dissertation submission for msc interpretation management...
TRANSCRIPT
Immersive Exhibitions: The effectiveness of immersive experiences for visitor engagement
Dissertation Submission for MSc Interpretation
Management and Practice
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Abstract
As part of the competitive tourism industry, museums and heritage sites are becoming more and more experiential in their exhibition design. There is increasing pressure to deliver satisfaction to wider audiences with aims of increasing social inclusion through learning. Learning is increasingly acknowledged as a discursive process, where meaning is generated through experience. This has led to the design of some exhibitions as immersive experiences which aim to engage the visitor through narrative and interaction. This dissertation examines the effectiveness of immersive approaches in engaging and affecting visitors, thereby increasing the likelihood of learning.
This research is set in the context of constructivist museum practice, and of immersive approaches at three case studies. The adoption of exhibition design practice based on previous research and theory is discussed as well as the ability of each site to generate visitor attention, engagement and emotional response. It is found that an immersive approach to visitor engagement can be very effective, that there are situational factors which may influence and affect visitor engagement, and that multi-sensory engagement can generate interaction and affect visitors.
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Acknowledgements
This study was made possible through the generous permission and assistance of Stephen Woolland at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Lawrence Fitzgerald, Rosemary Watt and Shona MacDonald at Riverside Museum, and Kathleen Boal, Jon Wartnaby and Duncan Cook at NTS Culloden. The assistance from all staff at all three properties in locating documents and plans, granting the free use of their facilities and their fascinating and insightful input was greatly appreciated.
Special thanks to Genevieve Adkins, Steven Timoney, Dave Gardener and Shirley Cameron at UHI who provided invaluable guidance, fascinating insight and unwavering patience for the duration of this MSc course.
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Contents List of Appendices List of Tables List of Figures 1. Introduction 1.1 Research questions and aims
1.2 The developing role of museums
2. Literature Review 2.1 Learning theory and interpretation 2.1.1 Museums and learning agenda
2.1.2 The applicability of constructivism in museums.
2.1.3 Motivation
2.1.4 Free-choice learning
2.2. Aesthetic experience and flow 2.2.1 Aesthetic experience
2.2.2. Flow
2.2.3. The value of aesthetic experience and flow
2.2.4 The realms of experience
2.3. Engaging the senses 2.4 Immersion exhibits 2.4.1 Definitions of immersion
2.4.2 Narrative
2.5 Conclusion 3. Methodology 3.1 Introduction
3.2 Study sites
3.2.1 Budongo Trail, Edinburgh Zoo, Edinburgh, Scotland
3.2.2 Main Street, Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Scotland
3.2.3 Culloden battle experience, Culloden, Scotland
3.3 Sampling frame and population
3.4 Research design
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3.5 Theory based evaluation
3.6 Observational study
3.6.1 Observation sample
3.6.2 Recording and timing
3.6.3 Indicators
3.7 Interviews
3.7.1 Interview sample
3.7.2 Interview formulation and analysis
4. Theory based evaluation 4.1 Budongo Trail
4.2 Main Street
4.3 Battle Immersion
5. Data and results 5.1 Budongo Trail observation
5.1.1 Budongo sample
5.1.2 Dwell times and frequencies
5.1.3 Budongo Routes
5.1.4 Budongo indicators
5.2 Main Street observation
5.2.1 Main Street sample
5.2.2 Dwell times and frequencies
5.2.3 Main Street routes
5.2.4 Main Street indicators
5.3 Analysis
5.3.1 Budongo Trail
5.3.2 Main Street
5.4 Interviews
5.4.1 Budongo interviews analysis
5.4.2 Main Street interviews analysis
5.4.3 Culloden interview analysis
6. Discussion 6.1 Budongo Trail
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6.2 Main Street
6.3 Culloden Battle Experience
7. Conclusion 7.1 Engagement over aesthetics
7.2 Recognising affect
7.3 Reflection on research
7.4 Dissemination
References
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List of Appendices
Appendix 1. Study sites
Appendix 2. Interviews
2.1 Zoo interviews
2.2 Main Street interviews
2.3 Culloden Interviews
Appendix 3. Interview with RZSS Head of Education, Stephen Woollard
List of Tables
Table 1. Attract and Hold indicators
Table 2. Engagement scale used to assess visitors’ engagement
Table 3. Example of observation template
Table 4. Zoo sample - gender
Table 5. Zoo sample – age Groups
Table 6. Budongo Trail frequencies
Table 7. Budongo Trail average dwell times
Table 8. Budongo Trail indicators
Table 9. Main Street sample - gender
Table 10. Main Street sample – age groups
Table 11. Main Street frequencies
Table 12. Main Street average dwell times
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Table 13. Main Street indicators
List of Figures Figure 1. NMS wall of objects
Figure 2. The Experience Realms
Figure 3. Eddie Says
Figure 4. Evolution House, Kew
Figure 5. Dinosaur diorama, Beijing Museum of Natural History
Figure 6. Undersea Tunnel at Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
Figure 7. Treetop View, Budongo Trail, Edinburgh
Figure 8. Budongo plan
Figure 9. Main Street plan
Figure 10. Budongo entrance
Figure 11. Budongo stairs
Figure 12. ‘98% Human’ hand prints and anatomy interactive
Figure 13. ‘98% Human’ memory game and ‘Eddie Says’ animation
Figure 14. Exhibit maintenance
Figure 15. Main Street entries
Figure 16. The Battle Room
Figure 17. Budongo frequencies map
Figure 18. Budongo dwell times map
Figure 19. Budongo routes
Figure 20. Main Street frequencies map
Figure 21. Main Street dwell times map
Figure 22. Main Street routes from main entrance
Figure 23. Main Street routes towards main entrance
Figure 24. Budongo typical route
Figure 25. Common routes from main entrance
Figure 26. Common routes towards main entrance
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1. Introduction
1.1 Research questions and aims
This research focuses on the area of immersive design in interpretation with the aim of assessing current examples and investigating whether an immersive approach is effective in delivering the aims of interpretation and creating a positive visitor experience. Rather than assessing learning through specific learning outcomes this research investigates the ability of an immersive approach to connect with, engage and affect visitors, which may thereby increase the likelihood of learning (Gammon 2003).
This dissertation aims to investigate whether current examples of immsersive approaches reflect theory and research on visitor experience and whether they are effective in engaging visitors. If yes, which elements are most effective and why?
There is a recognised shift in the way museums, historic and cultural heritage sites are operating, largely due to increasing emphasis on visitor experience and learning (Gurian 2005; Lorentz 2006; Reeve and Woollard 2006; Falk and Dierking 2011) as well as competition from other experience based attractions (Pine and Gilmore 1998; Mason 2005; Prentice 2005; Lorentz 2006). This has led to more inclusive and participatory approaches to interpretation, including exhibits which aim to immerse the visitor and create a more in-depth experience which relates to the visitor. For example, the interactive Main Street reconstruction at Riverside Museum in Glasgow, or the British Galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London.
1.2 The developing role of museums
It is now acknowledged that historic and cultural sites are part of the competitive tourism industry (Prentice 2005), while research and pressure from governments which defray costs in return for education, access and social inclusion (Durbin 2004) have stimulated a desire to provide value for money to taxpayers and promote social inclusion by engaging a broad audience. The activities of libraries, museums, galleries and archives have been identified as impacting positively on social inclusion (DCMS 1999; Cabinet Office 2001), and the economic benefits of the historic environment have been highlighted (English Heritage 2000; DCMS 2003).
While collections and research remain high priorities, public learning is increasingly first and foremost, or at least equal to these functions (Hooper-Greenhill 1999; Falk and Dierking 2011). Museums offer an educational element which may not be present in many other sites which are competing for visitors’ leisure time. A greater understanding of both learning theory and visitor motivations allows heritage sites to integrate the need to entertain with the goal of education through more engaging and emotionally affecting interpretation. Active experience can play a central role in the
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learning process (Kolb 1984: 20) and therefore learning in an interpretative setting may take a more constructivist approach (Hein 1995; Mason 2005; Hein 2011), which recognises the importance of visitors’ prior knowledge and experience upon new information and experiences. This shift from transmission models of communication to discourse and inclusion, means that interpretation must now be more participatory, diverse and experiential than ever before.
“Museums were once understood simply as containers of worthy objects. Although by tradition they had classical porches and lofty ceilings, museums didn't strike anyone as particularly active. A museum was considered significant because it contained significant things. The idea that museums generate meaning by their inclusions, categories, juxtapositions and sequences is relatively new” (Nelson 2003).
It has been noted even since the end of the nineteenth century that simply displaying objects in cases and stating bald facts does not engage visitors, encourage them to visit or learn (Miles et al. 1988). Interpretation contains information, but information in itself is not interpretation (Tilden 2007). Although interpretation is functionally educational, this does not denote that interpretation must be educational in a didactic sense. Instead, interpretation is principally concerned with forming connections, provoking the making of meanings and affecting emotions to inspire, relate and reveal. Interpretation should not be instruction but provocation (Beck and Cable 2002; Tilden 2007). Current learning theory indicates a greater role for the visitor in the learning process, which may be achieved through more immersive interpretation. Visitors desire experiences with social interaction and active participation with challenging, new or unusual experiences (Weaver 2007:26) and demand authenticity with meaningful rewards based on emotionally affective and intellectual experiences (Goulding 2000; Brochu 2003:111; Weaver 2007:29; Wells 2007; AudioConexus 2012) and their interest and intelligence should not be underestimated (Moscardo 2003). Moreover, Alsop (2005) argues that there is strong evidence that affect and cognition are intertwined, that emotions have considerable influence on learning.
Increasingly museums are being understood as social spaces as well as educational centres, with social interaction being a key motivational factor for visitors (Packer and Ballantyne 2002; Burch and Gammon 2006; Falk et al. 2007). Research has demonstrated a wide range of definitions and interpretations of visitor motivations and it cannot be assumed that people visit in order to learn (Black 2005). Any learning which occurs is free choice (Falk, Dierking and Adams 2011) and pre-visit motivations influence visitor behaviour and learning, and include both personal and situational factors (Packer and Ballantyne 2002:185). Black (2005) underlines the importance of motivation and argues that while learning theory should be used in the specifics of exhibit design, motivation understanding should inform wider spatial communicative design.
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2.1 Learning theory and interpretation
2.1.1 Museums and learning
Museums and heritage sites are places of informal, lifelong learning (Hooper-Greenhill 1999; Black 2005) and it is increasingly recognised that the model of transmission and absorption does not provide accessibility to a broad audience. This audience must be seen as consumers and users (Mason 2005: 200), who are “equal and active participants rather than passive recipients of information” (Black 2005: 185). Active experience can play a central role in the learning process (Kolb 1984: 20) and therefore learning in an interpretative setting may take a more constructivist approach (Hein 1995; Mason 2005; Hein 2011). Each visitor is unique, along with their capacity and disposition to learn. This requires the museum to relinquish some authoritativeness in favour of accommodating diverse and unpredictable audiences. Visitors are participants and learners but, they also help determine the character and content of a museum experience (Lankford 2002).
2.1.2 The application of constructivism in museums
Constructivism suggests visitors should be given the opportunity to connect with familiar concepts, that to make meaning we must connect objects to prior knowledge and that this process has a significant effect on understanding and learning (Roschelle 1995; Falk and Dierking 2000; Falk and Adelman 2003). Hein (1995, 2011) maintains the applicability of constructivism in museums, suggesting the use of non-sequential environments and providing for multiple learning modalities. This may mean providing multiple choices of route (Brochu 2003:111), multi-sensory components and opportunities for various learning styles using different techniques and media (Harvey et al. 1998; AMES 2011).
Constructivist exhibits allow visitors to make their own conclusions about the meanings of an exhibition (Hein 1995). For example, Hein proposes that inviting children from diverse countries to share exhibits they have made with each other will help them learn about each other’s cultures.
To what extent a constructivist approach to learning is applicable in the museum is a subject for debate. Black (2005) argues that it represents an idealistic position which, if utilised alone, holds no advantage over transmission models of communication. Visitors must still bring a level of interest and motivation, an “appropriate” level of prior knowledge and the skills and initiative required to construct meaning Black (2005: 140-148). The visitor’s freedom to construct their own meaning may inhibit the ability of the curator or teacher to present a particular narrative and the way the object or site is interpreted has a direct impact on the meaning made in the viewer or visitor’s mind (Falk and Dierking 2000; Mason 2005).
Meaning is not inherent to an object but socially assigned as well as altered by its presentation through re-contextualisation (Stam 2005:57). Furthermore, the use of
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didactic aids to link objects has been shown to increase dwell times and establish a route through an exhibition space (Klein 1993).
“In the absence of contextual cues from the outside world, the patterns and associations stored within each person’s head would remain dormant or meaningless” (Falk and Dierking 2000: 33).
However, it is important to note that Black (2005:140-141) criticises the use of a constructivist approach in exclusivity.
Dewey (1910), Kolb (1984) and Mason (2005) all highlight that an understanding and acknowledgement of memory and prior knowledge is extremely important when constructing narrative as they help to form emotional engagement and connection (Falk and Dierking 2000; Beck and Cable 2002; Peponis et al. 2003; Mason 2005). Constructivist exhibits attempt to reach visitors of all learning styles and promote accessibility;
“in such a museum, it is not assumed that the subject matter has an intrinsic order independent of the visitor, or that there is a single way for the visitor best to learn the material. Purely constructivist museum exhibits have no fixed entry and exit points, allow the visitor to make his or her own connections with the material and encourage diverse ways to learn” (Hein 1995: 6).
The key, therefore, to successful integration of a constructivist approach may lie in finding balance between visitor input and participation, and the interpretative messages. For examples the designers of the British Galleries at the V&A in London considered the narrative from the point of view of their audience and used a strong foundation of learning theory to consider the needs of the visitor, maximise accessibility and used participation to create a greater sense of involvement (Durbin 2004).
2.1.3 Motivation
Maslow's hierarchy of needs stipulates that in order to meet higher needs of self-actualisation, creativity and inner purpose, more basic physiological needs must be met (Huitt 2007; Atherton 2011). For example, restaurants, toilet facilities etc. Although Maslow’s model is not supported by empirical evidence and has been criticised for being individualistic and not accounting for altruism (Atherton 2011) if the visitor's concerns about basic needs are dissipated they will not become a strong motivator which distract from the experience. Herzberg's motivational hygiene theory (Miner 2005) argues that negative motivators must be decreased as well as positive ones increased while Shackley (1999) stresses the elimination of negative cues. Visitors are also motivated by much more than basic needs and Lightner (1999) argues that visitors' interests and the exhibits relevance to them are a primary motivation. Further motivations have been defined by Falk et al. (2007) and Packer
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and Ballantyne (2002) who provide visitor segments based on personality and motivation type.
2.1.4 Free-choice learning
Free-choice of what and when to learn is intrinsic to the visitor experience and visitors interact with museums in a sociocultural context (Falk and Dierking 2000, 2002, 2011). They often come in groups to engage and interact with each other as well as the exhibits. Studies by Vygotsky helped develop his Zone of Proximal Development (Atherton 2011; McLeod 2012). He observed that children performed better in tests when working in collaboration with an adult. Similar results were described by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) as scaffolding. These studies demonstrate interaction between two individuals allowing the less competent person to become independently proficient through guided learning (Chaiklin 2003). Applied to a museum context, scaffolding requires and enables the visitor to construct their own meanings through social interaction as well as cues within the exhibit. Museums must therefore be designed as social spaces. The extent of unguided participation which occurs at such places may be entirely site specific, however, it may be possible to determine the type of participatory exhibits which attract and hold attention thereby increasing the likelihood of participation and learning (Gammon 2003).
2.2 Aesthetic experience and flow
Constructivist exhibits aim to help audiences to make connections, ask questions, and find personal relevance with exhibits (Lankford 2002) thereby involving the visitor through active engagement, participation and interaction. Conceptions of aesthetic and flow experiences are consistent with constructivist, meaning-making museums as they are active processes supported by prior knowledge and driven by individual motivations (Lankford 2002:150).
2.2.1 Aesthetic experience
Aesthetic experience is characterized by;
"a combination of interest and pleasure and curiosity…the moment is one of heightened attention to perception, which is what makes it both meaningful and memorable. These are the qualities that foster subsequent worthwhile reflection." (Walsh-Piper 1994:105)
Walsh-Piper uses the example of the display of a quilt;
“…questions of whether the true experience of quilts is felt only in their proper context and of who benefits when quilts are hung in museums go to the heart of the matter…by displaying the quilt as an object to look at and think about (a defining function of works of art) the museum makes an aesthetic choice and presents an aesthetic possibility.” (Walsh-Piper 1994:107)
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This concept may be seen by the use of objects or phenomena for their ability to engage on an emotional level, disregarding direct explanation or interpretation. Such isolation and placement of objects for visual contemplation is an outstanding feature of museum aesthetics (Duncan 2005).
There are numerous examples of museum displays which utilise such aesthetic techniques to enhance the experience such as unlabelled natural history displays (Maki-Petaja 2012), the walls of objects at the National Museum of Scotland (figure 1), and the atmospheric design and bold architecture of the ethnographic galleries at the British Museum.
Figure 1. NMS wall of objects (e-architect 2012)
However, it is important that such visual displays are used carefully as part of a wider communication strategy, not just for their “wow factor”. As Rybczynski (2002:4) argues, “wow factor may excite the visitor and the journalist, but it is a shaky foundation on which to build lasting value…it should have more to say to us than ‘Look at me’."
2.2.2 Flow
Flow is a mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a process and is similar to that of aesthetic experience. It was first described by Csikszentmihalyi as ‘flow’ because respondents to his research described their experiences using the metaphor of a water current carrying them along
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(Csikszentmihalyi 1975). Flow is characterised by the presence of some or all of the following: intense concentration, complex mental activity, goal directedness, presence of challenge (mental or physical), and the interplay of knowledge, memory, emotion, sensation and perception (Lankford 2002:147). An individual may find flow in almost any experience (Snyder and Lopez 2002:91). For example, in observing an artwork, feeling a sense of wonder at an impressive or emotive museum exhibit, or performing a physically and mentally demanding task such as rock climbing, surgery or conducting an orchestra. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of optimal experience, i.e. ‘flow’ argues that the promotion of a sense of wonder and individual interpretation is as important as the delivery of factual information (Csikszentmihalyi and Robinson 1990; Hein 1998; Lankford 2002:147). Csikszentmihalyi argues that a primary reason for unsatisfactory visits to art museums is a lack of flow experiences.
2.2.3 The value of aesthetic experience and flow
Flow and aesthetic experiences are closely linked. Research by Smith (1992) into aesthetic experiences resulted in similar conclusions to Csikszentmihalyi, as a result of which he identified various criteria which must be met to achieve effective aesthetic experience (Smith 1992; Lankford 2002; Parsons 2002). Although Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow and Smith's definition of aesthetic experience are comparable, sharing an emphasis on concentrated attention, active cognitive processes, and integration of thought, feeling and perception, a distinction can be made. Csikszentmihalyi (1975) argues that factors including: the visitors' predispositions; aptitudes; social context; exhibition design; and, presentation affect experience. The museum as a whole bears responsibility to provide context for an aesthetic experience, along with the visitors' determination to make the most of the visit. Smith (1992) argues that as long as the visitor possesses the requisite aptitudes, the responsibility lies largely with the quality of the art (or exhibit).
Despite this distinction both men draw similar conclusions. First, aesthetic experiences are intrinsically worthwhile and instrumentally beneficial, helping to develop cognitive, affective, perceptual, empathetic and sensory aptitudes. Second, aesthetic experience requires prior knowledge, critical aptitude, perceptual acuity and emotional sensitivity and insight. Third, conceptions of aesthetic experience are consistent with constructivism and meaning-making museums. Although Csikszentmihalyi's account is more constructivist, Smith's account, which also requires aptitudes and abilities, similarly points towards the need for appropriate prior knowledge to invoke meaningful experiences. (Lankford 2002).
Many museums are moving towards an exhibition approach which embraces the aesthetic qualities and potential of their exhibits with the aim of engrossing and deeply involving their audience (Bitgood 1990). In doing so they are attempting to create a more immersive experience which is intrinsically rewarding. Visch et al. (2010) found that film viewers who were more physically immersed in their environment, for example, through a virtual reality experience, had more intense
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emotional responses. This further suggests that visitors’ emotional responses to layout and environmental conditions may indicate the effectiveness of exhibitions which aim to deeply involve or immerse the visitor.
The conclusions drawn by Csikszentmihalyi and Smith provide insight into the potential benefits of aesthetic and flow experience opportunities as part of an active, meaning-making learning process. This might be investigated by inquiring about visitors’ reactions and emotional responses to the aesthetic elements of exhibitions. Lorentz (2006) provides a theoretical framework which may be used to assess the aesthetics of an exhibition space.
2.2.4 The realms of experience
Csikszentmihalyi and Robinson’s (1990) research into intrinsic motivation and optimal experience underlines the fact that as these activities are goal orientated and contain challenge elements (Lankford 2002) some individuals find certain experiences more intrinsically rewarding than others.
The impact of any component on the visitor is highly subjective; however, Pine and Gilmore’s (1998) experience realms (figure 2) may be used to define the quality of an experience objectively. The richest experiences contain elements of all four realms at the point Pine and Gilmore call the “sweet spot” (Pine and Gilmore’s 1998:102).
The esthetics (aesthetics) of an experience refers to the overall environmental conditions and atmosphere, as well as the conditions which will create a sense of wonder or create a more in-depth experience, where participants are immersed in an activity or an environment (Pine and Gilmore 1998:102). This also includes elements which will make the place inviting, interesting and comfortable (Weaver 2007). The escapist realm of experience draws visitors in, immersing them in activities. This is the narrative layer, which may be referred to in interpretative planning as the connections phase (Brochu 2003:111), in which the message will be communicated
Figure 2: The Experience Realms (Pine and Gilmore 1998: 102)
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and connections formed. The educational realm is active as learning requires the participation of the learner. This represents information and activities which will help to engage the learner in the exploration of knowledge and skills. Entertainment, like esthetics, is a largely passive aspect (figure 2). When visitors are entertained they are responding to the experience, e.g. laughing, enjoying, etc. This incorporates the elements of the experience that hook visitors in and hold their attention, encouraging them to stay. In practice this may be integral to the escapist realm in order to assist the narrative elements. For example, at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, descriptions of tectonic plate movement are accompanied by a moving floor and dramatic visual and audio effects.
2.3 Engaging the senses
A key component of a participatory and experiential approach is sensory engagement. Experiences which aim to immerse visitors are, by definition, multi-sensory; engaging several physical senses. These experiences aim to involve visitors on multiple levels and draw them into the experience in depth, making the experience fun, engaging and unexpected (Weaver 2007:102).
Crowest (1999:8) argues that recognition of the potential for engaging multiple senses is highly self-evident within museums and that there is much provision to meet it, though hearing and smell stimuli are perhaps less well represented than sight and touch opportunities. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) present a model for memory whereby information is received by the senses and processed through short-term and long-term memory. At each stage this information is filtered, selected and even altered. Although this model does not account for differences in the abilities of the individual, experimental research has shown that multi-sensory engagement may improve short-term recall, and that recall of pictures is better than that of words (Baddeley 1976; Spencer 1991).
