A Nomadic Information System for Adaptive Exhibition Guidance

Abstract

The paper describes the electronic guide HIPS that can be used duringthe process of a visit in a museum, i.e., for preparation, execution andevaluation. Users can access the system via the Web to prepare a visitby receiving information about the content and organization of anexhibition and practical issues like location and opening hours. Thevisitor can also prepare a tour for the actual visit or define hotspotswith important exhibits. The system should remind the user when on site.Once the user is in the museum he or she has two specific options to usethe system: the visitor can walk around in the museum and remainstanding where he or she finds an item of interest. The current locationin the room identified by infrared emitters at all exhibits triggers anindicator for the information presentation. Or, the visitor can select atour prepared by a curator, prepared by the user in advance (at home) orgenerated by the user ad hoc. In the museum, the information access isprovided via wireless technologies. This allows the user to accessinformation by moving in the physical space and navigating in theinformation space concurrently. The Web-based server approach allows foradaptive information selection and presentation based on a user modelevaluating the history of the usage of the system. The user canaccelerate the adaptation by specifying interests and preferences in theuser model. Before the visit the user can define tours and hotspots andenter annotations that will be presented or activated by the system inthe appropriate physical environment. After a visit in the museum theuser can evaluate the experience at home for further own inquiries orfor communication with other interested people. Thebefore-during-after-the-visit-support of visitors via nomadicinformation system has been designed based on evidence from ourquestionnaire pre-study, which showed that visitors actually useinformation available in or about museums before and also after avisit.