PAINT ME is a project that uses a combination of AR headsets and mapped projection technology to create interactive exhibit which allows groups of people to engage with Greco-Roman statues in a simple, tactile,  and joyful way.

Project Duration

2 months

Major Roles

Interaction Design
AR Prototyping
3D Modeling

Tools

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe After Effect
Sketch
Blender
Unity

Background

The colocated setting of a museum has been severely underutilised despite its potential for creating intellectually stimulating and socially fulfilling experiences.

Social Interaction in Museum

Although many people see museum-going as a social activity, studies have found that most conventional museum setups are not designed for social interaction.

Use of AR in Museum

Compared to other technologies like virtual reality, we believe AR presents a good medium to augment the physical space of a museum for engagement and interaction, without replacing the real exhibits, which are the core elements of what people visit museums for.

Research

Through initial research phase, we arrived at our design question and criteria.

We further discovered points of interactions in museum spaces layout and identified target user profile.

Literature Review

Through further literature review, We found that collaborative story telling helps people to build an common narrative toward history and foster discussion.

Contextual Inquiry

During observations in the British museum, we found the layout of exhibitions inhibit people from making eye contacts, and most social interaction happened outside of the primary exhibit space

Interview & Survey

Users valued a minimal and joyful AR experience that did not detract from the physical exhibit, and were particularly drawn to creative, immersive experiences that would naturally foster social interactions

Design Question

How might we create exhibit spaces that organically encourage socialisations , instead of inhibiting them?

Design Principles

Social

Joyful

Immersive

Design Process

We went through multiple ideate, comparing, user testing, and iterations before arriving at our final prototype.

Ideation

Guided by our design Principles, We did multiple rounds of crazy 8’s to explore the possibility of AR in museum.

We also went through many rounds of quick ideations to design all the interaction details.

Ideas are then compared against our principals and important criteria to arrive at design decisions.

Design Process

We started from defining the entire use flow of PAINT ME, from getting user’s attention to finish and sharing.

User Journey

The user journey helped me to visualize important interaction points between user an our design.

Design Process

There were two rounds of user testing - the first one to prove the social aspect of project, the second one focused on usability of the function and gestures.

User Testing

We couldn’t do a testing in real museum set up due to COVID restrictions, so we used the cut out figures to give participants a sense of the space arrangement.

Wizard of oz testing is used for the first concept-proving test to save time for iterations.

Introducing PAINT ME .

Painting

Users’ finger will be the painting device, it is not only easier to track the movement, but also allowing users to physically feel the statue.

Switching brush size can be easily done through gesture and not using the brush panel.

Pigment Crushing

PAINT ME is more than just a coloring game. We start from where did ancient people get their paints, rather than providing all the user needs. So that visitor can feel more involved while learning from the exhibit.

Read Pigment History

User can easily access their collected colors’ information through similar hand gesture as color crushing.

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