Introduction
This project took place in 2014 while I was still a premajor. I worked with students in the Interactive Media Design program in order to get a headstart and learn more about the development process and user experience design. We were assigned to choose any museum in the local area (Seattle) and design an interactive exhibit for it. My group and I chose the Experience Music Project museum and focused our design on the music artists Daft Punk.
Design
We chose to focus our design on these artists because of our mutual appreciation for the music, the recent release of Daft Punk’s latest album (Random Access Memories), and because it was nothing that the EMP has done before. We also chose Daft Punk because of the identity they’ve established as artists. We wanted to frame our exhibit to follow the duo’s history and mythos regarding their identity/brand. Overall, our goal was to create a completely immersive, fun, sci-fi experience where our users would be transported into a different world.
We designed to represent Daft Punk’s history through their discography in chronological order. Each album would be its own separate section in the museum which would continuously transition to the next album as the experience progressed. Each section would explain the inspiration and backstory of the album as well as the moment in history for the artists during that time. It would ultimately lead to the last exhibit which would showcase and promote their final album as well as invite them to a live hologram concert that would take place in the EMP.
When the users enter the exhibit, they must go through an arch which gives the illusion of being surrounded in outer space. This was the way we transported the users from being inside the EMP to entering a completely different space. The layout will then direct the user to the first section (Daft Punk album) of the exhibit.Each section would have various interactive items that coincide with the theme of its designated album. We designed each section of the exhibit to play music from its designated album. The high and mid tones would be played through ceiling mounted loudspeakers and the bass tones would be felt through vibrations on the ground. When the users enter the space, sensors would detect their presence and proceed to play the music.
Here are some of the notable interactive items from the exhibit:
Discovery
This section was based off of the animated movie Interstellar 5555, which served as the visuals for the Discovery album. In contrast to the other albums, this one had more of a “pop” vibe, so the look and feel was leaned towards glamour and vibrancy. The main interactive feature was the projection screen utilizing Xbox Kinect technology to track the users and display them on the big screen. This would act like a mirror. Their regular human form would be displayed and the user would have to pose matching the outline on the screen in which their image would be transformed. Their human form would change to an alien form to look like the animated characters in the Interstellar 5555. This image could then be downloaded to the user’s mobile phone using a QR code. Again, this interaction was designed to support the idea of immersion because the user is transformed and placed into the world within the movie.
Random Access Memories
This section was for Daft Punk’s latest studio album. In this album, their typical electronic house music style gravitated towards groove and funk. The main interactive item was an area surrounded by two halves of the helmets that the Daft Punk artists wear (as part of their elusive identity). The users step in and are surrounded by video screens in which they are placed inside the latest music videos. This again utilizes the Kinect technology and transforms the users to look like the artists inside performing in the video. As the users continue, they would be led by a red carpet to see the Grammy award won by the duo and be directed to promotional displays of the live hologram concert which would be the finale for the exhibit.
Challenges/pitfalls
There were several things to keep in mind when we created this exhibit. First, we didn’t want to disorient the users when they come in. Our space for the exhibit would be very dark and there would be music constantly playing. It was very possbile to get some sort of motion sickness while going through experience. Next, was the concern about those with handicaps. Of course, we didn’t want to limit anyone from being able to go through this experience, but some of the platforms and areas weren’t the most user friendly. If possible, we could place certain exhibits in a way that elevators and such would be nearby so that everyone would be able to easily access all of the areas.
We also needed to do more research. We could have done more intense research on Daft Punk and their history so that we would truly be accurate with what we inform our users. As much as we like Daft Punk, we wanted to make sure that this exhibit would still be informative. Also, we needed to do greater research for our target audience. We made many assumptions regarding what our audience would like and want, but these weren’t backed up my any qualitative or quantitative data. It was simply something that would be “really cool,” and we stood by it. We kept in mind the cost as well. For this project, we were allowed unlimited funds, which meant that anything was possible. With all of our ideas and plans put together, the budget for the project would be staggering. Truly, it was an ambitious project.
Conclusion
This was my first real experience working with a team to design and create something that could potentially be used in real life. Although it didn’t translate to real life, it gained a lot of praise from our colleagues and instructor. On our presentation day, an official from the EMP watched our presentation and really enjoyed it. He was impressed by the ideas that we created and actually said that he might “steal” some of our ideas for future exhibits. I gained experience working with people already in the program and while intimidating, it pushed me to really deliver for the good of the team. I learned how to maintain group dynamic while being open to criticisms during the entire design process. This project allowed me to create storyboards, personas, wireframes as well as learn new software to create prototypes for our design document. This project is very possible and it wouldn’t be surprising if the EMP eventually created an exhibit dedicated to Daft Punk. If they ever do… we did it first!
Bryce Villanueva 