Open Forum

Digital (internet + screen) based technologies are reshaping the museum experience. The shift towards digital, dynamic content and story telling is hitting an inflection point where the visitor expects to see digital stories and are choosing to spend more time in front of those exhibits than traditional non digital object displays. Digital is not cheap or as simple to manage as traditional static exhibits. This thread is for members to discuss the successes and challenges they have had with implementing digital technology. It is also timely as the biggest conference for exhibit design, where the speakers will discuss these topics happens in Washington DC 23+24 August. segd.org/exhibition

Have you implemented digital display in your museum and how have you measured their success?

------------------------------
clive roux
CEO
Society For Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD)
Washington DC
------------------------------

The short answer is yes. The iPhone is over a decade old now and most school children do not know a day without the digital world. A museum without a digital component will seem dated and less relevant to the younger visitor. What I have done with success is build iPad based videos with Microsoft movie maker. The subject matter was usually a timeline, which freed up considerable wall space and to expand on topics that were not necessarily part of the narrative. The best example was an exhibit on baseball in Florida. The pads had a timeline video on National baseball events and a greater exploration of one specific 1916 all negro team. 


My challenges were the time spent on creating content for the videos, the rights for use in images that were not public domain, and the cost of the pads. The museum has two sets of pads in a rotation to stay charged for a full day and sometimes evening event. There are also limitations in the number of visitors that can see a standard Ipad in a group tour.

------------------------------
Benjamen Salata
Project Manager
Luxam Inc.
Coral Springs FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-17-2018 06:39 AM
From: clive roux
Subject: Museum Experience Design

Digital (internet + screen) based technologies are reshaping the museum experience. The shift towards digital, dynamic content and story telling is hitting an inflection point where the visitor expects to see digital stories and are choosing to spend more time in front of those exhibits than traditional non digital object displays. Digital is not cheap or as simple to manage as traditional static exhibits. This thread is for members to discuss the successes and challenges they have had with implementing digital technology. It is also timely as the biggest conference for exhibit design, where the speakers will discuss these topics happens in Washington DC 23+24 August. segd.org/exhibition

Have you implemented digital display in your museum and how have you measured their success?

------------------------------
clive roux
CEO
Society For Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD)
Washington DC
------------------------------

Dear colleagues:

"Re-shaping" the field?--apparently so. The question that must not be overlooked however is: Are digital-based technologies actually appropriate in all, many, or even a few in-gallery situations?

Museums working on digitising museum experiences must not proceed without carefully analysing the impact on visitors of mediating in-gallery experiences through Internet & screens. The first place to start such investigations is not a digital resource, but an actual 'hand-held' book: 

Alter, Adam. 2017. Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technologies and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. New York: Penguin Press.

One of Alter's main arguments focusses on digital "behavioural addiction." The vast majority of smartphone & other device users have this condition defined as: any compulsive conduct not substance-related that undermines well-being in at least one respect. The outcome of digital behavioural addiction according to research psychologist Dr. Larry Rosen is that a "relentless barrage of notifications can have adverse effects on our mental and physical health."

Arguably, therefore, museums must be careful not to enable further overloading of our visitors by further forcing heads to tip forward toward a digital hand-held device.

Based on Alter & other sources, my analysis of one particular in-gallery digital system can be found in the 17 January 2018 Critical Museology Miscellanea blog post "Get Noses Pressed up to Vitrines, not Devices" at https://miscellaneousmuseology.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/get-noses-pressed-up-to-vitrines-not-devices/ . This also post has been reprinted in InterpNews, July-August 2018, Vol. 7 # 4, pp. 41-15 at https://issuu.com/interpnews/docs/in_-_july-aug_2018_frog_cover.compr .

In sum, museum visitors need a break from their digital devices. Where better than in a museum gallery?

------------------------------
Paul Thistle
Director/Curator (retired)
Stratford ON
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2018 08:56 AM
From: Benjamen Salata
Subject: Museum Experience Design

The short answer is yes. The iPhone is over a decade old now and most school children do not know a day without the digital world. A museum without a digital component will seem dated and less relevant to the younger visitor. What I have done with success is build iPad based videos with Microsoft movie maker. The subject matter was usually a timeline, which freed up considerable wall space and to expand on topics that were not necessarily part of the narrative. The best example was an exhibit on baseball in Florida. The pads had a timeline video on National baseball events and a greater exploration of one specific 1916 all negro team.


My challenges were the time spent on creating content for the videos, the rights for use in images that were not public domain, and the cost of the pads. The museum has two sets of pads in a rotation to stay charged for a full day and sometimes evening event. There are also limitations in the number of visitors that can see a standard Ipad in a group tour.

------------------------------
Benjamen Salata
Project Manager
Luxam Inc.
Coral Springs FL

Original Message:
Sent: 08-17-2018 06:39 AM
From: clive roux
Subject: Museum Experience Design

Digital (internet + screen) based technologies are reshaping the museum experience. The shift towards digital, dynamic content and story telling is hitting an inflection point where the visitor expects to see digital stories and are choosing to spend more time in front of those exhibits than traditional non digital object displays. Digital is not cheap or as simple to manage as traditional static exhibits. This thread is for members to discuss the successes and challenges they have had with implementing digital technology. It is also timely as the biggest conference for exhibit design, where the speakers will discuss these topics happens in Washington DC 23+24 August. segd.org/exhibition

Have you implemented digital display in your museum and how have you measured their success?

