The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences
Barry Natusch

Abstract
Museum curators have recently begun to collect and arrange exhibits in increasingly innovative
ways, to tell stories instead of merely labeling artifacts, to orchestrate interactive events instead ofpresenting through static displays, to encourage multiple interpretations of history instead ofpresenting through single viewpoint didacticism. This study reports on a 2014 survey of post-modern
approaches to exhibitions using technology in thirty New York and Washington DC museums. The
technologies employed are highlighted to argue that activities requiring visitor participation enliven
the museum visit and enhance the educational experience.
Ⅰ

Museums and Technology

The focus of the present study is on the role of technology in presentation of artifacts on display
to involve the viewer in the experience and lead them to engage in a dialogue with the exhibition,
also known as a “museum encounter as a performative and intersubjective event sometimes referred
to as the educational turn”（O’Neill and Wilson, 2010）．Other scholars of museology emphasise thatnowadays the museum “cannot simply rely on the aura of the authentic object as a window onto thepast, but must deploy multimedia technologies and performance as narrative strategies associatedwith art forms such as literature or film”（Andermann & Arnold-de Simine, 2013:2）．Recently there
have been numerous articles in the culture pages of major newspapers such as the New York Times
highlighting the mixed experiences of deploying technology in exhibitions such as the following:“Today, though, some years into their digital experiments, the museums’ dreams have diverged.
The Brooklyn Museum has been boarding up social-media efforts and now wants a closer-to-homeapproach, using the Internet for things like taking you into the studios of local artists. Meanwhile, theMet is trying to excite audiences as far away as China, circumnavigating that country’s bans on
Twitter and Facebook and drawing on curators’ language skills to reach millions via Weibo, a− 79 −RESEARCH BULLETIN

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microblogging platform there”（Giridharadas, 2014）．
The reasons for adopting technology in museums are not just to keep up with fashionable trends
in the business and entertainment worlds. “The pragmatic need to appeal to modern audiences, who
expect to be surrounded by technology, is one engine of change. But museum officials insist there isa powerful aesthetic and cultural rationale as well”（Lohr, 2014）．
In line with this move for museums to reinvent themselves is an attendant concern for redefining
just what it is that museums do. Rather as Marcel Proust in his notable work À la recherche dutemps perdu（1913–27）with its central theme as the recovery of the lost past and the releasing of
its creative energies through the stimulation of unconscious memory, in a sense a museum’s function
is to act as a repository of memories and to awaken in the visitor a sense of engagement with thepast. There are variations on this theme. There are museums which attempt to be universalist andcollect anything that is old. These are sometimes referred to as inclusive museums. Museums of a
local area sometimes follow this approach. There are also specialized museums focusing on aparticular field such as Arts, Culture, History, Memorialistic, Natural History, Science, Literature, orMusic.
But traditionally museums have collected artifacts and put them on display, tending towards a
didactic, single interpretation. Museums have also increased the scope of their activities to include
collection, research, restoration and preservation of their artifacts. But for the public, it is the waythat these artifacts are presented that has changed, in their architecture, layout, curatorial themes,
display methods, and use of technology so that museums have become popular destinations for locals
and out of town tourists alike.
Opinions vary for this from it being due to the rise in popularity of the museums as “a major
cultural symptom of the crisis of Western faith in modernization as a panacea”（Huyssen, 1995）tocurators employing modernist techniques of collage, montage and surprise to engage visitors in anarrative（Baur, 2009）．
Why has this happened, that museums have gone from being musty fusty dusty seldom-visited
warehouses of memorabilia to foundation-funded research institutions, repositories and showpieces ofculture? Partly it has been due to the pressure of groups: ethnic minorities, gender groups,
enthusiasts, activists, who have challenged the single viewpoint narratives that accompanied− 80 −

