[Apresenta+onfortheInterna+onalTrainingProgrammerunbytheBri+shMuseumformuseumprofessionalsfromaroundtheworld]

Forthosewhodon'tknowme,I'mMia,freelancerandaPhDstudentatOpenUniversity.I'vebeenaculturalheritagetechnologistforoveradecade,andhaveworkedinterna+onallyasaprogrammer,analyst,researcherandconsultant.LatelyI'vebeenworkingoncrowdsourcingmetadataformuseumobjectsthroughgames,andinmyPhDI’llbeworkingwithspecialistusersaroundthedigi+sa+onandgeoloca+onofhistoricalmaterials.

ThisisanangelwithamobilephoneonSt.John’sCathedral,NetherlandsandI’vechosenitbecauseitsymbolisesthewaytheworldischangingaroundus;genera+onsareskippingthedesktopcomputerandgoingstraighttonetbooks,tablets,mobilephones...Theworldischangingrapidly,andI’lldiscusssomeofthechallengesthisbrings,butul+matelyit’sabouttheamazingopportuni+esitcreates.

Imagesource:hRp://technabob.com/blog/2011/04/11/angel‐with‐mobile‐phone/SculpturebyTonMooyforSt.John’sCathedral,’s‐Hertogenbosch,Netherlands.

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Firstofall,it'simportanttoacknowledgethataudienceexpecta+onsaresetbytheirexperiencesoutsidethemuseum‐inschool,visitoraRrac+ons,cinemas,online,athome.Facebookteachesthemtotagimages,Foursquaretomarktheirloca+on,TwiRertofindengagedcommuni+es.TVtellsthemthatanyonecanbeastar.Everybitofsocialmediateachesthemtoshareandbesociable.Someofthemmaybecarryingcameras,gameconsolesandphonesthataremoremodernthananythingyoucouldinstallandmaintainingallery.

Imagesource:HoriaVarlanhRp://www.flickr.com/photos/horiavarlan/4269333919/

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ButIs+llthinkwe’reluckytobeworkinginculturalheritagenow...It'snotaboutcompe+ngwiththechangingtechnologyandbehavioursoutsidemuseums,it'saboutworkingwithit.Designinganengagingvisitorexperienceshouldbeyourstar+ngpoint,thenthinkcrea+velyabouthowitcouldbeenhancedwithtechnology.Andit'snotallabouttechnology‐some+mespost‐itnotesareasgoodasaninterac+vekiosk.Butthatsaid,thesearesomedigitaltrendsI'mgoingtodiscuss…

Imagesource:MiaRidge

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Augmentedrealitylayerscanbetriggeredbyloca+onandorienta+on,asinthisWikitudeexampleshowingfactsaboutacastle...

MoreinfoathRp://www.delicious.com/miaridge/augmentedrealityhRp://lefrightandcentre.net/2009/06/17/augmented‐reality‐what‐are‐we‐looking‐at/wikitude‐500x396‐real/

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Simplewaytoprovidemul+‐lingualaccesstoinforma+on–thisexamplelinkstopagesonWikipediaratherthaninforma+onwriRenspecificallyfortheobjectinthemuseumcontext,butit’saquicksolu+ontoprovidinginforma+onforabroaderaudience.QRcodescancontainanywriRentextaswellasURLs,sodon’talwaysneedinternetaccess,thoughexplainingthemcanrequirethought.

Imagesource:hRp://twitpic.com/3x2ducMoreinfoonwhatNickMoyes,TerenceEdenandRogerBamkindidathRp://nickmoyes.blogspot.com/2011/04/when‐glam‐met‐wiki‐wikipedia‐and.html

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Orbyloca+onandmarkerssuchasQRcodes…andinthiscase,themuseumhastakenartworkstowherethepeopleare‐amusicfes+val.StedelijkMuseumatLowlandsfes+val

SeehRp://conference.archimuse.com/mw2011/papers/augmented_reality_and_the_museum_experienceformore

ImagesfromhRp://wluture.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/first‐impressions‐the‐stedelijk‐museum‐art‐collec+on‐in‐augmented‐reality/

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Thisexamplegivespeoplewithoutsmartphonesanexperienceofthestoryyou’retryingtotell,aswellasprovidingalotmoreinforma+ononline.It’sagreatexampleoftakinghistorybacktotheplaceswhereithappened.MoreathRp://popupcity.net/2011/03/qr‐storytelling/

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AbusstopintheCivicCenter/TenderloindistrictinSanFranciscowithaposteraboutthehistoryoftheplaceinsteadoftheusualad

Imagesource:MiaRidge

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‘Thenandnow’isagreatwaytohelppeopleunderstandtherelevanceofhistorytotheirownlives.Itmaybeaccessedthroughbeingintheplace,orthroughviewsoftheloca+onlikemaps

Youcantakeinterpreta+onoutsidethewallsofthemuseumwithimages,text,QRcodes,soundscapesandotherevoca+ons...

