The Museum Simulator








Index

Overview

Using the Simulator

About

The Museum Simulator models activity patterns of museum visitors who are using handheld wireless devices to access extra information about selected pieces on display. Our primary goal is to generate data reflective of visitor patterns that can then be used as input for a visual display of the data collected. These visual displays are designed to be informative for both museum curators, as a tool for exploring visitor experience, as well as for museum visitors, as a tool for informing and enhancing their own experience. We also examine various approaches to simulation and modeling of social systems, as well as the role of such simulation in design and testing. In the future, this application may allow curators to virtually experiment with floor plan layouts for their exhibits.

Use the navigation bar to the left to access more in-depth information about how the Simulator works and the type of activity it simulates, as well as a brief tutorial (including screenshots).


Context and Connections

The Museum Simulator project is intimately connected to the Human-Computer Interaction Group's MUSE Museum Simulator project. A major part of the MUSE project is to allow museum visitors and curators to study and visualize the activity in museum spaces. As gathering extensive and custom-generated logs of patron activity from museums is costly and often not possible, we created the Museum Simulator to allow for the on-demand generation of custom datasets. These datasets can then be used to test other MUSE applications, or aid in their planning and design.

People

Yevgeniy Medynskiy (CS/CIS '06) designed and programmed the Museum Simulator. The MUSE project is spearheaded by Kirsten Boehner, at Cornell's Human-Computer Interaction Group. JP Pollak provided the XML schema for the generated data and preliminary testing and visualization. Thanks to Geri Gay, Helene Hembrooke from the HCI Group, and all others who helped with this project.

Museum Simulator Technical Information

The Museum Simulator is being written in Java using the Eclipse IDE. Generated data and museum scenarios are stored in XML files. We use the JFC/Swing toolset for GUI design.