This document discusses developing interactive exhibits for museums that are inclusive of people with disabilities. It describes a workshop called the Creating Museum Media for Everyone project that aimed to design digital exhibits for science museums engaging people with and without disabilities. The workshop used techniques like sonification and touchscreens to make data understandable. Participants provided feedback that intensive workshops can generate new ideas, common background is important, and people with disabilities should be involved in the design process from the start.
3. The Creating Museum Media for Everyone
project (CMME)
“…further the field’s capacity to design, develop
and implement innovative digital interactives for
science museum exhibitions that engage
people with and without disabilities in informal
science learning.”
10. What we learned about running workshop/hackathon
• Intensive workshops which bring many people together and
challenge them to be creative can lead to new and
interesting ideas
• Participants need common background information
• People with disabilities should be included in the design
process from the beginning
• Personas can be a useful tool for keeping end-users in mind
• Varying forms of documentation are important for project’s
records and dissemination purposes
14. Credits
• Museum of Science: Christine Reich (PI), Andrea
Durham (co-PI), Anna Lindgren-Streicher, Ben Wilson,
Keith Simmons, Boob Rayle, Marta Beyer, Stephanie
Iacovelli
• Ideum: Jim Spadaccini (co-PI), Charles Veasey
• WGBH NCAM: Brad Botkin (co-PI), Larry Goldberg,
Madeline Rothberg
This presentation was based on work supported by the National Science Foundation
under Grant No. 0532536. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.
Notas del editor
Universal design from architecture and product design, UDL from formal educationPhysical, cognitive, and social inclusionMultiple, flexible methods of representation, expression, engagementBeen thinking about it for ~25 years at the MOS, but have realized that we’re not keeping up with the latest challenges related to computer-based interactive exhibits (touchscreens, multi-touch tables, kinect-based interactives, etc.)
Collaboration with Ideum, National Center for Accessible Media at WGBHNSF-funded
An opportunity to:Learn about the project’s goalsLearn from leaders in other fieldsExperiment with the latest technologyBrainstorm ideas about information-based technology interactivesAreas of presentation:Designing in the museum environment, UD/UDL, disability theories & models, personalized experiences, emotion and learning, gamification for people with disabilities, needs of specific groups in museums, user evaluation, data sonification
the team developed a vibrating puck that would provide tactile feedback. According to the different levels of vibrating feedback, visitors would be able to feel how the data points were spread out in a space and where their particular measurement was located. 4 different vibrating modes in this prototypeHad brainstormed about the types of tactile sensations, aesthetics of the different sensations, and what was technically feasibleWanted visitors to be able to pick out points, trends, and quantities One thing they considered was how big a space visitors would explore at the exhibit and how people with limited mobility would use exhibit. Assumed that there would be audio and visual elements as well.By moving the tactile slider, a visitor’s hand would travel along the x and y axis of a graph simultaneously triggering different types of pitches corresponding to data points. The team was able to use code developed by Georgia Tech’s Sonification Lab, to provide an auditory indication to a visitor of trends within the data or where their own data point was located.
Challenge to add an audio layer to a dynamic moving environmentThought about various approaches for audio layer approaches:RFID tags/bar cods—own personal preferencesPush-button interfaceTactile elementsGesture basedFiducial/object triggered
While all of these approaches had Universal Design in mind, there are situations when people have particular needs. This group focused on the broader issue of what a personalized museum experience might look like—giving everyone the option to optimize their experience. Variables that visitors might want to personalize:LanguageText size or colorImage sizeVideo and audio descriptionsVolume and audio settingsAmount of time given for an activityLevel of contentAbility to use a personal deviceFurther areas to explore:Actual implementation of personalization options at museumsEffect of budget constraintsWhen and where visitors would answer these questionWhat personalization means when multiple visitors are collaboratingTypes of cognitive support museums could offer