Many museums have incorporated what they describe as “pervasive computing” via handhelds in their exhibits. They are using technology to help cultivate a two way interaction between the art and the viewer, on the viewers terms. The goal is to produce a better museum experience for visitors, intrinsically motivating them to spend more time there.
There are several techniques that museums are using for this sort of interaction. They include Location Aware handhelds that estimate the visitors location via GPS, RFID and WiFi. With the surge of smart phones in the past couple of years, and especially with the iPhone 3Gs that comes embedded with a compass, this sort of interaction will become more and more available.
“Customer resistance, capital cost and reliability have all been taken care of. The age of pervasive computing has finally arrived” – Alex Pentland MIT
Through the use of this technology, museums are able to offer visitors multiple modalities of information regarding the art. They also could enable visitors to view images that are not readily available for public viewing, or might not be visible to the naked eye. Games such a scavenger hunts also lend itself well to this medium, since it affords mobility. Once technology allows for more precise location approximations, these interactions will get even more immersive.
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