Cat Bluemke and Jonathan Carroll’s "Reality Crossing", 2021, as seen in Geofenced (2021), curated by Katie Liao for InterAccess. Augmented reality for mobile and site-specific installation. Photo by Natalie Logan.
Organizations with dedicated exhibition space should consider if their project would benefit from an onsite installation. Depending on resources, onsite installation can offer audiences an enhanced experience by providing them with pre-loaded hardware or a gallery attendant to facilitate access. Installation of these projects will often require the artist or a knowledgeable technician to assist with setup. Any onsite installation will benefit from a set of written instructions. Write tech instructions as plainly as possible—leave artspeak for artist statements!
Below are considerations we’ve made when exhibiting onsite experiences of the following media.
For more information on onsite screen-based media installations, see this note:
For strategies creating accessible spaces for onsite experiences, see these notes:
Browser-Based Experiences
Installing a computer in a gallery is pretty straightforward. The computer and its peripherals (mouse, keyboard, webcam etc.) should be secured in place with wire cord, such as aircraft cable, and standard mounts can be used. Consider creating an account on the computer that has no administrative permissions—that is, cannot change the computer’s password or load any additional software to the computer. If the computer is mounted on a table, will a chair be provided? Is the height of the table accessible for wheelchair users? Are there cables or cords that need to be secured?
The experience should be pre-loaded on the computer and checked between uses to reset it or adjust the space for the next user. Peripherals should be sanitized according to health authority suggestions. If it is a browser-based experience, recognize the possibility that someone may navigate to another webpage out of curiosity or habit. If it is a downloadable program, you can remove other programs from the user’s screen to limit distractions.
Custom computers or the mounting of computers inside arcade cabinets are ways to invite novelty into a familiar hardware experience.
More information and considerations for browser-based interactive media art.
Mobile Experiences
Through an onsite installation of a mobile experience, audiences can access the work on dedicated, pre-loaded devices. Galleries and museums have been integrating tablets into exhibition displays for years now, and there are many off-the-shelf options for mounting them in physical space. If there is an audio component, provide headphones for the audience.
If the experience requires the user to move the device around, secure it with a wire cord of appropriate length to allow for movement. Check on the installation frequently to reset the experience or inspect any cords for tripping hazards.
Ensure that the device has multiple security barriers to uninstalling the software or logging in a new account, like setting up a fingerprint sensor in addition to the passcode. Similarly to computers, the familiarity of mobile devices may inspire someone to try logging on to their social media or add a different application to the device. Devices that have sensitive information, or are logged on to the organization’s social media, should not be used for public display.
More information and considerations for mobile interactive media art.
Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences
AR experiences usually use mobile devices and share many of the same installation constraints. More often than not, these experiences require audiences to move a great deal with the device, and can be a challenge to secure physically. Enabling tracking on the device and placing it in a cumbersome case can deter theft. AR experiences using computers and webcams can be mounted to carts or wheeled frames.
Great care should be taken to ensure that the area of the experience is relatively clear and free of tripping hazards. As audiences will be moving around looking at a device, AR should not be installed in areas with high traffic or uneven surfaces. If installed outdoors, triggers should be placed in well-lit and open areas. Outdoor experiences should be kept to a small radius to encourage audiences to stay within the intended surroundings.
More information and considerations for AR interactive media art.
Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences
As VR headsets are the most specialized of the hardware listed here, an onsite installation can offer larger audiences access to the experience. VR headsets are awkward, isolating, and a challenge for new users. It is recommended that a real person facilitates the audience’s donning of the headset and tells them what to expect or what they can do inside the experience. The facilitator should ask permission to touch the user before engaging with them. It is recommended the attendant launch the experience in the headset before placing it on the user. Any fast-paced or strobing effects should be advertised to the users beforehand. Once the audience is wearing the headset, the attendant should remain in proximity and announce their presence before touching the audience or the headset. Headsets should be sanitized between users.
If there is no dedicated attendant, the developer or artist should set the experience to automatically restart on the headset’s removal.
VR headsets are designed for idealized bodies and do not support a variety of access needs. They don’t even support a variety of hairstyles! If accessibility is important for the experience, consider offering an alternate platform that is more accessible, such as running a 360° video recording of the experience on a computer or mobile device in the same physical location.
More information and considerations for VR interactive media art.
Multi-User experiences
Installing a multi-user experience takes into consideration all factors of its particular hardware, and adds the other audience members into the mix. Ensure that each audience member has enough space to safely interact, and that the audio or light from other users does not filter through. If the multi-user experience is dependent on an internet connection, ensure that the maximum possible number of users can connect.
More information and considerations for multi-user interactive media art.
Additional Considerations for Interactive Media Exhibitions
Access and Planning Considerations for Interactive Media Exhibitions
Art games, expanded reality, and other interactive media art forms offer exciting immersive and participatory experiences for audiences. With this potential comes a number of challenges for organizations who often need to find new methods to share such works with their audiences. Exhibiting interactive media forces the organizer to think like a designer.
Browser-based experiences of interactive media art
Chances are, you’re probably reading this through a web browser right now. Browser-based exhibition solves a lot of problems for audiences; it is most likely a piece of software already on your computer, no downloading is required, and it can be agnostic of the user’s operating system and hardware. It might even support mobile access, depending on the artwork’s features and constraints.
Mobile experiences of interactive media arts
The best computer people have access to might be the one inside their pocket. Accessing artwork either through a browser, platform, or custom application occurs through smartphone interfaces and practices that are already part of daily routines. However, the vast range of hardware and operating systems on the market can create some frustration when projects don’t work on a user’s particular device.
Augmented Reality (AR) experiences of interactive media art
As AR generally occurs on smartphone devices, the same advantages of pocket-ready accessibility apply as for mobile experiences of interactive media. AR continues to be a novelty to most audiences. While many will be familiar with the technology from games like Pokemon GO or social media filters, it can be challenging to those who have never experienced it before.
Virtual Reality (VR) experiences of interactive media art
VR presents the most convincing rebuttal to the so-called immersive fallacy by integrating audiences with the digital experience mere centimeters from their eyeballs. However, mass adoption of VR hardware is a vanishing horizon, as demonstrated by Meta’s lackluster Metaverse results of 2021-22. These specialized devices are not common household items. Instead, developing VR that has cross-platform compatibility adds significant overhead in terms of design and programming time.
Multi-user experiences of interactive media art
The space of a gallery is often shared with other audience members. A multi-user digital interactive experience elicits a similar social function. Multi-user digital experiences make explicit the primary quality of a computer network, to connect people, and multi-user digital exhibitions add art into that mix. If accessed remotely on personal devices, multi-user experiences can bring the feeling of an art gallery experience to the user’s device by seeing (and possibly hearing) other synchronous visitors.
Digital Exhibition Collaborators
In the development of digital exhibitions, it’s important to understand an artist’s relationship with their technology.
Pilot Projects
A critical part of developing DETAIL was the pilot projects. These three digital exhibitions informed the prefabs and templates.
Resources
Build your own digital exhibition spaces with our step-by-step guides and technical resources.