charting new territories in virtual worlds
DESCRIPTION
Five museum professionals discuss virtual worlds projects, promise, and challenges in informal learning environments.TRANSCRIPT
Charting New Territory in Virtual Worlds
Nina Simon, Tech Museum of [email protected]
David Klevan, US Holocaust Memorial [email protected]
Chris Lawrence, New York Hall of Science [email protected]
Nora McCartney, New York Hall of [email protected]
Paul Sparrow, [email protected]
first, some background
virtual worlds are communication platforms with 2 defining characteristics
1. Strong sense of presence in real-time interaction with others
2. Ability to share and manipulate 3D content
Landscape OverviewChildren’s worlds are booming corporate spaces-Club Penguin, Webkinz, Nicktropolis, Habbo Hotel-primary demographic 6-12-primary use is brand and product extension
Adult worlds more community & business-focused-Second Life leads with 500,000 active users-peer-to-peer transactions, user-generated content-virtual networking, telecommuting, conferences
museums in virtual worldsfive examplesUS Holocaust Memorial MuseumNewseumTech Museum of InnovationNY Hall of Science (x2)
Witnessing History: The Night of Broken Glass is…
DISTANCECOLLABORATIVEEXPERIENTIAL
KINETICOBJECT-BASED
DISCOVERYan interactive virtualexhibition created by youthfor youth in which visitorsadopt the role ofinvestigative journalists onassignment to engage inobject-based discoverylearning, and ultimately,share their stories.
L e a r n i n g
a project of theUSHMM and GlobalKids in which youthlearn history and 21st
century literacy skillsby curating anddesigning a virtualexhibition.
Virtual
The Tech Virtual is a collaborative platform using the Web and Second Life to democratize the exhibit design process.
Over 2000 unique people have visited the virtual workshop, and over 300 are now designing their own interactive exhibits.
The best of these virtual exhibits are being co-developed in real life for an exhibition to open June 3, 2008 at The Tech.
The interactive exhibits on display beginning June 3 have been designed by virtual volunteers all over the world.
The BIG QuestionsWhy do something in virtual worlds?How much does it cost?What are the challenges?How do you evaluate success?Who do (or don’t) you reach?How do you get institutional support?Can we see a demo?<your question here>
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Why do it?• marketing
• brand extension
• develop new exhibits
• intimate community for distributed participants
• immersive education environment
• ultimately, it’s about mission
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How much does it cost?
Island in Second Life: $900Second Life developer: $10,000-$100,000Your own custom world: $100,000-$1M
Great staff to manage community and sustain ongoing programming: priceless
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Cost• Budget = $23,750• Scope of work
– GK staff & USHMM staff integrated content from the museumambassadors’ summer experiences into Second Life
– 2 GK staff developed a curriculum to guide museumambassadors through the curatorial and development process,and facilitated program sessions from offices in New York Cityvia videoconferencing, World Wide Web, and in Second Life
– Digital Refinery built exhibition in world using museum assetsprovided and based on ambassadors’ design specifications
– 10 weeks x 3 hours = 30 hours plus use of GK Island and manyextra hours of planning, etc.
– Creation of machinima and weekly postings on GK blog
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Development:5 months / $16,000 (outside contractor)-1 full-time staff to develop virtual exhibit process
Operation:2 part-time staff -managing community -developing exhibits -providing programming and support
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Development:12 months / IBM foots the bill-6 full-time IBM staff-1 full-time museum staff for 6 months
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Challenges?
• Technological barriers to entry
• Industry/institutional skepticism
• technological instability
• Requires ongoing staff time
• Aligning expectations and goals with funders and partners
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Challenges
Coordinating SchedulesReliability of Technology Managing Expecations
Learning to Fly – High Entry Bar
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Challenges-job tasks change: curators as community managers-engaging a skeptical museum field
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Working with students with disabilities
Assistive technologiesPLUS virtual worldtechnologies... oh my!
Challenges
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How to evaluate?
People use virtual worlds in a fundamentallydifferent way than they use web or gallery resources.
As the technology evolves, so do best practicesand benchmarks.
So how do we figure out if the experiments work?
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Evaluation• Impact on student ambassadors
– Final Product (ie, the in-world exhibition)– Written and oral feedback– GK blog
• Impact on “visitors”– YouTube machinima 350 views / 3 comments– Visits to exhibition and comments posted
• Impact on museum staff– Virtual curation & user-generated content
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Very specific goal: garner enough participation to develop a high-quality 2000 sq ft exhibition of (real) interactive exhibits designed in virtual world
Success!
but...
200 people designed52 exhibits. 8 are now
being built in real life.
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Other specific goal: create a space for museum professionals to develop exhibits collaboratively
Not there yet.
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Who do you reach?
Are you using the virtual world to reachcurrent or new audiences?
Is it an intimate experience (25 for VHOS) or an open public environment?
Who can get there, and who can’t?
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Different Communities, Different Needs
60 SL visitors per day. 25% come 5+ times per month.But are they the visitors we want?
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Getting Support
USHMM and The Tech Museum were lucky--we have leaders who drank the koolaid.
But what about the rest of us?
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Can I see a Demo?
Heck yeah!
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