The implication for exhibition design is that multi-sensory exhibits may be effective for learning only if the sensory elements are mutually supportive. Crowest (1999:17-18) states “it is highly debatable whether the sound and smell of a steam engine provide redundancy with its visual aspects – they are providing complementary information, not the same information through different channels. Nonetheless, they may serve to make the whole experience more memorable.” The validity of this statement rests entirely upon the context of the exhibit in question and the aims and objectives of the designers. Research by Baddeley (1976) concentrated only on the recall of factual information and not on emotional response, which is a core purpose of interpretation. However, Crigler et al. (1994) found that while audio alone can be just as effective as audio-visual stimuli at conveying information, a combination of the two arouses a more emotional response, supporting Crowest’s statement.
Weaver (2007:104-105) argues the importance of engaging multiple senses from the pragmatic point of view of selling your place or product, and that allowing people to
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see, hear, smell and touch will positively affect the experience. Beyond this analysis, Lorentz (2006:93) argues that multi-sensory interaction, especially in new media, has a “profound effect” on exhibition communication, and that interactivity combined with information transfer forms the basis for immersive experiences in a learning or museum context. Harvey et al. (1998) found that interactive components, dynamic exhibits and multisensory stimulation influenced the visitor experience positively and helped stimulate flow experiences and immersion. While it was found that multi-sensory experiences, such as watching a film, were not as influential as fully interactive exhibits, such as performing an activity at a science museum, all of these components were nonetheless highly salient and important to visitors in the study. Multisensory experiences make exhibitions more effective in engaging all types of visitors and make the experience more accessible for people with disabilities (Harvey et al. 1998).
Museums often use sensory interaction to demonstrate principles, for example, the ‘Eddie Says’ exhibit at Edinburgh Zoo shows visitors how they can manipulate their joints like a chimpanzee while monkeys cannot (see figure 3).
Figure 3. Eddie Says
Effective stimulation of interaction, which in museums and heritage sites may be done through multimedia, interactive exhibits, multi-sensory stimuli and live interpretation, increases the likelihood of learning which may be indicated by the attraction and holding power of exhibits (Gammon 2003:8). The effectiveness of such interactive and multi-sensory components may therefore be established through observation of how they are used by visitors and what reactions are stimulated.
2.4 Immersion exhibits
2.4.1 Definitions of immersion
Immersive exhibits attempt to transpose the visitor to a particular time and place (Bitgood 1990:283). History exhibitions can create authentic environments from the past, like the Main Street at Riverside in Glasgow; natural history museums may
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Figure 4. Evolution House, Kew (Inetours 2013)
create natural environments and dioramas to provide context for exhibits, such as the dinosaur exhibits at the Beijing Museum of Natural History (figure 5); and science centres, like Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, often develop various simulation apparatus to capture experiences like flight, underwater travel and the movement of tectonic plates (figure 6). These examples represent what Bitgood (1990:283, 2011:150) defines as “simulated immersion” which may be distinguished from “illusion” as the visitor is at all times aware that they are not in the actual environment being simulated, though they can feel like they are experiencing a part of it (Bitgood 1990:284). This may be seen, for example, in the Evolution House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (figure 4).
Bitgood (1990) further defines other types of immersion as interactive, media, aesthetic and dramatic. Interactive and media immersion may involve effective computer software and audio-visual presentations. Aesthetic immersion refers to deep involvement in art work, and dramatic immersion involves live interpretation, a play or dramatic presentation (Bitgood 1990:284). Immersive experiences are multi-sensory, interactive and employ both the transfer of knowledge and the use of spatial devices to immerse the audience or visitor (Lorentz 2006:2).
Mortensen (2010:325) builds upon and compresses these definitions, describing three distinct models of immersive exhibit defined by Belaen (2003): reconstitution; creation; and interpretation. Depending on each model, the visitor may have more or less of a role within the exhibit. Nevertheless immersive exhibits consistently indicate interaction and a role for the visitor.
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Figure 6. Undersea Tunnel at Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh (Gastin 2009)
Figure 5. Dinosaur diorama, Beijing Museum of Natural History (China Highlights 2013)
The reconstitution model expands on the analogous properties of the diorama and reproduces an existing reference world in an authentic way. For example, life-sized natural environments containing authentic specimens; such as the Dinosaur diorama at the Beijing Museum of Natural History (figure 5). The creation model is metaphorical, not based on reality but created for and within the exhibit. This aims to provide the visitor with a multi-sensory experience which does not necessarily correspond to an existing time or place. For example, a science exhibit allowing the visitor to explore their senses. Interpretation based immersive exhibits refer to a world which exists or has existed but do not aim to reproduce it in an authentic way in order to exhibit knowledge or experience which is not representable on a realistic scale or to communicate abstract ideas or experience. Mortensen (2010:325) uses the example of a walk-through scale model of a human body. This type of exhibit
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Figure 7. Treetop View, Budongo Trail, Edinburgh (Zoo News Digest 2010)
follows the logic of the reference world which is interpreted to create an analogical representation, combining the logic of the reference world with the self-generated logic of the exhibit.
The immersive models of creation and interpretation diverge from basic analogy as they need not necessarily resemble the reference world but rely on an indicative or symbolic relationship with a time or place. Examples of the creation model can be identified in places like “Budongo Trail”, the chimpanzee house at Edinburgh Zoo, which features forest reconstruction combined with interpretative panels and interactive exhibits as well as tree-top height views of the chimpanzee habitat areas (figure 7).
In addition to Balaen’s models, Lorentz (2006:143) proposes key elements which are present in immersive experiences in a museum context: a threshold experience to create sensory isolation; narrative-centred experience; intellectual challenge; and multi-sensory experience. Interaction is a significant defining characteristic of immersion exhibits, with a sequence of interactions generating narrative (Macfayden 2009:21). The degree of interaction or ‘agency’ has a direct influence on immersion (Murray 2005:4). “When fully immersed, the real world fades away, and the user becomes detached to the extent that the interactive experience is all that matters.” (Macfayden 2009:11).
Immersive experiences share five key characteristics which draw parallels with the concepts reviewed above, of which at least three are usually present within immersive settings (Lorentz 2006:45). These five characteristics are: selectively chosen participants; threshold – a transition into the experience; narrative; sensory experience; and limited experience length, i.e. a return to reality. These characteristics provide a framework by which immersive experiences may be defined, described and evaluated.
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2.4.2 Narrative
Constructivism is about generating narrative through engagement and the construction of meaning and visitors will constantly form and change the narrative through context. Narrative in constructivist museums is closely linked to the ideas of guided learning, scaffolding (Wood, Bruner and Ross 1976) and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (Atherton 2011). Scaffolding provides assistance which is most effective when matched to the needs of the learner (McLeod 2012). Maintaining interest, simple tasks, directing the learner, emphasising certain aspects and demonstrating the task all aid effective scaffolding (Wood, Bruner and Ross 1976:98).
In museums, scaffolding is provided by the narrative which may be communicated in many ways. The use of technology assisted, visitor contributed narratives are increasingly used by museums to engage visitors and entice them to explore collections through storytelling (Fisher et al. 2008). Harvey et al. (1998) supports the view that staging and rhythm of the experience are significant, and that applying structural measures such as orientation (for example, through the use of maps), location of objects, media and graphic communication devices can help direct this. Unlike, for example, a film where the narrative is fixed, exhibition narrative is emergent through a user’s interactions with the environment. Immersive exhibits should therefore incorporate drama (Macfayden 2009), and act as an imaginative space which stimulates a desire to explore and discover (Mortensen 2011:540).
Some authors suggest that narrative requires the presence of characters, interaction with whom is a goal of interactive narrative (Murray 2005). Characters can act in a number of roles; guides, models or interactive agents. They attract and stimulate audiences, offering a more memorable experience than the same content presented without them (Leon and Fisher 2006). In a museum these characters can be virtual, hypothetical, or even the objects themselves. For example, virtual guides were used at the Museum of Science in Boston to engage children (Swartout et al. 2010).
The development of narrative is important for emotional engagement, which may in turn influence information processing (Astleitner 2004). For example, sympathy (feelings about a character) may be provoked by text segments which use suspense, realism, dialogue, and occur towards the end of a narrative (Dijkstra et al. 1995). Narrative may also be conveyed in a manner by which an analytical approach to the design of spatial devices is applied. For example, small objects may be made significant and larger objects made to recede by varying the isolation and distance of objects from each other to convey a hierarchy of significance (Duncan 2005).
The use of narrative also has implications for learning and it has been suggested that we process visual information in a narrative way (Baddeley 1999, Wolfe and Mienko 2007). Although Wolfe and Mienko (2007) found that presenting information as a narrative to those with little prior knowledge may be more effective for learning.
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This implies that the learning of a subject without substantial prior knowledge is made easier by the presence of narrative. The presence of narrative and characters does not in itself guarantee learning outcomes, however, characters should be used carefully and stories must present all the information which may require contextual illustration, story and demonstrable principles (Leon and Fisher 2006) in order to communicate the narrative effectively.
2.5 Conclusion
This literature review has identified that immersive environments may be an effective method of constructivist communication in museum exhibitions. Learning is a process throughout which learners undergo changes and interact with the material more than merely absorbing it (Hein 1998:30). The element of challenge provided by this learning experience also, according to Csikszentmihalyi, enhances satisfaction, providing further credence for the provision of interactive and intrinsically rewarding immersive elements which allow the visitor to test themselves.
Immersion is also dependent upon the willingness of the visitor to engage. For example, Smith et al. (1998) argue that people who are daydreaming remain relatively in touch with their surroundings. Their attention can be easily gained and therefore the ability to stimulate this arousal is a key consideration in exhibition design. When watching a film the sensory stimuli (i.e. light, sound, picture, physical space) are controlled and the viewer relies on sight and sound senses for engagement. In exhibitions the visitor is free to move around and engage with any elements they choose. Museums therefore, may create memorable experiences by combining the emotional and sensory with the physical and intellectual (Lorentz 2006:58).
This review proposes that immersive experiences are verifiable experiences which may be coherently designed in order to meet new visitor expectations. Immersive exhibitions may be defined primarily by the use of a variety of communication strategies and techniques to create the visitor experience. Bitgood (1990) and Lorentz (2006:142) provides Michael Heim’s (1998) three ‘I’s to define an immersive experience concisely: immersion; interactivity; and, information intensity. This provides a clear limit to the number of variables having an impact on the experience. In addition, the five key components of immersive experiences (selectively chosen participants, threshold, narrative, sensory experience and limited experience length) may be examined. Lorentz (2006:144-146) uses these principles to briefly examine four case studies which met these criteria.
Constructivist exhibits rely on engagement and narrative to construct meaning and there is a relationship between textual and spatial narratives which provide guidance for the experience. The quantity and presentation of information is important to the success of an immersive exhibit which means that immersive exhibitions need not be simulations and external environments but internally stimulating and engaging to the
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visitor. The presence of narrative is therefore a key component. The presence of the properties which define immersive experiences may be indicative of the effectiveness of an immersive exhibit. It is important to know and understand the actions and reactions of visitors in immersive environments and whether they reflect the aims of interpretation.
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3. Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This study aims to investigate whether immersive exhibits are effective in visitor engagement and learning, and which elements are most effective, by observing visitor behaviour. This study will investigate site design, visitor behaviour and visitor attitudes towards their experiences in order to investigate whether current examples of an immersive approach are effective and why.
3.2 Study sites
Three study sites have been selected in order to consider a variety of immersive experiences. Each site offers a different approach to immersive interpretation: the entirety of a building; a single exhibition space within a museum; and, one room within an exhibition. Some background material has been provided by each site, which provides insight into site aims (see appendix 1).
3.2.1 Budongo Trail, Edinburgh Zoo, Edinburgh, Scotland
Budongo Trail, the chimpanzee house and habitat at Edinburgh Zoo (RZSS), is appropriate for this research as it had a clear goal of incorporating an immersive approach. The exhibition includes reconstruction components and a multi-sensory, interactive exhibits as well as chimpanzee viewing areas. The space is divided over two floors, with the story of the RZSS’s work in Budongo forest in Africa at ground level, and chimpanzee viewing areas on the second floor which also features the interactive elements.
3.2.2 Main Street, Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Scotland
Main Street consists of a life-sized period street reconstruction featuring reconstructions of previously existing shops and buildings ranging from the 1890s to 1980s, including genuine fittings in some instances. This reconstruction allows visitors to enter many of the shops and to interact with the interior in various ways which include audio-visual presentations and interactive multimedia. Visitors are afforded considerable freedom in the ways they wish to engage with the space and how deeply they want to engage with the narratives.
3.2.3 Culloden battle experience, Culloden, Scotland
The Battle Experience is closed off from the main exhibition space, and shows projected film of a battle re-enactment. Images are projected onto all four walls, surrounding the visitor in the centre of the room. Action happening on one wall is mirrored on the opposite wall. For example, if a soldier fires a weapon on one screen, the opposite screen shows the result simultaneously. The scenes are realistic and the environment is designed to provide maximum sensory impact.
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3.3 Sampling frame and population
The sampling frame consists of all visitors to each site area on the days of this research. Visitors will be randomly selected as they enter the study area, with the next observation beginning as soon as the researcher is finished the previous observation (Yalowitz 2004). Visitors under the age of 18 will be excluded in accordance with UHI ethic guidelines. This will be done by estimation (Yalowitz 2004), which does introduce an element of researcher bias, but is necessary in order to avoid interfering with visitor behaviour and potentially influencing the observation. This bias should not affect the study data as age groups will not be used as a variable in analysis.
3.4 Research design
This research will use a mixed methods approach in order to investigate whether each immersive approach is contributing successfully to interpretative aims and if the effects on visitors are concurrent with desired outcomes. A mixed methods approach can allow qualitative data, such as interviews, to lend additional validity to theory, experiential and observed findings (Chrysanthi et al. 2012). The quantitative research aims to observe what is happening and the qualitative aims to explore why (Gammon 2001:5).
This study has an evaluative function involving the assessment of specific case studies which will be measured against a framework of criteria along with the use of observational studies and semi-structured interviews, which allow the topic of conversation to be directed by the interviewer but, also allow questions to be asked in different ways with additional explanation (Gammon 2001:6; Bates et al. 2012) to ensure they are understood clearly by the respondent (Diamond et al. 2009:76; VisitScotland 2012:11). The rationale for this approach is to achieve triangulation, which seeks convergence and corroboration of results from different methods (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004:22). Triangulation has been criticised as it may imply the existence of a single, definitive account of the social world and assumes data derived from different methods can be regarded as equivalent in terms of their capacity to address a research question (Bryman 2013:4). Nevertheless, it adds a sense of richness and complexity to an enquiry, enhances credibility (Bryman 2013:4) and may even indicate which interpretation of phenomena are more likely to be valid ( Hammersley 2008:32).
“The case of triangulation illustrates…how relatively straightforward practical research strategies can become caught up in the philosophical debates that now plague social inquiry. Checking other sources of information…is a routinely used practice...incorporated into scholarly work in history and human sciences long before the triangulation metaphor was developed. Given this, we should hesitate to reject it on philosophical grounds.” (Hammersley 2008:30-31)
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3.5 Theory based evaluation
Each site will be assessed against a comprehensive theoretical framework based primarily on Lorentz (2006) as well as learning theory and immersion, aesthetics and exhibition theory. This will take into account the immersive visitor experience as a whole, whether the research area is a single exhibit, as at Culloden, a part of a museum, as at Riverside Museum in Glasgow, or an entire building, as at Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo. This framework will form the basis for an assessment which will consider the immersive experience in terms of cognitive psychology theory, design, learning theory and visitor experience. This theoretical framework is informed by the literature review section of this dissertation which explored the interacting and often complementary areas of constructivism, aesthetic experience and immersive design.
Lorentz (2006) provides an extensive contextual study and theoretical framework for the design of effective immersive experiences by tracing the rise of the experience economy, examining a broad range of cognitive and experiential design theory, and scrutiny of studies such as Bitgood (1990) and Harvey et al. (1998). This is subsequently applied to, and demonstrated through specific case studies. A key distinction, however, between this study and Lorentz (2006), is that Lorentz assesses the immersive values of exhibitions which do not necessarily seek to recreate a time or place whereas this study includes exhibitions which may be viewed as immersive through reconstruction or recreation of a time or place.
The primary criteria which will be used to first assess the sites are Lorentz’s (2006:143) key elements of immersion which include: threshold experience; narrative centred experiences; intellectual challenge (to some extent); and, multi-sensory experiences. Consideration of these site attributes will include opportunities for flow and aesthetic experiences, learning opportunities, the use of technology and multi-sensory and interactive components. In order to apply this framework each site will be discussed in regards to Lorentz’s above criteria which may show whether each site design should be effective in light of the criteria. This may corroborate or provide additional insight to findings from the observational study and interviews.
3.6 Observational study
This study will use observational techniques in order to establish circulation patterns and dwell times at specific elements and exhibits, providing data that will provide information on the relationship between visitors and the exhibition space.
Visitor observation and tracking are common, usually quantitative, research methods which allow researchers to discover circulation patterns (Klein 1993), measure times spent by visitors at specific elements or areas, and determine how visitors interact with the exhibits, their surroundings and each other (Bitgood 2002). In addition, observation may be used to record qualitative as well as quantitative data (Chrysanthi et al. 2012). Visitor observations are an effective way of understanding
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visitor interactions with an exhibit without the disadvantages of exit survey whereby the visitor is required to remember what they did and for how long. These studies can give information on visitor numbers and how visitors are interacting with particular components of an exhibition. Observational methods do have some limitations. They provide only behavioural data; they do not provide definitive demographic information or any qualitative data on visitor motivations, feelings or thoughts. Dwell times can be observed but the reason for the visitor stopping cannot, they may find the exhibit fascinating or very confusing (Binks and Uzzell 1990).
According to Yalowitz and Bronnenkant (2009) there are four main variables which may be recorded during an observational study; stopping behaviours, other behaviours – what they did above and beyond stopping, observable demographic variables, and situational variables – anything which may affect behaviour such as crowding, date and time, special events or staff, etc. This study will aim to record variables within all of these categories.
Observational studies will be conducted at each case study site with the exception of Culloden. Conducting a study of this nature in a confined space will undoubtedly impact on both the visitor experience and the data collected as participants will almost certainly be aware of the researcher which may influence behaviour (Diamond et al. 2009:42). Observations would also be very speculative, as the primary interaction would be mental, rather than physical. There are no exhibits to observe or routes for visitors to take, although they may move freely around the room. In short, observations would provide very little useful information.
At Budongo Trail and Riverside, movement tracking and basic observation techniques will be used including route tracking on a floor plan.
Figure 8 shows the plan for Edinburgh Zoo Budongo Trail which was composited from plans provided by the Zoo. The area accessible to visitors is shaded green. After testing, the labels were removed to allow clearer recording of visitor movement.
Figure 9 shows the plan for Riverside Museum, with the observation area shaded in light grey. If visitors leave the observation area to use facilities such as the toilets or catering they will be deemed to have left the immersive experience as their attention has been turned towards the fulfilment of more basic needs.
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Figure 8: Budongo plan
Figure 9: Main Street plan
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3.6.1 Observation sample
Visitors will be selected for observation based on guidelines from Yalowitz and Bronnenkant (2009) and Diamond et al. (2009). Focused individual sampling will be used to record the behaviours of one individual for the duration of their activity within the study space in order to provide as complete a record of the visitor experience as possible. As it is common for people to visit in groups one visitor from each group will be selected for observation. Where visitors stop and dwell times will be observed and noted (Diamond et al. 2009:55-58). Visitors will be selected at random depending on visitation levels to the study area. This may range from every 3rd to every 10th visitor or the first visitor to enter the area once the researcher is ready to begin a new observation (Yalowitz and Bronnenkant 2009:51).
The component elements of the exhibitions will be defined in terms of how accurately the observer is able to identify what visitors are attending to. If this is not clear, for example in instances of several exhibits grouped on a wall or panel, then they may be grouped together as one element (Diamond et al 2009). At Budongo Trail each exhibition component is very clear and the researcher will be able to observe visitors from various angles. At Riverside, shops will be considered individual elements as there are so many items in each that it may not be possible to tell exactly what the participant is attending to. The defined components are included on the plans in figures 8 and 9.
Diamond et al. (2009: 58) recommends collecting 30-50 tracking observations in total consisting of various visitor demographics over several days for a representative sample. This will enable the observations to be sorted into patterns and categorised if necessary. This study aims to record at least this number of observations, however, there is a need to recognise the fact that visitor numbers through a particular exhibit are not predictable or reliable. It is hoped that large, indoor, year-round attractions like Edinburgh Zoo and Riverside Museum will provide sufficient visitor attendance for this aim to be feasible.
3.6.2 Recording and timing
Movement tracking will be used to record visitor routes. Movements will be recorded digitally using a touchscreen android tablet to overlay routes on a map of the exhibition area being used. This will provide a digital copy of all observed routes which can be backed up, minimising risk of data loss, as well as allowing the viewing of multiple routes at once during data analysis.
‘Pencil-and-paper’ timing and tracking will be used for all observations of interactions and behaviours rather than video or more sophisticated software techniques. Although Yalowitz and Bronnenkant (2009) provide a compelling argument for the use of video recording or handheld computer software these are not feasible within the scope of this research. Video recording raises ethical issues regarding anonymity, as well as practicality issues as some areas may require more than one
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camera. For this research permission to observe unobtrusively was obtained prior to study and visitors were made aware of research using signs at the entrance points to each site.
Yalowitz and Bronnenkant (2009:53) argue that the specificity data may be an issue with pencil-and-paper tracking. For example, many studies do not include times at specific elements, but this does not prevent the tracking of visitors through the exhibits as well as noting what visitors attended to and for how long. Time at components can be measured with a stopwatch. The difficulty lies in recording phenomena which occur simultaneously. For the purposes of this research stopping and dwell times will be recorded, while multiple behaviours such as conversations and interactions will be noted and categorised but not necessarily timed. Situational factors such as crowding, and in the case of Budongo, what the chimpanzees are doing, will not be recorded due to the complicated nature of observing multiple variables.
Although previous guidelines have defined visitor “stop” as “stopping with both feet planted on the floor and head or eyes pointed in the direction of the element for 2-3 seconds or more” (Serrell 1998 in Yalowitz and Bronnenkant 2009: 50) this definition is problematic in this study as some components are large enough that the visitor need not physically stop to engage with it. This issue is particularly notable in aquariums, zoos and art museums where visitors may be moving around almost constantly to see the animals. Therefore, it is more appropriate in this instance to apply the term “attending to” to define a stop so planting of the feet is not required (Yalowitz and Tomulonis 2004). “Attending to” incorporates the time someone may be engaging with an exhibit which moving through a space (Yalowitz 2004:6). In this way all elements and components of an exhibit may be included in studies and the times visitors pay attention to an exhibit are less likely to be underestimated. The issue which remains is related to researcher training and testing, each data collector must record “attending to” in the same manner. This study will not be affected by this particular issue as there will only be one data collector.
3.6.3 Indicators
As a key attribute of immersive exhibits is the ability to attract and hold visitors’ attention indicators are necessary in order to assess the level of engagement the visitor is experiencing with a particular exhibit or exhibit component. Diamond et al. (2009: 60) and Gammon (2003:8) both provide indicators for categorising visitor behaviour.
