Live Biblia: Evaluation of a Support System with a Tangible Interface

for Viewing Science Museum Exhibitions

Ryohei Egusa

1,2

, Machi Saito

, Fusako Kusunoki

and Shigenori Inagaki

Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan

Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

Yahoo! Japan Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan

Keywords: Live Biblia, Science Museum, Exhibitions, Tangible Interface.

Abstract: In this study, we present a museum exhibit guide system that uses a tangible user interface: Live Biblia. Based

on the visitor’s learning interests, museum exhibits are sorted and mapped by the system. Thus, it is possible

to create a unique viewing map for the visitor, unrestricted by the existing exhibit environment. We describe

the development and evaluation of the implemented Live Biblia prototype, which provides exhibit information

based on selected material objects. We conducted evaluation experiments to examine the system’s

effectiveness. The results suggest that the interface prototype using physical objects spurred participants’

interest in paleontology and facilitated effective museum exhibit learning. Additionally, we found that

presenting information in the prototype animation aroused the participants’ motivation to learn and supported

the viewing of not only the single fossil object but also the related museum exhibits.

1 INTRODUCTION

In this study, we present Live Biblia, a museum

exhibit guide system that uses a tangible user

interface. Museum visitors can use Live Biblia to

navigate numerous exhibits in an optimal order.

The International Council of Museums (2007)

defines a museum as “a non-profit, permanent

institution in the service of society and its

development, open to the public, which acquires,

conserves, researches, communicates, and exhibits

the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and

its environment for the purposes of education, study,

and enjoyment.” For this purposes, the museum

presents primary source materials as well as

secondary source materials created from the primary

source materials. When presenting the exhibits,

exhibit creators select collections held by each

museum hall or cultural property held by other

museums; it is necessary to consider the explanations

and arrangements that will aid visitors’ understanding

of exhibits (Dean, 2002; Bell, Lewenstein, Shouse,

and Feder, 2009).

However, in case problems arise in the exhibit

environment, moving the exhibit is very difficult

regardless of whether the relevant exhibit is installed

in the same or a separate location. This is due to issues

with materials preservation and the need to

contemplate matters such as restrictions regarding the

utilization of museum space, the appropriate amount

of light considering various material qualities, and

temperature and humidity constraints.

Further, misguided exhibit configurations may

render visitors unable to comprehend the exhibits in

their intended continuity (Falk and Dierking, 2013).

Such problems may impede visitors’ recognition of

how exhibits have been systematically configured

around a certain theme and, consequently, may

prevent visitors from understanding the complete

theme.

Therefore, it is necessary to investigate ways to

resolve these exhibit arrangement/installation

problems from a “soft” perspective, as it is difficult to

resolve them from a “hard” perspective. Marty (2000)

proposes a system enabling the creation of a digital

archive of a museum’s materials, and the presentation

of listings and image viewings on the Internet.

Presenting a recommended route for viewing the

related exhibit materials could enhance museum

visitors’ learning.

Egusa, R., Saito, M., Kusunoki, F. and Inagaki, S.

Live Biblia: Evaluation of a Support System with a Tangible Interface for Viewing Science Museum Exhibitions.

In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2016) - Volume 1, pages 525-530

ISBN: 978-989-758-179-3

525

Hence, we developed the Live Biblia concept, a

system for flexibly presenting the ideal route for

viewing exhibit materials at actual museums, based

on visitors’ individual learning interests. Live Biblia

uses the tangible user interface. Tangible user

interface utilizes physical objects as an interface for

accessing intangible information (Ishii and Ulmer,

1997; Ishii, 2008). In this study, we devised a method

that uses real, hand-size materials as objects that

could help indicate visitors’ learning interests.

Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram of the Live

Biblia system. Based on the visitor’s learning

interests, museum exhibits are sorted and mapped.

