In this beginning part of the project for The Smithsonian National Museum (sponsored by Pitney Bowes) – a multifaceted interactive game and learning experience – I show the progression of ideas that lead to the touchscreen UI. Not all interfaces were on one computer station, but rather there were separate stations through the exhibit where one personal demographic could be entered. This allowed our game to aggregate a profile of the exhibit's current visitors.
At first it wasn’t decided who or what the main character of the exhibit would be, and we had few details. Working on contract for Multimedia Resources, Inc., we started with a more authoritative museum interface style.
As we realized this exhibit would be visited by school children on museum tours, we presented a more colorful concept using an actor and wizard-like sidekick.
It was suggested around this point that mailboxes would be a good device to use in a game interface, perhaps as a way to access categories. So we explored.
Okay, too young now. Try some other things with mailboxes…shiny and colorful…maybe accenting regions of the country…
It was tricky trying to find agreement among the many voices in the project. Pitney Bowes like mailboxes and paper as motif. The Smithsonian directors wanted a more sophisticated marble feel, yet still to keep children engaged – which led us in this direction.
With the last idea finding traction among them, I developed the inlay wireframes, 3D animations and UI for the final non-linear game-play interface, using this motif. First I created a looping collage video for idle screen time.
Then came the screens for demographic data capture…name first, then age, gender, region and interests…all gathered and held anonymously on a card in your hand…
The final data collection station had a camera hidden behind a 2-way mirror. As a visitor looked at his or herself in the mirror, it took a picture and allowed the best shot to be selected.
And once the information was gathered for the visitors in the experience…we used that data in some games they could play on other touchscreen computer stations, where they could simulate the choices made by direct marketers and see themselves represented among the results!
Click here to see the game portion of the exhibit experience.