While Gammon’s indicators (table 1) are designed to record types of learning, these same behaviours can also be used as indicators of an exhibits ability to attract and hold attention, i.e. engage.
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Type of learning
Weak Indicator Medium Indicator Strong Indicator
Attract and hold attention
Pay attention to exhibit, activity etc – stop and look [for how long?] Point to or ask question about [how many?] Successfully complete activity at least once [difficulty of activity]
Focus attention for enough time to complete activity / read text Listen attentively Join in activity Handling exhibit / perform activity carefully and purposefully Call others over to see exhibit/join in activity Express interest in exhibit, activity Describe activity as enjoyable, entertaining Complete activity and stay afterwards to ask further questions Write brief notes, take a photo
Pay attention for more time than is required to complete activity, read text Stop, look at and discuss at length, as series of related questions about Repeat activity several times Leave and return to exhibit, activity, etc Say that they felt absorbed, fascinated, involving, inspired by the experience Taken extensive notes, draw, take several photos Children engage in extensive, exploratory, imaginative or role-play
Table 1. Attract and Hold indicators (Gammon 2003:8)
Gammon’s indicators also provide more explicit categories and specific behaviours (such as taking photos) which may be less subjective than the indicators provided by Diamond et al. (see table 2). Subjectivity may be an issue, particularly in distinguishing between ‘minimal/glance’ and ‘cursory’ behaviour, and in identifying whether visitors are reading text or merely looking at the panel or pictures. While subjectivity may be present in assessment of the amount of time spent at an exhibit recording this allows the researcher freedom to balance time spent and accompanying behaviours in order to assess and categorise behaviour.
1 MINIMAL/ GLANCE
Visitor stops, pauses briefly, glances at one or more elements but demonstrates no apparent interest in any particular element or information.
2 CURSORY Visitor stops, watches, or touches elements briefly in a cursory way, perhaps casually points to something; glances at text panels, but demonstrates no apparent interaction with exhibit.
3 MODERATE Visitor stops, interacts with elements of the exhibit with apparent interest, reads some text; appears somewhat engaged and focused.
4 EXTENSIVE Visitor stops, interacts with elements of the exhibit intently; reads some text; appears engaged and focused.
Table 2. Engagement scale used to assess visitors’ engagement (Diamond et al. 2009: 60)
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The indicators set out by Gammon (2003:8) (see table 1) will be used to categorise visitor behaviour. Only the observable learning indicators will be used in this study.
In order to quantify these data, Gammon’s learning indicators will be numbered (1, 2 and 3 for weak, medium and strong respectively); participant behaviours will be assessed and given an appropriate numerical designation for each interaction. Although an assessment of learning is not a primary concern of this study, these indicators will be used to categorise, quantify and assess visitor engagement with exhibits, reflecting Gammon’s (2003) contention that level and type of engagement is key to learning. Table 3 shows how the observational data will be recorded, with behaviour notes and dwell time determining the indicator category.
Exhibit Behaviour notes Indicator Dwell time (seconds)
98% Human Looked, took photos, used touchscreen, showed accompanying child,
3 120
Table 3. Example of observation template
3.7 Interviews
3.4.2 Interviews
Conducting semi-structured interviews in conjunction with observational studies allows further qualitative data on observed demographic or psychographic variables which may influence the observed behaviour (Yalowitz and Bronnenkant 2009). Observational data has more validity for assessing what visitors actually do, whereas qualitative data may be used to assess emotional responses and attitudes (Bitgood 2002). Interviews with visitors can provide useful exploration of research issues when investigating visitor perception (Chrysanthi et al. 2012) and can deliver rich, detailed, qualitative information (Gammon 2001; Diamond et al. 2009, Bates et al. 2012) which can be very revealing and true (Binks and Uzzell 1990). The questions and answers need not be derived from preconceived notions of what memories or aspects are important, but rather to facilitate recall without unduly biasing the responses (Falk and Dierking 2011: 116). This enables exploration of issues both guided, and in response to, the respondents’ answers and motivations (Binks and Uzzell 1999).
Interviews can hold a number of significant advantages over self-completion surveys, which was another method considered for use in this study. In addition to the richness of data a smaller sample can be used to provide much more detailed and rich data. Self-completion surveys require a far larger sample in order to be representative. Even large samples are still unlikely to be representative as “you will end up surveying a few highly motivated individuals who are often incredibly pissed-
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off about something. Interviews are more costly and time-consuming but give you much more reliable data” (Gammon 2001:2).
3.7.1 Interview sample
Visitors will be approached on exiting the exhibition space and will not be selected from those who have been observed in order to avoid selection bias. At Culloden and Budongo trail there are clear exit points, whereas Main Street has two potential exits. Here, visitors will be approached at each point in turn. Interviews will be done on site over several days and interviews may be scheduled for a specific interview day if necessary. Ideally respondents will have just completed their visit to ensure the experience is fresh in their minds.
To minimise sample bias, a continual ask method will be used (Falk et al. 2007) by approaching the first available visitor exiting the study area. In order to minimise demand characteristics, i.e. the tendency of respondents to alter their responses based on the perceived agenda of the researcher, there will be no incentives given to respondents and no emphatic statements will be made regarding the potential benefits of the responses to the institution (Marino et al. (2010). This is contrary to the approach of Falk et al. (2007) and was highlighted as a risk to the validity of that study by Marino et al. (2010).
Sample sizes will reflect the level of emphasis put on the data. For example, because observational study will not be used at Culloden the interview sample will be larger, whereas interviews from Riverside and Budongo Trail will be used in conjunction with observational data, so the sample will be smaller. If it is apparent that the respondent is a non-native English speaker, they will be asked if they are comfortable completing the interview in English. If not, they will be eliminated from the sample but their participation refusal and reason will be noted.
3.7.2 Interview formulation and analysis
Semi-structured interview techniques will be used as informal conversational interviews may not allow questions to be directed towards a certain topic and can be difficult to analyse as different questions have been asked of each respondent (Diamond et al. 2009:72). This would not be possible with structured interviews, which are more appropriate for statistical analysis. It is important that the imposition of bias by the interviewer is avoided and the interviewee must be made comfortable in an environment where there is no implied judgement or criticism (Diamond et al. 2009:69). Interviews should be structured carefully, beginning with more simple and interesting questions in order to ease the respondent into a position where they feel comfortable answering more complicated or important questions (Arizona Office of Tourism 2007).
Interview questions and topics will not concentrate on the respondent’s recall of facts or information. The viewpoint that these are the only key indicators of learning is not
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appropriate for museums and the definition of education within interpretative settings emphasises the process of learning rather than the outcomes, including affective and cognitive elements (Hooper-Greenhill 1994:74). Emotions and feelings responses which influence attitudes, values and perceptions underpin the acquisition of knowledge (Hooper-Greenhill 1999:68). Emotional engagement is therefore vital for learning, so it is appropriate to explore how visitors believe their emotions and attitudes have been affected by the experience in question. Questions about the nature of the visit and how respondents interacted with the environment may lead to follow-up questions regarding perception of the subject. This may shed light on the emotional connections made between the visitors and the subject matter.
Like Falk et al. (2007) this study will consist of respondents reporting what they believe or understand. While there is a considerable weakness in this self-report approach when investigating acquired knowledge, it can be used to effectively explore emotional response, perceived belief and attitudinal changes (Marino et al. 2010) which this study aims to explore. After interviews are transcribed analysis will be conducted using WEFT Qualitative Data Analysis program for Windows. This enables categorisation of text sections for visual analysis by the researcher. Full transcripts and interview templates are detailed in Appendix 2.
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4. Theory based evaluation
The aim of this section is to provide a brief analysis of each site with regards to the elements which may affect the immersive qualities of the visitor experience argued for in the theoretical framework. The key components of an immersive experience which will be examined are;
• selectively chosen participants • threshold • narrative • sensory experience • experience length
4.1 Budongo Trail
Budongo Trail is housed in a purpose built structure within Edinburgh Zoo, containing both exhibition space and chimpanzee habitat areas with large viewing windows. The ground floor contains fewer interpretative components than upstairs, and concentrates on the work done in Budongo, Uganda, by the RZSS. The exhibition contains elements that illustrate simulated, interactive and media models of immersion (Bigood 1990) which may best be defined as Mortensen’s (2010:325) interpretation model, as the exhibits do not attempt an authentic recreation of a time or place but rather serve illustratively to create an ambience. The space is designed to inspire a sense of awe and wonder using height and scale, and engages people using multi-sensory stimuli and interactive elements. Visitor experience length is only limited by the opening hours of the Zoo, although visit length figures are detailed in the observational study results.
The threshold experience is provided by the entry into the lower level where visitors are met with the habitat reconstruction area and an introductory sign to the exhibition on the right-hand side. The realistic vegetation, rocks, wooden structure, large wall display and mural all help to inspire a sense of awe (wow factor) and provide visual context (see figure 10).
Figure 10. Budongo entrance
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Another key threshold lies between the two exhibition areas, transitioning between the two chimp ‘homes’. This is the staircase which features several visual cues (see figure 11) designed to communicate that this is the ‘chimp’s home’ as well as relate to visitors’ prior knowledge and experience;
“Let’s think of it as being a house, so there’s the forest, and you go from the forest into the house. When you visit someone’s house what do you find? Quite often there’s a mat on the doorstep, so on the floor we have a welcome mat which says ‘welcome’ (in Swahili and English) at the bottom of the stairs…as you go up the stairs there are photographs of chimps just like family photos on somebody’s wall, and there’s an outline of a chimp in terms of their height, which is like parents do with their kids. Kids can stand next to it and go ‘I’m taller than a 6 year old chimp’” (Woollard 2012).
Figure 11. Budongo stairs
The exhibition space contains two distinct narratives divided over the two floors, ‘Chimp’s Home the Forest’, and ‘Chimp’s Home the Zoo’ (Woollard 2012). Characters within the narrative theme are provided by the chimps themselves, who are featured in an introductory slideshow and portraits on the stairs. These characters are not used as interactive agents or guides but, tell visitors the chimp’s names, describe character traits, and emphasise the family aspect of the chimp’s social group, which may help visitors relate on a more personal level.
At a zoo interpretation faces a challenge not met at other sites; competing for visitors’ attention with live animals. Interactive interpretation can add to a zoological exhibition experience by enhancing, extending and interconnecting knowledge, however, the attraction of living plants and animals is fundamental (Robinson 1998). Visitors come to see real things (objects, artefacts, animals etc.) and not the presentation media (Thomas 1998). As Lorentz (2006:104) describes, visitors in this context are not a captive audience and may move freely through the exhibition. Narratives may be read, reread or missed altogether and visitors may create their
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own meanings based on their own experience and the narrative elements they assess. Lorentz (2006:108-109) argues that an exhibition without a threshold, counter point or climax (mid-point) and exit sequence may have a disjunctive narrative style and lack the structural links that provide continuity and immersive impact. It is possible therefore, that subtle cues and narrative devices may be misinterpreted or missed completely, especially if visitors are primarily focussed on viewing the animals rather than engaging with the interpretative material. Visitor interaction with key elements, such as the visual cues on the staircase or interaction with exhibits, may provide evidence as to whether the narrative is being successfully communicated and engaged with; therefore, creating a more immersive experience.
Findings by Bitgood (2006) indicate that fewer visitor stops occur when exhibits are placed on both sides of a visitor path. Approach and stop behaviour was more frequent with exhibits placed only on one side. It therefore seems plausible that visitors may forego engagement with interpretation in favour of the ‘main attraction’, i.e. the animals. Previous studies have also indicated that visitor engagement of educational signage is generally low at zoos (Schnackenberg 1997; Coll et al. 2003; Parker 2006). Design of signage and exhibits may be key to persuading visitors towards zoo messages by using fun facts, thought provoking questions and interactivity; the use of technology and relating with the visitor may make signage more attractive (Parker 2006:41). Talks by zoo staff can also be one of the most effective ways of message communication, although potential difficulty lies in the amount of staff time dedicated to visitor interaction (Parker 2006:42).
To this end the exhibition as a whole is designed to be a multi-sensory experience, beginning with the bespoke building and grand entrance. Experiences are intrinsically sensory and the stimulants that accompany an experience should support and enhance its theme, making it more memorable (Pine and Gilmore 1999:59).
Once in the exhibition space visitors have a number of choices they can make with regards to their interactions with the narrative theme. The large chimpanzee viewing windows are at tree height, level with the chimps, and provide excellent views of all habitat areas. Interactive exhibits and multimedia displays are used, which present visitors with more hands-on opportunities than Main Street or Culloden. These focus primarily on highlighting the intelligence of chimps and their similarities with humans. Hands-on exhibits like touchscreens, smell units, videos, touchable hand prints, and a statue of a chimp, as well as talks and touch-tables run by staff all provide a rich learning environment with multiple modalities (see figures 12 and 13). Such depth of interpretation, and the more media used to communicate, has the potential for greater cognitive impact (Crigler et al. 1994; Crowest 1999). Experiencing multiple layers of interpretation at zoos can enhance the perceived impact on the visitor. However, the standard of interpretation, capabilities of staff and volunteers, and the types of media used also affect impact (Weiler and Smith 2009).
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Figure 12. ‘98% Human’ hand prints and anatomy interactive.
Figure 13. ‘98% Human’ memory game and 'Eddie Says’ animation.
Maintenance is costly however, with wear and tear a constant issue for such exhibits (Brochu 2003). At the time of this study some individual exhibits were damaged or non-functioning including the smell station at the entrance and the tools interactive (figure 14). Broken exhibits can lead to frustration and disappointment, creating negative cues, with functionality being a primary concern for visitors over other maintenance issues (Kollmann 2007:187). In this instance only the tools interactive was completely non-functioning and was repaired before completion of this study.
Figure 14. Exhibit maintenance
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4.2 Main Street
The Main Street exhibit is best defined as a reconstitution model of immersion (Mortensen 2010:325) seeking to reproduce an existing reference world, encompassing elements of Bitgood’s (1990, 2011) simulated, media and interactive environments. Unlike Budongo Trail and Culloden, Main Street has two potential threshold points for visitors, however, both are designed to provide very similar experiences. Scale, detail and authenticity are designed to create a sense of wonder and awe; the realistic recreation buildings are of authentic height at three stories and lit atmospherically by overhead lights and light emanating from shop windows and signs. At either entry visitors are met by horse drawn carriages, one a tram and one a hearse (see figure 15). Shop window displays are brightly lit and several, such as the pawn shop and saddlers are crammed with interesting items. These thresholds also have a stark contrast with the rest of the museum, which is modern and full of categorised and itemised displays. Visitors are self-selecting, there is no set or recommended route through the museum and this contrast provides a strong level of saliency designed to draw visitors in.
Figure 15. Main Street entries.
The overarching narrative is that of Glasgow’s high street heritage, on which the multiple narrative strands provided by individual shop exhibits are based. Each shop communicates an individual strand within the overall narrative, which is delivered through various media, each unique to the exhibit and often includes characters both real and fictional. For example, the Photographer’s individual narrative sees visitors engaged in getting their portrait taken. They are led by the virtual character of the photographer on a large screen. He explains how the image will be taken and invites participants to select backgrounds and pose. The photo is taken and visitors are able to view their finished image on a different screen seconds later. In the ‘Mitre’ Pub visitors are witness to an altercation between inebriated patrons through audio and visuals on a screen behind the bar. Unlike the Photographers there is no interaction between these virtual characters and the visitors, and the scene is repeated automatically.
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Engagements with visitors like these directly involve them and relate to prior knowledge and experience. The bar scene avoids any possible intimidation or discomfort simply by placing the visitor as a spectator rather than a participant and the audio is not so loud as to be intrusive if visitors wish to ignore it and look around the exhibit. Conversely the Photographer actively engages the visitors through direct involvement and communication. Other exhibits do not seek to actively engage visitors, thereby increasing the salience of those which do, and create an immersive environment by reconstructing shops which visitors may enter.
Visitors also have an inherent effect on the narrative structure of their visit as there is no set route and they may approach or enter buildings and features freely. As well as contributing to the authenticity of the street, such freedom allows visitors to engage with the four experience realms of the exhibit (aesthetic, educational, entertainment, escapist) to a degree which suits them. This may help to create the balance and interaction of these elements required to achieve Pine and Gilmore’s (1998) “sweet spot”.
There are many options and opportunities for sensory experiences within the exhibit with the experience of being part of the exhibit a key contributory factor. In addition to labelled objects to see there are audio, visual and hands-on opportunities in almost every part of the exhibit to varying degrees. Some shops include counters and seating which may be used and touched. In the Subway visitors can use a grip control to experience what it was like to start and stop an early 20th century subway train, as well being able to sit in the carriage.
The virtual characters in the Photographer and Pub form part of the sensory experience of those exhibits and there are several interactive points with games and audio-visuals. The Café exhibit individually represents a genuine reconstruction of a real place, featuring the actual fittings and seating from the reference building. While sitting at booth, visitors can watch several short audio-visuals which are narrated by the granddaughter of the shop owner who describes daily life both in the café and the time of operation. This adds an extra level of connection as some visitors may remember the café when it was in operation in Glasgow, while for other visitors, being able to touch and use the genuine environment may help to create a sense of place and time.
4.3 Battle Immersion
The Battle Experience (figure 16) aims to create a simulated immersion environment by using techniques commonly employed by media immersion exhibits (Bitgood 1990; 2011), in that audio-visual presentation is the key approach. Participants are self-selecting; visitors who elect to enter the exhibition space at the start time of a showing must open a door into the area which closes behind them. Visitors may enter the area at any time but, missing the beginning of the showing may impact on the experience as some of the narrative devices designed to create tension and
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communicate plot will be missed. The effect of visitors entering at unscheduled times, either upon their experience or the experience of visitors already in the exhibit, is mitigated by a screen above the entrance which displays how long it will be until the next showing.
Figure 16. The Battle Room (Electrosonic 2013)
The film consists of a simple, clear narrative depicting the Jacobite defeat without verbal or text narration. The film itself represents the climax or counter-point of the overall site narrative, which is designed as a linear experience (Brochu 2003:111); while visitors have the freedom to stop, repeat and ignore sections, they must pass through the galleries in order. Visitors make their way through the galleries and by the time they reach the battle room should have gained at least some contextual knowledge if they have read even the introductory panels to each gallery. The narrative within the film contains devices designed to create tension and provoke emotional reaction. For a time nothing is shown but grass on the moor blowing in the wind (with sound). Then, slowly, troops start to appear on all sides. It is then some time before the action happens, which is loud, graphic and finishes abruptly. There is then silence other than the sound of wind as the Government troops pick their way over the fallen Jacobites before the screen fades back to the initial image of the moor. Visitors leave through a narrow corridor with the names of men killed at Culloden written on the walls. Visitors are not obliged to leave and may remain for as many showings as they wish.
As well as being visually and acoustically isolated visitors are completely surrounded by moving images and loud noise. In addition, the use of spatial devices is a key factor in helping to enhance the effect of the sensory experience and create an immersive environment, as visitors are given no option but to be surrounded by these devices. The use of these aesthetic devices may create a sense of wonder, awe, discomfort or disorientation. These attributes may also add to the entertainment value of the exhibit (Pine and Gilmore 1998) and may complement the effect of the narrative (escapist) elements. Visitors are isolated from the rest of the exhibition and
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engaged on a multi-sensory level with loud noise and graphic imagery from all sides. These properties may cause feelings of discomfort or perhaps even disturb some visitors. This presents an opportunity for cognitive dissonance to occur (Festinger 1957), whereby visitors are confronted with conflicting sensory information. This type of cognitive dissonance (Festinger 1957), sometimes called “heritage dissonance” (Lennon and Foley 2000:52) or “hot interpretation” (Uzzell and Ballantyne 1998:1), often occurs in the interpretation of atrocities and sites of controversy, called ‘dark tourism’, with the aim of influencing the attitudes of the visitor.
The Battle Experience provides all the necessary components for an effective immersive experience in relation to Lorentz (2006), as well as containing elements which represent Pine and Gilmore’s (1998) four realms of experience. The richest experiences are at the point Pine and Gilmore call the “sweet spot” (Lorentz 2006:53) which is achieved by creating perfect balance between these elements. The fact that experiences by nature are subjective is unavoidable; however, the provision for all these complementary elements may ensure that the Battle Experience is immersive and effective with strong potential to provoke flow and aesthetic experiences.
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5. Data and results
5.1 Budongo Trail observation
5.1.1 Budongo sample
Observations were conducted on several days over a period of several weeks in order to achieve both the desired numbers over the time period recommended by Diamond et al (2009) in order to collect a representative sample.
The dominant age ranges of visitors were 18-25 and 26-35, with significantly more observed in these than others. There is a degree of subjectivity in these figures however, as due to the nature of observational study age was estimated by the researcher. The number of males and females was roughly equal. The total sample size at Budongo was 54, which is within the ideal sample size identified by Diamond et al. (2009:58).
Date Male Female Total 16.01.2013 6 4 10 16.02.2013 5 7 12 19.02.2013 4 6 10 01.03.2013 6 6 12 08.04.2013 7 3 10
Totals 28 (52%) 26 (48%) 54 Table 4. Zoo sample – gender
Date 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 16.01.2013 6 1 2 1 0 16.02.2013 7 4 1 0 0 19.02.2013 2 2 5 1 0 01.03.2013 3 8 0 0 1 08.04.2013 5 1 1 2 1
Totals 23 16 9 4 2 Table 5. Zoo sample – age groups
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5.1.2 Dwell times and frequencies
The results of the observational study are detailed in tables 6 and 7. This includes total frequency, percentage of visitors overall and average dwell time at each exhibit. These figures are demonstrated visually in figures 17 and 18.
Frequencies represent the total number of visitors who ‘attended to’ the specific exhibit. The percentage indicates what percentage of the sample each frequency represents. For example, 50% of visitors ‘attended to’ Pod 1, which was 93% of the total sample at Budongo. From the frequencies data we can see that the three chimpanzee Pods and the 98% Human interactive were the most ‘attended to’ exhibits at Budongo.
Dwell times indicate the length of time each exhibit was attended to on average by those visitors who ‘attended to’ each. The % of visitors who ‘attended to’ each exhibit is presented on the right. From this comparison we can see the highest frequencies did not always result in the longest dwell times. For example, the staffed table at Budongo achieved a significantly higher average dwell time than any other exhibit, but was ‘attended to’ by only 15% of visitors. However, Pod 1 received both high frequency and long dwell times.
Exhibit Frequency % of Visitors Pod 1 50 93% Pod 3 33 61% 98% Human 27 50% Pod 2 25 46% Lecture Hall 20 37% Smells 19 35% Meet The Family 14 26% Research 10 19% First Aid 10 19% Stairs 10 19% Staffed Table 8 15% Forest Panel 6 11% Memory 5 9% Eddie Says 4 7% Signage 4 7% Ape Vine 2 4% Table 6. Budongo Trail frequencies
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Exhibit Average Dwell Time (seconds)
Staffed Table 169 Pod 1 97 Lecture Hall 90 Pod 3 79 Ape Vine 53 98% Human 50 Signage 35 Eddie Says 31 Memory 28 Meet The Family 26 Forest Panel 25 Research 23 Pod 2 21 Stairs 21 Smells 20 First Aid 17 Table 7. Budongo Trail average dwell times
Figure 17. Budongo frequencies map
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Figure 18. Budongo dwell times map
5.1.3 Budongo routes
The movements of each individual visitor observed were digitally recorded on a plan of the site. Visitor movements were recorded from entering the exhibition space until the moment of leaving, either through the exit, back through the entrance or leaving the area to use site facilities.
