A short primer on new media in museums and examples of newer kinds of new media

1. New Media, Cthulu, &
the Adjacent Possible
Ed Rodley
Peabody Essex Museum
1Friday, May 31, 13

2. I’d like to tell you a little bit
about what I find so interesting
about digital media in museums
2Friday, May 31, 13

3. icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

4. icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

5. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

6. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

7. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

8. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

9. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
The Internet - a disembodied computer
interactivity = visiting a website
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

10. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
The Internet - a disembodied computer
interactivity = visiting a website
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

11. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
The Internet - a disembodied computer
interactivity = visiting a website
Web 2.0/SM/etc... - the crowd
interactivity = interacting with each other
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
3Friday, May 31, 13

12. “In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits
dreaming.”
- H.P. Lovecraft
Cthulu
by Tiina Aumala
4Friday, May 31, 13

13. In new media, all those other
“old” media lie waiting.
5Friday, May 31, 13

14. But first, a brief history of new media
in museums
6Friday, May 31, 13

15. icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

16. icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

17. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

18. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

19. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

20. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

21. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
The Internet - a disembodied computer
interactivity = visiting a website
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

22. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
The Internet - a disembodied computer
interactivity = visiting a website
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

23. Screens - the original New medium
interactivity = watching television
The computer - a different kind of screen
interactivity = engaging with a computer
The Internet - a disembodied computer
interactivity = visiting a website
Web 2.0/SM/etc... - the crowd
interactivity = interacting with each other
icons courtesy of The Noun Project
7Friday, May 31, 13

24. “In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits
dreaming.”
- H.P. Lovecraft
Cthulu
by Tiina Aumala
8Friday, May 31, 13

25. In new media, all those other
“old” media lie waiting.
9Friday, May 31, 13

26. Now, some general thoughts on new
media, old media, and media media
10Friday, May 31, 13

27. “The medium is the message”
the symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message
is perceived
- Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan from Library and Archives
Canada reference number PA-172791
11Friday, May 31, 13

28. “The medium is the message”
the symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message
is perceived
- Marshall McLuhan
still
Marshall McLuhan from Library and Archives
Canada reference number PA-172791
11Friday, May 31, 13

29. “The impact of new media... is evolutionary, not
revolutionary,”
- David Thorburn &
Henry Jenkins
080523 Henry Jenkins-1
by Flickr user Dan4th
(CC-BY-2.0)
Face
by Flickr user GregPC
(CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
12Friday, May 31, 13

30. “New media do not make old media obsolete:
they assign them other places in the system.”
- Friedrich Kittler
tm07_Friedrich Kittler
by Flickr user transmediale
(CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
13Friday, May 31, 13

31. Old media don’t go away just
because newer media appear.
They live on after death, just
like Cthulu.
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32. 15Friday, May 31, 13

33. 15Friday, May 31, 13

34. 15Friday, May 31, 13

35. 15Friday, May 31, 13

36. 15Friday, May 31, 13

37. 15Friday, May 31, 13

38. 15Friday, May 31, 13

39. What makes new media
“new” is their position in
the adjacent possible
16Friday, May 31, 13

40. What makes new media
“new” is their position in
the adjacent possible
otherwise they’re just
media
16Friday, May 31, 13

41. The adjacent possible
17Friday, May 31, 13

42. is a kind of shadow future,
hovering on the edges of the present state of
things, a map of all the ways in which the present
can reinvent itself.
The adjacent possible
17Friday, May 31, 13

43. is a kind of shadow future,
hovering on the edges of the present state of
things, a map of all the ways in which the present
can reinvent itself.
The adjacent possible
Flickr user jdlasica
(CC BY-NC 2.0)
17Friday, May 31, 13

44. is a kind of shadow future,
hovering on the edges of the present state of
things, a map of all the ways in which the present
can reinvent itself.
- Steven Johnson
The adjacent possible
Flickr user jdlasica
(CC BY-NC 2.0)
17Friday, May 31, 13

45. is a kind of shadow future,
hovering on the edges of the present state of
things, a map of all the ways in which the present
can reinvent itself.
- Steven Johnson
- Stuart Kaufmann
The adjacent possible
Flickr user jdlasica
(CC BY-NC 2.0)
17Friday, May 31, 13

46. is a kind of shadow future,
hovering on the edges of the present state of
things, a map of all the ways in which the present
can reinvent itself.
- Steven Johnson
- Stuart Kaufmann
Teemu Rajala
(CC BY 3.0)
The adjacent possible
Flickr user jdlasica
(CC BY-NC 2.0)
17Friday, May 31, 13

47. old media
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48. old media
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49. old media
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50. old media
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51. old media
???
??
? ? ?
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52. old media
???
??
? ? ?
18Friday, May 31, 13

53. old media
???
??
? ? ?
the adjacencies are
well-understood
18Friday, May 31, 13

