Getting The Most Out Of Our Users OR The Science Museum Lab: How The Dana Centre Lets Us Play

Dan Evans, The Science Museum, United Kingdom
Dave Patten, The Science Museum, United Kingdom
Mike Ellis, The Science Museum, United Kingdom
http://www.danacentre.org.uk

Session: User Content: Tools

The Science Museum, London, recently opened a new building - the Dana Centre - dedicated to the dialogue between public and scientists. The building has allowed us to create an experimental environment for discussion and debate at the cutting edge of Web and broadcast technologies.

This paper examines this range of technologies and their application - in particular focusing on the ways in which the Dana Centre is beginning to allow users to contribute content for use both on- and off-line. It also looks at the ways in which the boundary is crossed between the event space and the virtual space, by using text messaging, live Webcast, live voting, XML feeds, 3D chat and discussion boards.

As well as looking at the technologies used to date, the paper also examines what is planned into the future, the pros and cons of each technology, and techniques used to implement them.