Figure 19 shows all 54 observed routes overlaid on the site plan which was used for tracking visitor movements. Each line represents the movements of one visitor, and the transparency of each route has been adjusted so that darker areas indicate areas of higher use.
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5.1.4 Budongo indicators
Visitor behaviour whilst ‘attending to’ each exhibit was categorised according to indicators provided by Gammon (2003:8) and is summarised in the table below which shows the percentage of visitors who ‘attended to’ the exhibit for each indicator. The headings 1, 2 and 3 indicate weak, medium and strong levels of engagement which indicate a lesser or greater likelihood of learning occurring respectively. Visitor behaviour while ‘attending to’ was categorised according to guidelines stated by Gammon (2003:8). Average dwell times are shown in the right hand column.
Figure 19. Budongo routes
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% of visitors displaying indicator Average dwell time (seconds) Exhibit # of visitors 1 2 3
Pod 1 50 34 24 42 97 Pod 3 33 42 28 30 79 98% Human 27 30 33 37 50 Pod 2 25 80 12 8 21 Lecture Hall 20 20 25 55 90 Smells 19 48 47 5 20 Meet the Family 14 57 36 7 26 Research 10 80 20 0 23 First Aid 10 50 30 20 17 Stairs 10 50 40 10 21 Staffed Table 8 12 13 75 169 Forest Panel 6 50 33 17 25 Memory 5 80 20 0 28 Eddie Says 4 75 0 25 31 Signage 4 25 50 25 35 Ape Vine 2 0 50 50 53
Table 8. Budongo Trail indicators.
5.2 Main Street observation
5.2.1 Main Street sample
Again, observations were conducted on several days over a period of several weeks in order to collect the representative sample identified by Diamond et al. (2009).
In this case the number of males observed outnumbered females, and the numbers of visitors observed in each age group are similar (15-23%) with the exception of the 66+ range. Again, these figures are subject to a degree of bias due to ages being estimated by the researcher.
Date Male Female Total 05.02.2013 7 5 12 23.02.2013 5 3 8 26.02.2013 9 6 15 05.03.2013 8 4 12 09.04.2013 8 7 15
Totals 37 (60%) 25 (40%) 62 Table 9. Main Street sample – gender
Date 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66+ 05.02.2013 3 3 2 2 2 0 23.02.2013 1 0 3 4 0 0 26.02.2013 3 4 3 2 1 2 05.03.2013 1 4 0 3 4 0 09.04.2013 1 3 3 2 3 3
Totals 9 (15%) 14 (23%) 11 (18%) 13 (21%) 10 (16%) 5 (8%) Table 10. Main Street sample – age groups
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5.2.2 Dwell times and frequency
The results of the observational study are detailed in tables 11 and 12. This includes total frequency, percentage of visitors overall and average dwell time at each exhibit.
Exhibit Frequency % of Visitors Pub 33 53 Subway 28 45 Pawn Shop 20 32 Café 20 32 Cabinet Maker 17 27 Saddler 16 26 Photographer 14 23 Hearse 14 23 Bootmaker 13 21 Tram 12 19 Car 11 18 Dress Shop 5 8 Truck 5 8 Carriage 1 2 Table 11. Main Street frequencies
Exhibit Average Dwell Time (seconds)
Café 147 Subway 92 Photographer 84 Pawn Shop 72 Cabinet Maker 66 Pub 59 Saddler 36 Bootmaker 30 Dress Shop 26 Tram 20 Hearse 15 Car 13 Carriage 10 Truck 8 Table 12. Main Street average dwell times
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Figure 20. Main Street frequencies
Figure 21. Main Street dwell times
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5.2.3 Main Street routes
Figures 22 and 23 show the routes of all 62 observed visitors overlaid on the site plan used for movement tracking. At Main Street there are two possible directions for visitors to enter and exit the exhibition area (denoted by green arrows in figures 22 and 23); one from the direction of the main entrance from the top of the plan, and one towards the main entrance from the bottom of the plan. Again, darker areas indicate areas of higher use by visitors. Although there are two possible directions from which visitors may enter the area, the data shows that the use of space is similar and consistent between the two data sets.
Figure 22. Main Street routes from main entrance
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5.2.4 Main Street indicators
Visitor behaviour while ‘attending to’ each exhibit was categorised according to indicators provided by Gammon (2003:8).
% of visitors displaying indicator Avg dwell time Exhibit # of visitors 1 2 3 (seconds)
Pub 33 42 49 9 59 Subway 28 36 46 18 92 Pawn Shop 20 30 40 30 72 Cafe 20 55 10 35 147 Cabinet Maker 17 47 35 18 66 Saddler 16 69 25 6 36 Photographer 14 57 14 29 84 Hearse 14 71 29 0 15 Bootmaker 13 84 8 8 30 Tram 12 50 42 8 20 Car 11 82 18 0 13 Dress Shop 5 80 0 20 26 Tuck 5 80 20 0 8 Carriage 1 100 0 0 10
Table 13. Riverside indicators
Figure 23. Main Street routes towards main entrance
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5.3 Analysis
5.3.1 Budongo Trail
At Budongo Trail the longest dwell times appear to accompany stronger indicators of learning and there were five components which generated average dwell times of over one minute, three of which were chimpanzee Pod viewing areas (Pod 1, Pod 3 and Lecture Hall – which overlooks Pod 3). The Staffed Table, the Chimpanzee Pods and the 98% Human interactive also generated the strongest indicators of engagement. Although the Ape Vine stations generated strong indicators the frequency was extremely low; only two visitors ‘attended to’ them, which does not enable the inference of a pattern.
The component which produced the longest average dwell time by a significant margin was the staffed table, which was available on the dates of 1/3/2013 and 8/4/2013; the last two days of observation. Although this produced a frequency of only 15% overall, on these days alone the frequency was 27%. This variation is a key point, and could be better explored over a longer period, with the table being staffed on every day of observation to confirm that the larger frequency is not anomalous. The engagement indicators from the staffed table were also high, with 75% of visitors who engaged exhibiting strong indicators.
Visitors also appear to generally follow the same route through the exhibition space, bypassing much of the interpretation and favouring a route past the chimpanzee viewing areas (figure 19). Below, a most common route has been generated from the data (figure 24), with the most frequent route in red, and less frequent routes in purple. In order to engage with the interpretation visitors must diverge from this desired route. 98% Human (shown in green) lies on the route between Pod 3 and Pod 2, which may explain the larger dwell time and frequency figures for this exhibit. This also shows that placement of interpretation along the visitors’ desired route may increase the likelihood of engagement.
Figure 24. Budongo typical route
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5.3.2 Main Street
At Main Street dwell times are consistent throughout the exhibition space, and are not skewed significantly towards a small number of components. However, the data suggests that exhibits which contained a higher level of interactivity or multi-media attracted higher frequencies and longer dwell times, and the exhibits which attracted higher frequencies also stimulated the longest dwell times. For example, the Café attracted over one third of visitors and the longest average dwell time. This may be partially explained by a small number of visitors who watched all the audio-visual material, which lasts over ten minutes. While the Pub attracted the highest frequency dwell times were not proportionately as high, which also supports the idea that interactivity stimulates engagement, as the Pub does not have as much supporting or interactive material as exhibits which generated longer dwell times. While the vehicles received the shortest dwell times and lowest frequencies their true contribution to the overall aesthetics and authenticity of the exhibition may be far different than these figures suggest.
The data shows that although average dwell times were high for many of the exhibits, weak or medium indicators were more likely to be generated; most exhibits stimulated a large number of weak and medium indicators, with the photographer, pawn shop and café generating strong indicators in 29-35% of visitors. The highest number of strong indicators was generated by the café exhibit (35%). This data corroborates the idea that interactivity and multimedia can generate high levels of engagement, with exhibits containing these elements generating stronger indicators. The Pawn Shop, which features an interactive and a large number of small objects and narrative strands, also generated a high number of strong-medium indicators. This appears to suggest that exhibits containing a lot of objects, visual material and labels can also achieve high levels of engagement. Writers such as Walsh-Piper (1994), Duncan (2005), and Maki-Petaja (2012) argue that such devices can contribute to aesthetic experience and enhance visitor experience.
The data from section 4.5.2 has been collated to generate main route maps (figures 24 and 25 below). The data also shows that visitors’ use of the exhibition space was consistent, and quite evenly spread, with most visitors covering a large proportion of the space. No clear common visitor route was revealed through movement tracking, although the road and pavements received more use as they are the main thoroughfare through the exhibition from which the individual exhibits are accessed.
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Figure 26. Routes towards main entrance
Figure 25. . Routes from direction of main entrance
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5.4 Interviews
Interviews were conducted on site as per the methodology, set out in 3.7. Full transcripts of all interviews and the questions are included in appendix X. Interviews were recorded and transcribed afterwards into WEFT Qualitative Data Analysis program for Windows. Interviews were semi-structured and included questions regarding visitors’ reactions to the site, aiming to investigate responses to site aesthetics, as well as collect information in order to gauge emotional response and visitor engagement. What the visitors did during their visit, which exhibits interested them and why, was examined. Questions were designed to be open in order to gather as much detailed as possible. This was particularly important at Culloden, as observational data was not collected. At Budongo and Main Street questions were designed to provide additional information which could not be collected through observation. Responses were grouped in terms of key themes using the WEFT software and although these key themes were somewhat site specific, they were generalised into the areas of: aesthetic and environmental reactions; emotional response; route choice; the role of the visitor; authenticity and realism; and evidence of connection to the exhibit.
5.4.1 Budongo interviews analysis
A total of nine interviews were conducted at Budongo trail on May 2nd 2013 and four respondents (male 25-30, female 25-30, female 40-50 and male 50-60,) declined to participate. Interviews were conducted in situ in order to give visitors a visual aid to the questions. Questions were open ended and semi-structured with a view to allowing visitors to comment on any aspect and to afford opportunity to record information on unforeseen and intangible aspects.
Several key themes became apparent through the interviews:
• There is a perception among some visitors that interactive exhibits, games and touchscreens are intended for children (respondents 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). As indicated above, several visitors indicated that they perceived the interactive elements to be aimed at children. It was also expressed that it is good for children to have access these types of interpretative elements, and that bringing children also encouraged some adults to engage with these elements. This may also explain the tendency for visitors to avoid the interpretation which was revealed in the observational data. “we’re probably mostly just coming to see the chimps, although we spent a bit of time with the children today on the interactive bit, and maybe we [wouldn’t have] done that before…you’re sort of guided by the children…they like the bit at the front with the big screen there (referring to Eddie Says).” (2)
“It’s very good yeah, great for the children (gestures to the interactive interpretation area).” (6)
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“I think the interactive bit for the children is good…[I didn’t look] in any detail, just thought that looked quite good. I think it’s mainly for kids to see, you see kids come in and tend to gravitate to that sort of thing so that’s good.” (7)
“No, we’re too old! It’s all for youngsters really isn’t it?” (8)
• Interaction, with staff or exhibits, is appreciated (4, 5, 6, 9).
“things like the lady over there (volunteer at touch table) explaining everything about what you’re actually doing is marvellous, you know you can make sense of things and stuff like that…that sort of thing’s great. That’s why we wanted to go on a tour you know, I mean obviously you can read but hearing it and watching it at the same time is so different. It’s far better to have someone to really interact with you know, because, even if you’re viewing it and you see something there might be a specific reason why [the chimps] are doing it, whether it be like part of their mating or just grooming you know, stuff like that. It’s great to have somebody at hand explaining things. It’s not very often where you get like the little stalls over there (touch table) where you can actually touch and see things and get it all explained to you so that by far is I would say, I mean all this is great, but having that lady there just to explain what's happening.” (4)
• Some visitors are playing a facilitator role when bringing children (2, 3). • Visitors expressed that seeing the animals was their main visit priority (1, 5, 6, 8). • Some visitors verbally corroborated the observed typical route from the
observational study (4, 5, 6, 7, 9). • Some visitors considered building aesthetics, exhibition and enclosure
environments different to the norm. There were differing attitudes towards the aesthetic aspect (all respondents), i.e. people reacted initially to different things such as the smell and the lighting.
“It’s modern, not sure how to put it into words, it’s modern looking but at the same time it’s like, it kind of feels like a fun, colourful thing, place, for everybody really. It’s very informative, colourful and it’s got that feel for everybody” (1)
“When we first came here though it was actually a vast improvement from what they had before, so it was really good just to see it, plus it was more spacious. I think just the space more than anything [made an impression on me], the sort of general size of it, and there’s more space for the monkeys themselves, which made a huge difference, and you’ve got a better view.” (2)
“It stinks! That was the first thing that got me.” (5)
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“dark and dingy you know…that’s certainly the impression. There’s just a lack of light really, lack of natural light, but maybe that’s just me being an outdoor type.” (7)
• The pandas were the initial attraction to the zoo for some visitors (4, 6, 8). • The activity level of the chimpanzees may affect the visitor experience (4, 5, 6, 7)
as some visitors expressed displeasure when the chimps were inactive.
“Well it’s very nice but obviously, you know, you can’t make the animals do anything, so maybe on a nicer day they’d be walking and running about and stuff like that.” (4)
“Bit disappointed that most of them seem to be asleep but I suppose you can’t really do much about that yeah, they probably feel like us on a day like today! (5)”
“I think, obviously what people see will depend on what the chimps are doing…To be honest we just had a look round and came up to the door. We looked in each of them (the windows), looking in that wee bit (interpretation area) and wandered round and came to this bit here. We couldn’t really see any animals.” (7)
The size and scale of viewing areas and the positive difference between Budongo and other zoo environments in terms of visible habitat and visibility for children was also remarked upon. Reactions ranged from the strong smell on entry to the lighting of the exhibition space. Some visitors described it as colourful while another described the entrance very positively but expressed vehemently that the upstairs area was dark, plainly decorated and lacking natural light (respondents 6, 7). This demonstrates that aesthetics is an intrinsically personal phenomenon. Only one respondent remarked negatively on this subject.
5.4.2 Main Street interviews analysis
Seven interviews were conducted at Riverside on May 8th 2013 and six respondents declined to participate (male 45-50, male 25-30, female 25-30, female 30-35, male 40-45 and male 20-25). As at Budongo Trail, interviews were conducted in situ in order to achieve fast responses and give visitors a visual aid to the questions. Questions were open ended and semi-structured with a view to exploring visitor route choice, what elements attracted them, and how they felt about the exhibit as a whole.
Several key themes were raised during the interviews:
• Site aesthetics: The level of interaction, sights and smells were all remarked on positively. Elements such as the large vehicles, the hearse, and the scale of the exhibit were impressive to some visitors (respondents 2, 4, 5, 6). The words “atmospheric”, “exciting”, “attractive” and “vast” were used by several respondents (1, 2, 3, 4, 6).
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“It’s great, it’s really atmospheric isn’t it? I think we saw it (the street) at the old museum and I think it’s fairly similar, very atmospheric, yeah, it’s good.” (1)
“The café was good because you could go in and take a seat and there were videos to watch and the, you know the interior was very detailed and interesting, and in the subway you could, you know start up a train and stop it. The upholsterers (Cabinet Makers) was interesting because of the vintage of the property it looks like furniture as well, as if they’d made it themselves so I quite liked that…The subway’s got lots of hands on things you know and you can almost picture being on the subway, and the café was interesting for us just because, I think because it’s got a history of the people that ran it you know and the immigrant sort of history for them.” (1)
“It’s quite exciting, it’s old fashioned, it’s not like anything you’d see nowadays…I think it’s brilliant…and I like wee shops you can go into.” (2) “excellent, I like the whole atmosphere of it, and the fact that it’s so interactive and you can actually go into each of the shops.” (3)
• The exhibit was considered authentic, realistic and detailed (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). One respondent assumed that the pub interior was genuine (7). Other visitors were aware of the genuine interior of the café due to prior press publicity upon the museum opening (6).
“they're all good illustrations, and of course for people of our age to a certain extent one can remember these types of shops from one’s childhood so they don’t strike me as being particularly unusual you see. I would say they're all authentic, the way they’ve been done.” (4)
“Well I thought it was marvellous, I think it gives you a real flavour of what things were like. It puts the various vehicles and things in context, with the old tram lines too. The children are enjoying it too.” (5)
• Some visitors felt that the presentation style provided context to objects and made them more meaningful, creating a better understanding (5, 6). Some visitors liked the level of information and felt that it was good to have written material on panels as well as touchscreen information (4).
“it really adds something to be able to see things in a context, definitely. I you had things just sitting out it wouldn’t mean anything, but it’s when you read, and you see the signs and you can relate back to what you're seeing. I mean thinking about the other part round there (rest of museum), you see the cars round there and they're lovely, they're absolutely great, but this in this situation is fantastic…you know, if you go to a cathedral or something like that, you’re
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actually seeing the items in the cathedral, because if you took them out the cathedral and put them into a case somewhere else you’ve lost something. No this is brilliant, absolutely brillian.t” (6).
• The exhibit appeared to connect in some way with all respondents by engaging with their prior knowledge or with the narrative. This included personal memories, stories and tv programmes on similar subjects, as well as visitors describing interactions with exhibits and the characters within them, such as the photographer, pub and cafe.
“My grandmother used to live in Partick…it brings back lots of memories. It was funny going into the pawnbrokers because at that time her husband had died…and left a whole hoard of children…on a Monday they would run out of money so she would send her son along with something to the pawnbrokers, which she would get back on the Friday.” (3)
“In 1962 I just started work then and I remember going on the tram and getting a ticket which said this is the last ride on these trams, then they dug it up. Aye it brings things back, it’s great.” (6)
• Questions on route choice indicated that respondents were attracted to the same elements as indicated in the observational study. When asked why they decided to enter the pub, café, photographer and subway one respondent replied;
“I think it was because the doors were open and they stood out a bit more maybe. We could see what was inside them I think, from outside, so that’s why we went in.” (2)
5.4.3 Culloden interviews analysis
Interviews were conducted at the National Trust Culloden Visitor Centre on Saturday and Sunday the 9th and 10th of March. Weekend timing allowed for a maximum number of visitors to be present as this study was conducted during the low-season period and travelling to Culloden multiple times was not feasible for the researcher. As visitors exited the screening area they were approached and asked if they would be willing to participate in an interview about the exhibit. It was made clear that the interviews would be concentrating on this exhibit alone and not the rest of the exhibition. Despite the low-season period the sample was mixed, with visitors from Scotland, England, Germany, Australia and the USA.
The interviews were designed and structured to gather information on visitor engagement and emotional reaction with the aim of investigating exhibit presentation and the potential for immersive experiences with aesthetic, entertainment, escapist and educational value.
Three key themes of the exhibit were explored during the interviews.
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• Realism, the bringing to life of historical events and a better understanding of history through visual representation
• Effects of the presentation style • Empathy, emotional evocation and emotional understanding
Respondents consistently commented on the realism of the presentation and the fact that it added authenticity and a different dimension to the exhibition as a whole. This was expressed through comments that the presentation brought the event to life and showed events, costume, weaponry and emotion authentically in context. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15). Respondents also consistently related what they saw in the presentation to the rest of the exhibition and expressed that it gave them a better understanding of this information (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 18).
“it’s a good way to represent things as they really have been…it just makes clearer the picture, how it was at that time…the things that really happened. Not only the facts but it showed how it would be, the feeling standing there, how it felt at that time.” (1)
“you feel as if you’re actually, almost in the scene…a sense of almost being immersed and being in it.” (2)
“I didn’t know much about Culloden to begin with, so you can read it but you can’t imagine what it would actually look like, and that changes from seeing it (the exhibit).” (3)
“of course it’s an acted out representation, but, as I said before, when you read [about] it…it doesn’t bring the atmosphere [of the film].” (5)
The responses indicate that the film succeeded in engaging audiences, making them feel more like participants than viewers. This also had the effect of a greater understanding and connection to the information from previous exhibits as well as the battle.
Only one respondent expressed that they were unconvinced by the presentation, stating that while the exhibition had successfully built up tension for them up to that point, the battle presentation did not reach their expectations. It is worth noting that this response was related specifically to the realism of the filmed sequence and not related to the presentation aesthetics, suggesting that while aesthetic cues may be effective, some visitors will see through them objectively.
“Because I felt it did look like a lot of people just dressed up re-enacting the battle. It was quite good but I felt it was a theatrical performance and so I didn’t feel too emotionally disturbed by it…it looked quite a small affair, and I think I’d imagined far more people…obviously it was a reconstruction, you couldn’t accurately reflect the number of people that were involved in fighting, but it ended up to me looking like a small skirmish rather than the big battle I was imagining going to happen.” (14)
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The interviews revealed that the presentation environment also had a significant effect on the emotional impact of the exhibit. Respondents expressed that the noise had a significant impact on them when asked what the most memorable aspect of the exhibit.
“The noise, the fact that you were so close to it, it brought it to life” “it becomes much more real when you’re there than when you’re reading everything coming up to it, and suddenly ‘wow!’” (13) Respondents also expressed a sense of confusion or disorientation, stating that they were constantly turning around in order to see as much as possible. One respondent stated that they would have preferred it if only three screens had been used and another stated that they backed into a corner to see as much as possible. This may further emphasise the potential for this exhibit to make people uncomfortable by placing them in the middle of the action, using visual and audio cues to enhance the experience. A number of visitors said that this was a unique experience for them and that they had not encountered a similar exhibit before. This demonstrates the effective use of dissonance (Festinger 1957; Uzzell and Balantyne 1998; Lennon and Foley 2000) in this exhibit to create affect.
“you’re encompassed by so much sound, so [many] visuals which is quite a unique thing, there’s not many places where you can experience that, so in that sense it did feel, again, realistic, almost like in real life you wouldn’t know where to look, you were jumping from one panel to the next” (8)
“I thought it was pretty intense, it was I suppose I kind of sensory overload, cause you're getting the four angles, the four sides and you're not sure where to look… if I was to describe it to wife, if she said should I go in or not, I would say it was pretty loud, pretty intense.” (18)
“…actually by being in the middle of it you are completely disorientated, it’s horrible because you keep having to move around to see everything, but then that makes you appreciate how it must have been for them because you don’t know what’s coming at you, you're not prepared, you don’t know really what’s going on….I just cannot imagine really how it must have been but I think that does go some way to putting you in that position, which as I say [was] horrible, I didn’t feel comfortable in there actually…it was quite disturbing. I think that’s obviously the whole purpose of it so it’s right that it should be like that.” (11) It is interesting to note that people were often more open with their emotional experience when answering questions which were not about that aspect directly, for example about the way it was presented or what was most memorable. From the responses it is clear that feelings of empathy and a sense of connection achieved through the realism and high-impact design of the presentation were successfully achieved. Placing visitors in the middle of an experience which is overwhelming to the senses appears to have had a direct effect on emotional responses, increasing
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affect and creating a sense of immersion, rather than placing the visitor as a spectator.