Whenyoureleaseyourdataand/orimagesunderanopenlicence,peoplecandobrilliantthingswithit.Thisearlymashup(hRp://www.paulhagon.com/thenandnow/)usesimagesfromFlickrCommons(hRp://www.flickr.com/commons)andputsthemintomodernGooglestreetview.BecausethisusesimagesfromtheCommons,it’sins+tu+onalimagesonly...

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Butyoucanuse/createservicesthatwillletanyoneaddimages.ThisisHistorypin,whichisoneofmany‘thenandnow’sitesaround.Historypinareunusualbecausetheywanttobringdifferentgenera+onsintothesameplacetoworktogethertocreate‘socialcapital’–it’snotjustaboutthehistoryorthetechnology.

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Thisis‘whatwasthere’–thisscreenshotshowsanoverlayofanphotofromtheBrixtonriotsonthemodernstreetscape.

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IworkedontheHiddenHistoriespilotwiththeScienceMuseum,UCL,BTArchives(fundedbytheAHRC).Theprojectexploredques+onslike,‘Whatifwecouldre‐connectthehistoryoftechnologyfoundinmuseumsandscholarshiptothemobileuser?Whatifthepublic’sexperiencesandmemoriescanbechannelledbackintotheapp?Canthefullpoten+alofci+zenmobileforhistoryoftechnologybetapped?Cangeolocatedheritageincreasepublicengagementwithandaccesstomuseumcollec+ons?’

Welearntalotabouttheissuesaroundpresen+ngobjects(whichmuseumslove),facts(whichmuseumsandacademicslove)andstories(whichpeoplelove)inthesameinterface.Also,howdoyoudealwithbandwidthissuesformedialikevideowhenyou’reaimingforserendipitousdiscoveryintheloca+onswheretherearehiddenstoriestotell?Howcanyoubesttakeadvantageofthena+vecapabili+esofadevice(e.g.camera,GPS),andcanyoudevelopamobileweb(ratherthanapp)sitetoenableaccessforawiderrangeofdevices?

MoreathRp://sciencemuseumdiscovery.com/blogs/loca+ngheritage/

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Thepilothighlightedmanyoftheconstraintsofmobiledevices...e.g.• Tensionbetweendesireforsmallandportabledevicesvsdesireforlargerscreensforviewingmediaandeasiertextentry,longerbaRerylife• Bandwidth–roaminganddatacharges–peopleareofens+llscaredofunexpecteddatacharges• Timeandplacetoconcentrateandwatch?Whatifthebusyou’rewai+ngforcomeswhileyou’reusingtheapp?• Ifyou’replayingvideoorsharingimages,caneveryoneinyourgroupseethescreenordoesitisolatethepersonwiththedevice?

Ar+cleslikehRp://uxmag.com/design/peanut‐buRer‐in‐denverareagoodstartforthinkingabouttheseissues

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Therearemoreexpertsoutsidethemuseumthanwithin,andthegeneralpublicisgifedwiththeabilitytodescribeyourcollec+onsintheordinarylanguagethatwillhelpmakeitdiscoverableandengaging.

Ifyou'renotsurewhat'sbest,whynotaskyourvisitors?Everyonewins.Butmakesureyoufollowbestprac+ces–e.g.user‐centreddesignismorethanjustusertes+ng,andeventhoughyouwanttogetcertainpiecesofinforma+onoutofthecrowdsourcingprocess,itshouldbedesignedtoop+misetheuserexperienceovertheorganisa+onalconstraints(par+cularlyifyouwanttoencouragethewidestpossiblepar+cipa+onandengagementwithyourcontent).

Examples:transcrip+ons(OldWeathershippinglogs,NYPLmenus),imagecropping(V&A),Maprec+fica+on(MapWarper,NYPL),Metadata(steve.museum,metadatagames),Audio‐visualtagging(Waisda?)

Image:hRp://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2011/03/guest‐post‐visitor‐par+cipa+on‐to.html

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May11,2011

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04/04/11

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Crowdsourcinggameshavealotofpoten+alas‘par+cipa+onengines’.Theycanlowerthebarriertoentryandencourageon‐goingpar+cipa+on,butbecarefulofcheapgamifica+onthatcanturnintrinsicintoextrinsicmo+va+on.

StatsfromWaisda?,GWAP,DigitalKootetc

hRp://blogs.forrester.com/elizabeth_shaw/11‐05‐25‐star+ng_to_play_with_social_gamers

Imagesource:hRp://www.flickr.com/photos/logicalrealist/25638338/

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Aquickoverviewofmyresearch...Unlikeartobjects,whicharemoreaccessible‐evennon‐expertscandescribethemintermsofcolour,thethingstheydepict,moodorindividualemo+onalresponse‐everydayandtechnicalhistoricalobjectscanbelessaccessibletonon‐experts.

Socialhistorycollec+onscancontaintensorhundredsofsimilarobjects,includingtechnicalitems,referencecollec+ons,objectswhosepurposemaynotbeimmediatelyevidentfromtheirappearance,andobjectswhosemeaningmaybeobscuretothegeneralvisitor.

