Living gallery: Investigating dynamic display of artwork through proximity detection

Abstract

Galleries displaying artwork and artefacts are already taking advantage of technology to give added value to the viewing public. However are such systems suitable or desirable for use in art displays? The purpose of this study was to create a proximity activated multimedia system to evaluate viewer reactions and opinions to determine if such systems are a beneficial, enjoyable and even an appropriate way to display art. Multimedia used in galleries provides content that predominately follows set patterns and disregards the viewer. Some systems have been developed to alter visual displays depending on viewer location but they require the viewer’s conscious participation through carrying or wearing some form of hardware. We have created a system that reacts to the user without the need to carry any device and reacts to the user in a ubiquitous manner. This allowed us to evaluate the usability and suitability of such systems in the context of viewing art. The displayed content of the system projected onto the wall alters based on the location of the viewer who would not initially know that they have triggered the change in the display themselves. We tested viewer reaction to the system via observation and questionnaires to determine if our hypotheses that such systems are an intuitive, beneficial and enjoyable to gallery patrons is true. The hypothesis that such displays are desirable and useful in a gallery environment is supported by the results gathered from experiments. The results of the hypothesis that such systems if delivered in a ubiquitous manner are intuitive to use by patrons is rejected however.