This evidence suggests that the battle experience represents an example of an immersive exhibit which effectively presents aesthetic, entertainment and learning experiences and opportunities. This has the potential to significantly contribute to a visitor’s experience by engaging visitors both emotionally and physically while providing a high degree of authenticity and context for the overall interpretation.
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6. Discussion
This research has aimed to examine immersive experiences in exhibition spaces and investigate whether current examples are reflective of proposed theory and research on visitor experience, and whether these approaches are effective in engaging visitors. Through a mixed methods approach it has been possible to determine which elements are most effective at engaging visitors in each of three case studies and provide evidence as to why. Through observation, visitors’ most common route choices and the areas of highest levels of attention were determined, while interviews were used in order to provide some evidence of the reason for any patterns.
6.1 Budongo Trail
At Budongo Trail the data suggests that the interpretation is receiving significantly less attention than the chimpanzees. This corroborates previous research which suggests that visitor engagement of interpretation at zoos is generally low (Coll et al. 2003, Parker 2006, Schnackenberg), despite Parker’s (2006: 41) suggestion that engagement may be increased by the use of interactivity, technology and attractive signage. Two factors may help explain the level of attention afforded to the interpretation by visitors. Firstly, as discussed in section 4.1, visitors motivations may lie with seeing the real, live animals (Robinson 1998, Thomas 1998); a view corroborated by 44% of interview respondents. Data from four respondents also indicated that when the chimpanzees were inactive the visitors became less engaged. Data also indicated that visitors may be motivated by fulfilling a facilitator role (Falk et al. 2007), within which they may be guided by other visitors or children who may be more interested in seeing animals. Second, the interpretative media used may also affect engagement. Data from seven interview respondents indicated that there is a perception that interactive exhibits and games are aimed at children, which may have led some visitors not to engage.
The data, as shown in figure 24, suggests that visitors typically follow the same route. This typical route generally avoids the interpretation in favour of the chimpanzee viewing areas. This supports the argument which suggests that visitors are primarily there to see the animals (Robinson 1998; Thomas 1998). The data (figure 24) also indicates that some exhibits are able to generate attention but do not lie on the typical route. This indicates that layout, as well as media and motivation, may be affecting visitor engagement. For example, 98% Human may have generated more attention than other exhibits as it lies on the visitors’ typical route, which led them from Pod 3, to Pod 2. The exhibit is also interestingly designed, featuring silver models of chimp and human skeletons, which may have affected attraction and attention. Certainly, some visitors took photographs of these and ignored the touch screen below, which indicates that it stimulates more of a visual engagement than an immersive one.
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The one component which was able to exceed the dwell times generated by the chimpanzees was zoo staff, who were able to stimulate long dwell times on the days on which they were present. Interaction with live interpreters was shown to produce significantly higher average dwell times and 22% of visitors expressed liking this aspect in interviews. This corroborates previous research which found that interaction with zoo staff can be an extremely effective method of communication (Parker 2006) as they fulfil the role of a more knowledgeable other in Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (Atherton 2011).
6.2 Main Street
Data from research at Main Street indicates that areas of higher interactivity and more types of interpretative media (i.e containing both written and interactive or audio-visual) correspond to higher levels of interest (dwell times and frequency). In addition the data shows that the use of space by visitors is broad and consistent across most areas, with the data showing inconsistent and varied routes across all areas of the exhibition. As shown by figures 25 and 26, there was no clear typical route.
The indicators of engagement may therefore distinguish the exhibits which generated greater engagement (Photographer, Café, Pawn Shop, Subway and Cabinet Maker). The higher levels of engagement may be explained by the fact that these exhibits contain several types of interpretative media. There is contextual information by which visitors may see, hear and touch genuine exhibits; interview data indicates that visitors found this authentic and detailed, and that providing context for the objects made it more meaningful to them. There is sufficient written information for visitors who prefer to read, which was corroborated by one interview respondent, and there are touchscreens, interactive games and audio-visual elements. Exhibits containing more objects or interactive elements generated the higher dwell times and the strongest indicators of engagement. Although almost all exhibits contain an element of interactivity the data appears to suggest that a higher level of interactivity, especially interactivity with virtual characters (the photographer, café video narrator and “cast” of the family) generated greater engagement. For example, the Pub contains no interactive elements, and a small element of audio-visual material. While it received the highest visit frequency it generated a medium/low average dwell time.
The data also suggests that the exhibition is capable of forming real connections with some visitors, which was evidenced to at least some extent, by all interview respondents. This is supported by long dwell times and high levels of engagement in exhibits which have a more contemporary connection to Glasgow, particularly the Café, Subway and Pawn Shop. Some respondents talked about the parallels between some exhibits and their own lives. For example, one respondent explained how his grandmother had used the local pawn shop every week, and another spoke about the feeling he got when viewing these shop fronts in a museum; stating that to
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him they were not unusual and it was strange to see them in this context. The exhibition overall appeared to engage visitors’ prior knowledge effectively and the data indicates potential for discursive learning experiences and individual meaning-making, reflecting the aims of constructivist museum exhibits (Hein 1995; Mason 2005).
6.3 Culloden Battle Experience
The data from 40% of respondents indicates that they were able to find connections between the rest of the exhibition and the experience. This indicates that the immersive experience is informed and influenced by the prior experience of the exhibition up to the point of the Battle Experience, evidenced by references to information not contained in the film as well as visitors’ own prior knowledge of the events. These respondents felt that the experience gave them context and better understanding of this information, which suggests the experience may have a direct effect on learning.
The data also suggests that the Battle Experience is perceived by visitors as an authentic insight into what it may have been like during the battle. Data from 55% of respondents indicates a high degree of perceived realism about the exhibit and these respondents felt that it brought history to life, adding a dimension that could not be communicated by the rest of the exhibition. Responses indicate that this did not only include a greater understanding of the historical events but, also, a feeling of empathy for the combatants and a perceived greater understanding of their emotion, which demonstrates some success in creating personal connections between some respondents and the past. This is further emphasised by the data from 70% of respondents indicating that the exhibit was successful in evoking emotional responses including: shock; awe; disorientation; and sadness.
Data from 50% of respondents also indicates that the dramatic presentation style successfully affected visitors, with three respondents commenting on the loud, sometimes overwhelming noise.
The data appears to suggest that the dissonance created by effectively engaging visitors on a multi-sensory level contributes to a strong emotional affect. This corroborates data from the observational study which indicated that multi-sensory components were effective at engaging visitors.
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7. Conclusion
While there are many examples of immersive experiences in exhibitions this study has examined three different examples of this approach and provided evidence to support the hypothesis that immersive experiences can be effective at engaging and affecting visitors. However, as this study has shown, different approaches receive different reactions from visitors and variables such as visitor motivations, interpretative media and competition with other elements can influence visitor engagement. All three sites have components which can attract and engage visitors. Main Street and the Battle Experience appear to succeed more at forming connections through multi-sensory engagement. While the interpretation at Budongo Trail appears to compete with the chimpanzees for visitors’ attention, staff are an effective method of providing interpretation and engagement as learners may seek a more knowledgeable expert.
7.1 Engagement over aesthetics
Further research is required to establish exactly the types of immersive environments which are most effective, and how visitors’ emotions may be accurately targeted. However, this study has provided evidence that the level of environmental and multi-sensory stimulus influences the level of visitor engagement in immersive experiences. While aesthetics may be effective at gaining visitors’ initial interest it is the multi-sensory elements which appear to generate longer engagement. Providing opportunities for multi-sensory engagement and multiple learning modalities (visual, auditory and kinesthetic, i.e. touch and direct interaction) appears to generate longer dwell times and higher frequencies, thereby increasing the likelihood of learning (Gammon 2003). To engage visitors, interpretation must incorporate effective aesthetic, multi-sensory and interactive elements. Visitors’ reactions to these elements are intrinsically personal and varied, but, incorporating a wide range of carefully designed devices can increase the likelihood of communicating with the audience.
Uzzell and Ballantyne (1998:11) argue that interpretation should cater for those who find the interpretation evocative as well as those whom it is a intellectual encounter. Main Street and Budongo Trail aim to provide information as well as engagement, whereas it is reasonable to suggest that the Battle Experience is centred on emotional engagement. The results suggest that by engaging multiple senses in the manner achieved by the Battle Experience, which shuts out extraneous noise from the world outside the exhibit, enables visitors’ senses to lock into the exhibit and engage emotionally. This concurs with research by Crigler et al. (1994) and Crowest (1999). This dissonance seems to engage and affect visitors, creating a compelling, connecting and immersive experience. Exhibit isolation, the limiting of outside distractions, and multi-sensory characteristics increase salience, thereby increasing visitors’ attention (Bechtel and Churchman 2002). This may explain the strong
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influence that live animals appear to have on the attention of visitors, which may cause them to engage less with interpretation in the same vicinity.
7.2 Recognising affect
Accreditation in the form of awards for exhibition design is often based on aesthetic qualities and graphic design rather than affect. Yet, these qualities are only one part of an effective exhibition design. For example, Design Museum and the Museums and Heritage Awards recognise function and form, architecture, graphics, customer service, use of budget and entrepreneurship among other categories, but do not reward emotional engagement (Design Museum 2013; Museums + Heritage 2013). The recognition of exhibition design appears to be centred on aesthetics. Museum exhibitions should primarily aim to affect, thereby changing attitudes and forming connections. An exhibit should have more to say than just “look at me” (Rybczynski 2002:4), which may be all visitors do if they are not effectively engaged.
7.3 Reflection on research
Lorentz’s (2006) key characteristics of immersive experiences appear to be indicative of the efficacy of an exhibition to engage visitors. Examination of these characteristics can help define an immersive experience and provide indications as to the potential strengths and weaknesses of and exhibition. However, this framework cannot be considered indicative of the affect of an exhibition based on the data from this study as affect appears to be intrinsically individual.
The observational study provided a large amount of quantitative data from which it was possible to establish with reasonable certainty how visitors were using each site, the elements or areas which were attracting the most attention and the most engagement. However, the observational study did not provide data on how visitors were affected by any element of the site, and no data was available on exhibition components which could not always be assessed by Gammon’s (2003) indicators, such as aesthetic components (i.e. forest and jungle reconstruction, chimpanzee habitats, vehicles, shop fronts).
The interviews conducted at Culloden yielded lots of rich data and excellent insights into how the exhibit affected visitors. Interviews conducted at Budongo Trail and Main Street were intended to supplement the observational data by providing some insight into visitor behaviour and the efficacy of the exhibit at engaging visitors. These interviews highlighted some fascinating points but were not in-depth enough to provide as rich data as the Culloden interviews. The sample size for the Main Street and Budongo Trail interviews was also not as large as at Culloden, so the points highlighted in these data may not be representative of the population. In future research, a greater number of more in-depth interviews would provide more detailed data on attitudes and emotions.
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This research has highlighted that while aesthetics can provide impressive and atmospheric environments it is multi-sensory engagement which appears to affect visitors. Exhibitions which involve multi-sensory engagement for information delivery as well as emotional engagement may be more successful at connecting with visitors. Aesthetics, authenticity and interaction all appear to be key components in creating an effective multi-sensory exhibition and the key may lie in finding balance between these elements, which will depend largely on the aims of the exhibition. While the goal of interpretation should not be to sensationalise issues (Uzzell and Ballantyne 1998:11), dissonance is effective at creating emotional responses, which is key to changing attitudes and forming connections.
This study has shown that immersive experiences cannot be effective if they do not succeed in engaging visitors emotionally. Exhibition planners and designers should give consideration to the use of multi-sensory interpretative media as a tool for generating greater engagement. Consideration should also be given to constructivist learning theory which regards the learning process as a discourse, within which interaction plays a key role. Narrative and the use of virtual characters has been shown to be an effective method of stimulating interaction and engagement through multi-media.
7.4 Dissemination
The findings of this study will be submitted to the institutions in the case studies in order to assist them in their future developments in acknowledgement of their support and assistance. The findings may also be submitted to institutions with dynamic exhibition programmes (i.e. featuring frequent exhibition changes) such as the National Museum of Scotland, Kelvingrove Museum, The McManus Galleries and the V&A. The findings may also be submitted to larger organisations with multiple properties and venues such as Historic Scotland, NTS and National Museums Scotland. This study could also be published online as a free reference material for anyone interested in the subject matter. CIS may also use this research as future teaching material for the Interpretation: Management and Practice MSc course, with a view to introduce subjects of potential future research.
This study may be submitted by the Centre for Interpretation Studies for publication in a peer reviewed journal or other academic publication. Publications might include The Journal of Interpretation Research, Curator: The Museum Journal, and The Journal of Museum Education with the aim of publicising these findings among the professional community. This may also highlight areas of potential development and stimulate future research. Furthermore, an article may be submitted to publications such as Interpret Scotland and to the Association of Heritage Interpretation for their publications in order to generate interest in the subject in readers who may not read peer reviewed journals. The findings of this study may subsequently be presented at a specialist conference, such as the Museums Association Conference.
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Appendix 1. Sites
1.1 Budongo Trail, Edinburgh
Budongo Trail, the chimpanzee house and habitat at Edinburgh Zoo (RZSS), represented the first major investment for the zoo in terms of integrated interpretation and design, as opposed to designing interpretation as an add-on to the enclosure space (Woollard 2012). The budget for the entire project was five and a half million pounds, with interpretation allocated half a million of that total. This site was deemed appropriate for this research as it had a clear goal of incorporating an immersive approach. Staff indicated that visitor numbers would remain consistently high enough for this research throughout the year, including a variety of visitor demographics from around the world as it is a significant tourist attraction in Edinburgh.
Review of the site literature indicates an aim of creating a connection with visitors by communicating the physical and cognitive similarities and differences between chimps and humans.
The exhibition includes reconstruction components and a multi-sensory, interactive exhibits as well as chimpanzee viewing areas. The space is divided over two floors, with the story of the RZSS's work in Budongo forest in Africa at ground level, and chimpanzee viewing areas on the second floor which also features the interactive elements. Visitors are free to engage with the exhibition space on a number of levels and observation may provide data indicating whether the combination of these two elements on the same floor is complementary, with visitors engaging with the exhibition as a whole, or if either the chimpanzees or the exhibits attract the most attention.
1.2 Main Street, Riverside Museum, Glasgow
Riverside Museum, located in Glasgow, is Scotland's museum of transport and travel with over 3,000 objects currently on display. This moved from its previous location at Kelvin Hall in 2011. The museum represents a very large project on a national level with partners including Glasgow City Council, Heritage Lottery Fund, Glasgow Harbour, and a museum appeal trust which alone raised £4.6 million (Glasgow Life 2012).
The museum features a variety of presentation styles including a full scale street reconstruction, which is the area of study in this research. Background information and survey data on several parts of this exhibit has been made available by the museum for this study. The area of the museum which will be used for this research consists of a life-sized period street reconstruction.
Previous surveys indicated that the reconstruction of Kelvin Street in the old museum was one of the most popular exhibits (Lowland Market Research 2005, Glasgow Life 2012) and this was reflected in the development of the current exhibit in the new museum, which is a non-specific street featuring reconstructions of previously
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existing shops and buildings ranging from the 1890s to 1980s, including genuine fittings in some instances. This reconstruction allows visitors to enter many of the shops and to interact with the interior in various ways which include audio-visual presentations and interactive multimedia. Like Budongo Trail, visitors are afforded considerable freedom in the ways they wish to engage with the space and how deeply they want to engage with the narratives.
1.3 The Battle Experience, Culloden
The Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre was moved from its previous location (which was found to be on the third Government line of the battlefield) and the current centre was opened further from the battlefield in 2007. The visitor centre features a large exhibition which takes visitors through the story of the battle from the point of view of either the Jacobites or Government forces depending on whether the right or left wall is followed. This exhibition can be followed by a walk around the battlefield with an audio guide.
While the whole site might be considered and assessed in terms of immersion the area that will be used in this study is one exhibit in particular, The Battle Experience'; an area closed off from the main exhibition which shows projected film of a battle re-enactment. Images are projected onto all four walls, thereby surrounding the visitor who is in the centre of the room. Action happening in front of the visitor is sometimes mirrored on the screen behind - for example, if a soldier fires a weapon on one screen, the opposite screen shows the result simultaneously. This may be a particularly intense and emotive example of an immersive experience as the scenes are depicted realistically and are designed to provide maximum sensory impact. This example also differs from the two other sites as there are no didactic cues or text, only the projected images. Due to the isolating properties of this exhibit is it possible that it provides a rich opportunity for flow and aesthetic experience. This will be investigated in the one to one interviews.
The only available background information made available by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS} is the draft interpretation plan for the entire site (NTS 2003). As the document is a draft the multi-screen audio-visual described differs from the finished exhibit significantly. However, the plan does provide some particularly significant aims and objectives pertinent to the exhibit in this study which relate to the effect and nature of soldiery with a clear objective for 80% of visitors to leave Culloden with their emotions challenged. Again, this will be investigated during the interviews.
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Appendix 2.
2.1 Budongo Trail Interviews
1. Male, 45, Scottish
What were your first impressions when you came in?
It’s modern, not sure how to put it into words, it’s modern looking but at the same time it’s like, it kind of feels like a fun, colourful thing, place, for everybody really. It’s very informative, colourful and it’s got that feel for everybody it’s not just for young kids it’s goes right the way up to all ages which comes in really, really nicely.
Did you use or have a look at any of the exhibits?
Not today no. I’ve been in the past and, I’ve come fairly often in the past wee while just because I’ve had a wee bit of time off work and it’s a good bit of exercise coming to the zoo! This is one of my favourite parts [of the zoo] I pretty much come here every time [I visit].
Can you tell me what a typical visit to here is like for you? What do you do?
I’m mostly here just to see the chimpanzees really, but like I say if I’ve got a little bit more time, more than like, my first visit here I’ll take some time and look at the other stuff. [The interactive parts] are a very, very good idea and a good educational tool, so I mean this is an ideal, I’ve said it’s good for all ages but it’s an ideal learning centre for the schools, quite a good fair bit of information.
How do you think coming here has affected your attitudes towards the chimps then?
I don’t think it has really, it’s given me obviously a bit more background, I mean I’m very much into nature and conservation so, yeah it’s really getting a chance to see them in a larger environment, and yeah, the chimp enclosures are very, very impressive.
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2. Female, 65, Scottish
What were your first impressions when you came in?
Well we’ve been a few times before so we’re quite used to it, no we, we like it, it’s really informative and it’s quite interactive, having the display and that. When we first came here though it was actually a vast improvement from what they had before, so it was really good just to see it, plus it was more spacious. I think just the space more than anything [made an impression on me], the sort of general size of it, and there’s more space for the monkeys themselves, which made a huge difference, and you’ve got a better view.
So are you a member?
Yes, so we come maybe, in recent times maybe a couple of times, two or three times a year, since we’ve been members. And we don’t have, because we’re members we don’t have a problem if you like, we can spend as long as we want so that makes a big difference, so you can just plod around and we don’t have to try and rush round.
And what do the kids think of it? Are they more interested in the chimps themselves?
They like to come and see the chimps, she was dead keen to come to the zoo, and ‘oh granny and grandpa are here let’s go to the zoo!’ (To the child) And what did you hear when you got out the car? (Child in response) the monkeys! (To the child) The monkeys! And what’s your favourite animal? (Child in response) the chimps, and the pandas.
So what do you think of the exhibit and interactive areas?
Well nowadays we’re probably mostly just coming to see the chimps, although we spent a bit of time with the children today on the interactive bit, and maybe we haven’t done that before as much. They quite enjoyed that, you’re sort of guided by the children and, because they’re, they like the bit at the front with the big screen there (referring to Eddie Says), and I think what she (the child) was thinking was she could play an interactive game on it, but it, it was in a sense. They were trying to copy the movements as well. Their concentration span is quite, short, you’ve only half way read through something and they’re away.
How do you think coming here has affected your attitudes towards the chimps then?
Yeah well, I think yeah because obviously you’re reading it whereas in the past you’re just looking but if you’ve got the time to actually sit and read how they compare to humans and all the rest. It gives you a bit more insight. I’m an avid watcher of Monkey Life, Monkey Business so we knew a lot about the needs of the chimps and their social habits and stuff like that, and I was quite please coming here
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to see that they’ve probably taken a lot of that on board as well, maybe even liaised with those people. But yeah they’ve got a better social situation than lots of captive animals, it’s quite interesting.
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3. Male, 65, Scottish
Is this your first visit?
No we’ve taken out membership for about two weeks now and this is our fourth visit I think, we’re quite keen!
What were your first impressions when you came in?
It’s very good, I thought it was giving the chimps plenty of room. Although it’s not giving them an opportunity to live in the wild, but it’s as good as you can get from that point of view. I don’t know a lot about chimpanzees but I would’ve thought the enclosures would’ve been quite good for them, obviously they're still limited in space and natural habitat but it’s a conservation initiative isn’t it because I think they're under threat.
So did you mainly come to see the chimps then?
No, well we’re actually trying to interest our granddaughter, she’s fifteen months and she’s beginning to, well this is the third time she’s been and she’s beginning to recognise them, which is really good. It’s really just to view them, we don’t stop and read much really, we’re mostly led by what we think [our granddaughter] would like. I’d like to come in on my own and have a proper look.
What I have found quite helpful is, dotted around there are plaques with basic information about each animal, I find that very helpful. But we haven’t really managed to look at much of that stuff in here yet no.
How do you think coming here has affected your attitudes towards the chimps?
It’s very educational isn’t it, you’re always learning something. I don’t know that it’s changed my attitudes, I just, I’ve always thought that it’s important to preserve wildlife, so that’s good to see. Well I suppose really, I’ve learned how intelligent they are, they're very intelligent, almost human-like. I did see the skeletons over there (referring to 98% Human) and I thought that was quite impressive, that really brings it home how similar they are to humans.
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4. Male, 40-45, Scottish
Well we actually only just arrived and came straight here.
So did you mainly come to see the chimps then?
No, we actually came specifically to see the pandas, which we’re seeing at half twelve so yeah we came in at about half past eleven and had a look round the gift shop and then they said that there was a talk on at quarter to, so we came up here but we missed it, so yeah.
What were your first impressions when you came in?
Well it’s very nice but obviously, you know, you can’t make the animals do anything, so maybe on a nicer day they’d be walking and running about and stuff like that. But yeah it’s very easy to view, very tidy, yeah everything’s great on the inside it’s just getting here was a pain in the bum. Signposting and stuff like that, absolutely terrible. We’ve originally come from England but we’re staying the other side at Seton Sands so there was one sign on the A1 and that was pretty much it. Even along the main road down there (Costorphine Rd) we missed the turn.
But no, things like the lady over there (volunteer at touch table) explaining everything about what you’re actually doing is marvellous, you know you can make sense of things and stuff like that, great for the kiddies. One of the best sort of areas I’ve been to I think, I’ve been to quite a few zoos. Do you know Weymouth? Monkey World down that way is great, but you know that is specifically for monkeys, but zoo wise this is by far the best we’ve seen.
Can you take me through what you did when you came to Budongo Trail?
Well we went over to the first window first, but there was not a lot going on, but then we dashed through to see if we could catch a tour but because we’ve got two blind people in the party we didn’t make it and they were already off so we came back round, had a look through. Had a bit of a play on the machines there.
Which ones did you use?
The, where you’ve got to catch the food and that (memory game), my father in law was playing on that one there, not sure what he was doing but it’s to do with human and 98%, being the same sort of. Had a bit of a sniff at the tree there but it all smelled the same to me.
