Title
A voice-driven interactive smart audio descriptive guide for museum accessibility. Addressing the human computer interaction challenges
Conference name
Media for All 10 Conference
City
Country
Belgium
Modalities
Date
06/07/2023-07/07/2023
Abstract
Museums are typically dominated by visual experiences. This means that blind and partially sighted (BPS) visitors tend to be excluded from several important aspects of the visitor experience; for example, photos, information panels and other digital media such as touch screens and video footage. Two relevant emerging assistive technologies are chatbot technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which are opening up new possibilities to enable users to explore exhibitions based on their own preferences and interests. The use of new assistive technology for BPS people raises the need to consider the Human Computer Interaction aspects of the technology. This is especially so given the sustained growth in this field. In their review of the state of the art, Bhowmick & Hazarika (2017) conclude that assistive technology for persons with visual impairments is expected to grow at a swift pace and impact the lives of individuals and the elderly in ways not previously possible.
This paper describes the process of creating a voice-driven interactive smart audio descriptive guide for Titanic Belfast, a world-leading tourist attraction. This smart audio descriptive guide is intended to enhance museum accessibility and visitor experience especially for BPS visitors. The process of developing an interactive smart audio descriptive guide proved to be necessarily complex because of the range of skillsets involved.
Therefore, the paper first outlines the necessarily complex set of team functional roles and users, and then presents the main Human Computer Interaction challenges and opportunities arising from the user requirements. For example, the use of smart technology opens up new possibilities for museum management. As we shall see, it can provide greater flexibility in the layout and organisation of exhibits and exhibitions. In the case of a traditional audio descriptive guide, once it has been developed there is little involvement by museum management, except perhaps to monitor how many visitors use the device. This is largely because it is not feasible in practice to update or alter the audio descriptive guide. However, our smart audio descriptive guide can assist management in monitoring and optimising the visitor experience.
The key design features of the smart guide which meet these HCI challenges are then described, for example, speech input and output, question and answer facility and feedback gathering. We then evaluated our working prototype with a group of BPS participants and a review from a museum management perspective. It was clear from our evaluation that the smart guide has great potential, not only to improve the visitor experience for BPS visitors, but also to support the venue management in meeting their accessibility aspirations and obligations, and with reduced investment compared to the traditional approach. From our evaluation, we have also identified several fruitful avenues to pursue in developing our smart audio descriptive guide further.
To conclude, the smart audio descriptive guide has the potential to offer museums and cultural venues a new, affordable approach to providing a high-quality accessibility experience with lower design effort than traditional audio descriptive guide approaches.
This paper describes the process of creating a voice-driven interactive smart audio descriptive guide for Titanic Belfast, a world-leading tourist attraction. This smart audio descriptive guide is intended to enhance museum accessibility and visitor experience especially for BPS visitors. The process of developing an interactive smart audio descriptive guide proved to be necessarily complex because of the range of skillsets involved.
Therefore, the paper first outlines the necessarily complex set of team functional roles and users, and then presents the main Human Computer Interaction challenges and opportunities arising from the user requirements. For example, the use of smart technology opens up new possibilities for museum management. As we shall see, it can provide greater flexibility in the layout and organisation of exhibits and exhibitions. In the case of a traditional audio descriptive guide, once it has been developed there is little involvement by museum management, except perhaps to monitor how many visitors use the device. This is largely because it is not feasible in practice to update or alter the audio descriptive guide. However, our smart audio descriptive guide can assist management in monitoring and optimising the visitor experience.
The key design features of the smart guide which meet these HCI challenges are then described, for example, speech input and output, question and answer facility and feedback gathering. We then evaluated our working prototype with a group of BPS participants and a review from a museum management perspective. It was clear from our evaluation that the smart guide has great potential, not only to improve the visitor experience for BPS visitors, but also to support the venue management in meeting their accessibility aspirations and obligations, and with reduced investment compared to the traditional approach. From our evaluation, we have also identified several fruitful avenues to pursue in developing our smart audio descriptive guide further.
To conclude, the smart audio descriptive guide has the potential to offer museums and cultural venues a new, affordable approach to providing a high-quality accessibility experience with lower design effort than traditional audio descriptive guide approaches.