The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

artifacts. And partly too it has been due to economic pressures; in order to justify their existence,museums also need to show they have visitors who are “customers”, both local and from afar. It isalso due to the changing nature of museums, partly thanks to the popularity of TV shows such as
Antique Roadshow so that even obscure items are now collectibles. Another reason is that themuseum clientele now seek interactive experiences rather than being dictated an official traditional
interpretation of an artifact and what it represents.
Another shift in the role of museums is that they are increasingly taking on the role of informal
schools as they seek to engage and educate their visitors, not just school parties, but general visitors
too.
Against this background of change in the world of museums is the role of technology as a key
driving force of universal change to be ignored at one’s peril with digitized representations ofartifacts becoming commonplace both in museums and on their websites（Parry, 2007）．Technology
has, of course, been used in museums for many years. Audio guides are, for example, commonly
available allowing visitors to be guided in their tour, as a personal tour guide. The visitor issomewhat passive in this approach, however, although the route can often be changed through amenu.
In a previous study of museums（Natusch, 2009）, reference was made particularly to the use of
website design to prepare visitors before arrival, to review the exhibits after they left, and toacquaint non-visitors with items on display and held in storage. The focus of the present study is on
the role of technology in assisting presentation of artifacts on display with the goal of involving theviewer in the experience and leading them to engage in a dialogue with exhibition, also described as
inviting museum visitors to “”complete the meanings of the object-technology interface through theirown emotional and experience-based responses”（Andermann and Arnold de-Simine 2012）． The
design and use of technology needs to be evaluated according to established checklists. As an
example, online resources of museum websites should be navigable following criteria of usability
such as layout, hierarchy, consistency, clarity, breadcrumbs, maps, menus, and anchors（Bezerra,
2014 and Doss, 2014）, particularly as these relate to the design of museum websites（Sylaiou, et al.
2014）．

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No.77

Methodology

Thirty museums in New York and Washington D.C. were visited with a set of questions designed
to reveal changes in their curatorial approach, and the way that artifacts were being presented（particularly through the use of technology）, and the ways that visitors were encouraged tointerpret and engage with exhibitions. The list of museums visited is listed in Appendix 1 and theset of guiding questions is in Appendix 2.
The United States cities of New York and Washington DC were chosen for this particular survey
since their museums are world class, innovative and the curatorial approach has seen several
innovative experiments involving technology.
Ⅲ

Towards a Taxonomy of Participatory Technology in Museums

To highlight the technological innovations now appearing in museum displays, a brief review of
earlier technologies is listed Table 1. These include books（1.1）which can be read in designatedareas（some museums even provide libraries for visitors to use）, audio guides（1.2）which canfollow a linear commentary, or tailored to the visitor’s path through the exhibits, audio-visual units（1.3）allowing the visitor to enter a private movie showing, and mini theaters（1.4）whichaccommodate relatively small numbers of people to view short films（often on a loop cycle）relating
to the exhibition.

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The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

Table 1
Technology

Traditional technology examples in museums

PurposeExample1.1 Reading corner

To supplement
Studio Museum
information on exhibits Harlem, New Yorkwith books

1.2 Audio guideTo listen to audio
guide as a personalguide while walking
around museum

Metropolitan Museum,
New York

1.3 Wall mounted audio To receive
visual post
supplementary
information via video

City Museum of New
York, New York

1.4 Mini theater

National Museum of
Natural History,
Washington, DC

To highlight shortvideos relating to an
exhibitContext

Technological developments have produced other（sometimes simple, at other times complex）
media-related facilities and devices designed to augment the visitor’s experience. This experience
may be conceived of as enhancing understanding of the curated material, or to encourage the visitor
to self-reflect and evaluate the exhibition leading to extending their personal understanding andidentity. Such use of technology may not of course invariably lead to clarity, engagement andultimately self-knowledge. The use of media can heighten the spectacle character of the exhibition
but it can also present a clash akin to post-modern, fragmentary and discontinuous impressions− 83 −RESEARCH BULLETIN

