Using mobile technologies for multimedia tours in a traditional museum setting

Mobile technology was used to deliver learner-centred experiences to visitors at a geology museum without compromising the museum’s aesthetic appeal. Two Flash-based multimedia tours were developed for the Hypertag Magus Guide system and trialled with 25 visitors in November 2005. Trial participants found the system fun and easy to use, though they requested headphones in order to hear the audio clearly. Several suggestions were provided to improve the tours including creating stronger links between the tour and the museum’s objects and incorporating more interactive and competitive elements. A structured multimedia tour approach is appropriate for visitors who can connect with the museum’s narratives, though more flexibility is required to meet the needs of other visitor types.University of Birmingha

Online Note Sharing in a Mobile Self-Guided Tour System

[[abstract]]This paper presents a self-guided tour system that allows a visitor to instantly share his/her notes or remarks about exhibits with others through the Internet. The note/remark not only can be stored with the exhibit information to be accessed by other visitors, but also can be broadcasted through microblogging in a timely manner. This provides an interaction mechanism for the visitor to feedback his/her remark on a certain exhibit to the administration and to share it with friends instantly. A prototype system for such an environment was realized through the RFID and mobile technologies. The architecture and the development of the prototype system are illustrated in this paper.[[conferencetype]]國際[[conferencedate]]20100215~20100218[[iscallforpapers]]Y[[conferencelocation]]Krakow, Polan

Bletchley Park text: using mobile and semantic web technologies to support the post-visit use of online museum resources

A number of technologies have been developed to support the museum visitor, with the aim of making their visit more educationally rewarding and/or entertaining. Examples include PDA-based personalized tour guides and virtual reality representations of cultural objects or scenes. Rather than supporting the actual visit, we decided to employ technology to support the post-visitor, that is, encourage follow-up activities among recent visitors to a museum. This allowed us to use the technology in a way that would not detract from the existing curated experience and allow the museum to provide access to additional heritage resources that cannot be presented during the physical visit. Within our application, called Bletchley Park Text, visitors express their interests by sending text (SMS) messages containing suggested keywords using their own mobile phone. The semantic description of the archive of resources is then used to retrieve and organize a collection of content into a personalized web site for use when they get home. Organization of the collection occurs both bottom-up from the semantic description of each item in the collection, and also top-down according to a formal representation of the overall museum story. In designing the interface we aimed to support exploration across the content archive rather than just the search and retrieval of specific resources. The service was developed for the Bletchley Park museum and has since been launched for use by all visitors

Characteristics of pervasive learning environments in museum contexts

There is no appropriate learning model for pervasive learning environments (PLEs), and museums maintain authenticity at the cost of unmarked information. To address these problems, we present the LieksaMyst PLE developed for Pielinen Museum and we derive a set of characteristics that an effective PLE should meet and which form the basis of a new learning model currently under development. We discuss how the characteristics are addressed in LieksaMyst and present an evaluation of the game component of LieksaMyst. Results indicate that, while some usability issues remain to be resolved, the game was received well by the participants enabling them to immerse themselves in the story and to interact effectively with its virtual characters

Technology enhanced interaction framework

This paper focuses on the development of a general interaction framework to help design technology to support communication between people and improve interactions between people, technology and objects, particularly in complex situations. A review of existing interaction frameworks shows that none of them help technology designers and developers to consider all of the possible interactions that occur at the same time and in the same place. The main and sub-components of the framework are described and explained and examples are given for each type of interaction. Work is now in progress to provide designers with an easy to use tool that helps them apply the framework to create technology solutions to complex communication and interaction problems and situations

Using the technology enhanced interaction framework for interaction scenarios involving disabled people

This paper focuses on the development of a general interaction framework to help design technology to support communication between people and improve interactions between people, technology and objects, particularly in complex situations when disabled people are involved. The main and sub-components of the framework are described. A tool was developed to provide advice on design and development factors for technological support. Work is now in progress to validate the framework and the tool with expert designers and accessibility experts before evaluating it with technology designers

SunDial: embodied informal science education using GPS

Science centers serve a number of goals for visitors, ideally providing experiences that are educational, social, and meaningful. This paper describes SunDial, a handheld application developed for families to use at a science center. Inspired by the idea of geocaching, the high-tech treasure hunting game that utilizes GPS technologies, SunDial asks families to use a single handheld device to locate and participate in a series of learning modules around the museum. Observations of 10 families suggest that it supports rich informal science education experiences, provides insights about families’ interaction patterns around and with single handheld devices, and demonstrates the value of navigation as an educational experience. Further, using recently released guidelines for Informal Science Education (ISE) experiences to inform the design process proved valuable, tying features of the technology to educational and social goals, and giving evidence that explicit reference to these guidelines can improve ISE experiences and technologies