The MCG website now has profiles of the projects moving forward from the LIVE!Museum Project. My favourite (I’m biased because I am on the development team) is I, Object.
Whilst all the projects are concerned with enhancing the on-site museum experience I, Object examines how the ‘web’ (in its broadest sense) can enhance the character of the object. Because the encounter with an object in a gallery should be a special experience, informational layers must add to, rather than detract, from that experience. This project seeks to reassert the “relevance of the object, its enduring significance and its contemporary relationships to in-gallery and other experiences”.
The research question, and one now being developed into a funding proposal, is ‘How can Museums and Heritage Institutions bring in external live content in order to enhance visitors’ experience of in-gallery objects?’
“What is imagined is an object-centred network that generates live content drawn from within, and beyond, the site itself in such a way as to enhance the visitor’s experience of in-gallery objects”.
A proposal for workshops associated with developing the conceptual framework for this project are being discussed, so hopefully we can benefit from a wider community input into the idea in the next two or three months.