So did you come through the bottom door or through this (exit) door?
We came through the bottom door yeah.
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Did you stop at all when you came in or did you just come straight up the stairs?
No we had a quick sort of like look around but we were hoping to catch the tour you see. Like I said we came in and they told us about the tour so we dashed up here and we sort of walked down through the middle and then had a look around again you see.
So were you mostly interested in coming to see the animals or did you have a look at the other things too?
Oh no, you know it’s interesting you know, nowadays from the zoo’s point of view it’s not just about having the animals to see it is to do about helping the endangered species and the work you know, like the lady said over there (volunteer) the work they’re going into over there (Budongo Forest) and I find that very interesting you know, I wish I’d brought the kids. But obviously you know, we didn’t come to Scotland specifically to see the sights, but yeah that sort of thing’s great. That’s why we wanted to go on a tour you know, I mean obviously you can read but hearing it and watching it at the same time is so different.
So you prefer to have someone to engage with?
It’s far better to have someone to really interact with you know, because, even if you’re viewing it and you see something there might be a specific reason why they’re (the chimps) are doing it, whether it be like part of their mating or just grooming you know, stuff like that. It’s great to have somebody at hand explaining things. It’s not very often where you get like the little stalls over there (touch table) where you can actually touch and see things and get it all explained to you so that by far is I would say, I mean all this is great, by having that lady there just to explain what's happening and stuff like that.
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5. Female, 30-35, Scottish
What were your first impressions when you came in?
It stinks! That was the first thing that got me yeah. The bits you can see (pods), I didn’t realise that they were all joined for them to run about in which is quite good. The height you’re at is good yeah, it’s great to be able to see them. We haven’t been to a zoo in a long, long time. In fact the last time we were at a zoo was at Glasgow zoo and that shut in what, 2003 so yeah ten years ago, and it was a long time before that that I went, so yeah it’s at a great level to be able to see them.
So did you come in this door (exit) or the one at the bottom?
The one down the bottom.
And what did you do when you came in?
Well there was that thing I cheated on. There was an interactive thing that asked if you were the cleverest primate (new research interactive game) so that’s what I did and I’m told I cheated apparently. And then we just came straight up the stairs.
And why was that?
There wasn’t really much else to see down the bottom there, well I tried to do the smell thing and I couldn’t smell anything, I couldn’t get any smell there. So then yeah, we just came straight up the stairs, because there wasn’t really anywhere else to go.
What did you do when you came upstairs?
Kind of just worked our way around, looked at all the windows. Just worked out way round in a clockwise direction, went in there (lecture hall) as well. Bit disappointed that most of them seem to be asleep but I suppose you can’t really do much about that yeah, they probably feel like us on a day like today!
Did you have a look anywhere else?
Yeah I’ve had a wee look about, I’m a bit of a kid so I like to find things that you can touch, I like to touch them and I had a wee look round there.
Which of those things interested you?
The chimpanzee noises, all the different noises, that one. But I think we definitely spent more time looking at the animals I would say.
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6. Male, 60, English
What were your first impressions when you came in?
Well, I’ll give you some background, we used to live near Whipsnade so we find all these inner city zoos rather limited in what they can provide. The house itself looks good though.
So how does this compare to what you’ve seen before?
Whipsnade, because you drive round in the car, it’s that big you drive round, it’s like a safari park, it’s a zoo, it’s about animal conservation and so on. They have chimpanzees there but of course they're free roaming to an extent, their enclosures are much, much bigger. Although this one seems to be a good size, it’s got a nice outside area, and I think it’s hard to judge with the weather as cold as this, you know if they're outside they're more active.
So being that it’s quite different to what you’ve seen before what did you think when you came in?
It’s very good yeah, great for the children (gestures to the interactive interpretation area) and lots of information. I mean it’s changed so much since when we took ours, many years ago, and we took them to London zoo. This definitely seems better viewing than London zoo. Here you’ve got the big glass panels now so you know, it’s at the children’s height whereas before they all had high barriers so you had to pick the kids up to see, now they can look for themselves. Overall we’re quite impressed.
Can you take me through what you did when you came in?
Well we had a look outside and there was only one animal outside, we’ve never been here before so it’s a bit of exploring for us, and then we just came in and up the stairs and followed round (the window wall, pods 1+3) you know, to watch the chimps. With the temperature down this low you can’t expect the animals to be very active can you. In their country it’s 30 odd degrees most of the time, only judging from where were before, all the big cats, which are my favourite anyway, were under the trees asleep when it was hot so it’s difficult to strike a balance.
So did you have a look at any of the addition information or interactive stuff?
I just glanced at the book there (Ape Vine) with the male and female on it but if found it very difficult to recognise the animals, maybe because of the state of the glass, I think the glass needs a good clean. And with the lack of light you know, it’s quite hard, and wearing these sun sensitive glasses doesn’t help! I think, especially with the children, they need to be a little bit more active to get them involved.
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Yes I see what you mean, although they were quite active a few minutes ago, did you see them running across the top there and banging on the walls?
No we didn’t see that, they're all just laying down, it’s looks like they’ve got orange peel or something there so maybe they’ve just been fed.
But even, as I say the zoo itself is very educational, especially the panda side of it, that was the reason we came here. I was under instruction from my son to get some pictures of the pandas.
Did you talk to any of the volunteers here, the lady at the table there?
No we didn’t we’re really just looking at the animals. As I say it’s been a long, long time since we went to London zoo, when Guy the gorilla was there so that’ll tell you how long. It’s not something we normally do but my son is very keen on conservation, he sponsors animals in several zoos so I was under instruction to get pictures for him.
And what about the interactive stuff in the middle here, did you have a look at any of that?
Well no I'm not into that side of it, no I don’t, I'm really here to see the animals rather than the actual literature itself. I mean if I had the children you know, I would’ve been there to go through it with them.
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7. Male, 45, English
What were your first impressions when you came in?
Very dark, dark and dingy you know. Maybe deliberately dark and dingy but that’s certainly the impression. There's just a lack of light really, lack of natural light, but maybe that’s just me being an outdoor type. I think the child, interactive bit for the children is good, I think, obviously what people see will depend on what the chimps are doing. I couldn’t see any chimps in the first window, I think maybe they’re all, the family are all in that one there (pod 3).
So was it just this part that you found quite dark?
I like the entrance I have to say, but up here (upstairs) it’s almost a bit depressing really, I'm not trying to be insulting to anybody but it feels a bit low. The entrance was really good but this is the darkest bit, the enclosures seem a bit, kind of plain but I’m not a big fan of zoos to be honest anyway, conservation yes but otherwise I'm not seeing the nature to be honest. Just it could really do with more natural light I think, although I suppose we don’t get very much up here anyway! It’s a lot better than when I was here many, many years ago, I just, my first thoughts when I got up here was that it’s quite dark.
What did you think of the entrance?
That was fine yeah, bright and breezy and colourful. Here, it’s not. Up here it’s a little but council office feeling, a bit sort of industrial. Put a bit of colour in it would be my suggestion. I might need more artificial light, I don’t know about natural light the way the building is structured.
So can you take me through what you did when you came in?
To be honest we just had a look round and came up to the door. We looked in each of them (the windows), looking in that wee bit (interpretation area) and wandered round and came to this bit here. We couldn’t really see any animals.
So you were mostly just looking for the animals then?
Yes, and we were also just talking a minute ago about how dark it is. I mean it’s nice and spacious but it could maybe do with something a bit less plain. I get that it’s a natural hessian type colour but get people involved, make it more welcoming. And then some sort of trail of prints or something to lead people around.
So did you find orientation was an issue for you?
No, no I don’t think so but I think if you’ve got a trail or something it might fill the space, you know foot prints or something that kids could follow. I think there's just a bit too much blank, empty space. If that makes sense, you know if it was coloured. That’s just my impression you know, some other people obviously really like it.
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Ok, so did you have a look at any of the interactive stuff there?
No not in any detail, just thought that looked quite good. I think it’s mainly for kids to see, you see kids come in and tend to gravitate to that sort of thing so that’s good. I just think that it needs a bit more colour and light just to get people interested. You know, the floor is just the same colour as the wall. I'm the animal fan anyway so it’s the animals that really interest me. It just needs a bit more jungle colour, seems a bit of a cliché but still.
So you felt that downstairs worked for you?
Yeah, definitely, because there was lots of colour. Here, it just seems a bit dull in comparison.
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8. Female, Scottish, 50
What were your first impressions when you came in?
Very good yeah, we’ve enjoyed it, we’ve really enjoyed it.
What did you enjoy in particular?
Well we were here to see the pandas actually so we enjoyed the pandas especially yes, and we liked the monkeys. But we’ve actually sort of just walked through here, we haven’t really, I mean we’ve looked in some of the, through the glass and they were getting fed so that was quite interesting.
The building is very nice, we don’t go to zoos often but this is very different to anything I’ve seen before. We’ve got a break in Edinburgh for a few days and decided basically we would go and see the pandas. I mean I like zoos anyway, I like birds particularly, and stuff like that, but I haven’t seen many here today.
So what did you do when you came in here?
Yeah we actually came in the top and just came down. We’re just walking down, you know, working our way down the hill. Outside we saw the chimps, you know being fed but inside we didn’t really see anything.
Did you have a look at any of the interactive stuff at the top there?
No, we’re too old! It’s all for youngsters really isn’t it.
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9. Female, Scottish, 25
What were your first impressions when you came in?
It’s really cool yeah, I was surprised at how big it was, I think I was expecting something smaller.
So can you take me through what you did when you came in?
Well we came in through here (downstairs) and just went upstairs really and sort of looked in the windows to find the chimps. There wasn’t any in the first window, they all seemed to be in the next one (pod 3).
We sort of watched there of a bit, they were all just sort of chilling out, and they had some cardboard boxes which I though was a bit odd! There was someone (volunteer) talking to the people next to us about the family relationships and the different, you know, expressions and displays they were doing to each other, and their diet and stuff like that, and that they prefer cooked food. I didn’t realise that normally they eat meat as well, but they didn’t like the meat here so they're basically vegetarian.
Did you have a look at any of the interactive stuff?
Yeah we did actually, we played a couple of the games, the matching objects game, the one where you moved the wee chimp around (Memory) and the one with the skeletons (98% human). And we just finished doing that one over there (intelligence quiz), I really liked that it was fun. Oh and I had a go at the smell thing there but I couldn’t really smell anything I don’t think.
So what do you think of the environment in here and the building?
It’s good, I like how they’ve got kind of real trees and this bamboo and stuff to kind of introduce you to the jungle as it were, make it a bit more realistic. But yeah it’s very impressive how big it is too.
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2.2 Main Street interviews
1. Male, 45-50, Scottish
How do you feel about the exhibit?
It’s great, it’s really atmospheric isn’t it? It’s good yeah, I think we saw it at the old museum (Kelvingrove) and I think it’s fairly similar, very atmospheric, yeah it’s good. Probably cleaner than it was! I think the old one had similar lighting, it was still kind of dim and, I think this is slightly bigger than the old one, slightly wider too. But I think I definitely prefer this one yeah, it’s very clever.
Where did you go, which buildings did you go into?
Well I think we went in and out of all of them really. The café was the one I think, the café and the subway were the two I think that were most interesting for the kids. The café was good because you could go in and take a seat and there were videos to watch and the, you know the interior was very detailed and interesting, and in the subway you could, you know start up a train and stop it. The upholsterers (Cabinet Makers) was interesting because of the vintage of the property it looks like furniture as well, as if they’d made it themselves so I quite liked that.
Why was that do you think?
The subway’s got lots of hands on things you know and you can almost picture being on the subway, and the café was interesting for us just because, I think because it’s got a history of the people that ran it you know and the immigrant sort of history for them.
How authentic does it feel?
It’s good I mean, it manages to fit a lot in, in a small space. I mean alright you might not get a subway and a café right next to each other like that but yeah it manages to really feel like a proper street. Yeah so I think it’s pretty authentic.
I think the only thing is what era is it? Maybe that’s not you know, apparent. They’ve got different ages of cars and you know, obviously you’ve got the funeral, the horse-drawn funeral car here, but it does have a range on it there (the sign indicating the chronological range of the exhibit). That’s the only thing that maybe, things are a little incongruous because you’ve got different time periods.
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2. Male, 25-30, Scottish
How do you feel about the exhibit?
It’s quite exciting, it was old fashioned, it’s not like anything you’d see nowadays was it, so maybe it brings back some memories or something like that, you know for people older than myself! No, I think it’s brilliant I really like it, it’s good having it all. I think this is the best bit actually, cause it’s set out like a real scene almost. And I like the wee shops you can go into as well. And the boys liked it too.
Can you take me through what you did and where you went?
What did we do, we went and got our photo taken yeah, and we took a wee wander into the café, and a couple of our friends went away into the pub. And the subway was good, you know, it’s set up like an actual subway. Craig (accompanying child) walked right past in when he saw the horses though didn’t you.
You’re not going to the pub?
No we were in before and Craig wanted to see the horses (horse-drawn hearse). They wouldn’t serve us a pint anyway! We were waiting for ages and then a fight broke out!
So what did you think of the photographer and the cafe?
Well he took a bit long to get to the snap didn’t he, but it was good, very different. The café yeah, we went in and just came right out I think didn’t we, people were taking up all the seats! But yeah it was nice again just quite old fashioned and I quite like that.
So what made you go into those as opposed to the other buildings do you think?
I don’t know, I think it was because the doors were open and they stood out a bit more maybe. We could see what was inside them I think, from outside so that’s why we went in.
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3. Female, 60, Scottish
How do you feel about the exhibit?
It was excellent, I like the whole atmosphere of it, and the fact that it’s so interactive and you can actually go into each of the shops. It was very interesting. My grandmother used to live in Partick, off Byers road so it’s, it brings back lots of memories. It was funny going into the pawnbrokers because at that time her husband had died when he was only in his fifties and left a whole hoard of children you know, in Partick. On a Monday they would run out of money so she would send her son along with something to the pawnbrokers, which she would get back on the Friday when the oldest of the children brought in any money, so I think this was very good, it showed you what they did. Showing shops like ones we’d forgot all about, what was that one store? Oh, Liptons that was it aye. We had Liptons even down in Ayr, they were well known.
Can you take me through what you did when you came in and where you went?
Well when we came in we actually walked over round the other side and went behind the street, so we walked around and came this way, we didn’t start at that end (the Tram side). It was good that you could play with the buttons and learn you know.
So was it just the pawn shop that you went into?
Oh no we’ve been in other ones too that we could go into, we went into the subway which was good, you could go and sit in the train, and the cabinet maker and the photography as well.
And did you get your picture taken?
I did yes, but my dad had already wandered away he didn’t realise, well it took me a minute or two to work it out. But I think they’ve done very well you know, they way they’ve displayed it all.
I think we’re going to go and try out the restaurant now and we haven’t been upstairs yet either, and I’ve heard you’re going to get RBS or someone to bring in a cash machine so people can buy things from the shop, because it’s really good but if people don’t have money you know. But yes, I think you could spend several hours in here and still not understand it all.
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4. Male, 70, English
How do you feel about the exhibit?
It’s great, and at long last they’ve got more written notices, that was a deficiency in the first instance, you were relying almost entirely on touch screen technology which of course only one person can use that at a time. Visually it’s very attractive but initially I felt that there wasn’t as much information available as you were getting in the old museum, but it looks as though they’re beginning to rectify that.
So have you been here a few times before?
Yes, I mean for example, the cars going up the ramp, it was about the third visit before I realised that there is a touch screen on the first floor on the opposite side which enables you to find out more information. More information should be actually at the objects. I’ll be interested to see, there's a lovely display of ships and originally there was only a touch screen. Upstairs was better where they have the revolving display.
So how do you feel about the street area in particular?
Well this is very good, because doing it on an angle works much better than it did in the old museum, you get a bigger variety of shops.
And which of the shops did you like in particular?
It’s difficult to say, they're all good illustrations, and of course for people of our age to a certain extent one can remember these types of shops from one’s childhood so they don’t strike me as being particularly unusual you see. I would say they're all authentic, the way they’ve been done. This will be my fourth visit you see, and I live in Glasgow, so if I have visitors this is a great place to bring them particularly on a day like today (rain).
So which ones do you feel people are drawn to when they’re with you?
I think the first tram you know, when you come in the entrance, it’s quite amazing. We were remarking of course on the stuffed, I presume, or the preserved horses, are they preserved? I think they’re models actually. Ah well they’re very good, that’s very interesting. We haven’t really been into the shops we’ve sort of just been looking along the street generally. We did go into the café there, that was very good, very interesting. We did have a brief look at the video where the children were talking about how their parents had organised the café, and the other one about where they had come from, in Italy. I have to say that the size of the printing is excellent, very often you’re struggling to read it, especially for people with glasses. But now that’s an improvement.
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5. Female, 55, Scottish
How do you feel about the exhibit?
Well I thought it was marvellous, I think it gives you a real flavour of what things were like. It puts the various vehicles and things in context, with the old tram lines too. The children are enjoying it too.
So can you take me through what you did and where you went?
Well we went into the cabinet makers shop and we went down to the subway, we had a look at the subway. And I was absolutely fascinated by the hearse, I suppose at one time you didn’t consider, people wouldn’t have considered that their relations were properly buried unless they had a horse drawn hearse. I really think it’s good it puts it into context. Certainly the smell of the wood in the cabinet makers and things like that really add to it.
So what did you do when you went into these places?
We tried the touch screen in the cabinet makers but unfortunately it didn’t seem to like me! The subway was good yes, and it was very interesting to read about how they dug it. There was a TV programme recently about the extension of the Jubilee line in London and it was explaining quite a lot of why they're shaped the way they are things like that and it was good to see it here and be able to compare it.
And did you have a go at starting and stopping the train?
No I'm afraid we didn’t do anything like that we just had a look round .
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6. Male, 65, Scottish
How do you feel about the exhibit?
I love it I think it’s great. It brings back memories you know, you see things there that you can remember and you keep on thinking, ‘crivens I remember that. And I remember that. And we remember that and people going into the pawn shop. And the trams like that there. In 1962, I just started work then, and I remember going on the tram and getting a ticket which said this is the last ride on these trams, then they dug it up. Aye it brings things back, it’s great.
This part especially (the street), I think is very good. I just like the layout, the old shops and I just think it’s lovely. It’s amazing how they’ve changed, you go up there into the pub and you read some of the things that are up there, no women or children, and you don’t get soft drinks this is just for drinkers and you just think how things have just evolved and changed, for the better. And you can realise the size of these things, the size of these trams and it’s a great thing.
Can you take me through what you did and where you went?
Well at first we actually sort of walked through the street, we didn’t pay a lot of attention because we actually walked out here, and so we were wanting a seat in the restaurant first and so now we’ve just come back through it.
And which of the buildings did you go into?
Well we actually went into most of them, the pawn shop, most of them I think we just missed out one or two, had a look at the clothes shop, my wife was looking at the dresses there, and the café. The café bit there was quite busy actually, it reminded us of a place we use to go into years and years ago, that’s what it was like. It’s when you realise that it was only like the 70s or the 80s that things that just evolved and changed.
Did you realise that the fittings in the café are originals from a real café?
I did, because it was on, I can’t remember what programme, I can’t remember if it was part of the news or if it was on STV but it told you all about it and it told you about the fittings and everything so that’s how I knew.
I also liked the bike there, the Hillman Imp engine there, I worked for them and you see the dynamo there, I said to my wife that’s a 22704 dynamo and I could name all the parts and things I used to sell and the contact sets. The contact sets they’ve got in there weren’t the most popular because that was the 423153, haha! But yes I think it’s wonderful, I think they’ve made such a good job of it. Again it was on the news when it opened up it showed you this (the street), but its only when you come into it you can see the vastness of it. And it really adds something to be able to see things in a context, definitely. I you had things just sitting out it wouldn’t mean anything, but
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it’s when you read, and you see the signs and you can relate back to what you're seeing. I mean thinking about the other part round there (rest of museum), you see the cars round there and they're lovely, they're absolutely great, but this in this situation is fantastic, much better. Because I like, you know, if you go to a cathedral or something like that you’re actually seeing the items in the cathedral, because if you took them out the cathedral and put them into a case somewhere else you’ve lost something. No this is brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
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7. Male, 65, Scottish
How do you feel about the exhibit?
I thought it was very good yes, I liked the completeness of the interiors actually, the completeness of the shops.
Can you take me through what you did and where you went?
Well we only did one side so we’ve been in each of the places on this side, so we looked at the upholsterers we’ve been in there, and we’ve been in the subway and the pub. And we went into the photographers at the start too.
And did you get your picture taken?
No we didn’t actually no, but we did see somebody else doing it and that was quite interesting although you know, we didn’t get to see what the result would’ve been, but it was interesting to read about the level detail they went into and the props and things like that, having various backgrounds and props like a bicycle in the shop.
Where else did you go and what did you think?
And the pub I thought was good too, it reminded me of places I’d been in the past yeah, and I think the fact that you know, it was just male only and it was just there for them. I suppose I was surprised by the opening hours too, I do remember when pub hours were limited but actually they were very limited, and how basic it was. And authenticity wise, I presumed it was an interior they had taken from somewhere.
I haven’t seen a butchers or anything like that, I would’ve thought a butchers would have a good interior, thinking of some of the old butchers that there were with all the marble and the little kiosk where you pay and that sort of thing, so just more.
I thought the upholsterers was interesting, but a bit basic, a bit, not enough stuff to see you know, so that was almost slightly disappointing. But the subway was fascinating yes, we walked around the outside then went into the carriage and had a look at that. I saw the wheel they use for the mechanism you know, the brake to stop the train, because it used to be cable didn’t it, but there was somebody using it.
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2.3 Culloden Interviews
The interview consists of specific questions which may be re-worded or changed depending on previous responses, or repeated/rephrased in order to stimulate a more relevant or more detailed answer, and succeeded by follow-up questions.
Interview script
1. How much of the film did you watch?
2. How did this exhibit make you feel, what were your reactions to it?
3. What do you think you’ll remember most about it?
4. So, what were your emotional reactions?
5. How do you feel about the battle because of the film, how has it changed your feelings or perceptions about the battle?
6. Do you think the film gives a different perspective than if you were just reading about it?
7. What do you think you learned from the experience?
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1. Male, German, 40
Researcher: So how much of the film did you watch?
Respondent: I watched it till…I entered the film and I waited till I see the scene I have already seen.
How did this exhibit make you feel, what were your reactions to it?
Well, I think it’s a really good way to represent things as they really have been, or have been at the time. And I think from the military standpoint, you can see both sides dealing with the different tactics and from the historical point of view I really liked it, and even the…I think most of the people were not conventional actors but they really just liked to play that and tried to get the feeling that people have at that time dealing with death and so on, and it was really good, I enjoyed it.
What do you think you’ll remember most about it?
Ah well, I will remember most about it the charge of the Jacobites, I think, and just the single firing of volleys.
So, what were your emotional reactions?
Emotional, well, it’s always the same if you see people dying and you see the people lying around afterwards just, myself, I question why. And another thing about the whole explanation here, it’s really good just telling both sides of the story, and even in this film you see the different sides as I’m standing in the centre you just see the different [sides] and the flanks and it’s really good.