Subsequently, it is possible to create a unique viewing

map for the visitor, unrestricted by the existing

exhibit environment. It is also possible to update

maps without moving exhibit items, thereby reducing

the incidental burden of exhibit development.

Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram of Live Biblia

usage. Museum visitors first externalize their

personal interests by selecting material objects. Live

Biblia provides exhibit information based on these

selections. These activities help visitors acquire

perspectives for motivated and effective learning

about museum exhibits. Next, Live Biblia lists

relevant museum exhibits based on the visitor’s

selected group of objects and provides the visitor with

an appropriate viewing order, thereby allowing the

visitor to obtain structured knowledge.

In this paper, we describe the development and

evaluation of the implemented Live Biblia prototype,

which provides exhibit information based on selected

material objects.

Figure 1: Conceptual diagram of the Live Biblia system.

Figure 2: Conceptual diagram of Live Biblia usage.

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2 PROTOTYPE SYSTEM

Figure 3 shows the framework of the prototype

system. The Live Biblia system framework comprises

a laptop PC, projector, RFID reader, and (passive)

objects with RFID tags. Live Biblia was developed

using Adobe ActionScript 3 and Adobe Flash CS6.

The selected theme of the prototype system was

paleontology, for two reasons. First, paleontology

involves the study of fossils that can be used as

tangible materials. Second, it is possible to variously

classify a particular number of relevant fossil

materials, such as by the era in which the fossilized

item was alive, its living environment (land, sea, etc.),

predation method, and evolutionary lineage.

Figure 4 indicates an example of an object with an

RFID tag in the prototype system. An actual

ammonite fossil is embedded in the object. The visitor

can touch the ammonite directly and view it in close

proximity. The objects are hand-sized and it is easy to

compare multiple objects. RFID tags are embedded in

the objects and, by moving close to the RFID reader,

RFID information is recorded and transmitted.

Figure 5 shows a device with a built-in RFID

reader. By placing the object underneath the

magnifying glass, RFID information is read. In

addition to intuitively showing where to place the

object, the magnifying glass can be used to view the

fossil in detail. When the RFID information is read by

the PC, an animation providing information on that

fossil is displayed on the projector.

Figure 6 shows an example of an animation

projection on ammonites. The animation highlights

ammonite and explains its ecology. The predation

relationship between ammonites and the mosasaurus,

an animal that lived during the same period, is also

explained. Thus, presenting other materials related to

the materials of interest helps in creating a viewing

route for the museum exhibits. Figure 7 shows an

animation of the usage setting. Projecting the

animation on a screen enables multiple visitors to

share the information.

Figure 3: Framework of the prototype system.

Live Biblia: Evaluation of a Support System with a Tangible Interface for Viewing Science Museum Exhibitions

527

Figure 4: Fossil object with an RFID tag.

Figure 5: RFID reader.

Figure 6: Projection of animation.

Figure 7: An animation of the usage setting.

3 EVALUATION

3.1 Method

The participants comprised 28 fifth graders in

elementary school (13 boys and 15 girls). The

location was the H Prefectural Museum of Natural

History. The participants used the prototype system in

groups of two and three. A total of nine fossil objects

were used, comprising three objects from each of

three geologic eras: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and

Cenozoic. The participants were each responsible for

one of these geologic eras. The system trial transpired

as follows.

First, participants touched three fossil objects

related to the geologic era they were responsible for,

and selected a fossil that aroused their interest. Next,

they watched the animation that provided information

about the selected fossil. Then, participants viewed

related exhibits in the museum. After viewing these,

they selected another object of interest from the

remaining objects. The above activities were

performed for all three fossils from the geologic era

for which they were responsible.

Finally, participants evaluated the prototype

system using a questionnaire comprising 10

questions; 4 questions pertained to the objects and 6

pertained to the information provided by the

animation. The participants evaluated each question

using a 7-point scale ranging from “strongly agree” to

“strongly disagree.”

