Slides from my presentation the MCN 2013 conference in Montreal. Examines different kinds of immersive experiences in museum settings and probes the underlying vlaue of immersion as a design goal.

1. Immersion
in Museums
Image here aligned with MCN above
and baseline of text next to it.
#mcn2013immersion

2. What does
immersion in
museums look like?
Ed Rodley
Peabody Essex Museum

3. “Museums are
wormholes to other
worlds”
-Jerry Saltz
(on Reddit of all places)

4. I’ve only ever
cried once in a
museum

5. This is where I
work

6. This is also
where I work

7. So I wonder about
immersion and how
we can use it.

8. The kinds of
immersive museum
experiences

9. Share space with
history
CC-BY-SA 3.0 image from
Wikipedia user Daderot

10. Observe a moment

11. Observe a set piece

12. Get lost in it all

13. Take in a show

14. What are the
hallmarks of immersive
experiences?
•Realism of the illusion
•Dimensionality
•Multi-sensory stimulation
•Meaningfulness
•Mental imagery
•Lack of interfering factors

15. So what?

16. Immersion is a
means, not an end

17. Immersion can
contribute to a flow
experience
With apologies to M. Csíkszentmihályi

18. How does
immersion work in
other media?
So, I asked around.
And here we are.

20. How do you create
realistic and
appropriate viewer
expectations for an
immersive museum
experience?

21. How do you strike
the right balance
between providing
scaffolding and
freedom for visitors
to control the flow of
their own experience?

22. How do you create a
relationship between
the visitor and the
characters in the
story -- whether those
characters are
objects, artworks, or
actors?

23. How do you create
opportunities for
visitors to have
shared experiences
that don't break the
immersion?

24. When the curator is
no longer simply the
teacher, what is her
or his role in this
new type of
exhibition
experience?

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