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The Revealing Things prototype is the first step in developing a larger version of a Web-based exhibition. The prototype is a model for museum material on the Internet. It combines the best qualities of a museum visit with the unique capabilities of online communication. Gathering public comment on the prototype will help us to develop the final version.
We consider the prototype to be a skeleton for the larger program. Although the navigation and graphic design are still in draft form, the elements and they ways in which they relate to each other are in a more finished state. Of the thirty-five objects, one, "Patched Bellbottoms," has been developed in more detail and shows how text, graphics, narration, and music will come together in the final product. We plan to open the full exhibition in 1999.
The full exhibition will have some features that are not included in the prototype:
* bibliographies
* links to outside sources
* live visitor interactions (chat)
* photographic sources
* physical locations of the objects that are
on display in museums
* puzzles and games
* tours
This is the first Smithsonian exhibition to be created specifically for the Internet.
Revealing Things uses common, everyday objects to tell stories about people,
their cultures, and the meanings they associate with their possessions.
Here you can explore intriguing objects from the Smithsonian Collections and meet the people who made, used, or donated their belongings. These personal possesions provide a window to the lives of people from all over the world.
Because it is still in the experimental stage,
Revealing Things may not work on all computers (see the Technical Requirements
section below). Despite its technical restrictions, we felt it was important
to make the program available for public comment. The orientation below
will help you get started. More detailed instructions can be found under
"help" inside the exhibition. Revealing Things was produced by Smithsonian
Without Walls.
We invite you to take part in the experience.
http://web2.si.edu/revealingthings
Best described as a museum collection browser, the Thinkmap application demonstrates underlying thematic, temporal, and decorative connections between the objects in the collection, and allows users to navigate without the restrictions inherent to a predefined hierarchical structure. Each object is linked through a series of rules defined by the Smithsonian curator. Users customize their interface as they browse the exhibit, and the choices they make determine the objects that appear in the display. This flexibility allows curators to show objects in a variety of contexts and allows visitors to follow their interests.
http://www.thinkmap.com/article.cfm?articleID=38
In 1997, The Smithsonian Institution began to explore ways to
extend its ability to curate and critique art beyond the
museum's physical confines. Its first project was an
exploration of material culture - a digital exhibition created to
convey the depth of its vast collection of artifacts and
curiosities donated by the public. To achieve this, the museum
partnered with Razorfish and Plumb Design to create the
working prototype of Smithsonian Without Walls
- Revealing Things.
The exhibit allows visitors to explore cultural history through
various everyday objects with multidimensional relationships
between the objects by era and theme. It encourages users to
rethink the concept of a museum exhibition. The site features
Plumb Design's unique Thinkmap interface for exploration of
the online archives.
Pictures, video, music, and spoken word are streamed via
Flash technology, communicating narratives that explain the
objects. The complete exhibition will provide users with the
option of saving their personal pathway through the site and
sharing it with others. Users can also enhance the exhibit by
donating their own objects online.
* Windows 95 or NT with Netscape 3.01+, 4.04+
or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01+, 4.01+
Some objects have audio files associated with
them, so speakers are preferable
but not essential. To hear narration, click on the icon; for music, click on the icon.
After you've heard the file, remember to close the window opened by the
audio player.
In addition, you will need the browser plug-in Shockwave
Flash to access one object, "Patched Bellbottoms."
At the bottom of this page [http://web2.si.edu/revealingthings/loader.html], click to load the
prototype's home page. The blue status bar at the bottom of the home page
will inform you when the loading is complete. A click on the bar will open
the main program in a new window. Wait for the full text to appear, then
check to make sure the window is centered in your screen.
If after clicking on the bar and allowing enough
time for the Maplet to load, there is still a gray box on the left side
of the screen, you may have a firewall that is interfering with the software.
In an online museum, the absence of a direct
physical connection to the items in a museum must
be overcome by offering greater richness of context
and narrative. The sense that one can simply touch
an object must be replaced by a navigation that is
equally meaningful.
Using our Thinkmap software, Plumb Design
created a customized interface that demonstrates
the underlying connections between the objects. The
Thinkmap interface enables visitors to choose their
path through the exhibition. For example, a visitor
examining a lantern made by a Japanese-American
in the Manzanar Relocation Center during World War
II could choose a number of different methods to
view other objects. She could study objects from the
same period (the table setting from a dinner given
during Pearl Harbor), decorative objects (a Tiffany
vase), or objects whose stories have a similar theme
(a cookie mold made by Arab-American immigrants).
This flexibility allows visitors to follow their
interests and enables curators to display objects in a
variety of contexts. The curator becomes a guide
who builds the underlying structure. The visitor
actively designs the exhibition. Just as a person can
walk through a museum and focus on objects that
interest her, a user of Revealing Things can select a
few objects and delve deeper into the ones that she
finds particularly attractive.