3.2 Results

First, we classified the responses; “strongly agree,”

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“agree,” and “agree somewhat” were classified as

affirmative responses while “no opinion,” “disagree

somewhat,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree” were

classified as neutral or negative responses.

Subsequently, the affirmative responses and neutral

or negative responses were analyzed using a 1 x 2

uneven distribution binomial test.

Table 1 presents a summary of the evaluation

results for the fossil objects. For all four items,

affirmative answers exceeded the neutral and

negative answers (as the students indicated, “The

fossil object sparked my interest,” “I observed the

fossil object closely,” “I was able to understand the

relationship between the fossil object and the fossils

exhibited in the museum,” and “I made new

discoveries by closely observing the fossil object and

the fossils exhibited in the museum”). A significant

bias was found in the number of responses for all

items (P< .01).

Table 2 presents a summary of the evaluation

results for the information in the animation. For all

six items, affirmative answers exceeded the neutral

and negative answers (as the students indicated,

“Watching the presented animation sparked my

interest in the fossil as an object,” “Watching the

presented animation sparked my interest in the era in

which the animal lived,” “Watching the presented

animation made me want to learn more about the

animal at the museum,” “Watching the presented

animation sparked my interest in exhibits at the

museum related to the animal,” “By watching the

presented animation, I was able to better view the

exhibits at the museum related to the animal,” and “I

watched the presented animation and thoroughly read

the explanation paragraphs in the exhibits at the

museum related to the animal”). A significant bias

was found in the number of responses for all four

items (P< .01).

Table 1: Evaluation results for the fossil objects.

Item 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The fossil object sparked my interest.

14 7 6 1 0 0 0

I observed the fossil object closely.

8 10 8 1 1 0 0

I was able to understand the relationship between the fossil object and the fossils

exhibited in the museum.

12 8 7 1 0 0 0

I made new discoveries by closely observing the fossil object and the fossils exhibited

in the museum.

12 8 7 1 0 0 0

N=28

7: Strongly Agree, 6: Agree, 5: Agree Somewhat, 4: No Option, 3: Disagree Somewhat, 2: Disagree, 1: Strongly Disagree

＊＊

P<0.01

Table 2: Evaluation results for the information in the animation.

Item 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Watching the presented animation sparked my interest in the fossil as an object.

12 8 7 1 0 0 0

Watching the presented animation sparked my interest in the era in which the animal

lived.

11 9 6 1 0 1 0

Watching the presented animation made me want to learn more about the animal at

the museum.

12 8 7 1 0 0 0

Watching the presented animation sparked my interest in exhibits at the museum

related to the animal.

12 8 7 1 0 0 0

By watching the presented animation, I was able to better view the exhibits at the

museum related to the animal.

12 8 7 1 0 0 0

I watched the presented animation and thoroughly read the explanation paragraphs in

the exhibits at the museum related to the animal.

12 8 7 1 0 0 0

N=28

7: Strongly Agree, 6: Agree, 5: Agree Somewhat, 4: No Option, 3: Disagree Somewhat, 2: Disagree, 1: Strongly Disagree

＊＊

P<0.01

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529

4 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE

WORKS

This paper described the development and evaluation

of the Live Biblia prototype. In the evaluation, the

number of affirmative responses exceeded the number

of neutral and negative responses for all 10 items

(four pertaining to the objects and six pertaining to the

animation). Moreover, there were significant

differences in the number of responses.

These results suggest that the interface prototype

using physical objects spurred participants’ interest in

paleontology and facilitated effective museum exhibit

learning.

Additionally, we found that presenting

information in the prototype animation aroused the

participants’ motivation to learn and supported the

viewing of not only the single fossil object but also

the related museum exhibits.

Future tasks include the development and

implementation of a function to navigate exhibit

routes within the museum, as well as collecting user

data on actual visitors in the museum and

investigating the effectiveness of Live Biblia’s

support of museum learning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant

Numbers 24240100, 15K12382.

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