No.77（Arnold-de Simine, 2012）．By way of describing the newer media facilities and devices which areappearing, the following Tables 2 to 9 are an attempt to construct a taxonomy for classifying
technologies aimed at encouraging participation in museum exhibitions and augmenting the
educational turn.
In the tables the museological function of the technology is the lynchpin of the proposed taxonomy（Column 1）leading to the participating activity on the part of the visitor（Column 2）．The museum
and exhibition is identified in Column 3 and an illustration of the activity is shown in photographs inColumn 4（all photographs taken by the author）．
Information about exhibits is usually explained through tags at the side of the artifact. Museums
are beginning to use movable audio-visual units（2.1）to do this and to accommodate speakers ofother languages using multilingual menus on wall tags as well as audio-visual tablets（2.2）．Even
guides were observed carrying tablets which carry pictures of the exhibits they are explaining（2.3）．
At several places, internet websites were used to extend the displays beyond the exhibition andeven the museum itself. At the Guggenheim Museum’s exhibition on the Art of Futurism, iPads wereavailable for visitors to search for articles and films using a purpose-designed museum website. At
the New York Metropolitan Museum, a group of visiting monks were observed equipped with iPads
following an audio-visual guide in Thai language（2.4）．
Computers may also be used to allow visitors to view artifacts that would otherwise not be easy toaccess. An example of this is videos and music performance files held on a computer network at theHarlem Jazz Museum（2.5）．The computer accesses an in-house server which simplifies and speeds
up the visitor’s experience.
In the Charles James exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum, the glass case protecting
the exhibited costumes served as a see-through tag identifying and explaining the exhibit（2.6）
while videocameras playing over apparel（2.7）were an example of augmented reality, using
computer-generated data or images to enhance a viewer’s view of an object.

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The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

Table 2
Museological Function
and Technology
2.1 Broadcastingaudio-visual
information: Movable
audio-visual unit

Broadcasting, augmenting and receiving visual and textual information
Performance
Engagement
Participation
To receive
supplementary
information via video

MuseumNational Portrait
Galley, Washington,
DC: Interview film

2.2 Receiving
To cater to groups
explanations in otherwho visit the museum
languages: Multilingual in larger numbers
menus on wall screens

City Museum of New
York, New York:
Language options:
English and Spanish

2.3 Broadcasting visual Tour Guide
and textual
highlighting details
information: iPadand taking questions
on artifacts whichcannot be touched

Metropolitan Museumof Art New York:
Egyptian artifact
details− 85 −

Context

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2.4 Receiving visualand textual
information:
iPad

Visitors self-accessing
artifact details

Metropolitan Museumof Art New York:
Rockefeller collectionof African, Oceanic andAmerican Arts

2.5 Self access ofmuseum information
not on formal display:
Computer accessing
dedicated website

Visitors listen to
self-selected music
items and backgroundinformation

Jazz Museum inHarlem, New York:
Jazz music archive

2.6 Tagging:
Description written on
glass caseViewers see throughthe description to theexhibitMetropolitan Museumof Art, New York:Charles James: Beyond
Fashion

2.7 Exhibit（macro）
and details（micro）:
Video camera on robot
arm sending close-up
video footage of exhibit
detail to a screen

Details of fabrics
captured with close-up
lens and projected onto
screen outside theexhibit caseMetropolitan Museumof Art, New York:Charles James: Beyond
Fashion− 86 −

The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

The activities shown in Table 3 can be subdivided into three distinct groups: choosing an option
which results in a private activity, choosing an activity which results in private activity with others,
and solo performance in a public domain for the benefit of others. Engagement with actual artifacts,
such as the USPS mail scanner（3.1）, gives the visitor a direct sense of what it is like to work with
devices. Opening doors, or selecting options from a screen（3.2 and 3.3）is like a menu-driven
computer program giving the visitor a sense of control over how they navigate the exhibition.
Engaging with surrogate artifacts such as building blocks in the National Building Museum（3.4）
provide a bridge between individual participatory activities and public performances. These so-called“public performances”, such as posting notes for people later to see（3.5）or seeing how others voted
on an issue（3.6）result in a non-threatening performance which is both private and non-threatening
due to its lack of an immediate audience. The last three participatory activities（3.7, 3.8 and 3.9）,
however, are performed in the public eye and although requiring a certain level of expertise, present
an opportunity to receive acclaim for one’s performance.
Table 3
Museological Function
and Technology

Devices or facilities inviting visitor private and public participation
Performance
Engagement
Participation