The result not only serves to link disparate
objects in novel ways, but also entices people to
explore the exhibit further. What could have been a
static exhibition becomes a lively, interactive,
learning platform, where visitors are engaged in
seeing and contribute to their own learning
experience. This project was created in conjunction with
Razorfish.
"The principals of Plumb Design artfully transformed
our ideas into an innovative and functionally robust
site. Plumb's contribution to the project included a
collaborative spirit, inquisitive minds, and can-do
technology combined with a thoughtful and
intellectual perspective. They held themselves to a
high technological standard, including an ambitious,
and successful, plan to integrate navigation and
content. With their unfailing enthusiasm and cheerful
attitude, working with Plumb was a pleasure. We are
immensely pleased with the product."
We suggest that you take a few moments to play with the Maplet and
thumbnails. As you roll your mouse over the images or titles, explanatory
text appears in the bottom left of the screen. Clicking on the highlighted
word or thumbnail takes you to the entry for that object. Click on "help"
to find out how to use the Maplet sliders and search function, expand the
Maplet window, or adjust the font size. These features are designed to
let you control the order and emphasis of objects in the exhibition.
Smithsonian Institution
Narrators Contributing Exhibitions
*
Welcome to the prototype of Revealing Things.
*
Revealing Things, launched in February 1998, was the Smithsonian Institution's first virtual exhibition without a physical counterpart. Providing an online representation of objects whose emotive power is closely associated with their actual physical presence presented formidable creative and technological challenges for the Institution. Working with Thinkmap, the Smithsonian created an application that presents untouchable objects in a contextual and narrative manner.
*
Challenge Extend the
Smithsonian Institutions reach
beyond its physical walls.
Solution A virtual,
multidimensional museum experience.
Project Date March 1997
Features
to access to online archives
Benefits
increasing availability of the exhibition
*
Revealing Things uses Java; to see the exhibition,
you must have a Java-enabled browser, preferably the most recent version.
The prototype should work on the following platforms:
* Windows 3.1 with Netscape 4.04+
* Unix with Netscape 3.01+, 4.04+
* Macintosh 180mhz+ PPC, 32meg minimum, with
Netscape 3.01+, 4.04+ or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0+
*
For the Smithsonian Institution, Plumb Design
created Revealing Things, an online exhibition
devoted to material culture. "Revealing Things, the
Smithsonian Institution's first virtual exhibition
without a physical counterpart, is an exploration of
the possibilities inherent in digital media". Providing an adequate online representation of
objects whose emotive power is associated with their
actual physical presence presented a fascinating
creative challenge. When not seen first hand, the
essential physicality of the items in the exhibition
loses much of its emotive quality. Being close to the
object connects us to people from the past, and
enables us to empathize with the lives of people
whom we will never meet.
-Smithsonian Curator Judy Gradwoh
*
The program window is divided into several sections.
On the left is a fluid arrangement of linked titles called the Maplet.
These and the thumbnail images are for navigation. The right side of the
screen contains the exhibition content (opening with a story about a chemistry
set).
*
The Revealing Things prototype was funded
by the Smithsonian Institution and generous grants from the Merck Family
Fund and The Rockefeller Foundation.The prototype was developed by Smithsonian Without
Walls in collaboration with Razorfish and
Smithsonian Without Walls
Judith Gradwohl, Director
Kathleen Connolly, Program Coordinator
Matthew MacArthur, Project Manager
Ione Anderson, Researcher
Minerva Rojo, Researcher
Marc Pachter, Advisor
Arthur Molella, Advisor
Lee Woodman, Advisor
Bruce Falk, Advisor
Lauryn Guttenplan Grant, Advisor
Razorfish
Thomas Müller, Lead Designer
Cindy Pound, Executive Producer
David Roman, Implementation Specialist
Michael Davis, Designer
Hillary Evans, Designer
Marjorie Case, Design Intern
Plumb Design
Michael Freedman, Producer
Marc Tinkler, Lead Technologist
Smithsonian Institution Press, Smithsonian
Productions
Elizabeth Argus
John Meehan
Laura Schneider
John Tyler
Jacqueline Webb
American Television from the Fair to the Family,
1939-1989, National Museum of American History
Crowning Achievement: African Arts of Dressing
the Head, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California,
Los Angeles
Down Through the Years: Stories from the Anacostia
Museum's Collections, Anacostia Museum
The Fleetwood Scroll Saw (Case of the Month),
National Museum of American History
Permanent collections, Greenbelt Museum
Guitars from The Chinery Collection, National
Museum of American History
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
*
Research
Holocaust Exhibition
Revealing | Things
+ Real | Virtual -