Creativity and Design Blog Post #5

Problem Statement

When learners visit a museum, artifacts should be accessible and the object’s “life story” should be conveyed in a way that is relatable and meaningful. At Coronado Historic Site there is a lot that visitors can learn about the pottery at the site, but it is often behind glass and inaccessible. As a result, visitors quickly pass through exhibit spaces and miss important ideas and concepts that that the curator is attempting to convey with the artifacts.

Adjusted Approach

This week while having a discussion with a friend, some technologies that I learned about last semester came to mind. I had created a project and one component involved an XBOX Kinect sensor. The sensor would detect the position of an individual and adjust an image that was projected on the wall. This used the software TouchDesigner, which was initially created for multi-modal presentations like music concerts and theatrical productions. It has a large variety of components that allow for the input of data, its manipulation, and a resultant output to a device. While explaining the past project to my friend, I decided that this technology might be a suitable solution to my design problem. By using a Kinect and a full functioning laptop, I can create an experience for the visitor that has more depth. It also does not require the physical manipulation of the object. I won't have to destroy or damage the object to insert the technology. As you can see from the screenshot below, I am selecting specific information from the Kinect sensor like the person's proximity to the object and the location of the person's hands. These numerical values will then trigger sounds to play, and potentially videos that provide information about three specific objects.

The two objects that I have chosen are listed below. I've also found sound tracks to go with each object (follow the link under each item):

Chinese Terracotta Soldier

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/09/Ishikari_Lore_%28ISRC_USUAN1100192%29.mp3/Ishikari_Lore_%28ISRC_USUAN1100192%29.mp3.ogg

Egyptian Artifact

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a3/Mystery_Bazaar_%28ISRC_USUAN1700005%29.mp3/Mystery_Bazaar_%28ISRC_USUAN1700005%29.mp3.ogg Next StepsI am currently waiting for the XBOX Kinect to arrive in the afternoon of Tuesday, April 17. Once I receive the hardware, I can test run the program that I wrote to see if it works and make adjustments.