A presentation from Museums and the Web 2010. The year 2009 was the busiest to date for the delivery of high tech interpretation in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s permanent galleries, with over 76 high tech interpretation points installed during the year. These range from individual interactives to multiple accessible interactive audio points. This workshop looks at examples of how the V&A has delivered high tech interpretation using Web technologies for both development and delivery. Examples include gallery interactives that share content with the museum’s Web presence, delivery of video in various formats, and using APIs to harvest data in the gallery interactives. By using Web technologies, we are tapping into our own learned experiences of delivering for the Web whilst also making the most of a larger technical community. What we see in our galleries translates very well to the Web, and with some simple lessons learned and an Internet connection, there is no reason we can’t share our gallery experience with our on-line version, or vice versa. This workshop looks at the process of understanding what it takes to commission interactives in a way that allows for easy porting to a museum Web site. Planning for this from the start allows for flexibility from the developers. We also look at making the most of the hardware we use and keeping things flexible. Mini-Workshop: Gallery Interactives [on-site] see http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/abstracts/prg_335002256.html

1. Delivering Gallery Interactives
Using Web Technologies
Eric Bates
Multimedia Manager
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
17th April 2010

2. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
2

3. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
During 2009 we installed in the permanent galleries:
2

4. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
During 2009 we installed in the permanent galleries:
2

5. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
During 2009 we installed in the permanent galleries:
•20 Multi track touchscreen audio points
2

6. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
During 2009 we installed in the permanent galleries:
•20 Multi track touchscreen audio points
•17 different Interactives
2

7. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
During 2009 we installed in the permanent galleries:
•20 Multi track touchscreen audio points
•17 different Interactives
•15 Search the collections points
2

8. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
During 2009 we installed in the permanent galleries:
•20 Multi track touchscreen audio points
•17 different Interactives
•15 Search the collections points
•21 Films
2

9. What have we have installed in the last 12
months?
During 2009 we installed in the permanent galleries:
•20 Multi track touchscreen audio points
•17 different Interactives
•15 Search the collections points
•21 Films
•14 points with internet access
2

10. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
3

11. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
 Theatre and Performance Galleries opened in March
3

12. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
 Theatre and Performance Galleries opened in March
 Buddhist Sculpture and the New Acquisitions Gallery opened
in April
3

13. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
 Theatre and Performance Galleries opened in March
 Buddhist Sculpture and the New Acquisitions Gallery opened
in April
 Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Gallery opened in June
3

14. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
 Theatre and Performance Galleries opened in March
 Buddhist Sculpture and the New Acquisitions Gallery opened
in April
 Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Gallery opened in June
 Ceramics Gallery Phase I opened in September
3

15. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
 Theatre and Performance Galleries opened in March
 Buddhist Sculpture and the New Acquisitions Gallery opened
in April
 Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Gallery opened in June
 Ceramics Gallery Phase I opened in September
 Medieval and Renaissance Galleries opened in November
3

16. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
 Theatre and Performance Galleries opened in March
 Buddhist Sculpture and the New Acquisitions Gallery opened
in April
 Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Gallery opened in June
 Ceramics Gallery Phase I opened in September
 Medieval and Renaissance Galleries opened in November
2009 was the busiest year to date for the delivery of high tech
interpretation in the Victoria and Albert Museums permanent galleries
with over 75 high tech interpretation points installed during the year.
3

17. Where have we installed Multimedia & AV in the last 12
months?
 Theatre and Performance Galleries opened in March
 Buddhist Sculpture and the New Acquisitions Gallery opened
in April
 Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Gallery opened in June
 Ceramics Gallery Phase I opened in September
 Medieval and Renaissance Galleries opened in November
2009 was the busiest year to date for the delivery of high tech
interpretation in the Victoria and Albert Museums permanent galleries
with over 75 high tech interpretation points installed during the year.
3

18. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
4

19. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
4

20. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
•Develop in a way that allows for change
4

21. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
•Develop in a way that allows for change
•Try not to get locked in or be reliant on bespoke technologies
4

22. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
•Develop in a way that allows for change
•Try not to get locked in or be reliant on bespoke technologies
•Create a contract that gives you flexibility and retains ownership
4

23. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
•Develop in a way that allows for change
•Try not to get locked in or be reliant on bespoke technologies
•Create a contract that gives you flexibility and retains ownership
•Have as part of your contract the development files and not just the
deliverables
4

24. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
•Develop in a way that allows for change
•Try not to get locked in or be reliant on bespoke technologies
•Create a contract that gives you flexibility and retains ownership
•Have as part of your contract the development files and not just the
deliverables
•Insist on good documentation, you may not be the person looking after
the content in the long term
4

25. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
•Develop in a way that allows for change
•Try not to get locked in or be reliant on bespoke technologies
•Create a contract that gives you flexibility and retains ownership
•Have as part of your contract the development files and not just the
deliverables
•Insist on good documentation, you may not be the person looking after
the content in the long term
•Build interactives that will work without reliance on a network
4

26. Goals
How we have delivered interactives may not be right for every
organisation, but try to make life easier for yourself and the staff that
work with you.
•Make whatever you install on remotely controllable
•Develop in a way that allows for change
•Try not to get locked in or be reliant on bespoke technologies
•Create a contract that gives you flexibility and retains ownership
•Have as part of your contract the development files and not just the
deliverables
•Insist on good documentation, you may not be the person looking after
the content in the long term
•Build interactives that will work without reliance on a network
4

