A distressing trend in American museums and public aquariums is the substitute of touch screens or, in the case of San Francisco’s aquarium, non-touch screens, for paper signs or backlit transparencies. In theory it sounds good to replace a 1 cent piece of paper with a $500 touch screen, but in practice it is now possible to learn about just one animal at a time where in the past it was possible to learn about all of the animals in a tank at once. Below is a rather clumsy touch screen from the Dallas aquarium. It was not nearly as responsive as an Android or iOS tablet and most patrons simply gave up on using these devices. It would have taken 5 minutes or so to associate names with photos for 10 or 12 fish within a tank. Maybe Edward Tufte
Sounds like museums’ desperate attempts to remain relevant in the internet age.
They are a great novelty and good entertainment value, but when it comes to educating people on a subject, they can’t hold a candle to Wikipedia or a well made documentary on Discovery.
Signage is expensive. The typical museum exhibit sign showing 20 animals is 10 feet long, 2 feet high, mounted on 2 foot posts, and made of etched aluminum or backlit 4-color printed transparency. It costs thousands of dollars and has to be replaced every time the exhibit changes…or the exhibit stays more static due to the costs of updating the signage.
Touch screens are expensive too (used to be), and they break, but they can be content updated for free (plus the cost of creating the content), and the content can be much richer, and more available (e.g. Don’t have to wait for *that guy* to move so you can read the paragraph about the manatee that he’s hiding).
It’s a reasonable experiment for a museum to try. Now that tablets are sub $500, it should be even more attractive, and obviously there should be several screens per exhibit. They should also make apps that patrons can pull down to their own devices, and location or photo-recognize where they are inside the museum and offer the content locally.
But I agree that the interface could use some ET. Maybe the first view should be the traditional overview, tap for the usual single paragraph description, expand for the full screen version with more information and additional media..
The new(ish) touch screens at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago aren’t good either. Another problem is that the screens I’ve seen are at waist level, meaning there is always a kid monopolizing them. Many people used to be able to see the signs but the touchscreens are impossible for more than one person to use at a time.
“Would you like to learn about communicable diseases of this era? (Lick screen to continue)”
There is more then one way to skin a cat. Touchscreens, wifi, and multimedia in a museum aren’t a bad idea. They are good ideas with good intentions but often very badly implemented. Often by people who neither understand nor care to understand the technologies involved, UI/software design, or any potential beyond displaying text and pictures. They have been sold by some third party company that “technology will solve all your problems!” Just stick it in there and shazzam! Profit! I blame the vendors as much as the museums.
I’ve seen some very well implemented and usable touchscreen systems in shopping centers, fast food restaurants, and even in an airport elevator.
But not a single one in a museum (not locally at least.) It’s like the museums are taking advice from airlines, what with their slowness, clunky UI, and error prone self-serve terminals.