Designing an adaptive multimedia interactive to support shared learning experiences

With the aid of new technologies, integrated design approachesare becoming increasingly incorporated into exhibit design inmuseums, aquaria and science centres. These settings share manysimilar design constraints that need to be addressed whendesigning multimedia interactives as exhibits. The use of adaptivesystems and techniques can overcome many of the constraintsinherent in these environments as well as enhance the educationalcontent they incorporate. Our main design goal was to facilitate aprocess to create user centric, collaborative and reflective learningspaces around the smart multimedia interactives. We wereinterested in encouraging deeper exploration of the content thanwhat is typically possible through wall signage, video display or asupplemental web page. We discuss techniques to bring adaptivesystems into public informal learning settings, and validate thesetechniques in a major aquarium with a beluga simulationinteractive. The virtual belugas, in a natural pod context, learn andalter their behavior based on contextual visitor interaction. Datafrom researchers, aquarium staff and visitors was incorporatedinto the evolving interactive, which uses physically based systemsfor natural whale locomotion and water, artificial intelligencesystems to simulation natural behavior, all of which respond touser input. The interactive allows visitors to engage in educational"what-if" scenarios of wild beluga emergent behavior using ashared tangible interface controlling a large screen display. Copyright ACM, 2006. This is the author\u27s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitiveversion was published in In ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 Educators program (p. 14). Boston, Massachusetts: ACM. doi:10.1145/1179295.117931