How do you feel about the battle because of the film, how has it changed your feelings or perceptions about the battle?
Well, I do not have any family ties or something like that so for me it’s historical fact for me. I’m dealing a little bit with British and Scottish history, it’s the reason why I’m here and for me it just makes clearer the picture how it was at that time. How war was in that time, how people lived in that time, and also the needs and things, a man has to suffer to take care of [himself], and get a feeling, or better understanding of the reasons why people [were] motivated at that time.
Do you think the film gives a different perspective than if you were just reading about it?
I think pictures are always more impressive and you really have to, you really can put in a whole lot of content inside a small amount, I think the film is a five minutes long or something like that, and that has really high content. You see the costumes, which means you have seen all the gear, you have seen the people carrying the normal luggage they have for travelling and they were fighting with it. And, the difference
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between volunteers on the Jacobite side and between the professional soldiers who were redcoats on the other side, which was really good.
You’re obviously quite interested in history, but do you think that taught you anything more about the battle?
Well, just more about the things that really happened, not only the facts but it showed how it would be, the feeling standing there, how it feels at that time. Now warfare is only just pulling on the trigger or playing with a little joystick but that (the film) is something else, you can get an impression of the personal body experience of what was going on there at that time. That is really different nowadays. I think its really good to get the impression how it was at the time.
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2. Male, Scottish, 50
So how did that exhibit make you feel, what were you emotional reactions to it?
I think you feel as if you’re actually, almost in the scene, though obviously you’re not going to get hit by anything. I think it’s a mixture of emotions, you’re watching the side that you want to win.
Which side was that for you?
The government side, being a Sassenach from Glasgow, we didn’t like the Jacobites. And also, you see guys getting blasted and things and just the whole irony of how the highland charge was just so badly organised on that particular occasion. You felt sympathy for the poor mugs who are having to run across and face it (the government line).
So what do you think you’ll remember most about it?
I think actually the noise, the noise and the hubbub and the sort of organised chaos if you like that’s going on round about you. I’ve quite a, sort of regard for the guys on both sides having to keep their discipline and thoughts about them with everything else round about them, and I suppose on the highland side the family members dying at your feet, you know and other guys getting killed and blasted away.
What were you thinking about during the film or is it fair to say that you were pretty involved in the experience?
I think I was involved and glad I wasn’t there! And also thinking about the different [things going on], just looking at the guy sitting out there with his medicine (interpreter dressed as surgeon), and the different attitudes. I mean the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan, still brutal stuff they’re getting but the treatment they’re getting and care they’re getting in comparison to that, if you’re losing a limb out there it’s tough you know if your injured you get it chopped off.
How do you feel differently about the battle after watching that than you did before?
That’s a good question, I’ve taught it for long enough! I think a sense of almost being immersed and being in it. I think it makes it more real in a sense, rather than just going through the textbooks. I think also as well, going back to this organised chaos and being in the middle, things happening on all four sides round about you.
Obviously you’ve taught it before then, but do you think you’ve learned anything new from watching that?
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I think, getting back to it, just the sheer noise and chaos that’s going on. It’s not just as simple as he shot him, he fell down, and the idea of just trying to keep your nerve in the chaos that’s going on round about you.
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3. Female, 25, Scottish
What did that exhibit make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
It was quite engrossing, with the four angles, the four walls made you kind of, well I was turning around quite a lot and you did feel quite involved in the battle, it wasn’t just the normal depiction of a battle that you get in movies or something.
What do you think you’ll remember most about it?
I think probably the violence, the exploding of the cannon balls and musket fire and things.
During the film what were you thinking about? Is it fair to say you were completely involved or were you reminded of anything?
It reminded me of battles, I’ve studied history, war history as well so I was kind of making comparisons of different periods and the different rank and file, and how the different sides were managing things. I studied the Napoleonic period so a hundred years after this and looking at how things evolved.
So how do you think you feel differently about the battle after this exhibit?
I think it just kind of, it makes it more real in a sense. You think battle you don’t think, well, most people wouldn’t know what to expect and that film just shows you a small insight into it.
So it gives you a different perspective that just reading about it?
Yeah, I didn’t know much about Culloden to begin with, so you can read but you can’t imagine what it would actually look like and that changes from seeing it.
What do you think you learned from the experience?
Probably, how terrified the Jacobites looked, kind of facing that organised opposition, compared to, well what I’ve studies has been two organised armies facing each other so there’s a bit of difference in discipline whereas that was more kind of, a rammy against a more organised government force.
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4. Male, 45, UK
What were your reactions to the Battle exhibit?
Well, as I said to my wife as we left you tend to think everybody was 6 foot 6 Adonises built, superb specimens you know but they weren’t were they, there were little short fat men, there were wide men there were all sorts of people. And watching the spectators was a bit bizarre, but that’s how it happened I suppose.
So what were your emotional reactions?
Eh, futility is certainly one word. Yeah, it was short, sharp and brutal.
So what aspect of it do you think you’ll remember most?
Well, like I said one word, futility mostly, when you’re charging towards a mass of steel and bullets you didn’t have a chance really, and if you got hit by one you’d had it.
What about the actual exhibit environment?
Yeah it was good, well done. The surround screens, yeah it was good, it gave you a good feel of it.
So during the film what were you thinking about? Or is it pretty fair to say that you were involved in the film?
Yeah, I found myself, I connected with it if that’s what you mean. It engaged me yeah it was good. A couple of good films I’ve seen that had a similar effect were the start of Saving Private Ryan, it made me think of that and Gladiator. Two good things that sort of [had a similar effect].
In what way do you feel differently about the battle having seen the film?
Yeah, it makes you realise how staged it all was. Two lines of men facing each other, it brought that out, you just went into a mass of men and you either survived or you didn’t, it brought that out, the intensity and compactness of it all perhaps.
What do you think you learned about the battle?
Well I’ve learnt from the whole thing, I’m still learning now, and it’s quite confusing, you tend to think it was Scotland versus England but it wasn’t like that really was it, it was all a mish-mash.
What about from the film in particular?
No, nothing really just a general feel for how it was really.
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5. Female, 60, English
Just focussing on that exhibit in particular, what are your emotional reactions?
Emotional, well, I mean it was quite realistic, I think it brought it home to me what it could’ve been like. The sort of, Jacobites and then the very formal [government], and I mean it was awful really but, I thought it did make you feel what it could’ve been like which is very hard to do with pictures and things.
Do you think added a different perspective?
Yeah I think it does, I thought it was very clever really, although harsh and probably not nice in a way.
So what do you think you’ll remember most about it? Was there an aspect that stuck out to you?
Well, I think [the way it was presented had an effect], of course it’s an acted out representation, but, as I said before when you read it it’s not got quite, it doesn’t bring the atmosphere and I hadn’t really, although I realise that the Jacobites were more of motley band of people and then you’ve got the uniformed, very regimental redcoats, but it made it even more dramatic really.
During the film were you thinking about anything else or is it fair to say that were fairly involved in the experience?
I was quite involved with it, I have to say I hadn’t really got the knowledge beforehand, I’m staying in the area and I’ve heard of the Battle of Culloden, but I hadn’t got a huge knowledge of it. So, it did bring it more to [life] for me.
Do you think it has changed your feelings about the battle or your perceptions of what it was?
Well, I think it seems very well done, and as I say I had really no idea and it’s really, you know, fantastic how it’s been portrayed and the filming just made it more realistic, come to life, and it’s made me want to read up more about it.
What do you think the film taught you about the battle?
Well, as I said before really, the more sort of formal Duke of Cumberland’s [troops] and the more hurriedly put together probably Jacobite group and just very sad really, to see what happened. I hadn’t realised the consequences.
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6. Female, 30, English
So what were your emotional reactions to the experience?
Well, it’s a very immersive experience, you kind of feel like, they didn’t really have a chance. You felt sorry for them, especially with the families watching in the background and stuff like that, it was quite an emotional thing behind it, especially, well, even though I’m not Scottish, but because we’ve lived here for so long you kind of feel like, sort of , [personally connected].
What aspect do you think you’ll remember most? What stood out for you?
It was really good to see, actually in the location that it is, and having the different aspects, you can see what’s going on from all sides. I found myself turning round [a lot].
During the film were you reminded of anything, or is it fair to say that you were quite involved as it were?
Not really no, I can’t think of another experience like that.
Ok, so how have your feelings towards the battle changed having seen the film?
A little bit…but the Jacobites didn’t really have a chance, they were pretty much ploughed through, and if my understanding is right they were tired, they were hungry anyway, so they were already behind.
Has it changed how you previously felt about it, or your perceptions?
I had no knowledge about it at all, it kind of makes you a bit more [aware], you feel more sorry for them, because it looked like there was no chance.
So do you think it has a different perspective compared to say, reading about it then?
Definitely, definitely.
So what do you think it has taught you about the battle?
It was nice to see it re-enacted, and you get a sense of the amount of armament they were faced with, [the disparity] and confusion. I did really enjoy it.
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7. Male, 30, Scottish
So what were your reactions to the experience?
I think it was just…you could see what it was like obviously, when it was back then, the brutality of it.
So how did it make you feel watching it?
I would say maybe, not quite shocked but, it opened your eyes, you know what I mean? It kind of made you see how it was, quite hard hitting aye.
What do you think you’ll remember most about it?
The end where you see, obviously the Jacobites, and you see the Brits, the Redcoats standing there, they kind of realised what’s happened, obviously the devastation that was caused.
So what were you thinking during the film? Did it remind you of anything of is it fair to say that involved in the experience?
Well obviously you’re seeing all the different aspects of it, the different sides and I think the bit that kind of got to me was, you see the Scottish Redcoats fighting against the Jacobites, it makes it quite [complicated].
How did the film change any perceptions that you had of the battle?
Well I didn’t know about the battle before I [decided to come] but I’ve been reading up on it, I didn’t know that it was, that there was that much devastation, all the Jacobites that were actually killed.
So what do you think it taught you about the battle, what kind of things are you going to take away from it?
Basically that the Jacobites stood up against the Brits and knew, knowing that they were going to lose, after thinking that the French were going to come over and support them. Pretty shocking in the way that it happened.
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8. Male, 25, Scottish
So what did that exhibit make you feel, what were your emotional reactions?
It was quite good, it was quite real, quite gritty as well, it didn’t shy away from obviously the bloodshed that happened that day. So from that respect it was quite well done.
What about the environment it was shown in, the way it was presented?
The four screens, you were kind of, it was difficult to focus a lot of the time so you could miss quite a bit, but on the same note it is kind of, you’re encompassed by so much sound, so [many] visuals which is quite a unique thing, there’s not many places where you can experience that, so in that sense it did feel, again, realistic, almost like in real life you wouldn’t know where to look, you were jumping from one panel to the next.
So what aspect do you think you’ll remember most about it?
The sound probably more than [anything], the sound was quite hard hitting yeah. The visuals, you had the long shot from one side, from one side to the other and then you had close-ups on the other sides so again it was judging which panel to watch, that you’d get the most from so you were like, looking around, and then it would skip so you’re like, going round in circles so it was kind of disorientating a little, but again I did enjoy it, it was unique.
So during the film what were you thinking about? Were you fairly involved?
Yeah it reminds you of all the big epic battles you see in films I guess, the stereotypical Braveheart and films like that, but the setting again, felt real, the actors looked the part and it was quite convincing.
So after seeing that, how has it changed your feelings about the battle?
My perceptions before I saw it was only what we read going round here, so I think there’s nothing stronger than a visual impact from that film, I think it conveys a lot more, you’ve got the sound as well, I think it strikes a chord with emotion a lot, well, for me anyway, a lot more than reading a panel in an exhibit. So yeah, I think it encompassed everything that I’ve read.
What do you think the film taught you about the battle, perhaps that you hadn’t learned otherwise?
I don’t know if I’ve learned any more from what I watched but it encompasses everything that I read, you’ve got what they were wearing, the difference in military, one looked so much more organised than the other, one looked more kept than the other, so I mean you can read this on panels but to visually see them is more striking I think.
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9. Female, 25, Scottish
What were your emotional reactions to the exhibit, what did it make you feel?
I think having the four [screens], coming from all directions it made you, I guess in some ways, kind of overwhelmed, you’ve got sound and images coming from all round you, so in some ways a bit chaotic, but I guess that’s trying to evoke what you’d feel if you were in the battle. I was just kind of overwhelmed I think.
What aspect stood out to you the most, that you think you’ll remember?
Well, the violence it was quite violent, quite kind of gory, that kind of stands out, I guess as well, from reading all the stuff before, being Scottish you kind of feel for the Jacobites, because you’re kind of on side so kind of, quite a horrible defeat I guess.
So during the film were you reminded of anything or is it fair to say that you were pretty involved?
[No], I mean it made me think of films I’d seen, typical stuff like Braveheart, and things I’d seen at school about battles, it was quite, kind of, a traditional Scottish battle.
How do you think it has changed your feelings or perceptions about the battle?
I think it was quite, from going round all the exhibits and reading all the things, I think it was quite accurate to what I’d been reading so it kind of brought it to life, I suppose in some ways, it kind of, the use of cannons and guns, they were never going to win that. The battle was lost before it even started and I guess how committed they must be to still charge in and I think I would run away I don’t think I could charge into cannons knowing that you were going to die, so I think it shows a certain type of character, a certain commitment to a cause.
So do you think it adds a different dimension as opposed to reading about it?
Definitely, I suppose it makes it a lot more human, you can see the emotions on people’s faces, the kind of, Jacobites who were not running, but kind of walking slowly you could see that they were really knowing what was going to happen, knowing that they were going to die but still going even though they didn’t want to. So it makes it a bit more personable, if you can see it as opposed to just read it.
What do you think you learned from the experience?
That I never want to be in a battle! I guess maybe just that it was, that there’s maybe something about kind of group membership, or, that these people were so involved in this group or committed to the cause that they were doing things that they knew would end badly or didn’t want to do but felt that they had to, that kind of commitment to their cause and I wonder if that’s something that people would still [do]. I mean
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people fight in wars now but you elect to join the army whereas…I don’t know if people would really do that now, they’re perhaps more selfish now.
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10. Female, 55, Scottish
So thinking about that exhibit, what were your emotional reactions to it, what did it make you feel?
I thought it was very bloody actually, my sister just laughed at me just now because when the first man got shot in the face, in the head, she said that’s the first time I’ve seen you jump for ages. [It’s quite shocking] actually, because you’ve come through and after reading it all, it’s quite real, I found it quite real.
So do you think it adds a different perspective from reading about it.
Definitely, it does, it does make it more genuine. Reading that you think yeah ok, there’s a lot of reading on the way along so at one point I was getting lost, whereas that for me, it brought me back to really how it all happened.
What do you think you’ll remember most about it?
I think probably how outnumbered they were, and how, and this is going to sound awful and very materialistic, but they just looked a right raggedy bunch the Jacobites didn’t they.
So what did you think about the way it was presented?
I like the surround sound but the four screens, for me, I got a bit confused so I think I would’ve, I may go back again because I couldn’t see it all in the one go.
During the film what were you thinking about or is it fair to say that you were pretty involved?
Yeah I was, I wasn’t thinking about anything else, just watching thinking ‘oh my god’, and when they’re walking over the bodies, yeah I was definitely quite immersed in it.
How has it changed your feelings towards the battle?
I think it’s [made it] personal, you know, when you actually see people, and you see it on film, cause you can read and imagine but I don’t have a vivid imagination, I just don’t not really, so for me, when you actually see them it’s definitely just re-enacted it and made it more real, it made it more important, and it’s probably made me think more about it, I want to go and read more about it actually.
So what do you think you learned from it?
Just the great loss really, and the bravery that they carried on, they just carried on fighting although they knew they were really out numbered.
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11. Female, 30, Scottish
How did that exhibit make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
I was, I felt awful for the men because you looked at the Jacobites and they just seemed so, I don’t know if unprepared is the right word, but they were just out-classed, completely and they were there and they were ready for it but they also just looked beleaguered and it’s a horrible sort of feeling seeing them like that. And actually I’m not very good at imagining history unless I see it in front of me, or I see it through one person so if I read it it’s not the same to me at all, so to actually be in an exhibit like that really does bring it home that these were real people who were in a really difficult situation, who were putting everything into it, but were just not ever going to win, and it’s just sort of awful.
So what do you think you’ll remember most about it?
I think the thing I’ll remember most about that is actually by being in the middle of it you are completely disorientated, it’s horrible because you keep having to move around to see everything but then that makes you appreciate how it must have been for them because you don’t know what’s coming at you, you're not prepared, you don’t know really what’s going on. You think you want to do this but you’re there and you’re just like, this is my life. I just cannot imagine really it must have been but I think that does go some way to putting you in that position, which is as I say horrible, I didn’t feel comfortable in there actually. I have quite an emotional reaction to a lot of things I think but it was quite disturbing. I think that’s obviously the whole purpose of it so its right that it should be like that. And I went into it kind of knowing that it would be like that, but when we came out my boyfriend said to some people ‘its really worth staying, stay, it’ll be on in a minute’. But they had two kids with them that were primary age and I thought if my parents had taken me to that I would’ve been in a state probably after!
So how did it change your perceptions or feelings about the battle?
I must admit I'm not very good at remembering the specifics of how many there were or the exact year that it took place, or things like that but for me that’s not really that important, I always look at it from the personal point of view and their experience and what they went through. I think what I, you learn about what weapons they were using and how rudimentary they were and also the swords and things, how long they were, just the practicalities of what they had to use, that was brought more home to me and that’s quite interesting because you think compared to what we've got now. You compare that to people in Afghanistan or whatever and they just had no technology to use, they just did not really have it there. But I imagine they could inflict a hell of a lot of damage so its pretty ugly from that point of view.
So the film itself, what did you feel you learned from it?
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Just that it’s just a horrible, horrible, experience. You can say it’s a terrible waste but that’s just too obvious, the whole experience of battle and people setting themselves up for something that they're never going to win but there is a cause there and they sort of have to do it, cause if they don’t do it what's the alternative. You're not going to stick up for anything that’s not worth sticking up for and that kind of gets to you a bit, that people did actually stick up for things that were important and we've still got land and things because of that. But if you as me would I put myself in that position, you know, I just don’t think I would to be honest and it makes you think, blimey some people have guts. It was definitely worth going into it, I’ve never actually been to a museum where there’s been something that kind of interactive and think that does work really well.
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12. Male, 50, American
What were your emotional reactions, how did it make you feel?
Well, coming from where I do its probably a little more just, understanding, trying to understand the history, what occurred there and the significance of it, and to me the interesting part is how fighting occurred back the 1700s, with the lines, which is still just, you know, different to think about.
So what emotions did that convey to you?
I would say, probably a little intense as regards to the fighting that’s going on and you kind of start trying to absorb what's really happening there.
What did you feel about the way it was presented?
That was interesting, I’ve never seen that before so I thought it was interesting to see that perspective. It was a little hard to follow sometimes, cause you're kind of turning to see everything that’s happening, but it all made sense.
And what do you think you’ll remember about it most?
Well just the, obviously the British army, it became more apparent how much the Scots got overran at that point. The disparity, I mean that was, you never realise it, that’s what it was like.
Do you think it adds a different perspective than reading about it?
Oh sure, I think it helps to see for some people, I do like visual versus reading so that’s helps me absorb it.
How has it changed your feelings or perceptions about the battle before?
Honestly I didn’t know really anything about it before so for me it was all new.
So what do you think you learned from it?
Again I think just the disparity between them, how strong they [the government] were. You know, reading through it, it was obvious by the time this occurred, Prince Charles’ army was pretty much done at that point, or pretty well decimated so it just kind of reinforced that difference between the two.
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13. Female, 60, Scottish
How did it make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
Sad, surprised at the same time. We’ve been looking at it in terms of bringing grandchildren so maybe I was looking at it through a child’s eyes rather than my own. Because of my background I knew exactly what it was going to be like so I wasn’t surprised by the guts and gore of it, I was more surprised by the visual effect of it, the fact that you’ve got to keep turning round to look at it.
Do you think you would bring your grandchildren?
Oh well yes, two of them are boys who are just right into it, who’ll probably want to go back and watch it more than once.
So what do you think you’ll remember most about it?
The noise, the fact that you were so close to it, it brought it to life rather than something in the distance, the fact that you were right on top of the dead, right on top of the English.
How did that make you feel, what kind of impact did that have?
As a Scot, sad that that’s what happened.
Did it remind you of anything or were you fairly involved in the experience?
No I think it involved me, because of the lead up to it in the actual display here, we’ve never been here before so I think it very much brings it home just how bad it was.
Do you think it adds a different dimension than reading about it?
Oh absolutely yes, it becomes much more real when you're there than when you're reading everything coming up to it and suddenly, wow, this is it, this is really how bad it was, or how good it was depending on your [point of view].
How has it changed your feelings about the battle?
No I can’t say it’s changed my feelings about it, but again my backgrounds maybe different to someone else, because I was fully aware of what it was.
So what do you think the film experience has taught you about the battle?
I think it just brings home what kind of a battle it was, what battles were in those days, I think. The fact that the women are standing there watching all these men killing one another. I find that, I think it brings home the sheer emotion of what was going through the men’s minds, and what was presumably going through the women’s minds as well.
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14. Female, 50, English
How did it make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
To be honest I was a little indifferent to it, I think coming through the galleries before we entered the room I got quite excited because the tension was built up, and once I was in the room watching what was going on, in some ways there was too much going on. We were commenting on the fact that it might have been better if it had just been on three walls, because you always felt you were missing something, but, I personally didn’t feel that it looked particularly real.
Why was that?
Because I felt it did look like a lot of people just dressed up re-enacting a battle. It was quite good, but I felt it was a theatrical performance and so I didn’t feel too emotionally disturbed by it. But having said that, if you upped the level of realism it could be very distressing for visitors and you don’t want to do that, so I suppose they wanted to give them a slight flavour of what it [was like]. It did seem to be over very quickly, obviously you don’t want to keep visitors in there for too long. I don’t know in reality how long the battle did last, so I suppose in a way it reflected the fact that it was over very quickly, but I didn’t feel a sense of exhaustion among the Jacobites and I felt quite emotionally detached from it.
Did it have any effect on your feelings about the battle then?
To be honest I didn’t know anything about it, and I know were only supposed to be talking about the film, but as we came through the galleries approaching the film I found it more and more fascinating and I got more and more involved in what was going on, and I was feeling quite, the tension had been built up, and I was feeling quite involved in it, and despairing for the Jacobites and feeling quite alienated towards the Whigs, or the Government troops. So then I felt there was quite good tension while you waited for the troops to appear, just watching the wind on the grass, and the fact that it’s very like that today.
What do you think you learned about the battle?
Well I think maybe what it did do is, I don’t know how truly it reflected the number of people that were involved in it, but it looked quite a small affair, and I think I’d imagined far more people. But obviously it was a reconstruction, you couldn’t accurately reflect the number of people that were involved in fighting, but it ended up to me looking like a small skirmish rather than the big battle I was imagining going to happen.
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15. Male, 25, English
What did that make you feel, what emotions did it evoke?
