Our initial exploration and starting point of the task of creating an interactive audio / multimedia tour guide for the Auckland City Art Gallery posed more questions than actual answers. Key ideas to explore were around who the gallery goer and target audience is, what should we consider in regards to usability of the hardware, user interface and content and what the purpose of an audio tour in traditional and modern contexts is.
These answers we began to find through discussion in our group, with lecturers and with the client as well as research.
Phase Two: Research
02-08 August 2010
02-08 August 2010
Why an audio tour?
Audio tours as an accessory to a museum or gallery visit reveal more and deeper levels of information about an artwork that may be otherwise available or understood by the gallery-goer. Most galleries have small placards of text alongside each work but the audio tour offers a greater dept of information than could fit physically. They encourage visitors to spend more time at the gallery and engage in more of a learning experience.
Why an interactive / multimedia device?
Interactive devices deliver this content in a method that is more appealing and engaging, hence people can learn more when enjoying it.
The client has identified their key aims of such a device to help users engage with artworks in a meaningful way which works to build and strengthen the relationship between visitors and the gallery.
Who is the target audience?
Characteristics of the gallery goer to consider:
- Student
- Have they been to a gallery before?
- How old are they?
- Student
- Have they been to a gallery before?
- How old are they?
- Are they tourists?
- Are they by themselves or in couples / groups?
The client has identified their their target audience for the device based on a visitor profile developed through research by the Tate Museum which looked at audience behaviors and motivations for visiting the gallery. They have decided to target self-improvers who are looking for ways to broaden their knowledge their knowledge and skills. The device would serve this target audience by acting as a learning tool that helps them build skills for looking at art and strategies for understanding it.
What sort of content should it deliver?
Many people are put of traditional audio guides because of the connotation of the droning authoritative voice. However, this can be likened to not going to the cinema again after having seen a bad movie. The audio guide is just the platform and the content itself is vital to the user experience.
The content itself should offer various depths of information giving the user the choice of how much they want to access. As well as the traditional audio, users can access images, video and navigation option as well as expand upon the information by delving deeper into specific aspects of the information such as historical / cultural context, symbolism, about the artist, about the the art style / movement, and related works.
The content will be provided to us by the gallery and for the initial stage of this project which we are undertaking for the purposes of this project this semester, we are focusing on eight works which are part of the New Zealand Permanent collection that is the overall focus of the wider project. It has been discussed that for the more long term purposes to set a connection to a database, Vernon, which offers collections management software for museums, galleries and other cultural heritage sites.
How should the content be delivered?
The initial platform we are using is the iPhone. We discussed the pros and cons of web based content versus a self contained app and for the initial project, we are focusing on a self contained. In the long term we will aim to deploy content that is web-based and available on any mobile device so that visitors to the gallery can use their own devices.
The cellphone platform offers a way to attract new audiences. Jane Burton curator of interpretation at the Tate Moderns said I was particularly interested in finding out whether it could reach new audiences who wouldn’t have considered taking a traditional audio tour. I suspected it might.”
Museums in the US have found that use of cell phone as a platform reduces the infrastructure and staffing costs for the audio tours. However, visitors can be put off by potentially incurring high data fees from mobile service providers, especially foreign visitors incurring roaming fees.
The advantage of an iPhone app is that it provides a more or less consistent platform; where a general mobile device would have to cater to a wide range of screen sizes, resolutions, functions etc. The iPhone offers a set of consistent features and so by using it as a platform, we have to utilize the features it offers such as the swipe and gesture functions and the hardware.
It is important that if it is deployed on a device such as an iPhone, the content is what draws the visitor to want to use it, after the novelty of the device has worn.
What has been done already?
Such devices are becoming more common at museums and galleries around the world. The existing iPhone applications we downloaded and had a look at were standalone guides that worked outside the gallery. What we're wanting to create would enhance the gallery experience and offer something more when used in the gallery space.
The overall aesthetic of the apps were quite plain, many of them following the standard template of the iPhone app, even the one MoMA has recently launched.
We think we can go above an beyond what is already available. What is achievable to create this semester will serve as the building blocks for what it will become. Our goal is to create an app that is ready to launch which provides the fundamental components of the overall aim with the potential to expand it further with the other identified components that we and the client have identified. We plan to explore all these avenues so that the groundwork for them is ready and reinforced what is initially executed.
Next step is to being planning how it is to be structured and what identify and learn the skills we need to create it and put it together.
Research sources:
A Museum Electronic Guide in Real Use
Cells and Sites: How Historic Sites are Using Cell Phone Tours
The learning experience with electronic museum guides
The overall aesthetic of the apps were quite plain, many of them following the standard template of the iPhone app, even the one MoMA has recently launched.
We think we can go above an beyond what is already available. What is achievable to create this semester will serve as the building blocks for what it will become. Our goal is to create an app that is ready to launch which provides the fundamental components of the overall aim with the potential to expand it further with the other identified components that we and the client have identified. We plan to explore all these avenues so that the groundwork for them is ready and reinforced what is initially executed.
Next step is to being planning how it is to be structured and what identify and learn the skills we need to create it and put it together.
Research sources:
A Museum Electronic Guide in Real Use
Cells and Sites: How Historic Sites are Using Cell Phone Tours
The learning experience with electronic museum guides
New Plymouth Museum Puke Ariki launches iPad based visitor experience
When In Roam: Visitor Response To Phone Tour Pilots In The US And Europe
“I never take audio guides. I can’t stand them!”
Visitors want to know 'Why?' (museum handheld guides)
The eyes want to have it: Multimedia Handhelds in the Museum (an evolving story)
Designing Visitor Experiences with Mobile Platforms in Museums
MoMA iPhone App Puts a Museum in Your Pocket
I really have interst to see new product
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