Somyprojectaskedwhethermetadatagamescouldhelppeoplehavefunwithcrea5ngusefulcontentaboutdifficultobjects.Howmanyversionsofalmostiden+caltelescopescouldpeoplebeartosee?Andcouldthepublicgiveususefulinforma+onaboutourtelescopes?

Theresultsoftheprojectwere'Dora',atagginggame;and'Donald',anexperimental'trivia'gamethatexploredemergentgame‐playaroundlongerformsofcontent,includingthingswemightnotknowaboutourowncollec+ons.Thecodewasdesignedtobere‐usablebyothermuseums,librariesandarchives,contactmeifyou’reinterestedinmakinggamesforyourorganisa+on.

Imagesources:PowerhouseMuseum

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May11,2011

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04/04/11

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Inthetagginggame'Dora'slostdata',theplayermeetsDora,ajuniorcuratorwhoneedstheirhelpreplacingsomelostdata,askingthemtoaddwordsthatwouldhelpsomeonefindtheobjectshowninGoogle.Myresultssuggestthatinvokingthemagiccircleiskeyforencouragingwiderpar5cipa5oninmuseumcontentprojects.Whenaudiencescanimmediatelyiden+fyanac+vityasagame–inthisthecharactersandaminimalnarra+vereallyhelped‐theirusualreserva+onsaboutcontribu+ngcontenttoamuseumsitedisappear.Theclearlydefinedtask(refinedthroughitera+vecyclesofdesignandplay‐tes+ng)isastrengthofthegameDora.

Imagesources:MiaRidge,hRp://museumgam.es/donald/hRp://museumgam.es/dora/

Oneresultofgameplaywasac+veengagementwithmuseumcollec+ons.Exampletagsaddedforwhatatfirstseemslikeavisuallyboringobject...Thesamegamecouldbere‐designedtoencouragemul+‐lingualcontent.

Thegamewasplayedbypeoplewhowouldneverotherwisespendmorethanasecondglancingpastanobjectlikethis...

Imagesource:hRp://museumgam.es/

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May11,2011

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04/04/11

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Usagesample:inasingleevening(approximately6hours),acallforplayersthroughonepersonalstatusupdateonFacebookyielded180turns(176taggingturns,4factturns),1179tagsand4factsabout145objectsfrom26players.

Thegamesares+llverymuchprototypes,theyneedafewmoreitera+onstopolishthemandimprovethedesignandgameplay,andIdidn'thaveamarke+ngbudget,soimaginethepoten+alforaproperproject...IfIcandothisonmyeveningsandweekends,yourmuseumcandoittoo.

Imagesource:hRp://museumgam.es/

200millionpeopleplaycasualgamesonline.In2010,UKresearchsaid67%oftheonlineaudience(17millionpeople)playcasualgamesonsocialnetworks,20milliononmobiledevices,18milliononcasualgamesportals.Gamesaren'tnewbutthey'repowerful,andgamifica+onisabuzzwordtowatchoutfor.

Imagesource:starmudhRp://www.flickr.com/photos/tek/4372275755/sizes/m/in/photostream/

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Ouraudiencesare(gexng)usedtobeingheard…areweusedtolistening?TechnologyisnotababysiRer,ifcan'tdeliverexpecta+onsthinkcarefullybeforecrea+ngthem.Areyouinadialoguewithaudiencesorareyoujustbroadcas+ngatthem?

GiventheeventsofthepastspringacrossAfricaandtheMiddleEast,it’ssomethingtothinkabout–howdoesthatchangehowanaudienceexpectstointeractwithformalins+tu+ons?

Image:spraypaint,'planttreehere’,source:MiaRidge

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Andchangehasalwaysbeenconstantbecausetheworldweliveinisalwayschanging…

Imagesource:EireSarahhRp://www.flickr.com/photos/eiresarah/3019976448/

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Sochangeisconstant‐howdoyoucope?

Holis+cstrategiesforpublicengagementasabasisfordecision‐making,thatinturndetermineyourexhibi+onandonlineprogrammes…Worktogetheracrossdepartmentstowardsyourmuseum'smission.

Yourcontentshouldbefindable,engaging,linkable.

Beauthorita+ve‐exchangelinksbetweenpeerstosayyourMa+sseorNewtonisthesameastheirMa+sseorNewton.Helppeoplediscovermorefromyourpages…

Opendatahelpsotherscreateservicesthatyoucan’taffordto–eitherforspecialists,orsites(mashups)thatcutacrossdisciplinesandobjecttypestoputyourcontentincontextwithotherculturalheritageetcdatasets

Image:AsianArtMuseum,SanFrancisco,ontheirfreeentrySunday

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Thisimageoftheangelwithamobilephonealsosumsupthewaymobileexperienceschangethesocialandphysicalcontext.

Imagesource:hRp://technabob.com/blog/2011/04/11/angel‐with‐mobile‐phone/SculpturebyTonMooyforSt.John’sCathedral,’s‐Hertogenbosch,Netherlands.

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