Museum

3.1 Using an artifact:
Hand scanner

Working throughmenus to track mailNational Postal
Museum Washington
DC: Actual UPS
scanner

3.2 Choice:
Opening a door

Push on picture to see
immigrants’ letters

National Postal
MuseumWashington DC:
Historical letters− 87 −

Context

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3.3 Choice: Selecting a
digital panel

Working throughscreen menus

Newseum Washington,
DC: News Headline
Timeline

3.4 Using educational
artifacts: Building
blocksModel-building
illuminated table

National Building
Museum, Washington,
DC: Play Work Build

3.5 Engaging in a
Comment on discussion National Postal
discussion: White
using Post-It notes
Museum, Washington
board and Post-It notes
DC: Post-It note
discussion on world
events

3.6 Making a decision:Computer multiple
choice software

Making a decision and Newseum, Washington
comparing with others DC: What would YOU
do about publishing a
news story ?

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The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

3.7 Working creatively
alongside others: Artfacilities

Working on own art
projects

Museum of Art and
Design, New York:
Design space

3.8 Performance in a
public domain:
Performance stage

Performing as TV
show anchor

Newseum Washington
DC: Anchorman

3.9 Performance in a
public domain: Grand
piano

Visitors are invited touse piano

Jazz Museum inHarlem, New York:
Impromptu
performances

Table 4 lists two examples of simulations. Some simulations are the equivalent of circus rides orsimple video games but there are also simulators which require skill and can act as training
installations. Airline pilot flight simulators may require a high degree of expertise or, as at theSmithsonian Air and Space Museum, require only a modicum of training to provide a thrill（4.1）．
Simulators such as the replica of the ENIGMA coding machine used by the British to crack German
coded transmissions during World War II require skill and patience to which individuals trained invideo games are able to apply their skills（4.2）．
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Table 4
Museological Function
and Technology

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Simulation devices which mimic real-world processes

Performance
Engagement
Participation

Museum

4.1 Simulated flight:
Flight simulator

Visitor sits in asimulator pod andexperiences flying
sights, sounds, andmovements

Air and Space
MuseumWashington, DC: Flight
Simulator

4.2 Simulated Coding:World War II British
decoding machine
ENIGMA

Participants invited to
input a message,
encode it then decodeit

Spy Museum,Washington, DC:
ENIGMA

Context

Projected images as used in the cinema require little active involvement but films and projected
images now sometimes ask more of the participant as shown in Table 5. At a minimal level the 4D
Imax at the Newseum（5.1）engages all the senses as it activates 3D images, surround sound,moving seats, and sprays of scented mist. The level of participation is basic since the viewer isfundamentally in a passive movie-watching state but the intensity of physical reactions can be higher
than in a normal film. At a higher level of engagement are projected images such as blocks which
can be maneuvered and tumbled by waving at them in the National Building Museum（5.2）．
Dinosaurs reminiscent of those from Jurassic Park in the Natural History Museum（5.3）appear tolunge and leap as visitors attract their attention. Projection exhibitions point the way towards Star
Wars-type projected holographs being the next step in projection exhibits.

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The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

Table 5
Museological Function
and Technology

Cinematic and projection techniques to extend sensory engagement
Performance
Engagement
Participation

Museum

5.1 Heighten sensory
awareness: 4D IMAX
movie

Audience views
Newseum, Washington
historical reenactment DC: 4D IMAX Theater
movies which engage
visual, auditory, tactile,
taste and olfactory
senses

5.2 Heighten sensory
awareness: Projector
and interaction

Audience interacts
with projected imagesof building blocks
which collapse
according to handwavings