27. Accessible Gallery Audio points
5

28. Accessible Gallery Audio points
Previous gallery audio points have used audio wands and a
selection of play buttons and volume controls. We wanted
our new audio devices to be more accessible:
5

29. Accessible Gallery Audio points
Previous gallery audio points have used audio wands and a
selection of play buttons and volume controls. We wanted
our new audio devices to be more accessible:
•Run on a 8.4” touchscreen with headphones or an audio
wand
5

30. Accessible Gallery Audio points
Previous gallery audio points have used audio wands and a
selection of play buttons and volume controls. We wanted
our new audio devices to be more accessible:
•Run on a 8.4” touchscreen with headphones or an audio
wand
•Run in a web browser
5

31. Accessible Gallery Audio points
Previous gallery audio points have used audio wands and a
selection of play buttons and volume controls. We wanted
our new audio devices to be more accessible:
•Run on a 8.4” touchscreen with headphones or an audio
wand
•Run in a web browser
•Needed to have a transcript
5

32. Accessible Gallery Audio points
Previous gallery audio points have used audio wands and a
selection of play buttons and volume controls. We wanted
our new audio devices to be more accessible:
•Run on a 8.4” touchscreen with headphones or an audio
wand
•Run in a web browser
•Needed to have a transcript
•Needed to be adaptable for other galleries
5

33. Gallery Audio
6

34. Gallery Interactives
7

35. Gallery Interactives
 We have historically used a variety of screen sizes
7

36. Gallery Interactives
 We have historically used a variety of screen sizes
 We now try to standardise on two sizes - 17” and 19”
7

37. Gallery Interactives
 We have historically used a variety of screen sizes
 We now try to standardise on two sizes - 17” and 19”
 We are generally more experimental in the temporary spaces
7

38. Gallery Interactives
 We have historically used a variety of screen sizes
 We now try to standardise on two sizes - 17” and 19”
 We are generally more experimental in the temporary spaces
 We try wherever possible to stick to web technologies (works in a
browser)
7

39. Gallery Interactives
 We have historically used a variety of screen sizes
 We now try to standardise on two sizes - 17” and 19”
 We are generally more experimental in the temporary spaces
 We try wherever possible to stick to web technologies (works in a
browser)
 Flash with external assets, html, javascript, etc
7

40. Gallery Interactives
 We have historically used a variety of screen sizes
 We now try to standardise on two sizes - 17” and 19”
 We are generally more experimental in the temporary spaces
 We try wherever possible to stick to web technologies (works in a
browser)
 Flash with external assets, html, javascript, etc
 Cross platform and easily ported or delivered to the museum
website
7

41. Gallery Interactives
8

42. Search the Collections
9

43. Search the Collections
 We have been installing gallery specific Search interactives since late 2008
9

44. Search the Collections
 We have been installing gallery specific Search interactives since late 2008
 To-date we have installed 4 versions
9

45. Search the Collections
 We have been installing gallery specific Search interactives since late 2008
 To-date we have installed 4 versions
 On my return we will be installing 4 more
9

46. Search the Collections
 We have been installing gallery specific Search interactives since late 2008
 To-date we have installed 4 versions
 On my return we will be installing 4 more
 These versions use the same API used for the online version but with larger
images
9

47. Search the Collections
 We have been installing gallery specific Search interactives since late 2008
 To-date we have installed 4 versions
 On my return we will be installing 4 more
 These versions use the same API used for the online version but with larger
images
 Each machine uses MAMP to manage a website locally using MySQL and
Apache
9

48. Search the Collections
 We have been installing gallery specific Search interactives since late 2008
 To-date we have installed 4 versions
 On my return we will be installing 4 more
 These versions use the same API used for the online version but with larger
images
 Each machine uses MAMP to manage a website locally using MySQL and
Apache
 It is easy to make a gallery specific version
9

49. Search the Collections
 We have been installing gallery specific Search interactives since late 2008
 To-date we have installed 4 versions
 On my return we will be installing 4 more
 These versions use the same API used for the online version but with larger
images
 Each machine uses MAMP to manage a website locally using MySQL and
Apache
 It is easy to make a gallery specific version
 The solution is cross platform and we currently use both Mac and PC
9

50. Search the Collections
10

51. Films:
11

52. Films:
We have a visual format for gallery films:
11

53. Films:
We have a visual format for gallery films:
• No audio
11

54. Films:
We have a visual format for gallery films:
• No audio
• Run at full screen resolution for 17” and 19” LCD monitors, 1280 x
1024
11

55. Films:
We have a visual format for gallery films:
• No audio
• Run at full screen resolution for 17” and 19” LCD monitors, 1280 x
1024
• Includes subtitles/transcript
11

56. Films:
We have a visual format for gallery films:
• No audio
• Run at full screen resolution for 17” and 19” LCD monitors, 1280 x
1024
• Includes subtitles/transcript
• Quicktime H264
11

57. Films:
We have a visual format for gallery films:
• No audio
• Run at full screen resolution for 17” and 19” LCD monitors, 1280 x
1024
• Includes subtitles/transcript
• Quicktime H264
• We run from a computer - Cheap, small, networkable, remote
controllable
11

58. Films: Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, June 2009
Pietre Dure Panel - micro mosaic
12

59. Films: Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, June 2009
Pietre Dure Panel - micro mosaic
12

60. Delivering Gallery Interactives
Using Web Technologies - END
Eric Bates
Multimedia Manager
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
17th April 2010