engaging, but many of these technologies simply weren’t available or were prohibitively expensive back in the ‘90s.  It’s great to have new options .

While these changes are very positive, a number of challenges still remain when it comes to computer-based exhibits.

Computer-based exhibits are expensive to develop; they quickly go out of date and are rarely updated. Also, the software is almost never shared between museums.  (There isn’t really a software equivalent of the Exploratorium Cookbooks or the ASTC Cheapbooks.)

Like other types of exhibits, computer-based ones are also rarely evaluated. Since by their nature they use new technology, it can be especially hard to try to anticipate and shape the visitor experience.

While these issues are deeply rooted in the field, the open source software movement has provided a model that can help with some of these challenges. Last fall, Ideum and several museum partners were awarded a National Science Foundation grant for an open source software initiative called Open Exhibits . I’m hoping that this initiative can make a significant contribution to the field.

Open Exhibits provides free software modules, templates and eventually whole exhibits to museums and other educational organizations. The project focuses on mostly multitouch and multiuser software. Right now there are software modules that handle images and video and connect with sites like YouTube and Flickr. These modules are multitouch- and multiuser-enabled.

We are also developing other types of software, such as an innovative way to connect with databases (OpenAPI) and this week we are going to release a module that allows easy offering for Microsoft’s gesture-based Kinect camera system.  (Check out this Ideum blog post for more info.) 

(The author tries out the new Open Exhibits module for Microsoft Kinect motion controller system. This free module will allow the $150 Kinect device to connect to virtually any Open Exhibit software module.)

We are focusing on emerging technology with an emphasis on physical computing. We are looking to help build a platform that will allow museum professionals to create the next generation of computer-based interactives. For now, we are doing most of the development, but we are nurturing a community site that will hopefully empower others to develop their own computer-based exhibits.

The Open Exhibits project was funded in September 2010 and within 45 days we launched the community website.  Now, just 63 days later, we have over 400 members, have had over 1,000 software downloads, and we are beginning to get contributions from other Open Exhibits members.  (You can see these numbers change in real time on our website, which has a dashboard design.)

Along with software, the site contains research and survey results and other practical information for designers and developers.   We will be publishing many of the findings from the research and evaluation components of the project.

Open Exhibits is a three-year project, so we have nearly 1,000 days left to continue to grow and facilitate the community and to hopefully make an impact. 

Please check out Open Exhibits at: www.openexhibits.org, and join us!

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The Myth of Multitasking: Museum Media Messages

The weakest possible argument for layers of excessive multimedia mayhem in a museum environment?  Here it comes: "Just look at young people texting, listening to music, and doing their homework all at once.  The current generation is just more media savvy, and better equipped to multitask than previous generations, so we need to design our exhibition environments accordingly ..."

BULL!

This rationalization (or slight variations) continually shows up in museum listservs, conference sessions, and even professional books when media dense projects are presented. 

This despite the fact that research continually shows that multitasking and distracting environments actually decrease people's ability to concentrate and learn.  Even if you conducted formative evaluation to find out whether people want such dense environments, many multitaskers feel that they are actually much better at handling multiple tasks than they really are.  "Heavy multitaskers are often extremely confident in their abilities," says Clifford I. Nass, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. "But there's evidence that those people are actually worse at multitasking than most people."   Perhaps a better term would be "multiswitching"  than "multitasking" because it better encompasses the rapid changes of orientation and focus that occur in the brain.

If museums would like visitors to learn about a few things (hopefully!) as they wander the galleries, then why are they often deploying design and technology strategies that actually work against such educationally-minded goals?  That I think is an emotional rather than a rational question.  Even the most hidebound Museum Director seems only too willing to invest in "shiny new toys" (4D Theaters!) with the hope of creating a technological siren song designed to lure visitors in.  Unfortunately, forcing museum visitors to try to attend to multiple information streams at once often leaves only a hazy memory of sensory effects behind, rather than clear messages that remain after the museum visit is over.