National Building
Museum, Washington
DC: Play Work Build

5.3 Heighten sensory
awareness: Projector
and interaction

Audience views
projected images ofdinosaurs which react
to hand wavings

Museum of Natural
History, Washington
DC: Dinosaur RoomContext

Museums which memorialize injustices and atrocities telling the stories of events such as theJewish Holocaust or the disappearance of dissidents in several South American countries seek toengage the empathy of the visitor. The Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Museum of Tolerance,
both in New York, effectively use audio-visual technology to persuade the visitor to empathize withthe plight of Holocaust victims. At a less appalling intensity, but nonetheless encouraging powerfulfeelings of empathy, is the Tenement Museum in New York（Table 6 : 6.1）．While the museum does
not use sophisticated technology, the visitor does experience the world of migrants living in New
York by entering rooms they lived in, and clambering up hot stairwells without the assistance ofelevators. A less everyday context is offered at the International Spy Museum in Washington（6.2）
where visitors are invited to adopt an identity（or “legend” in intelligence terminology）,to memorize
it in preparation for an interrogation test at the end of the visit. In fact, at this museum there are− 91 −RESEARCH BULLETIN

No.77

several evaluations delivered by interactive software including tests of spy-craft, of observation andof disguise design.
Table 6
Museological Function
and Technology

Empathetic techniques and extensions of identity

Performance
Engagement
Participation

Museum

6.1 Empathetic
Displays: Minimal

Walking up stairs, noelevators

6.2 Hint of later test:
Static computer
software page
projection

Choose an identity and Spy Museum
memorize it ready for Washington DC:
an interrogation later
Identity memorization

Context

Tenement Museum,
New York: Rooms andstairwells in immigranthousesPerformance art can be live or make use of technology. Examples are listed in Table 7. Sometimes
the installations themselves encourage visitors to become performers such as Dan Graham’s Hedge
Two-Way Mirror Walkabout（7.1）on the roof-top garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York. The use of hedging and mirrored glass stimulates people to walk through, engage withreflections and talk to other people. This foregrounding of technology promotes self-awareness andinteraction. By contrast, the centerpiece of Lygia Clark’s The Abandonment of Art at the Museum ofModern Art（7.2）focuses on a person lying on a mat surrounded by people who are in turnsurrounded by screens on which are projected Clark’s past works. In this case the technology serves
as the background to the “happening”. At the site of the Twin Towers in New York a memorial
museum has been established. The museum shares features of the empathy as discussed in Table 6
above and outside there is an installation stimulating critical reflection of the cataclysmic event of
9/11. The Michael Arad-designed waterfall pouring into a square abyss（7.3）surrounded by thenames of the 3,000 people who died there evokes a sense of an infinite void and was a challenging
technological collaboration with public authorities and victims’, families.

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The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

Table 7
Museological Function
and Technology

Performance art installations leading to critical reflection
Performance
Engagement
Participation

Museum

7.1 Self Reflection: Two Walk through theway mirrors, hedges
sculpture, engaging
with reflections, otherpeopleMetropolitan Museumof Art, New York: Dan
Graham’s Hedge
Two-Way Mirror
Walkabout

7.2 Self reflection:
Screen, installation
props

Engagement with the
installation andaudience

Museum of Modern
Art, New York: Lygia
Clark: The
Abandonment of Art

7.3 9/11 Memorial:
Waterfall

Water falling into
square hole ringed
with names of Twin
Tower victims

Site of Twin Towers,
New York

Context

Architecture creates spaces in buildings which can themselves become the focus of the visitor
engagement or provide a backdrop for an installation（Table 8）． An example of architecturalfunction inspiring spectacular form is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in
New York（8.1）．Visitors walk around its spiral ramp, pausing to peruse exhibits in alcoves on theirtrek to the top. The classical National Gallery of Art in Washington has a “look but don’t touch”
policy as befits the value of its paintings and sculptures on display but employed I.M. Pei to design
its modernist East Wing. Even the underground entrance of that building encourages engagement（8.2）．Visitors can be observed going back and forth along moving walkways for the novelty ofriding under the roof lighting display reminiscent of the DC subway stations. Washington’s Hirshhorn
Museum（8.3）features 6,700 square feet of space covered by Barbara Kruger’s exhibition
Belief+Doubt so arresting that visitors ride the escalators multiple times viewing the walls. The
National Building Museum itself is a classical building but also accommodates post-modern exhibits, anotable example being the Bjarke Ingels Group maze（8.4）which is an inversion of traditional− 93 −RESEARCH BULLETIN

