Free to Move, Create and Engage: Designing Meaningful and
Barrier-Free Digital Experiences with Museum Collections
Free to Move, Create and Engage: Designing Meaningful and
Barrier-Free Digital Experiences with Museum Collections
Jane Alexander Chief Information/Digital OfficerThe Cleveland
Museum of Art
April 4, 2017Northeast Ohio Regional Library SystemEmerging Tech
Symposium
1
Jane AlexanderChief Information/Digital Officer
Technology and the Art Museum, 1967
Mrs. Irma Wilkinson has questioned the effectiveness of a
computer in the Catalogue department 3
Cataloguing in 2010
Audio tours then and now
Technology Integration In Museums and Beyond: Cuyahoga County
Public Library Parma Branch
Gallery Oneopened 12/12/12 People come to museums for
storytelling and engagementand technology needs to facilitate
thatThe New York Times (2013)
What is Gallery One? How it came to exist, what it does,
emphasis on technology and art interactionQuote source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/arts/artsspecial/at-cleveland-museum-of-art-the-ipad-enhances.html8
The First Iteration of Gallery One 4 Components: - Gallery One
proper, - Studio Play, - Collection Wall, - ArtLens App
Build audiences: including families, teens, school groups, and
occasional visitors Provide a fun and engaging environment for
visitors with all levels of knowledge about art Highlight featured
artworks to the Greater Cleveland community and the world Propel
visitors into the primary galleries with greater enthusiasm,
understanding, and excitement about the collectionDevelop and
galvanized visitor interest, bringing visitors back to the museum
again and again Original Goals for Gallery One
Actually looking closer.10
Gallery One Proper
Studio Play
What Worked Space especially for families with young
kidsHigh-touch and non-digital interactivesPlace for parents to
decompress, relax while kids (5 and under) played in safe
environment
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Collection Wall
ArtLens App
Why Are We Changing Gallery One? The museum considered the
original Gallery One to a proof of concept rather than endpointThe
last four years have provided an excellent opportunity to gather
information: to interview visitors, track usage and evaluate the
effectiveness of each componentUsing that feedback, successful new
redesigns have already been completed for the ArtLens Studio
(opened June 2016) and the ArtLens App (launched September 2016)The
next step is an update of the exhibition portion of ArtLens
Gallery OneARTLENS Gallery
ArtLens App 2.0 (September 2016)Downloads in less than a minute,
takes up less memory than the Facebook app, available on Android
and iOS devices Improved and responsive wayfinding map with
iBeacons throughout the museum
Save artworks on the app or by connecting to the ArtLens
Wall
Search any object on view in the museum and map your way
there
Scan select objects using augmented reality technology to access
additional information Go on museum-created tours or create your
own
Content updates automatically from the backend
ArtLens App 2.0
Studio Play: What Did and Didnt Work
What Didnt Not fully intergenerationalNot engaging for older
kids, 5+Not totally fulfilling mission of Gallery One Playroom
feeling of the space deterred visitors and families without young
children from exploring Gallery One
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[CMA Visitors] have high expectations of what the museum will
offer them and want an experience that they cannot find elsewhere
Elizabeth Bolander, CMA Director of Research and Evaluation
Goals of new Studio Play20
New Goals for ArtLens Studio Barrier-free technology that allows
for virtually touch-free interaction
A space for intergenerational learning, ages 5 and up rather
than 5 and below
Inspire gallery exploration with greater understanding and
enthusiasm
Connect what visitors do in Studio Play with what they see in
the museum
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Introducing
ArtLens Studio
Studio Play Cleveland Museum of Art on YouTube
THIS SLIDE HAS VIDEO; only shows up in slideshow mode 23
Collage Maker and Portrait Maker
Connects visitors to the museum using artworks and artifacts
from the collection as the raw materials to create their own
artworkCreated content is sent to the Studio Play Tumblr or to
oneself
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Memory, Matching and Sorting Interactives
Supports visual and verbal literacy within the context of art
Fosters further understanding of artworks while providing a
connection to the museums collectionLook closely at elements within
works and match or sort based on constituent elements of
artworks
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Line and Shape
Centerpiece of Studio Play 2.0Self-initiated exploration for
visitors to examine the museums collection using their own lines
and shapes Focuses on details within artworks and objects
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Paint Play
Pottery Wheel
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Reveal
Zoom
Using movement to explore art Allow visitors to dynamically
reveal paintings, drawings, and objects from the museum collection
using body motionDramatic movement reveals the content in a looser,
abstract waySmaller movements resolve the content in more
detailZoom: magnifies the artwork using body movement, explores
details and techniques
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Summative Research on New Studio Play, 2016Overall Experience:
66% rated excellent (5/5), 87% rated 4/5 or 5/5Elizabeth
Bolander
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?: ARTLENS EXHIBITION (opening June
2017)
Audience GoalsEach component of the ARTLENS Gallery (Studio,
App, Wall, and Exhibition) serves as a launching point for
visitors, whether casual attendees or lifelong art lovers, to
engage with art and connect with the collection
The ArtLens Exhibition will attract non-traditional museum
visitors by taking away the intimidation of the art museum and
giving visitors the toolset to look closer, dive deeper, and begin
a relationship with the collection
Reversing the Digital Experience
Gallery OneArtLens Exhibition Rendering
Emily Hirsch (EH) - Intertwining Art and Technology
Art in the Foreground: Instead of touchscreens positioned in
front of the artwork, artworks are positioned in the foreground
Featuring a new group of 20 artworks, including masterworks by
Edgar Degas and Frank Stella Barrier-free: building on the success
of the barrier-free ArtLens Studio interactives, projections that
respond seamlessly to body movement will replace touchscreens
Pedagogy and Games The projection interactive games are centered
around themes of: composition, symbols, gestures and emotion, and
purpose, developed by a cross-collaborative museum team
16 new games, including an innovative eye-tracking interactive
that will reveal the visitors areas of focus on an artwork and
compare their view to the artistic intention
Symbols: Decode SymbolsIdentify what symbol belongs in the
blurred space and its meaning
Purpose:What Am I?Guess the purpose of an object using modern
clues
Gesture and Emotion: Body LanguageMatch the gestures in an
artwork to learn about the meaning
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Composition: Become an ArtistCreate original compositions using
the color, pattern, and rhythm of abstract works in CMAs
collection
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Express Yourself: Happy, Sad, Surprised, Confused, Disgust,
Neutral
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ArtLens App Integration
ArtLens is the Glue: visitors will be able to dock their device
at each interactive and save all artworks they interact with to
then find in the galleries, as well as save their user-generated
imagesno more typing in your email address!
Join us for the opening of the ArtLens Exhibition at Solstice,
June 2017
Thank You@janecalexander
