Distill your research from the previous four weeks, to inspire the concept development of your project brief. Post initial thoughts onto the Ideas Wall for peer reflection.
Collaborate with peers and staff on the Ideas Wall and contact any relevant research groups or industry professionals to seek advice and feedback on the direction of your project brief. Elaborate your discussions in your blog.
Design and deliver a range of concept developments and post them onto the Ideas Wall. Elaborate and expand on any feedback in your blog.
Idea One – Using the Augmented Reality scans to bring the archive to life
As the Science Museum is taking the time to digitally scan some items of its collection, I would like to use this to create a conversation between generations of people about what everyday life has been like, what it is like and what it could be like. The collection of 3D scanned items include an artificial arm, a contraceptive cap, a packet of cigarettes, a car part and a mosquito spray, all of which would be familiar to a UK audience.
The concept would be used out of the Science Museum, for people who cannot access the museum but have a curious mind about what is around them. The users would be able to log onto the system to find objects relating to everyday life and share a screen with their family to see the object in 3D reality. The system would prompt conversation topics such as how the items were used in their lives, what memories they have of them, what it meant for their lives when the item was invented.
The concept does focus on the generality of the object, as the people viewing them are not likely to have come into contact with the same object, but it can promote interesting discussions about life. The viewers can access the specificity of the objects using the metadata that the Science Museum has already built up.
There would be an opportunity for people to contribute their own memories and stories of the items to build up the Science Museum’s knowledge and for other people to view.
Idea Two – Game experience using objects
Using the objects to go on your own adventure! By building challenges to navigate from one linked object to another, whether by type of object, material, date of origination or other criteria, the user will build up a knowledge of the collection and how its objects are related in history.
Objects could include: navigate from a spoon to a religious icon, from a catalytic convertor to the baby weighing scales in fewer than six steps. By gameifying the experience, it presents a challenge to the viewer whilst subtly showing them the collection in its entireity.
Idea Three – Own exhibitions
Based on the idea of families and groups, this concept would allow communities to build their own exhibitions in a virtual collection using the objects from the archive. Imagined as a gallery in the Science Museum, the would-be-curators would be able to favourite objects from the archive and place them into a virtual space that could be navigated using AR or VR or on a display. Each object could have a caption about its relevance in the collection and the collections could be shared online on social media to draw more viewers to the website.
Anna Robinette 