Week 2 wrapped up with a 3 day challenge presented by the Digital Team at the New York Public Library. With more time to concept, dig into content and build, each studio really brought their ideas to life in dimensional and experiential ways. Here’s a recap:
SMALL FRY:
Team took a “Medium fry” focus – looking at middle school students rather than younger kids as their target audience
TEAM 1:
- The entrance to the gallery space needs a way to grab visitors attention, a call to action, a way to entice and invite them inside
- Suggested creating a series of steps up through an archway with the exterior design referencing Minecraft or something else that would immediately draw the attention of this demographic
TEAM 2:
- Create a series of special cases that can feature rotating series of featured documents
- Each can incorporate interactives for deeper engagement and information
- Ex. voice activated, Siri-like mechanism, where people would ask questions and get answers
- Mechanical button can illuminate object
- Another panel could pose questions to the students, like a quiz or game
- A screen and joystick could enable zoom in on documents or details or include the text of documents that might have legibility challenges
TEAM 3: GET LOST WITH
- Monthly theme, based on the themes given by the library can feature characters such as Edgar Allen Poe. These characters will lead you through the exhibitions. Choose your adventure game.
- You can have readable text, for things that are behind cases and harder to read
- A chance to use multiple mediums, in this case, hearing a reading of Poe’s poems
- People would vote on the theme they would want to come back for—photo booth or ballot booth
- Include a take-away: bookmark with the character who lead your tour
TEAM 4: THROUGH THE JUKEBOX
- Accessible music jukebox for kids—can feature classical or older music, making audio and sheet music accessible for genre’s most audiences might not be familiar with
- Visitor input through voting – based on results, rotate what’s available and cycle through the music
- The Jukebox highlights the sheet music and so is a playful way to feature the physical 2D collection
- There could also be physical tiles – that you could interactive with or trigger
- Could allow for building on of layers of music by isolating different stems, each triggered by a single tile. Allow for collaborative experience.
- Take-away playlist
HI-FI/LO-FI:
CASCADING COLLECTION INSTALLATION
- Interactive table inspired by waterfall that allows visitors to engage with moving images of the collection pieces that people can organize into “micro collections”.
- Creates a permanent sculptural element that could feature ever-changing digital content
- Highlights the depth and breadth of the collection while also creating a platform for visitor exploration, engagement and participation. The different “falls” of content could come from different collections or departments.
- Central to the experience is discovery
- The theme of liberty was used for this particular example
- Through individual curation and exploration, visitor participation can help shape the subsequent physical exhibits. So by creating and sharing their own stories – visitors can influence the actual creation of the gallery.
- User data is collected and physically manifested into a mind map-style installation that shows the connections between the pieces and the personal comments of the visitors about the objects – meta-curation that can be engineered down to a personal level. Crowdsourcing the curation and design.
TWO OR MORE:
UNLOCKING THE VAULT
- Upon entering you’re given a physical key, to discover what is within a cabinet of curiosity
- Key can unlock physical drawers that contain a range of experiences. Some could include digital content via iPads – showcasing a range of objects. Content could be browsed by themes.
- Visitor interaction with the curiosity cabinets would then influence the content appearing on a central interactive table. Similar and relate content would be served in this way visitor behavior and exploration triggers the narrative available to other visitors and give visitors an accessible way of filtering the NYPL’s massive holdings.
- Gathered around the table—hidden camera capture visitors and their “treasures”. Photos are posted daily reinforcing that visitors are part of and connected with the treasure of the NYPL.
- The table allows visitors to dig deeper into content and see a curated selection.
- Visitors could vote on future exhibits or themes by depositing their keys into drawers at the exhibits exit.
- Physically, exhibit would feature cabinets of different sizes and scales and with different size drawers.
- The cabinets make the environment at once cozy while also allowing people outside of it to see in.
- Would need to consider how to attract or invite visitors in… Could be photos on exterior wall, or distribution of keys, i.e. some way of inviting them in.
- “Alice and Wonderland” vibe
ON THE GO:
BOOKMARK! collaborative experience bringing life to the NYPL archives
- This experience focused on experiences before and during your visit to the Library
- Mobile application that plays upon the Tinder interface
- Draw people into a more casual relationship with the library and its holdings to create opportunity for more engagement
- Draw images from database and tap on the red lion if you don’t like and green if you do
- Could include “user profiles” so that you could see who else liked what you liked
- Data can be fed into a wall in the actual library
- Could be featured in dedicated semi-enclosed space within the exhibition hall
- The space is specifically about experiencing the digital collection
- Inspired by the Gallery1 wall at the Cleveland Art Museum, a big screen would draw attention to the space and feature an interactive wall for visitors to select images and objects, zoom in on them and learn more
- Through this, visitors would have a chance to vote on object featured in the next exhibition
- There is a charging station where you can access the website and vote there and seating to allow visitors the chance to really pause and slow down
VOTE, POSE & SMILE – POSTCARD, PHOTO & VOTING BOOTH
- This experience focused on what you do at the end of your trip / the “after” experience following a visit to the Library
- In this concept, a voting booth that is also a photo booth allow for visitor input driving future exhibits, a post-card take-away and a mechanism for publicity for the library
- Visitors can vote both inside or outside the booth on the exhibit they want to see next.
- After casting their vote, they are rewarded with the chance to create a free postcard
- Postcard lets them pose and smile and create a collage with images and objects from the collection
- Considering the number of tourists visiting the NYPL and postcards as a mechanism for sharing (but also publicity) – experience creates a personalized experience visitors feel invested in