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mazes in that it becomes easier to find the way out as you move through it because the walls
become progressively lower.
Table 8
Museological Function
and Technology

Architecture itself as an exploration or performance space
Performance
Engagement
Participation

Museum

8.1 Architecture which Visitors walk up to theleads visitors through top progressing
the exhibition: Ramp
through the exhibition
leading througharchitectural space

Guggenheim Museum,
New York: Ramp
spiraling up to the topof the building

8.2 Architecture which Visitors go back andleads visitors: Moving forth along walkways
walkwaysfor the ride underlightsNational Museum ofArt, East Wing,
Washington, DC:
Museum accessmoving walkway

8.3 Architecture inwhich the form
dominates the function:
Decoration of a space

Visitors linger in thelobby area and ride theelevators multiple
times passing throughthe exhibition

Hirshhorn Museum,Washington, DC:
Barabara Kruger
Belief+Doubt

8.4 Architectureaccommodating an
installation: Inverted
puzzleVisitors enter a mazethat becomes easier tomap towards thecenter as the walls
become lower

National Building
Museum, Washington,
DC: Bjarke Ingels
Group Maze

Context

Museums have recently created opportunities for visitor engagement and institutional promotion
by highlighting locations for ubiquitous self-photographs or “selfies” to be taken to leave evidence ofvisiting（Table 9）．At the Newseum, selfies are uploaded and displayed on a public timeline alongwith photos of others who elect to post（9.1）．At the New York City museum, footprints on the floor− 94 −

The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

suggest strategic places to take selfies showing the individual and the museum in an advantageousmanner. The Museum of Arts and Design also provides opportunities for selfies to be taken using
not only normal “photographic” images but cameras with which the participant could experiment toproduce post-modern images（9.2）.
Table 9
Museological Function
and Technology

Leaving evidence of engagement through selfies

Performance
Engagement
Participation

Museum

9.1 Making visitor
visual artifact: selfie
facilities

Visitors take selfies
and post on visitors’
log page

Newseum Washington
DC: Selfie and post it
by email booth

9.2 Making visitor
visual artifact: selfie
facilties

Visitors takeexperimental selfies
taking distorted
imagesMuseum of Arts andDesign New York:
Experimental Selfies

Context

Museum Shops
At the end of a museum visit, as likely as not, we exit through a museum shop. While a museum
shop is not an exhibition per se, it does share some characteristics of exhibition, display and evenperformance with the exhibitions since it often sells memorabilia and items which supplement
exihibits. Mention is made of the museum shop because the role of a museum shop is part
educational, part memento, part commercial and is a kind of participatory experience associated withany museum visit（Table 10）． As Canclini（2001）puts it, it is the opening-up of modernism’s
temples of highbrow culture to mass audiences through the incorporation of shops, restaurants andcafes to extend the leisure experience. The museum shop is therefore a revenue boosting facility.
Many museums carry goods which advertise themselves through apparel or utensils bearing their
name（10.1）as well as providing goods which commemorate and extend the visit（catalogues andbooks about the subject of the exhibitions）．Others make a conscious effort to educate the visitors− 95 −RESEARCH BULLETIN

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by offering learning materials. Some shops are comprehensive and attempt to carry items which
cover all these categories（10.2）．Technology has not as yet played a significant role in the selectionof goods on offer at museum shops with a few exceptions such as the National Building Museum
which offers construction kits made with modern materials, or the Air and Space Museum whichsells consumer goods developed from the NASA space program.
Table 10

Museum shop typologies

MuseumMission

10.1 Jazz Museum inHarlem, New York

Minimal:Advertising throughapparelT shirts, caps, mugs

Example goods

10.2 Metropolitan
Museum, New York

Comprehensive: Widevariety of goods

Advertising appareland artifacts,
educational materials,
artwork, books,
memorabilia

