Exploring the Potential of the Internet of Things at a Heritage Site through Co-Design Practice

Abstract

Our multidisciplinary team faced the challenge of creating an engaging visiting experience for Chesters museum that hosts John Clayton's collection of Roman antiquities found along Hadrian's Wall. The museum, created in 1896, is still in its original form and has a large collection of altars and religious sculptures displayed in a continuous sequence on several rows, as was the fashion in Victorian and Edwardian times. This layout was overwhelming for most visitors who only spent very little time in the museum. In an iterative co-design process we generated multiple concepts and prototyped the most promising: the aim was to make the visitors slow down and look around in a meaningful way. We assessed three prototypes in place finding physical impediments and management issues for two. The design and implementation then focused on a single concept that explores the relationship between the Romans and their gods. The final interactive installation uses Internet of Things technology to offer a personalised experience that engages visitors at a physical level while simultaneously provoking them to explore and take action. This paper contributes to a better understanding of how design practice can create novel interactive visiting experience centered on meaning making rather than on the latest technology.

Exploring Digital Means to Engage Visitors with Roman Culture: Virtual Reality vs. Tangible Interaction

“…The design of 'My Roman Pantheon' followed a similar path, yet the aim was different. Our goal was to gently push the visitors to pay more attention to the collection and understand the value the exhibits had for the Romans as a physical representation of their culture [38]. Three concepts implemented as early prototypes were tested in situ resulting in a new understanding of the space (the Victorian museum Fig.…”

“…Three concepts implemented as early prototypes were tested in situ resulting in a new understanding of the space (the Victorian museum Fig. 4) and how the visitors use it [38]. Informed by our new knowledge the collaborative team generated new concepts finally focusing on the experience that became 'My Roman Pantheon'.…”

“…As such, the display is challenging and visitors often spend only a few minutes looking around and leave, missing the opportunity to appreciate the richness and relevance of the pieces on display. A multidisciplinary team with designers, computer scientists, and curators co-designed and cocreated the tangible interactive installation [38] to encourage the visitors to engaged more deeply with the stones as objects of great significance for the Romans -as objects that were once interacted with, rather than passively viewed as museum artefacts.…”

Locally focused and digitally oriented: examining eco-museums' digitization in a service quality management perspective

“…This is possible by including additional services, such as live events, shows, and historical commemorations, which are directed at increasing the value perceived by visitors (Vermeeren et al, 2018). The intention to improve the visiting experience leads to a larger exploitation of digital tools and ICTs to engage visitors beyond the physical space and to establish with them an immersive exchange (Petrelli et al, 2018). Digitalization enables cultural institutions to meet the visitors' expectation to get a greater control over the visiting experience (Yu and Wang, 2020).…”

Interacting with Heritage: On the Use and Potential of IoT Within the Cultural Heritage Sector

“…Thus, visitors to one site might be encouraged (or have recommended to them) another site based on their actions when visiting, such as which exhibits or objects they seemed most interested in. While there is still an issue with convincing museums to work together in this way, there is some initial work currently taking place on this topic with organisations that maintain multiple sites in different locations [43].…”