oz: the blog of glenda sims ( the goodwitch)
Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
My dreams are filled with digital museum experiences. Easy, intuitive access to art. Inspiring and creative interactions with art, ideas and people that transform me. And entering from stage left, a herd of rhinos. Pink elephants emerge stage right. Rhinos and elephants and art? Yes! Rhinos and elephants and art! You see, the ever so talented Peter Samis is sharing his passion for interactive multimedia experiences and art through a grand open source project named The Pachyderm Project.
Just last week, I had the honor of visiting the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) to discuss the future of technology in museums. This museum is boldly discovering ways to engage their visitors while opening the vault of curator knowledge for public access. From the XRoom to the handheld museum guide with wireless location sensing, I’m blown away by what they’ve accomplished in such a short period of time.
Have you ever heard of an art exhibit where you are allowed to use your hands as much as your eyes? My recent trek to see Shade: Art Beyond Sight elevated the sense of touch above vision, and was specifically designed from an “eyes closed” perspective. Tactile drawings, touchable objects, braille labels and audio descriptions created a multi-sensory experience.
What options are available to provide location specific information to visitors in museums? And how do these options compare? If you had to make a decision today, what technology would you choose? Well, it would depend on your objective and your budget.
As I’ve pondered these questions, I’ve come up with a list of what I consider to be the viable location sensing options today. This topic must be revisted at least once a year (preferably every 6 months) as the technology is changing quickly.
Position Puzzle: Where are you? Or more specifically, where is your handheld? One method for determining the location of a handheld computer indoors is by infrared beacons. Armed with two Lesswire IrDA Beacons and my trusty Dell Axim x50v, I searched for the answer to my position puzzle. Each Lesswire IrDA Beacon is designed to… Continue reading Infrared Location Sensing
Annie Leibovitz knows how to capture the spirit of an artist in her legendary photographs. Wandering through the American Music exhibit at the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) was pure pleasure today.
There is a new choice in mobile computing for the museum market. Adocere has developed a mid-size mobile device called the Weblet. It is a delicious cross between a tablet and a PDA. The 8.5″ screen certainly had my designer drooling. My response?
I have a new dance step to share with you. It is called the Ekahau Dance…and it goes like this. Set up at least 4 wireless access points. Install the Ekahau Position Software on one laptop and a few mobile devices (laptops or pdas) Mark a square grid out on the floor of the “room”… Continue reading Music, Dancing, Museums & Location Sensing