CLIO Research
Research was completed as a team and individually for this project, typically by those who had the most expertise in that field. We kept a collection of papers, articles, interviews and other resources that proved vital to designing and developing this project. During our research, we also searched for existing academic, open-source and proprietary examples of kiosk systems used with the museum field.
Precedent
Roger Williams Natural History Museum
Preliminary concept planning for CLIO began in early 2017 while working with the Roger Williams Natural History museum in Providence, RI. The team created two small digital exhibition kiosks for an exhibit named "Habitable Worlds? Searching for Life in our Solar System and Beyond"[1]. Each kiosk used open hardware, such as the Raspberry Pi 3B, and was utilized the open-source software application PiPresents[2], created by Ken Thompson[3].
Eastwick Oral History Project Jukebox
The Eastwick Oral History Project[4] was created to document the lives of the Eastwick community in Southern Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This project is operated by the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania[5].
The project uses an experimental kiosk – nicknamed the "Oral History Jukebox" – to play audio excerpts from oral history project participants while allowing visitors to view binders with transcripts and supplemental media[6]. When a binder is opened on the kiosk surface, a Raspberry Pi system uses RFID to read an electronic tag, which in turn tells the computer which audio transcript to begin playing. The kiosk was put on display at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Philadelphia, PA on February 18, 2018[7].
This project became the basis for the original seed grant proposal to the University of Washington's Resilience and Compassion Initiatives named "Many Voices: A Storytelling Toolkit for Community-Based Oral History Projects". The proposal was to create an oral history toolkit for use in museums, libraries and cultural centers to create an oral history program and kiosk player. The proposal was accepted on July 10, 2019[8] and a budget of $1250 was approved for materials.
Interactive Kiosk Systems for Museums
While beginning to design CLIO and the accompanying POP prototype kiosk, we began searching for interactive displays and kiosk systems that are currently in use within the museum field.
There were numerous proprietary kiosk systems and they were often complete packages that included both hardware and software solutions[9][10]. There were also options that opted to sell the hardware with optional proprietary software support[11]. Furthermore, there were also options that sold primarily proprietary software with additional proprietary hardware support[12].
There were fewer open-source kiosk hardware or software options available. Museums had explored open-source software, but many of the solutions made available are for specific purposes and were not for general use within the field[13]. There are open-source options available for content exhibition, such as PiPresents[14], but they can require a certain level of comfort with technology concepts to get running properly.
There was also noticeably no open-source complete kiosk systems, which contained both software and hardware options. Many open-source software options could be run on both open and proprietary hardware. We were unable to find a general purpose open-source kiosk system design for use in informal education spaces, such as pop-up exhibits.
While initiatives like OpenExhibits exist, they focus primarily on open-source software and software development kits that can be used on open or proprietary hardware[15]. OpenExhibits is operated by Ideum, a software and hardware manufacturer for informal education spaces[16].
Subjects
Below is a collection of research and resources that we used during the development of CLIO and other projects like it, as well as our reasoning for its importance.
Design
With CLIO, we would be trying to design a new open-source interactive kiosk system by integrating parts from numerous creators in different fields, as well as trying to create something entirely new and exciting for the people we wanted to use it. Given that flexibility, we wanted to take our time to ensure that we understood the problem we would be designing to remedy and the people whose experience we wanted to make better. Technology should be available to everyone and that starts with creating in a way that is easy to learn.
Museums
Museums are finding themselves at an important crossroad as the world increasingly inhabits digital and virtual spaces. The divide between the museum as a physical and a digital institution has continued narrowing. In order to thrive, museums have needed to find new ways to create cohesive content solutions for both online and in-person. We want to create a community of practice within museums that enables professionals to learn how to create their own software solutions without needing to worry about licensing fees.
Libraries
Libraries curate collections and archives in order to be presented to the broad general public. Libraries offer insight into the processing, organization, storage and presentation of complex data sets, including metadata about the data itself. Not only that, libraries have strongly proven that an institution is more that the building it inhabits and encompasses the community that gives it its meaning.
Informal Education
We wanted CLIO to be versatile enough to be used in the many different ways that informal education can take place. We didn't want to focus on how CLIO could be used to quantify a visitors learning, but instead about how it could be used to improve it. Without the requirement of score keeping, we chose to focus on activities that could help contextualize and gamify the physical exhibit content without overpowering it.
Professional Development
The professionals who work at GLAM institutions often have many responsibilities and gain a diverse set of skills. We want CLIO to be a resource to help museums invest in the professionals who work for them by giving them the opportunities to explore technology within their institution. By building a community of professionals looking to learn technology, we can teach each other and better understand what technology can mean for the museum field.
Community Building
Museums, libraries and cultural heritage centers are dependent on their community to thrive. By working together with the communities we wish to serve, we can understand how choices affect not just the institution, but the entire community. When we develop new technologies together, we can build trust in the process and product.
The Open Movement
Humanity is facing considerable challenges on many fronts and the goal of the open movement is to work towards solving them through transparency, collaboration, re-use and shared access. The open movement encompasses many smaller movements, such as open-source software, open hardware, open access, open research, open data, open development and many more. As knowledge institutions, museums and libraries have the potential to spearhead these movements and create a model for openness.
Computing and Electronics
Technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the last several decades, getting even faster and more efficient. While it offers the ability to amaze audiences with bigger than life exhibits, it can also blend into the background to create quiet avenues for curiosity and exploration. We wanted to explore the possibility of creating a foundational interactive technology solution that could continue to grow with an institution, gallery, program or exhibit.
Manufacturing
We wanted to make it as simple as possible for institutions with any budget and technology experience to create a fully functioning interactive kiosk prototype. Open technologies offered a range of options to explore, from commodity hardware and open designs to 3D printing and finishing. By utilizing rapid prototyping techniques, it is possible to create and maintain a fleet of interactive touchscreen exhibits.
Sustainability
Plastics, electronics waste and energy consumption are a growing concerns. For technology to truly work for humanity and the planet we share, it needs to be created, used and maintained in a way that is sustainable and eco-conscious.
Equity and Justice
A major part of supporting a community is creating an equitable space by striving towards justice and reparations. This is an active process that requires designing, evaluating, working with and trusting the community that you serve.
References
- ↑ "Habitable Worlds? Searching for Life in our Solar System and Beyond"
- ↑ PiPresents
- ↑ About Ken Thompson
- ↑ Eastwick Oral History Project
- ↑ Penn Program in Environmental Humanities
- ↑ Eastwick Oral History Kiosk Jukebox Installation
- ↑ Eastwick Oral History Project Jukebox Dedication and Reception
- ↑ Resilience Lab announces 2019 seed grant recipients
- ↑ KODEX Interactive
- ↑ Eyefactive Interactive Systems
- ↑ Digital Touch Systems Software
- ↑ Intuiface Platform
- ↑ Table of Open-Source Museum Technology
- ↑ PiPresents
- ↑ About OpenExhibits
- ↑ Ideum Interactive Exhibits