Ⅳ

Shop appearance

Conclusion

Technological innovations were categorized as serving the following functions:•

Broadcasting, augmenting and receiving visual and textual information•

Devices or facilities which invite visitor private and public participation•

Simulation devices which mimic real-world processes•

Cinematic and projection techniques to extend sensory engagement•

Empathetic techniques and extensions of identity•

Performance art installations leading to critical reflection•

Architecture itself as an exploration or performance space•

Leaving evidence of engagement through selfies− 96 −

The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

Because the functions of museums include storage, preservation, restoration and presentation of
artifacts, museums also function as research and educational institutions. Certainly a little
entertainment enlivens education but beyond that, technology helps museums become educational
institutions building from their traditional role as citadels of community cultural memory.
There are still many museums which do not make special use of technology. Deploying technology
is not cheap and also requires special skills and planning. Museums whose artifacts are independently
compelling and invested with a sense of reality where curators feel no need to use technologicalaugmentation include the National Gallery of Art, the Sculpture Garden, the Butterfly Habitat, theVictory Garden all in Washington DC. El Museo del Barrio in New York serves as a culture centerand focuses on oral（not digital）storytelling. But expectations of visitors may well precipitatechanges in the look and feel of even the most traditional museums.
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Canclini, N.G. 2001. Consumers and Citizens: Globalization and Multicultural Conflicts. Minneapolis: University of
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Appendix 1
Museums visited during a 2014 trip to New York and Washington D.C.
New York
9/11 Memorial Museum
Dance Theater in Harlem
El Museo del Barrio
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Arts and Design（MAD）
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Museum of Modern Art（MoMA）
Museum of the City of New York
Museum of Tolerance
National Jazz Museum in Harlem
National Black Theater
National Museum of the American Indian（New York）
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Studio Museum Harlem
Tenement Museum
Washington DC
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
International Spy Museum
National Archives
National Building Museum
National Gallery of Art（including Sculpture Garden）
National Gallery of Art IM Pei East Wing
National Museum of Air and Space（Smithsonian）
National Museum of American History
National Museum of Natural History（including Victory Garden and Butterfly Habitat）
National Portrait Gallery
National Postal Museum（Smithsonian）
National Museum of the American Indian（Washington）
Newseum
Appendix 2
Museum Questionnaire
1. What category or genre of museum does this fall into? Graphic Arts? Culture? History? Memorialistic? Natural
History? Science? Literature? Music? Collections?
  
2. Does the museum attempt to be universalist or particularized?
3. How are the exhibits organized? By theme, by chronology, by collections, by use, at random?
4. What is the ratio of traditional static artifacts to audiovisual modern media displays? Is the visitor passive or active
as they walk through?
5. Are there interactive activities? For example hands-on devices. Levers to press? Lights that light up?
6. Are there audio accompaniments to guide the walk around? Can the audio be accessed by WiFi and cell phone?
Can the audio be accessed only chronologically or selectively?
7. Are there short films to accompany the static exhibits? Are the audio or video materials chronological on arepetitive loop or can they be accessed selectively?

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The Role of Technology in Participatory Museum Experiences（Natusch）

8. How does the architecture affect the museum display?
9. How is the interior space organized? By organized walk through or a randomized path? Is it well signposted foreasy navigation? Are the maps readable?
10. How does the lighting, wall spaces, room divisions, cabinets affect the exhibits? Are they well lit? Is there space tonavigate?
11. What new elements of technology have been incorporated into the museum displays? Working models, remote
video cameras, holograms?
12. What is the overall mission statement of the museum itself?
13. Do the artifacts have stories attached to them?
14. How do they tell the artifact narratives? Textually through plaques, pictorially, or auditory?
15. Does the curatorship show vision and artistic flare? Does it follow a factive or emotional approach? Does it appear
to be didactic with a single vision or does it encourage multiple visitor viewpoints in its presentational approach?
16. How many rooms are devoted to teaching activities and workshops?
17. What is the proportion of artifacts in storage compared with those on display?
18. What is the policy and protocol associated with collecting artifacts from the community? Is it a selective choice ofhigh value items or is it inclusive such as local oral history fragments?
19. Where does the funding for running the museum come from? Foundation, government grant, admission tickets,
lending of artifacts to other institutions?
20. What is the ratio of commercial vs. educational merchandise in museum shops? What unique items culturally
educational items are for sale in the shop?

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