29.04.2024

MxRP - The Basis of Exceptional Exhibition Experiences

How Can We Individualise Digital Contents in Exhibitions? Our New Mixed Reality Platform Puts Them in Direct Correspondence with Visitor Behaviour.

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Main Idea

iart's Mixed Reality Platform (MxRP) sets the real exhibition space in correspondence with a digital model of the exhibition: media content (sound, video, light) is stored in the so-called digital twin. It's automatically activated the momentyou approach the locations where it was placed. But the platform not only enables seamless interactivity, it is also the basis for individualised narratives in space. As visitors' movements are recorded by the system, the content can also be tailored to their personal horizon of experience. Ultimately, this means: Each and every visitor experiences the exhibition that is most exciting and understandable for him or her. For now, we are able to vary the master narrative of an exhibition.

KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL: 3D SOUND SPACES

As part of the exhibition ‘Camille Pissarro - The Studio of Modernism’, we used the MxRP to transform the galleries into three-dimensional soundscapes. The countless sound sources that made up the sound artwork by artist Moritz Fehr were positioned in the exhibition's digital twin. As visitors wandered through the space, the soundscape was generated in real time and specifically for their location and viewing direction. Find more information in our project documentation.

NOVARTIS PAVILION: THE INTERACTIVE EXHIBITION

The intelligent audio guide ‘Sofia’, which guides visitors through the ‘Wonders of Medicine’ exhibition, is also based on the MxRP. It always knows where you are and provides all the necessary information about the respective exhibit via the specially developed headphones. Everyone can discover the multi-layered Visitor Journey on the history of life sciences at their own pace. Throughout the exhibition, you will be asked direct questions and engage in interactive dialogue with other visitors. Here you can read the full documentation of the project.

MUSEUM FÜR KOMMUNIKATION: INDIVIDUALISIERTES ERLEBNIS

In der Ausstellung «Nichts» im Museum für Kommunikation wurde die MxRP u.a. dafür eingesetzt, dass Besucher:innen spezifische Inhalte hörten, je nachdem, wie sie sich zuvor verhalten hatten. Dafür wurde ihnen ein Badge ausgehändigt. Er wusste immer, wo Besucher:innen standen, in welche Richtung sie schauten und welche Stationen sie bereits besucht hatten. Diese Informationen sandte er laufend an die MxRP und von dort wurden die Medien wiederum aktiviert: automatisch angepasst auf das menschliche Verhalten vor Ort.

LANDESMUSEUM ZÜRICH: LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY WITHOUT CONFUSION

The MxRP was also used as the basis for a spatial sound experience in the ‘Sprachenland Schweiz’ exhibition. Visitors were able to hear the Swiss national languages and dialects, with the verbal narratives embedded in an open and diverse sound space. While no-one was disturbed by the other visitors experience. Here, too, the basis was an interactive 3D model in which an exact copy of the exhibition rooms was placed. See the documentation of the entire sound experience.

FUNCTIONALITY IN FULL DETAIL

In the projects described above, the personalised listening experience is made possible by high-precision location tracking, which records visitors' movements in real time. The tracking is based on ultra-wideband technology (UWB) and is carried out via special headphones. Each of these headphones receives the signals from UWB transmitters distributed throughout the exhibition space and can determine its own position with an accuracy of ten centimetres. An IMU sensor also determines the head orientation. This means that the system also knows which direction you are facing.

EVOLUTION WITH KI

The MxRP is based on the equivalence and communication between the real exhibition space and the behaviour of the visitors on the one hand and the digital twin of the exhibition on the other. In the future, an AI could take over the communication between visitors and the system. It could query individual interests in verbal dialogue and continuously select new content to experience. The exhibition would constantly reinvent itself.