Before I'm accused  of being a Luddite, let me say, with apologies to Marshall McLuhan, the medium is not the message --- the message is the message.  I certainly think media-rich museum environments employing digital technologies can be compelling and wonderful.  But before you get hung up on how many touch screens you can fit into your new visitor center, think first about the messages you want to send, and the range of options for sending those messages.


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Exhibit Inspiration: The Cake Boss is a Great Prototyper!

Learning to be a good exhibit prototyper is a lot like learning to be a good swimmer or a good baker.  You could read about any of those skills, but to really catch the nuances and notice the little tricks, it helps to watch somebody else model the techniques a few times before you start out yourself.

So where can you find a TV show with a funny Italian guy on the East Coast to teach you some great prototyping approaches? (No, not me!  But feel free to contact me if you'd like me to run some in-person prototyping workshops or exhibit test sessions with the staff and visitors at your museum.) 

No, I was actually thinking of Buddy Valastro, better known as the "Cake Boss" from the cable TV show of the same name.  I'm serious --- this guy is an ace prototyper!

So what are some things you can learn about exhibit prototyping by watching a few episodes of Cake Boss?


1) Know your customer
Before Buddy starts making a specialty cake, he sits down and has a conversation with the client to find out more about the things they like, and to bounce initial ideas around.

Obviously, you won't be having a chat with everyone who comes to your museum, but how can you leverage your museum's social media sites (like Facebook or Twitter) or your newsletter to let visitors know you'll be working on new exhibits, and would like their ideas?  Similarly, asking for help as you test out actual physical prototypes inside the museum is fun and exciting for visitors, and you can learn a lot from the conversations and comments around such prototyping sessions.



2) Prototyping can be a team sport
Usually after some initial sketches and rough ideas about a cake are prepared, Buddy gathers his team to solicit input for things to try, and for which sections of the cake people would like to work on.  Lots of little ideas and input from the bakers and designers result in cool cakes like the "Aquarium Cake" below that includes a real fish-filled tank behind it!

Similarly, when you're putting together ideas and changes for prototype exhibits, give your staff a sense of ownership and pride in the process by soliciting input and showing that even if you haven't incorporated every single idea into the final product, you were willing to sincerely try things out. 



3) Stay loose, and keep a good supply of "stuff" nearby
Don't give up on "crazy" ideas --- even if they seem impossible at first.  The Cake Boss crew wanted to make a cake for retired fire fighters.  Once they knew that their intended audience (firefighters) wouldn't be satisfied with just a plain cake, they started talking about fire engines with flashers and a building/cake with smoke billowing out.  That's great, but how do you do it?   Buddy sent somebody out to buy some toy fire engines and a theatrical smoke machine to create the finished cake. (He stripped out all the electronics from the toy and incorporated them into an edible fire truck cake.)

To be able to realize the exhibit equivalent of a "Fire Engine Cake" be willing to throw some crazy ideas against the wall to see what sticks.  But to prototype those wacky ideas it helps to have some simple building stuff (masking tape, paper, cardboard, markers, etc.) handy so you don't lose the enthusiasm and momentum of the moment.



4) Sometimes you drop the cake

Occasionally, something catastrophic (cakeastrophic?) happens on the Cake Boss show. Somebody drops a finished cake down a flight of stairs.  Someone else delivers the wrong wedding cake.  Yes, there may be some yelling, but after everyone calms down they take a deep breath and figure out how to solve the problem.

Sometimes, try as you might,  a favorite exhibit idea is a flat out bust.  Or you follow an idea into a dead end.  Fuhgedaboutit!  There will be prototyping flubs, and exhibit mistakes.  Admit up-front that there will be unexpected challenges to resolve.  That's part of the fun (but leave some time and money in your budget for remediation...)


Now I hope I've inspired you to watch a little Cake Boss and to do a little more prototyping in your museum.  Hey! Maybe TLC should start a new show --- Exhibit Boss!


Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Free Updates" link on the right side of the blog. P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)