54. "The strange and beautiful truth about the
adjacent possible is that its boundaries grow as
you explore them. Each new combination
opens up the possibility of other new
combinations.Think of it as a house that
magically expands with each door you open.”
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55. new media
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56. new media
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57. new media
20Friday, May 31, 13

58. new media
???
??
? ? ?
20Friday, May 31, 13

59. new media
???
??
? ? ?
20Friday, May 31, 13

60. new media
???
??
? ? ?
?
?
?
20Friday, May 31, 13

61. new media
???
??
? ? ?
?
?
?
20Friday, May 31, 13

62. new media
???
??
? ? ?
?
?
?
?
?
???
20Friday, May 31, 13

63. new media
???
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? ? ?
?
?
?
?
?
???
20Friday, May 31, 13

64. and so on...
21Friday, May 31, 13

65. And this matters because...?
22Friday, May 31, 13

66. “A museum exhibition is ‘the
medium of media’”
- Dan Spock
by @danspock
23Friday, May 31, 13

67. An exhibition can
utilize:
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

68. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

69. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

70. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
• image,
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

71. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
• image,
• moving image,
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

72. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
• image,
• moving image,
• performance,
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

73. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
• image,
• moving image,
• performance,
• installation, and
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

74. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
• image,
• moving image,
• performance,
• installation, and
most recently, Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

75. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
• image,
• moving image,
• performance,
• installation, and
most recently,
• digital media.
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

76. An exhibition can
utilize:
• the written word,
• sound,
• image,
• moving image,
• performance,
• installation, and
most recently,
• digital media.
Gallery One
Cleveland Museum of Art
24Friday, May 31, 13

77. Part of the joy of our work is that
anything is fair game for inclusion in
museum experiences
25Friday, May 31, 13

78. Part of the joy of our work is that
anything is fair game for inclusion in
museum experiences
Part of the challenge is figuring out
what are appropriate uses for a given
technology/medium/device
25Friday, May 31, 13

79. Our audiences are out there,
already using these media
26Friday, May 31, 13

80. Our audiences are out there,
already using these media
Wherever we want to move their understanding,
we need to meet them where they are.
26Friday, May 31, 13

81. What are some ways
museums are experimenting
with new media?
27Friday, May 31, 13

82. Games & Gamification (ack!)
28Friday, May 31, 13

83. Games & Gamification (ack!)
28Friday, May 31, 13

84. Games & Gamification (ack!)
• In 2013, people (young and old) don’t come
to most museums with the expectation of
gaming, and treat “games” with suspicion.
• Exceptions include actual games used in
museum settings, like Minecraft, orWii/Kinect
hacks
29Friday, May 31, 13

85. Game Over
by Flickr user Jennie Faber
(CC BY 2.0)
30Friday, May 31, 13

86. Museum games
tend to suck
Game Over
by Flickr user Jennie Faber
(CC BY 2.0)
30Friday, May 31, 13

87. Museum games
tend to suck
Game Over
by Flickr user Jennie Faber
(CC BY 2.0)
30Friday, May 31, 13

88. Museum games
tend to suck
because bolting game
mechanics onto an activity
doesn’t automatically make that
activity “fun”.
Game Over
by Flickr user Jennie Faber
(CC BY 2.0)
30Friday, May 31, 13

89. Rather than gamifying (ack!),
we should be working more
towards making hard fun.
31Friday, May 31, 13

90. Hard Fun
by Flickr user ak_mardini
(CC BY-SA 2.0)
32Friday, May 31, 13

91. Hard Fun
by Flickr user ak_mardini
(CC BY-SA 2.0)
32Friday, May 31, 13

92. Hard Fun
“Everyone likes hard
challenging things to do. But
they have to be the right things
matched to the individual and
to the culture of the times.”
- Seymour Papert
by Flickr user ak_mardini
(CC BY-SA 2.0)
32Friday, May 31, 13

93. “Hard fun” is
hard
Hard to find, and hard to make...
but not impossible
4 Keys 2 Fun
by XEODesign
33Friday, May 31, 13

94. “Hard fun” is
hard
Hard to find, and hard to make...
but not impossible
4 Keys 2 Fun
by XEODesign
33Friday, May 31, 13

95. Actual prototype interface
34Friday, May 31, 13

96. It looks like a real tool, not an
“educational” experience
35Friday, May 31, 13

97. 3D Scanning & Printing
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98. 3D Scanning & Printing
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99. New media now includes
reality
thanks to 3D scans and prints
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100. 38Friday, May 31, 13

101. 38Friday, May 31, 13

102. 39Friday, May 31, 13

103. 40Friday, May 31, 13

104. 40Friday, May 31, 13

105. Meet Liz
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106. Meet Liz
41Friday, May 31, 13

107. Meet Liz
41Friday, May 31, 13

108. Meet Liz
41Friday, May 31, 13

109. Questions?
42Friday, May 31, 13