The Tech Virtual Test Zone: Art, Film & Music

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:09:09 -0700

Hi Paul,

While I'm skeptical that they have found a "free" exhibit development team, they have found a new way to engage the public, and model it for their staff. I think they are walking the walk since they are named... The Tech. I made a comment about this on Nina's blog posting on "lessons learned" from this experiment. Check out her thoughts about the project, as well as one of the contestant's):

http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2008/06/community-exhibit-development-lessons.html

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:08:46 -0700

Thank you for posting the review and photos, Paul. I was involved with the SL end of this project, but was not able to make it to the opening of the real life exhibit. I think you really nailed the positives and negatives of the project! As someone who watched the Musical Chairs exhibit evolve, I have to say that it would not have been as successful or possible without the designers' willingness to collaborate, share and experiment. Everyday I was either excited by the collaboration I saw, or frustrated with the distinct lack of it. However, as we noticed as time went on, it was merely the way Second Life reflects real life - some people just aren't good in teams. As an exhibit design/brainstorming exercise, I agree that tools like sketchup might be more accessible for the majority of museum people. However, for those exhibits that require or could benefit from consultation with other museums, collaboration with distant experts, etc, Second Life could be an amazing tool. I'd also be interested to see how the use of virtual platforms grows as the technology improves. Much as with social networking platforms, museums tend to jump on board later in the game. I am proud of the Tech for getting out there and playing in the muck.

Now a case study too!

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:47:51 -0700

Paul, thank you for your thoughts on the Test Zone. I've now posted a case study on the exhibition that folks can view here: http://www.exhibitfiles.org/the_tech_virtual_test_zone It's interesting that in the case of the exhibits that directly reflected the virtual designers' content (tilty table, human/avatar, polar projections, VJ), while the collaboration was limited, the ideas still came from the outside. Could we have found those folks and gotten their good exhibit ideas without Second Life? Possibly--but we would have just been substituting SL with another tool, whether low-tech like personal outreach or high-tech like SketchUp. It's all a smokescreen to get more peoples' ideas into museum exhibits! One of the surprises for me was how useful SL turned out to be as a platform because of the real-time social element. Sketchup is definitely more useful and exportable from a design standpoint, but it's not a social environment. When you and I can "walk together" through a SketchUp model and talk about it, I think it will be a fabulous tool. But my not-so-secret desire is that museums of all kinds will try allowing visitors to co-create exhibits. It's not about technology. It's about trust and willingness to let go of some control, or at least to change somewhat from being a designer to a facilitator.

Prototyping

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:33:58 -0700

I have wondered if SL could not play a productive role in prototyping. I thought about using it early on when one is testing ideas and strategies. Thanks for the review--I appreciate having both a case study and a review.

Visitors as Co-Creators and Designers as Facilitat

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:18:16 -0700

Hi Nina, I'm so glad you are interested in thinking of visitors as co-creators and designers as facilitators. In fact, I have said the same thing for many years now. I know you've read my piece in "Visitor Voices," the book I co-edited with Wendy Pollock, but for those who haven't, check out "Surviving in Two-Way Traffic" in the book. I talk about visitor co-creation, and liken museum professionals (not just designers) to facilitators and even talk show hosts. Over the years, I have experimented with primarily low-tech ways to accomplish this. Some have been more successful than others, but when they work, they really work! While I love the SL approach, I know that it seriously narrows the range of people who can participate. That is not all bad, but it means you will get particular kinds of ideas, i think. I'm doing some new visitor co-creation experiments with the Oakland Museum, and I am very excited about the process. Stay tuned.