Category Archive for Museums

The Social Dimension: Interactive Exhibits for the Floor and Web

Next March I will be teaching a blended (online and in person) course for the Cultural Resource Management program at the University of Victoria (UVIC) in British Columbia. The course is entitled The Social Dimension: Interactive Exhibits for the Floor and Web. I first started teaching a course for museum professionals at UVIC back in 2002. Back then it focused on the Web as an educational platform for museums.  The Social Dimension is more expansive. We’ll look at social networking applications on the Web, but…

Ideum Multitouch Table at Ontario Science Centre

There is a video on YouTube of our MT2 multitouch table in action at the Ontario Science Centre. The video shows our multitouch mash-up that uses Yahoo! Maps and Flickr photos. (The video also includes various applications from  NUI’s Snowflake software suite which comes bundled with each table.)  We worked with Ontario Science Centre to customize the mapping program and they have opened it up to the Flickr community.  Visitors can join their group, Innovation in Toronto, and upload geo-tagged photos to be included in the…

National Association for Museum Exhibition – Back Issues and Archives

NAME (The National Association for Museum Exhibition) has re-published a number of exhibit design articles from the Exhibitionist magazine. These free, PDF versions of the magazine can be found on the NAME site in the Back Issues and Online Archive section. While there isn’t a complete collection of back issues, there are number of excellent articles. While you’re on the NAME site you might want to consider becoming a member.   The release of these back issues is the culmination…

HP TouchSmart Kiosk Stand

The HP TouchSmart all-in-one PC is a low-cost and stable platform that has proven useful for deployment as a multitouch kiosk. In past exhibits we have deployed them using custom kiosk stands. Beginning in July, we are offering an affordable off-the-shelf kiosk stand that will accommodate any size HP TouchSmart, you can learn more on our TouchStands page. The rugged Ideum kiosk stand is made for professional installations in high-traffic environments. It is machined from heavy-gauge powder coated steel, with a dual…

100″ Multitouch Table, EM Spectrum Exhibit

Update: February 13, 2015  – We have a completely updated version of the EM Spectrum application using dual 55″ 4K UHD screen.  We’ve begun work on our most ambitious multitouch exhibit to date. We are building a 100″ table for Adventure Science Center’s Sudekum Planetarium in Nashville, Tennessee. The design is based on our MT2 multitouch table. For this custom installation, we are doubling the current form factor to create our largest multitouch surface to date. Of course, doubling the size involves a number of significant changes.

Birmingham Today : Multitouch Exhibition Space

Just last week we completed an installation of a multitouch, multiuser table exhibit and two multitouch enabled kiosks for Vulcan Park and Museum in Birmingham, Alabama. The Birmingham Today exhibition space has floor-to-ceiling windows on one side and provides a dramatic view of the city. For exhibits, we worked closely with the museum and focused on exploring Birmingham and the surrounding region through interactive maps, panoramic images, and community-provided photography. For our second multitouch table installation, we designed a mapping and photo…

Multitouch Exhibit Design 3: The Visitor Experience

This post is the third in a series of three posts exploring multitouch and multiuser design. Our company, Ideum, develops computer-based interactive exhibits for museums. The first post addresses user interaction and feedback, the second focuses on User Interface (UI) elements, objects and environments, while the third looks more broadly at how multitouch and multiuser exhibits can shape the visitor experience. Traditional Computer-Based Interactives Part of our attraction to multitouch and multiuser exhibits has to do with their ability to enhance…

Multitouch Exhibit Design 2: Elements, Objects, and Environments

This post is the second in a series of three exploring multitouch and multiuser design. Our company, Ideum, develops computer-based interactive exhibits for museums. The first post addresses user interaction and feedback, the second focuses on User Interface (UI) elements, objects and environments, while the third looks more broadly at how multitouch and multiuser exhibits can shape the visitor experience. Objects, Environments, and Navigation The last post explored the types of gestures and the way in which visitors interact. This post…