------------------------------
clive roux
CEO
Society For Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD)
Washington DC
------------------------------

An interesting query!  However, I would question if the absence of digital content can effectively prevent museum visitors from excessively using their smartphones/tablets/etc. while on museum grounds.  Even if not truly a form of addiction, it cannot be denied that the frequent use of social media via smartphones has become a habitual behavior for a large swath of the population (at least in the United States).  Furthermore, one simply cannot refute the fact that these and other activities performed through user interaction with a smartphone have become more common and/or accepted occurrences in recent years, even within environments where their performance is detrimental to the experiences of others.  Therefore, it would initially seem that one of the best (as in quickest to develop and easiest to implement) "answers" to the question of "How should museums approach the on-site use of smartphones and other forms of digital technology?" would be to severely restrict a visitor's ability to use their own pieces of digital technology while on-site. 

Now, while I can outline a plethora of different problems the implementation of this "solution" could cause (ex: I'm expecting a call/text from_______, so I can't go to a museum today), I feel as though the majority of these issues are fairly straight forward and self-explanatory, most revolving around the simple fact that restricting smartphone use in museums would lead to decreases in visitation numbers.  So, instead, I will simply skip to my alternative "solutions," these being to create experiences that either A) incorporate visitors' smartphones into the museum visit itself (ex: AR games/apps or small "dead zones" around a museum bordered by signs prompting visitors to reflect on their experiences in these "dead zones" and communicate them via the methods they will now regain access to), B) provide opportunities to interact with forms of digital technology which completely immerse users in an experience (ex: VR), or C) provide post-visit experiences via the use of digital technology that are dependent upon non-intrusive on-site activities, in an attempt to extend the museum experience and, thereby, compensate for the negative temporal impact to visitors caused by factors such as excessive smartphone use, distracting visitors, etc. (ex: The PEN system and a system of my own creation I have dubbed the My Museum app).  

In conclusion, digital technology will be used at an ever-increasing frequency within museum spaces as it becomes a larger part of the average human's daily life.  It is now up to the best and brightest in the field to decide whether this use will be the distracting, non-constructive variant which naturally occurs when modern humans are left to their own devices, or the kind which compliments, enhances, or (at minimum) doesn't denigrate the museum experience!  If you would like to know the sources which I've used to support this argument, please let me know and I will include them in a follow up message.

------------------------------
Samuel Azzaro
Educational Digital Media Professional
Merrick NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-21-2018 11:01 AM
From: Paul Thistle
Subject: Museum Experience Design

Dear colleagues:

"Re-shaping" the field?--apparently so. The question that must not be overlooked however is: Are digital-based technologies actually appropriate in all, many, or even a few in-gallery situations?

Museums working on digitising museum experiences must not proceed without carefully analysing the impact on visitors of mediating in-gallery experiences through Internet & screens. The first place to start such investigations is not a digital resource, but an actual 'hand-held' book: 

Alter, Adam. 2017. Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technologies and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. New York: Penguin Press.

One of Alter's main arguments focusses on digital "behavioural addiction." The vast majority of smartphone & other device users have this condition defined as: any compulsive conduct not substance-related that undermines well-being in at least one respect. The outcome of digital behavioural addiction according to research psychologist Dr. Larry Rosen is that a "relentless barrage of notifications can have adverse effects on our mental and physical health."

Arguably, therefore, museums must be careful not to enable further overloading of our visitors by further forcing heads to tip forward toward a digital hand-held device.

Based on Alter & other sources, my analysis of one particular in-gallery digital system can be found in the 17 January 2018 Critical Museology Miscellanea blog post "Get Noses Pressed up to Vitrines, not Devices" at https://miscellaneousmuseology.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/get-noses-pressed-up-to-vitrines-not-devices/ . This also post has been reprinted in InterpNews, July-August 2018, Vol. 7 # 4, pp. 41-15 at https://issuu.com/interpnews/docs/in_-_july-aug_2018_frog_cover.compr .

In sum, museum visitors need a break from their digital devices. Where better than in a museum gallery?

------------------------------
Paul Thistle
Director/Curator (retired)
Stratford ON

Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2018 08:56 AM
From: Benjamen Salata
Subject: Museum Experience Design

The short answer is yes. The iPhone is over a decade old now and most school children do not know a day without the digital world. A museum without a digital component will seem dated and less relevant to the younger visitor. What I have done with success is build iPad based videos with Microsoft movie maker. The subject matter was usually a timeline, which freed up considerable wall space and to expand on topics that were not necessarily part of the narrative. The best example was an exhibit on baseball in Florida. The pads had a timeline video on National baseball events and a greater exploration of one specific 1916 all negro team.


My challenges were the time spent on creating content for the videos, the rights for use in images that were not public domain, and the cost of the pads. The museum has two sets of pads in a rotation to stay charged for a full day and sometimes evening event. There are also limitations in the number of visitors that can see a standard Ipad in a group tour.

------------------------------
Benjamen Salata
Project Manager
Luxam Inc.
Coral Springs FL

Original Message:
Sent: 08-17-2018 06:39 AM
From: clive roux
Subject: Museum Experience Design

Digital (internet + screen) based technologies are reshaping the museum experience. The shift towards digital, dynamic content and story telling is hitting an inflection point where the visitor expects to see digital stories and are choosing to spend more time in front of those exhibits than traditional non digital object displays. Digital is not cheap or as simple to manage as traditional static exhibits. This thread is for members to discuss the successes and challenges they have had with implementing digital technology. It is also timely as the biggest conference for exhibit design, where the speakers will discuss these topics happens in Washington DC 23+24 August. segd.org/exhibition

Have you implemented digital display in your museum and how have you measured their success?

------------------------------
clive roux
CEO
Society For Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD)
Washington DC
------------------------------