Palmera : an information augmented museum visit device

Abstract

This thesis tries to develop a new museum guide device with the combination functions of digital cameras and palms as a tool that maps information onto digital images to support a real-time contextualized learning that goes beyond separate out-of-task-context learning and existing museum guide modes. In order to perform a self-directed, interest-triggering learning process, one needs to gain information from both personal experiences and museum databases. By keeping a continuous personal experience between different journeys, an individual could bring his own knowledge and history into relation with museum databases to support a dynamic information access during museum visits and after the visits. However, existing guide devices and their applications do not fully exploit the potential of real-time learning generated by wireless and mobile technology. This study proposes a tool, which encourages personal-controlled learning during museum visits by mapping dynamic information layer into physical space. The visitor " gets object-oriented knowledge and a coherent experience through the exploration into the information space with the movement in the physical space both real-time and after the visit.