Museums are great spaces for free choice learning where the information provided is thoughtfully chosen and well-organized.
Our team worked on enhancing the museum experience by introducing an alternate form of absorbing the content. The end result is a high fidelity mockup and a video prototype.
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Museum labels (i.e. information about the artifacts) are mostly presented in a text format and therefore don’t cater to visitors who prefer other forms of learning such as audio or visual.
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Although guided tours are a good solution for a more engaged experience, they may not align with the visitor's schedule.
This project aims to reduce the cognitive burden, provide additional information and offer a higher degree of engagement for visitors.
A voice-activated AI personal tour guide with AR functionality for a multi-modal experience.
Watch the Video Prototype
Given our tight five-week timeline for this project, we decided to build our concept around assumptions. I visited three museums – Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle Art Museum and The Museum of Pop Culture to gather inspiration and insights that would help us formulate our assumptions.
I also conducted a literature review of Dr. John H. Falk's work, "Understanding Museum Visitors’ Motivations and Learning" to further deepen my understanding of visitor behavior and preferences in museum settings.
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There is limited information on exhibits in all three museums.
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The Burke Museum has a high level of interactivity for exhibits that engage multiple senses.
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Seattle Art Museum (SAM) has verbal descriptions for selected exhibits in order to make the information accessible to visitors with low vision or vision impairments.
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Visitors have unanswered questions about the artifacts.
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Visitors passively observe the exhibits without retaining much of the information.
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Visitors do not having enough time to explore all the exhibits in the museum.
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Visitors need help navigating through the museum.
We created this persona based on our research and assumptions.
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Based on our persona's goals and frustrations we chose to focus on developing an immersive experience with a time management element as it addresses the need for efficient yet engaging museum visits.
We focused on the 5 highlighted ideas
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To create a video prototype, we formulated a scenario that will effectively illustrate the user's journey and highlight key interactions.
Here are some of the features provided by our solution:
1. Personalized tours led by an AI-based guide.
2. Voice-activated AI capable of answering exhibit-related queries.
3. Era-specific avatars visible through Augmented Reality (AR).
4. Option to save conversations with the AI.
5. Download and share video reels created by the AI to commemorate your visit.
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Users can search for an exhibit or an artifact through a voice interface to acquire additional information..
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Users can choose their interests, and these selections will be integrated into the navigation path.
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Users can view their custom path and have the flexibility to adjust the order to align with their preferences.
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Users can visualize the floor layout and gain an understanding of the exhibits they've covered.
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Prioritize essential features over cramming too many functionalities into a product.
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Given additional time, conduct comprehensive user research through interviews, surveys, and on-site observations, as well as usability testing to validate assumptions.