Well it was surprisingly, sort of gory for a museum film, it was quite well done, quite sort of visceral, blood and dirt and the sort of surround thing. Although actually I wondered just how well that worked just in practical terms, you kind of had to keep turning round not to miss stuff, slightly confusing. In a way I felt, you know having to constantly look around, almost it added to the sense that it was all around you, maybe that makes it more exciting and visceral but also it was a bit confusing and you couldn’t really focus on what was happening much, more just a sort of general sense of confusion.
Was there a particular aspect that stood out to you that you think you’ll remember?
I don’t know, I suppose I thought, the sort of madness of war at that time, the stupidity of sort of standing in ranks with explosions going on around you, and why on earth wouldn’t you just sort of run, either away or towards the other people, just sort of standing there being shot to pieces. Just the sort of madness of that, yeah, very destructive.
So after seeing the film how do you feel differently about the battle?
I don’t know, it’s just how I imagined it I guess, yeah. It’s easier to sort of visualise it, it makes it seem more real and sort of real people and real suffering.
How did you find the way it was presented?
Well yeah, it looked quite realistic. It was very short obviously, I don’t think you got a sense that it was an hour long battle obviously, it was only a few minutes and it probably therefore makes it look a bit more one sided than it actually was. You’re kind of mainly focussed on the sort of highland charge and then retreat, but in general it got the sort of feel of how it would’ve been.
So what do you think you learned about the battle from it?
Well I don’t think it’s terribly, necessarily educational but I think it makes it more real, more than being an informative display. I think it’s more of a connection thing rather than an information thing.
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16. Male, 55, Scottish
How did that make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
Certainly emotional, I still feel a sort of sense of tension inside. I suppose seeing someone’s eye getting shot out and the back of their head blown off, the visuals were [quite realistic]. The fear probably as well, you see them just running away, trying to make their escape.
Was there an aspect that particularly stood out to you that you think you’ll remember?
Not from my first viewing I would say, there was too much, to start with you didn’t know where to stand, you started off in the middle, but then I sort of worked into a corner, so I could see three screens rather than two. So I backed into the English corner, as it were, to see the onslaught.
So did you find it disorientating or uncomfortable?
Not disorientating but you had to keep moving, because of the way the screens were going, there was you know, two on one side and two on one side, then three on one side and one on the other the way the different views came I had to pick somewhere to see the most at any one time. Or you were just going round in circles trying to keep up with what was happening; otherwise you were missing what was going on behind you, that was the main thing about it. You had to move one way or the other, even the other folk that were in were moving, I tended to find a corner. There was only three of us so maybe it would be different if there was a crowd like in the summer.
What were you thinking about during it or is it fair to say you were fairly involved?
I don’t think I was thinking at all in particular, the only thing I suppose I was thinking was what side would you be on? You know, there were Scots on both sides, I don’t know, you always have an empathy for the massacred. I didn’t do history at school so what the sides were founded upon I don’t have a basis for.
How do you feel differently about the battle after seeing the film?
Well, the last time I was at Culloden would be maybe 30 years ago, when it was the old road through the battlefield and all there was, was the clan stones. And certainly that was very eerie at the time, there was just nothing and you had to imagine it. So there’s maybe more empathy [implied] on you that what you can imagine previously. Previously it was all imagination, this time there's a portrayal and it is more shocking inside, there's still that adrenaline going through you now, you know that something happened and it was quite vivid.
What do you think you learned about the battle from the film?
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Certainly how short it was, I think it was only about an hour or so, you tend to think of these things being days or a campaign after campaign but the fact that it was just a one off, and that was it, it was ripped off so quickly.
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17. Male, 40, American
How did the exhibit make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
Well it was very good, I thought the whole impact of showing the one side arriving and the second side arriving and then obviously there were different techniques used to give you the battle basically built up, with much closer images of the different troops, first the initial attack from the Jacobites and British response to the attack, I thought it laid it out very, very well.
And what kind of emotions did that convey to you?
Well from their side you could see the, there was a variety of different ones on the Jacobite side in particular you see the initial motivation on the Jacobite side as the lead the attack, but also the impact of when they start firing the cannons and you start seeing holes being punched in their lines but also the British discipline came through pretty clearly on their side. They weren’t overly emotional, there was a lot more emotion displayed on the Jacobite side, as the battle culminates there's clearly a serious defeat inevitable on the Jacobite side, you can see the change in the emotion of the Jacobite troops. The British troops maintain, pretty much their composure, and at the end its very good to see how they're assessing, as they’ve won, it was interesting to see the troops on the government side, there are a few faces you see that are kind of empathetic, but you also see clearly [they think] these people were going to kill you if you had not responded the way you did.
What about in yourself, did it bring up any emotions in you?
I was trying to watch it objectively but obviously you're surrounded by the whole thing and its very very effective.
In what sense was it effective for you?
Well there's an anticipation of what's going to happen, you enter the display knowing which way the battle went already, but you're waiting to see how the different elements react. There's obviously different strategy on the government side, with the use of the cannons and the routing of horses on the left side, and also because you read it beforehand, the weaknesses on the Jacobite side.
Is it fair to say that you felt involved in the experience?
It’s really, I mean, it’s pretty engrossing to actually sit in that experience, it’s very good at focussing your attention on what's happening around you.
How did it change your feelings about the battle?
Again I knew some of the history before, but I think I’ve learned a lot more about it.
So do you think it adds a different dimension than perhaps reading about it?
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Oh very much so, that particular presentation is very effective.
What do you think you learned about the battle?
How quick it was, again you read it, but then you actually see how fast it takes for it to trigger the actual conflict, but how quickly it takes a conflict in that period to actually be over with. Modern day warfare it’s hours, days. The hand to hand combat is relatively quick, so it does actually a very good job of showing you how long it takes. I had an idea of it, but I think the film does a very good job of showing that it’s basically a clash that was very decisive and over very quickly.
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18. Male, 40, Scottish
What did that exhibit make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
I thought it was pretty intense, it was I suppose I kind of sensory overload, cause you're getting the four angles, the four sides and you're not sure where to look, and yeah I suppose that was my main sort of feeling, if I was to describe it to wife if she said should I go in or not I would say it was pretty loud, pretty intense. I suppose, poignant in terms of the people dying.
Was there a particular aspect that you think you’ll remember most?
Probably just how loud it was, in terms of the exhibition yeah I found it pretty loud. Almost too much but I guess that’s the point you know, to put yourself in the centre of it.
How did you feel about the four screens?
It took a wee bit of getting used to, it’s not something that I've come across before so. I found myself focussing on one wall, and then going wait a minute I should be looking [over here], and I continued looking round. Maybe it’s how your brain is trained, you're used to focussing on one thing and not everything. I thought it was quite effective though, the way that you had multiple views, I suppose I wasn’t certain of what I was looking at in each instance. You weren’t sure if it was the same view, same subject but different views of the same subject, or if it was paired in places or if it jumped around, I suppose that was the whole point because you were kind of like looking round to make sure you were keeping up with what was going on. I guess it was about story as much, there was a bit of a story to it but it was pretty much about the overall wasn’t it.
What about having people pointing guns at you as it were?
Yeah you do find that yourself, I suppose that’s part of the tension I was describing was that you are in the middle of it all. I guess that’s the point as your standing between them, I half expected to find at one point when the Jacobites started charging to find them appearing in the line-up of the government forces on the opposite screen, but I don’t think they did, or maybe I got distracted by a different screen.
How have your feelings changed about the battle after seeing it?
I guess I was fairly ignorant of the whole thing anyway, to be honest when I came here I couldn’t remember what the outcome of it was, so the exhibition has been quite good in that respect, I think you were I suppose wondering, that made it more interesting going through the exhibition cause I couldn’t remember what happened here.
So what do you think you learned about the battle from it?
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I suppose the weaponry that was used, I don’t think you get that from the more general descriptions that you have in the text on the wall, I suppose you see the guns and things but in the video it showed you the range of weaponry and the cannons, the muskets and the bayonets. I suppose I found the cannons surprising I hadn’t really, I’d read about the bayonets and the guns and I saw the guns on display, but the cannons I hadn’t expected.
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19. Male, 40, Scottish
How did the exhibit make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
Well, I was actually thinking a bit more tactical about it. I was actually thinking the Scottish were a bit gung-ho, how they were, a bull in a china shop as my wife describes me, so I was actually just looking at, if they just held back a bit, what would’ve been the outcome. Obviously I was looking at what kind of armaments they had, the kind of Scottish had versus the, they had muskets and all the rest it wasn’t just hand to hand. But, actually it felt a bit sad, looking back. I was watching a thing yesterday about the holocaust, I think it was 1943, and thinking about it this was only about 200 years before that, and you think god. You know when you’ve got kids of your own you just think about it, everybody that got killed there was somebody’s son, just sad really.
Was there something that particularly stood out to you that you think you’ll remember?
It wasn’t even graphic, it didn’t have to be, it was just more the, oh my god, just bit sad really for all the people. You saw the age of some of them in the thing as well and I thought bloomin’-heck they were a fair age but I'm sure there was plenty of young folk, there seemed to be more young folk on the English side than, but probably just looking at it as a dad perspective more than anything else, just like all that loss for nothing, that irreplaceable loss just for nothing. I didn’t benefit anybody in the end.
So what did you feel about the way it was presented?
Well, it was pretty clever. Yeah it was very clever, you had an awful job of like, focussing on one bit, you could focus on like, one or two faces and you were back to another screen. But obviously if you were in the room with a crowd of people it would’ve been slightly different but it was just us and it was just, overload you know. It added to it, you could feel the fear in them, you could just feel it from the heaving breathing, and the like, close-ups, there was nobody who wasn’t [afraid]. Whoever filmed it did very well, the setting and the fear and everyone was just feeling [afraid], and you could see on the English side they had done this many times before, well the Scottish were like, holy hell we’re going to die here. You could just feel it in them, so it was cleverly done that way.
Has it changed the way you previously felt about the battle?
Eh, realisation, yeah it’s the battle of Culloden, well everyone’s driven past it, you hear about it, but when you actually see that you see that there was nothing glorious, there was nothing clever about it, it was just slaughter. I thought of like, world war one, going into no-man’s land over the trenches, ‘cause it was just, if you survived it was the biggest miracle ever.
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So what do you feel you learned about the battle from it?
It was more the, for lack of a better word, the vibe of like, the scariness of it you know, it wasn’t like ‘tally-ho troops’ and all that kind of nonsense but it was actually, people are getting killed round about you and you're running to your death to a certain degree. When you're outnumbered like that it just felt like it was just, martyr-ism, I don’t know what they were trying to prove. Maybe there was certain glory in dying in battle but I don’t think so, that was maybe still a thing, but death is death.
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20. Male, 50, Australian
So how did that exhibit make you feel, what were your emotional reactions to it?
Well, emotional reactions. I don’t think I had that much, like it didn’t shock me or anything like that. No, I was just sort of trying to watch and take in a bit of what it might have been like. I found it a little bit confusing. If it had been more of a, how do I say it. You had the four screens, if it had stayed say, two screens on the Jacobite side and two on the other side then I could’ve got a bit more of a concept of what was going on, like what each side was doing. But, because they changed I just found that distracting so I couldn’t really.
Was there a particular aspect of it that you think you’ll remember?
No, I was just interested to see kind of what it had felt like. I noticed that the tactics of the government forces used, was different to what they previously used, and just stuff like that, just trying to pick up on the vibe of it.
What were your general reactions to the film then?
Well my wife didn’t want to watch it, she sort of cruised out. Generally I thought it was, you know, alright, I just found like I said before, I found it a little confusing because, if you wanted to stand in the middle and get a peripheral view of kind of, how it was happening, one side to the other, the two events didn’t relate. You saw cannon fire here but then nothing happens on the other side, stuff like that. Had it been a little more co-ordinated I think it would’ve had more of an effect.
Did it change your feelings about the battle?
No, I already had my preconceptions.
What were they?
Haha, I’m always on the side of the Jacobites you know.
Do you think you learned anything more about it from watching the film?
From watching the film, no, only that. It was only when I came here that I read [about it], and just before I went into the film about the government side changing tactics on how to deal with the highland charge. So I picked up on that.
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Appendix 3. Interview with RZSS Head of Education, Stephen Woollard
With budongo trail, what we decided to do, partly because it was the first time ever that we’d really invested in terms of budgeting in terms of interpretation and design, and doing it at the start as opposed to an add on which is what zoos tend is design an enclosure “we’re getting giant pandas, let’s build an enclosure for it, then let’s do some signs for it and tell people about it”. So with budongo it started 2006 with planning and I was on board right then and I even managed to get design of the building changed in order to fit some of the interpretation approach. We engaged a company from London, Met Studio, to actually help deliver the interpretation. The budget for the interpretation was half a million, which is pretty nice to have, the budget for the building as a whole was five and a half million, which means we’ve had all sorts of problems since because we spent a lot of our reserves to actually build it.
My immediate thing, and it was also true of the directors as well, we wanted to try and do everything the society that runs the zoo is about in one building. We wanted visitor experience, animals, conservation, research and education, all the things that Edinburgh zoo is for in one building so that we could encompass the lot. And by that we wanted to make sure that the chimpanzee exhibit connected to what we were doing in Uganda with chimps on the wild, so that was one key criteria we needed to hit. We needed a facility that enabled us to do research on chimpanzees but to do it in public so that people can see that were not doing anything nasty to the chimps, so that was really important. And the bottom line is that we’re a zoo and people pay to come in so they need to see the chimps. We wanted to have the highest standards of welfare and all the new techniques, everything we could possibly do given the massive budget. So approaching it form that angle it helped a lot to then start thinking ok, this building with its external enclosure, has got to try and tell those stories and there’s a lot we can tell but how much will people take on board.
I actually did some basic visitor surveying where I asked really basic questions to see what the knowledge base was and we discovered that a hell of a lot of people didn’t know chimps came from Africa. So one of the things we need to know was get people to know they come from Africa! And there was a whole range of things like that which we discovered where basic knowledge was lacking in a significant number, more than 50% of the public didn’t know. That really helped to start thinking ok we want to do high level stuff in terms of info about the chimps and conservation but we’ve got to get people at the bottom line as well, so trying to do a mix and match. That was where having wacky ideas but a design company was what I needed, because normally, very lucky, 20-30 thousand pounds. You think with half a million how am I going to spend that? But when we go over there you’ll see it was easy.
Talking with the designers what we basically did was, there were certain things physically with the site that could not change much, so it was decided that because
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its on a slope there will be two levels in the building, upper and lower, that will provide animal staff with underground bit for animal management, and visitor wise we have to get people going from one floor to another. We thought of an escalator but coming in at £100,000 let’s not, so we got stairs and a lift.
So that actually helped me with the designers come up with the concept in terms of how we create this immersive exhibit. We have two floors so we have two stories that we can effectively tell, can we do it quite subtly, most people I have to admit, don’t get it, because first visit you go “wow look at the chimps”, second visit you start looking at other things, then maybe it all comes across.
Effectively what that helped us to do was, ground floor, this is the chimps home “the forest”. Upper floor, this is the chimps home “the zoo”. That was more or less what the story started with, we’ve got two areas and we can take it into two pieces like that/ In that decision one of the things we decided we would persuade the architects to change was we were going to have a lecture theatre which they had at the entrance, so you come in and there was going to be a film about chimps and then you go and explore upstairs. Well we thought that’s fine, but the lecture theatre upstairs would be better because it can then be a culmination of the experience and have a context that people that people have started to get info on rather than come to it cold. Like the window at Urquhart castle, it works as an introduction but you don’t need it as an introduction, so that was my thinking we dint want a film or presentation to be required as an introduction. So that was one thing we decided to change.
The next request we made was a bit strong because we said we do not want anybody to see a chimp when they’re downstairs. They said what do you mean!? We said we don’t want a window down there because we want to tell people about them in Uganda, we want to tell them about the wild and if we have a chimp sitting there through a window that’s all they’re going to look at, they won’t look at anything down here it’ll be the chimp that gets all the attention. The compromise cam in the design because of hitting all our key targets, research we wanted that to be public, so what we had to do was put windows downstairs into the research zone, so if a chimp is involved in a research project they do get to see the chimp. It was a bit of a compromise but that was a key part of design.
So taking that story, this is the chimp’s home “the forest”, this is the chimp’s home “the zoo”, actually then helped us to think how do we get those messages across, do we use technology, images, words, people? And the initial run, couple of years, was all of those. At the moment we don’t actually have staff in the exhibit anymore, but we do have volunteers over there on a regular basis but not always there, so that element is difficult to keep going.
The design company were great because they were able to take ideas I had a bring in ideas of their own and the transition between the forest and home, how can we do
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that? How can we walk from forest to zoo using a set of stairs? The suggested the idea of let’s think of it as being a house, so there’s the forest, and you go from the forest into the house. When you visit someone’s house what do you find? Quite often there’s a mat on the doorstep, so on the floor we have a welcome mat which says welcome in Swahili, at the bottom of the stairs, and as you go up the stairs there are photographs of chimps just like family photos on somebody’s wall, and there’s an outline of a chimp in terms of their height, which is like parents do with their kinds, draw the line of how tall they are at age 5, 6 ,7 and those are real accurate measurements of chimps at that age. Kids can stand next to it and go “I’m taller than a 6 year old chimp”. So that was the concept, those two things, and connecting them gave us that idea.
When we go upstairs, this was where I got persuaded, because I’ve been a bit reticent about technology because it’s the animal that’s the star, that’s what people want to see so if you put a fantastic game there it’s going to distract, and is it going to pay it back in terms of responses? But talking to the designers we came up with the idea if we have a central island where that stuff is, it’s there if the chimps not visible, it’s there if people want to use it, but the chimps are still the star of the show which get a lot of attention and that stuff is there to help explain it. So we created this island station and then the question was, what are we going to put there, what are the key things about a chimpanzee? We came up with the idea that behaviour is one of the key things, that similarity to human beings is perhaps the key story that people know, so let’s explore that. We created little profiles of each chimp to come up on screen, their name, how old, where they were born, a little bit like the cast of a soap opera. We then came up with - one of the biggest pieces of research on chimps is tool use, that they are known to fashion tools out of sticks, so we thought let’s do that, let’s have some tools and have people work out what the item is and what it does, so create a game to do that. Actually the one thing I’m most proud of, in all my zoo career which is bizarre, is a cartoon. The cartoon is called Eddie says, a chimpanzee that comes to greet you and does some basic chimp behaviours and encourages you to copy, designed for 3, 4, 5 year olds, so we hit the low end of the learning market as it were as well as the adults. And one of the reasons imp round of it is that I started doing the actions of what chimps do, so became a chimp in front of the designers and they said we know a cartoonist and he turned me into a chimp cartoon and that is now up there playing every day, so Eddie says is Steven says.
But there’s a few basic biology things in there and that is one of the real difficulties of the science of living things, people think that they need to be university level to understand zoology. And one of things I’ve put in there is “stand up straight, touch your knees, can you do it without bending down? No. Well Eddie can. Why can he do it? Because his arms are longer than his legs”. So there’s a basic piece of chimp zoology, the fact that a chimps arms are longer than his legs means he can do things that we cant. There are other things in there, like facial expressions, you know
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chimps and humans can do this (reach over their head and touch their ear) monkeys can’t, their shoulder joints are different.
From an immersive point of view the one big compromise we made, and this is where I think perhaps some of our immersive opportunities and successes aren’t there, is the downstairs area “this is the chimp’s home the forest” is tokenistic. There’s a few live plants, there’s a massive mural which is very effective, but you’re not waking into a jungle, you’re not walking into the chimps habitat, which I think would’ve had a much stronger effect (like Eden Project Cornwall). At Eden Project they have created a massive rainforest where it’s 30-40 degrees all the time, and that would’ve given people a better idea of what it’s like to be a chimpanzee but we weren’t able to do that, budget was way too high for something like that. So I think some of our subtleties in what we were trying to achieve don’t always come across because we weren’t able to do that. The plants that are there struggled; we had to put in extra lighting for them, trying to get them to keep growing. So as a design feature, that was one of the faults that will come up in thinking of it as an immersive experience.
(In reference to preliminary evaluation) That’s what I’m trying to achieve with interpretation or exhibits, we want to increase people’s knowledge. The really difficult step which zoos are struggling with, but everybody is, is can we chance behaviour as well, can we actually get people more interested in the environment and do something? It’s incredibly hard to measure that, so these sorts of things (evaluation report) let us know that we’re having an impact.
One thing it’s probably worth me mentioning, from an animal welfare point of view, in terms of design. This is the only chimp house in the world that offers the chimps a free choice of environment. By free choice what we mean is, most of the time the chimps can decide where the want to be. The can be outside if they want to be, or they can be in pod 1, 2 or 3. Each of those is different. Pod 1 – lots of glass, warmth in the morning, they’ll sit and sunbathe. Pod 3 is quite dark, but quite humid. Pod 2 is relatively dry. They’ve tended to sleep in pod 2, be active in pod 1, and be in and out of pod 3, but they can choose. So that’s really exciting, that ability which we’ve got. It was trying to design things around that, so we have three areas for that and then what space we have left.
Basic visitor flow is outside the chimp area, walk past the outside, go into the amazing building, you’re met by the planted area, welcome to Budongo. And that was the biggest internal issue of all, the name of it. Because myself and the designers, we pretty much straight away said we don’t want it called the chimp house, and of course from the public point of view, they want to know where the chimp house is. We wanted to get people to go, “what’s that? What’s Budongo?”. We talked about the name quite a lot and it ended up moving from budongo to being budongo trail, with the subtle hope that the word trail would suggest activity. It’s called that because budongo is the forest in Uganda where we work with chimps in
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the wild, so that’s the story downstairs, so why not call it budongo, and then budongo trail added that bit of subtlety to it. It was the only contentious issue…and we do have the problem of people asking where the chimp house is, and sometimes you can be too near with these things.
The lecture theatre has this huge window, and this was this idea that I’d seen at Urquhart’s, but I’d also seen at Bronx Zoo in NY, and we were showing a film and people can in here on a regular time slot to see a 10 min film I had commissioned which was of our work in Uganda. So you watch that film and then the screen rolled up and you get this huge glass window revealing the chimpanzees behind. So it’s sort of “wow!” It’s not unique but was considered to be a good idea.
In terms of story as I’ve said, it’s chimps home the forest, little bit about that, come upstairs - chimps, meet the family, they’re a bit like us, so what are the subtle differences? And within that we then started think how do we do these things. One very simple thing was skeletons, so we’ve got the skeleton of a human and the skeleton of a chimp facing each other and they look really expensive, they were quite expensive but not as expensive as they look because they’re actually plastic and they’ve been anodised, so they ended up being much cheaper than buying metal ones. So the idea there is that you look at these two things and go wow they’re very similar. So that then convinced me that having a touchscreen would be an appropriate thing to do here, so there’s a touch screen associated with the skeletons which shows the two skeletons and you just touch and it shows you whatever bit you touch, you touch the head and it compares the two heads. Definitely trying to think is this telling us something that is useful and isn’t just a toy. The biggest problem we’ve had is with anything with buttons, people are banging them or pressing three at once, that’s what kids do. So it’s been moderately successful, we built a lot of robustness into it but it’s had a few issues.
Then the let down again or the weak point is the exit, because the way the building had to be carved into the hill there is a ramp (that S bends away from the building) and we haven’t got anything on that ramp, no message, nothing, because the budget ran out and I couldn’t do anything, thinking I would the following year and of course whenever you finish a project you don’t go back.