2018-09-29, Torpus, Jan-Lewe

This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary applied research project about the application potential of ubiquitous computing concepts and technologies for knowledge transfer and exhibition design in museums. By interweaving mediated information directly into the context of exhibits and by transferring knowledge through discovery-based embodied interaction, we intend to overcome problems of distraction and social isolation, normally caused by handheld devices and graphical user interfaces. Applying scenario-based prototyping with a distributed hardware system allowed us to evaluate three case studies at three renowned Swiss museums. During the development and the evaluations, we followed five design principles that led to insights relevant for museums, design practitioners, the HCI community and technology developers. We concluded that the approach generates surprising experiences that have to be balanced with the exhibits and are very useful for explaining complex processes and functions, but cannot be implemented as an exclusive exhibition concept.

2014, Torpus, Jan-Lewe

This paper describes the concepts, media settings, strategies and methods of a media art work and an artistic research project. Both apply psychophysiological biofeedback technologies as affective interfaces between humans and artificial artistically-staged environments. The paper includes a comparison of media art creation with artistic research processes and intends to identify possible synergies.

2013, Torpus, Jan-Lewe, Tobler, Beatrice, Wolfensberger, Rolf

As a result of a practice-oriented research project, the Museum of Communication in Berne opened a new exhibition space entitled «Living Room of the Future» in Spring 2012. It is designed to complement the existing permanent exhibition «As Time Goes Byte» on the history of computing and digital culture. The new exhibition module not only addresses future computing technologies and their use but also forward-looking technologies. Within the framework of the research project, the authors conducted a user-centred evaluation of a prototype of the exhibition module, which was also conceived as a laboratory for practice-based media-anthropological studies. Specific test groups were observed during their visits to the exhibition and immediately afterwards interviewed about their experiences. The results of the evaluation were then converted into the final realisation of the exhibition. These findings represent valuable ethnographic evidence on the experiences of human beings with familiar and unfamiliar media at a time of increasing integration of everyday life with communication and information technologies.