BCNETwork News

December 2006

Virtual Sound, Personalized Experiences: Interactive Technology and the Future of Audio Museum Guides

By Nicole MacLellan

Researchers from Simon Fraser University have brought the interactivity of museum displays to new heights with the development of high-tech audio guides. The three SFU researchers behind this groundbreaking project were provided with a $200,000 grant from CANARIE’s Applied Research in Interactive Media Program, which aims to share Canadian culture in creative ways by leveraging the power of technology and collaboration.

Through an interface that combines the art of virtual sound with high-bandwidth connectivity, the ec(h)o project offers a glimpse into the future of computer-mediated museum experiences. A highly complex system, ec(h)o provides the visitor with personalized sound clips using the speed and flexibility of advanced research networks.

Soundscapes Create a Realistic Environment

An immense amount of preparation went into the design of ec(h)o, first tested at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Every visitor was provided with a set of wireless headphones and a small pouch containing a wireless receiver, allowing the system to track the visitor’s position within the museum and deliver ambient sounds that represent the natural environment within their direct path.

Kenneth Newby, co-investigator on the ec(h)o project, explains how they modeled the system after the study of soundscape ecology. “We created an ecological model that would modulate sounds smoothly depending on where the visitor was in the space. It was based on the idea that through sound, people are able to better understand their environment.”

A Personalized Experience for Every Visitor

Visitors were also provided with the choice of three sound clips, referred to as ‘sound objects,’ which offered alternate information about the display and reflected their individual interests. Based on the visitors’ objectives, which were identified at the beginning of the session, a reasoning module was able to pull a unique set of audio objects over the high-speed network from a massive digital repository, guaranteeing that every visitor’s experience was tailored to their personal preferences. The dynamic reasoning system was also capable of adjusting to each visitor as their interests changed throughout the session.

“The motion tracking system was based on infrared tags that tracked visitors’ locations around the gallery space to build up a history of what they were interested in,” explains Newby. “If they spent a lot of time in the area with the wooly mammoth, then they would receive a lot of options on northern environments, the history of exploration in the north and various aspects of Native life in that area.”

To select one of the options, visitors were given a handheld cube with three coloured faces, each representing one of the options that they were presented with. By presenting the cube with the green side facing up, the system was able to recognize which selection the visitor had chosen.

Pulling Virtual Sound over the Network

To access the hundreds of sound objects contained within the learning object repositories, the ec(h)o investigators took advantage of the high-bandwidth and connectivity of the network to avoid any latency issues and guarantee a seamless experience for every visitor. An additional goal of the project was to create and pull together audio objects, using a semantic web approach, from museums across Canada and even around the world.

As Ron Wakkary, principal investigator on the ec(h)o project, explains, “There may be an artifact at the Nature Museum in Ottawa that refers to or is connected to an artifact or information at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.” Although Wakkary and his co-workers were unable to set up the connection in time for the test, this idea provides a truly unique approach to audio museum guides.

Like a Museum Cocktail Party

Each of the sound clips that traveled over the high-speed network to the visitors’ headphones were modeled on conversation so realistic that visitors felt they could talk back to their guide. The audio content originated from interviews with 250 researchers and museum staff who had hands-on experience with the artifacts. The information was not based entirely on science, explained Wakkary. They contained funny and engaging information that helped to enrich the dynamic experience.

“The idea behind this was that we actually wanted people to feel as though they were attending a cocktail party with natural historians in order to revive, in an accessible and engaging way, the richness of the experience.”

Interactive Technology for the Future

Looking at ways in which this type of technology can be applied for future applications, Newby describes the future of interactive entertainment. “As the World Wide Web and television converge with interactive delivery, this type of technology could definitely be applied, especially as a learning tool. People will be able to get an experience that is more specific to who they are and where they are.”