Indiana University artists and researchers have collaboratedwith the Indianapolis Museum of Art to develop new technologyand visualization tools that could revolutionize the museum patronexperience. The applications, designed to enhance visitors' interactionwith the museum's exhibits, will be publicly unveiled on May 6 when the IMA opens its newly renovated and expanded building.
IU's partnership with the IMA affirms its long-held commitmentto expanding access to the arts and humanities for all Indianacitizens. Museum patrons now will be able to immerse themselvesin exhibits through applications ranging from personal digitalassistants, or PDAs, to portable 3D devices, interactive displays,and virtual environments.
An experimental space in the museum called the "Davis XRoom" will house several of these new technologies, including:
etx —an interactive tabletop display of artcollections developed at the Visualization and Interactive SpacesLab, which is part of the Pervasive Technology Labs at IU. Atthe etx display, multiple museum visitors can use small trackingdevices to access more information on individual art pieces,including what gallery holds the selected piece.
Cabinet of Dreams —a 3D virtual environmentshowcasing highlights of the IMA's Chinese art collection. Ateam from IU's Hope School of Fine Arts—including Assistant ProfessorMargaret Dolinsky, who is also a research scientist in informationtechnology— selected objects from the IMA's Chinese collection,then recreated them as 3D computer graphics and displayed themin virtual environments. The cabinet is the metaphoric centerof the installation, reflected in the art and display deviceas if it were a modern-day Wunderkabinett . Cabinetof Dreams appears on the John-e-Box ,a portable, large-format, 3D stereo display system. The John-e-Boxwas developed by IU's Advanced Visualization Lab in conjunctionwith the Department of Chemistry at IU Bloomington. It is a keycomponent of IU's plan to deliver advanced visualization capabilitiesdirectly into the labs, classrooms, and studios of the university'sartists and researchers.
ArtXplore —a PDA that provides museum visitorswith enhanced audio and visual content (graphics, animations,video, and panoramas) on 16 objects from the IMA's American galleries.A wireless delivery system provides patrons with access to multiplelevels of content from which to learn more about the featuredart. Additionally, visitors will be able to review their experiencesand convey comments to the exhibit curator from their handhelddevices. The first of its type in the United States, ArtXplorewas developed through a collaboration of IU's Informatics ResearchInstitute, the IMA, the Herron School of Art and Design at IndianaUniversity Purdue University-Indianapolis, and Purdue's Schoolof Science at IUPUI.
