The MultiMedia Playground - Experiments in the Design of Multimedia Exhibitions

The seamless integration of interactive media into a museum setting is a major design concern for museum exhibition developers. Matching the scale and interactivity of multimedia exhibitry with physical objects on the one hand and visitor dynamics on the other is a difficult undertaking. This is especially true because the traditional design of multimedia presentations are optimized for single users in an office, home or school situation, situations which are considerable different from the dramatic, three dimensional, multi-user environment of a museum setting. A previous aper discussed some of the general issues concerning the integration of multimedia into a museum environment by considering the relationship between the nature of interactivity and the connection of multimedia installations to the exhibit floor. This paper will discuss some concrete design issues which arise when presenting multimedia in an exhibit context. The two recently held Exploratorium MultiMedia Playgrounds will provide a set of specific examples.