Memory Connection Journal

Abstract

The new museum is interactive; it entertains and informs the public about the past and thus connects museum visitors with heritage and history. New-media (or digital) interactive installations are not new to the museological environment. Simulated scenarios, aimed at educating children, have long been implemented in museum learning zones. With digital technology now a part of our everyday interactions, museum visitors of all ages are seeking the same level of immersion from their museum installations. New-media technology has afforded a substantial development to the way museums attribute memory testimony to collections of tangible artefacts. The digital environment enables a multi-layered platform for memory testimony exploration, which connects contextually displaced artefacts to environments, individuals, and society. Modern museums now have the difficult task of reviewing their archives and translating the rich history of this material through an interactive narrative. The successful employment of new-media technology is therefore an ever-evolving paradigm, with some museums implementing it more effectively than others. This article focuses on how new-media technology is currently implemented within museum exhibition design. It examines three projects currently installed within a museum context from the perspective of experience design generation practice and user-driven interactive development. The discussion seeks to identify good practice and formulate key areas in which to engage the audience through the development of new-media design.