R#7 EGOTRAP at the science museum Experimentarium
By Anne Kahr-Højland
On the 7th of November the virtual exhibition (EGO TRAP) which has been developed as part of my PhD Project opened in a test version at the Experimentarium. In these days I am collecting data for my empirical research in the exhibition by video recording students from upper secondary schools in Denmark as they interact in the exhibition. The students seem to like the game play very much; for the time being I actually fight the hardest battles with the technical equipment I am using for data collecting.
EGO TRAP is an example of Augmented Reality as it transfers features from computer games to a concrete physical environment (Klopfer, 2005). It has been developed with learning in mind. The idea of creating a learning resource that combines interactive exhibits, cell phones and the narrative was born while studying theories from widespread traditions.
The project is founded on a theoretical perspective on learning that combines cognitive science and socio-cultural learning theory (Brown, 1993 Lave & Wenger, Säljö, ). Jerome Bruner and John Dewey both serve as points of orientation in this regard (Bruner, 1990, Dewey, 1933). In addition a base of psychological and educational theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991, Hein, 1995) is being combined with theories about narration (Bruner, 1996, Labov, 1967, Mandler, 1984) as well as theories concerning the necessity of reflection and physical interaction when constructing knowledge (Dewey, 1933; Bruner, 1990).
In the following I will describe the progress of EGO TRAP.
A Virtual Extension of the Experimentarium
EGO-TRAP is primarily directed at young people from upper-secondary high schools in Denmark. It is designed to be a virtual extension of the already existing interactive exhibits at the Science Centre Experimentarium.
Arriving at the Experimentarium the users will have to register for EGO-TRAP by use of their own cell phones.
A woman’s voice will present itself as a guide who organizes the exhibition individually for each user. She will present the exhibition as a personal test where different aspects of the visitor will be highlighted. From this point the voice functions as a personal guide for each user through the exhibition at the Experimentarium.
What the user does not know is that the description of the exhibition as a personal test is not the full and entire description of the progress that follows.
For the next one or two hours the user will take up the main role in an interactive narrative which changes according to the user’s interactions with the exhibits as well as the response to the cell phone.
The interactive narrative progresses in the following three levels:
Level 1
The visitor is led from one exhibit to another in order to test different aspects of her self – e.g. “Do you recognize tones?”, “How is your spatial awareness?”, “How fast can you wheel a chair?” etc. At each exhibit the visitor is urged to set up hypotheses about her own abilities and characteristics. The level ends by the system preparing a personal profile of the visitor.
Also, this is the level where the user will get familiar with the technical system.
Level 2
After receiving her personal profile the visitor is prompted to contact another visitor in the exhibition; the profiles of the two visitors appear to be matching.
Apparently this is the level of cooperation as this is what the visitors are being asked to do: to cooperate.
Also, this is the level of an arousing suspicion. During the 2nd level a hacker will interrupt the sequence and draw criticism to the woman who is guiding the visitors. Who is this woman? And does she have a hidden agenda?
If the visitors trust the hacker, he will show them a piece of evidence showing that the woman who has been guiding them is testing them from a cunning and evil purpose.
This will lead them to the third and final level…
Level 3
Guided by the hacker the visitors will end up in a secret, dark room where they are confronted with an animated rat. This final level is a level of insight: It turns out that the woman who has guided the visitors is actually a mutated rat who has taken control over a science lab. This means that in reality the visitors are taken up the role of laboratory animals.
The story ends by the rat challenging the visitors to fight for their freedom by means of a computer game (which they are determined to win). Game over.
The aim of this final level is to stimulate the young people to make critical, ethical reflections on who is providing the information – does such a thing as objective truths exist?
EGO TRAP – an interactive narrative
The EGO TRAP has been developed with the aim of creating a more structured learning experience than the one maintained at the Experimentarium at present. On the basis of a critical approach to the some what chaotic or at least unstructured museum experience offered by the Experimentarium (as in every other ‘typical’ science centre having the act of playing and interactivity at the core), the main idea of this new exhibition has been to add a structure by means of a narrative. Thus, the developmental process has found its starting point in the fact that the lack of reflection and the lack of structure in the exhibition should be responded to by means of the narrative.
The narrative has shown to be characterized by its ability of structuring and contextualizing information and experiences. Also, according to research within cognitive science, the narrative and the human comprehension has shown to be closely related. The narrative, among others, supports the reflective processes due to an evaluative form embedded.
Even if the primary aim has been to add a narrative in order to urge the reflective processes we did not want this narrative to be too dominating, too seductive, in the exhibition at the Experimentarium. The information provided by the hands-on exhibits should still be at the core.
When I developed the EGO TRAP I wanted to create an experience that would structure the visit at the Experimentarium. At the same time I wanted to create a narrative that would prompt the reflective processes for the visitors without steeling all of the attention from the information the visitors were supposed to achieve. I there fore chose a topic – the personal test – which was closely related to many of the interactive exhibits in the exhibition hall.
The voice asking questions before each exhibit and the following evaluation is an attempt of creating a ‘room for reflection’ in relation to each exhibit.
The cell phone
When the cell phone has been chosen as the remedy for creating an interactive narrative at the science centre it is among other things due to the cell phones capacity of organising information. Every cell phone represents a small portable computer. The cell phones are easily connected to a central server at the Experimentarium which makes it highly suited for as the game master of an interactive narrative or role play like the EGO TRAP. PDA’s would also have been obvious choices for this purpose. When I have decided to try out the potential of the cell phones it is primarily assigned to the factor of familiarity. In general young people of today are so familiar with their cell phone that this medium in an exhibition will not seem to disruptive to them. It is important to notice that the cell phones used in EGO TRAP are the visitors’ private cell phones.
Educational Perspectives of EGO-TRAP
When my studies of the students interactions in EGO-TRAP have been done we will – hopefully –know if it fulfils the demands on structuring the experience, contextualising the information and prompting reflective processes for the visitors aged 15 to 17. If the EGO TRAP turns out as a success the perspectives of this kind of virtual extension are multiple. Thus, the vision is that the concept and the technical platform from EGO-TRAP may be used in many different versions in a variety of settings. One of the goals is to offer several different narratives in one and the same physical setting. In that way you would practically be able to offer different museum experiences depending on the target group in the same exhibition hall.
In these days we are starting up working on another narrative for a younger target group (that is the 10-12 years old school children). The technical equipment as well as the physical setting at the Experimentarium will be the same as in EGO-TRAP – but there will be no personal test and no rat – the narrative will have another point of turn.
Pictures from observations of a class...
This is Anne! Feel free to contact her for further information using the following e-mail address: akh@dream.dk
