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ABSTRACT
Socializing and interaction are important aspects for families who visit museums. Mixed reality (MR) uses a set of technology that museums employ to encourage this behavior, but they face challenges in maintaining family cohesion with experiences across different exhibitions and kiosks. In this paper, we explore these challenges broadly to provide strategies for MR exhibitions that support better family cohesion, and thus interaction. As part of our exploration, we partnered with the Indianapolis Children's Museum and used its Take Me To Greece exhibition and observed intergenerational family interactions at eight different kiosks with a range of MR technologies using “research in the wild” approach. We present our findings in terms of concerted immersion patterns of families with the kiosks encompassing both real and virtual spaces, while disrupted interactions when family members split from the group to interact with virtual kiosks. We then present design considerations to provide a broad understanding of the aspects of reality and virtuality in a MR children's museum exhibition, and the influence of these MR dimensions on intergenerational family interactions.
Acknowledgments
We thank all the children and accompanying adults for their participation and inspiration. We especially thank Susan Foutz, the associate researchers, and other curators, docents, and staff at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis for supporting this work.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Benford and Giannachi, Performing Mixed Reality.
2 Ciolfi and McLoughlin, “Designing for Meaningful Visitor Engagement,” 69–78; Kidd, “‘Immersive’ Heritage Encounters.”
3 Reiss and Tunnicliffe, “Dioramas as Depictions of Reality and Opportunities,” 447–459; Tunnicliffe and Scheersoi, Natural History Dioramas.
4 Koleva et al., “Orchestrating a Mixed Reality Performance”, 38–45.
5 Hobbs, Google Admits VR is Still Far Too Much of an ‘Isolating’ Experience.
6 Tost and Economou, “Worth a Thousand Words?” 157–176.
7 Hall and Bannon, “Designing Ubiquitous Computing to Enhance Children's Interaction in Museums,” 62–69; Falk, Dierking, and Dierking, The Museum Experience Revisited.
8 Milgram and Kishino, “A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays,” 1321–1329.
9 Bannon et al., “Hybrid Design Creates Innovative Museum Experiences,” 62–65.
10 The Children's Museum of Indianapolis – https://www.childrensmuseum.org/
11 Benford and Giannachi, Performing Mixed Reality; Bannon et al., “Hybrid Design Creates Innovative Museum Experiences.”
12 Montgomery, Generation Digital; Hall and Bannon, “Designing Ubiquitous Computing to Enhance Children's Interaction in Museums.”
13 Brown et al., “Lessons from the Lighthouse,” 577–584.
14 Benford and Giannachi, Performing Mixed Reality.
15 Hornecker and Stifter, “Learning from Interactive Museum Installations,” 135; Ciolfi and Bannon, “Designing Interactive Museum Exhibits,” 7.
16 Reeves et al., “Designing the Spectator Experience,” 741–750.
17 Sterry and Beaumont, “Methods for Studying Family Visitors in Art Museums,” 222-239; Rennie and McClafferty, “Using Visits to Interactive,” 175-185.
18 Aoki et al., “Sotto Voce,” 431–438; Grinter et al., “Revisiting the Visit,” 146–155.
19 Tolmie et al., “Supporting Group Interactions in Museum Visiting,” 1049–1059; Brignull and Rogers, “Enticing People to Interact with Large Public Displays in Public Spaces,” 17–24.
20 Ellenbogen, “Museums in Family Life: An Ethnographic Case Study,” 21; Leinhardt, Crowley, and Knutson, Learning Conversations in Museums; Lepouras and Vassilakis, “Virtual Museums for All,” 96–106.
21 Fosh, Benford, and Koleva, “Supporting Group Coherence in a Museum Visit,” 1–12.
22 Heath and vom Lehn, “Configuring ‘Interactivity’,” 63–91.
23 Blud, “Social Interaction and Learning,” 43–51; Blud, “Sons and Daughters,” 257–264; Lehn, Heath, and Hindmarsh, “Exhibiting Interaction,” 189–216.
24 Paris, Perspectives on Object-Centered Learning in Museums; Gammon, “Visitors' Use of Computer Exhibits”; Hope et al., “Familial Collaborations in a Museum”; vom Lehn and Heath, “Action at the Exhibit Face,” 1441–1457.
25 Ciolfi et al., Cultural Heritage Communities; Ciolfi and McLoughlin, “Designing for Meaningful Visitor Engagement at a Living History Museum”; Kidd, “‘Immersive” Heritage Encounters.”
26 Benford and Giannachi, Performing Mixed Reality; Laurel, Computers as Theatre.
27 Snibbe and Raffle, “Social Immersive Media,” 1447; Tunnicliffe and Scheersoi, Natural History Dioramas.
28 Studart, “The Perceptions and Behaviour of Children.”
29 Wilson et al., “Bringing Physics to the Surface,” 67.
30 Heath and Lehn, “Configuring ‘Interactivity’.”
31 Carrozzino and Bergamasco, “Beyond Virtual Museums,” 452–458
32 Rogers, “Interaction Design Gone Wild,” 58–62; Rogers and Marshall, Research in the Wild.
33 Take Me There: Greece - https://www.childrensmuseum.org/exhibits/take-me-there
34 Treasures of Ancient Greece – https://www.childrensmuseum.org/exhibits/ancient-greece
35 Rogers and Marshall, Research in the Wild.
36 Milgram and Kishino, “A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rojin Vishkaie
Rojin Vishkaie (PhD) is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University. Her research currently focuses on the user-centered design of interactions and experiences in mixed reality aimed at social innovation and impact. She has published at top-tier venues in the field of Human Computer Interaction, Interaction Design, and Design Research.
Teddy Seyed
Teddy Seyed (PhD) is a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research. His research focuses on building a future wearables platform, as well as using entrepreneurial approaches to influence fashion-tech, STEAM education tools and accessible computing.
Claire Thoma Emmons
Claire Thoma Emmons (MA) Research and Evaluation Associate at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, has a background in informal science education and astronomy. Her nearly ten years of experience evaluating learning experiences in museums has ranged from exhibits, to youth programs, to a planetarium show. She graduated with degrees in Astronomy and French from Wellesley College and holds a Masters in Museum Studies from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Dirk vom Lehn
Dirk vom Lehn (PhD) is Reader in Organizational Sociology at King's Business School (King's College London). In his research, he undertakes video-based research of visitors’ action and interaction in museums. His relates publication is “Action at the Exhibit-Face: video and the analysis of social interaction in museums and galleries” (with Christian Heath), Journal of Marketing Management (2016).