EMDialog: Bringing Information Visualization into the Museum

Abstract

Abstract-Digital interactive information displays are becoming more common in public spaces such as museums, galleries, and libraries. However, the public nature of these locations requires special considerations concerning the design of information visualization in terms of visual representations and interaction techniques. We discuss the potential for, and challenges of, information visualization in the museum context based on our practical experience with EMDialog, an interactive information presentation that was part of the Emily Carr exhibition at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. EMDialog visualizes the diverse and multi-faceted discourse about Emily Carr, a Canadian artist, with the goal to both inform and provoke discussion. It provides a visual environment that allows for exploration of the interplay between two integrated visualizations, one for information access along temporal, and the other along contextual dimensions. We describe the results of an observational study we conducted at the museum that revealed the different ways visitors approached and interacted with EMDialog, as well as how they perceived this form of information presentation in the museum context. Our results include the need to present information in a manner sufficiently attractive to draw attention and the importance of rewarding passive observation as well as both short and longer term information exploration.Index Terms-artistic information visualization, interactive information visualization, walk-up-and-use interaction, public displays.

Speculative Practices: Utilizing InfoVis to Explore Untapped Literary Collections

“…We introduce these as characteristics of a design space that applies to research on literary collections specifically, but also to humanities research at large. This space differs from related application contexts that have previously been discussed in the visualization research community, such as casual or artistic scenarios [33], libraries [46], museums [3,21], or journalism [5] by drawing from and expanding recent digital humanities discussions that seek to address critically the potential of information visualization in their research [13,16,17,25,27]. We posit four dimensions that characterize this space-the audience, research approaches within the humanities (quantitative analysis vs. interpretation), the role of visualization (result vs. process), and considerations on material and visual aspects of the source material.…”

“…This strategy has been extensively discussed in the visualization community to facilitate investigative analysis [45,53], the exploration of news articles [11], book collections [46], and artworks [21]. Studies have shown that the strategy of coordinated views is useful for the analysis of large and complex document collections, both in professional [5,18] and casual contexts [11,21]. Thudt et al highlight this strategy as particularly effective for supporting open-ended exploration and serendipitous discoveries [46].…”

“…Meanwhile in the visualization community long-term research processes and outcomes supported by visualization have been discussed in the area of journalism [5] and in casual scenarios [21]. What we lack are in-depth and long-term studies that show how information visualization can facilitate humanities research processes and how such visualizations integrate into traditional approaches such as archival work and close reading.…”

The Role of Personal and Shared Displays in Scripted Collaborative Learning

“…Second, research has shown that playfulness can distract learners from their tasks (cf. Hinrichs et al, 2008or Sugimoto, 2009). …”

“…Furthermore, when applications are designed in a fun and playful manner, they can distract learners from the learning task (cf. Hinrichs et al, 2008or Sugimoto, 2009. To avoid such negative implications, a 'minimal design' was chosen.…”