The Interactive Direction of Museums

Museums are often looked upon as bastions of the “old.”  They are home to items, both natural and man-made, that can date back millions of years.  The great pains taken to preserve such objects could very easily create an almost sterile environment, and it is always a struggle for such institutions to maintain the collections while also protecting their priceless charge.

It is because of this that many still perceive (and very wrongly so), that history museums are lacking in the technological advancements.  This could not be farther from the truth, as more and more organizations have been turning to new developments to not only better protect and catalog the collections, but also to enhance the visitor experience.  Like every other form of education or entertainment (of which a museum is probably both), aspects are trending toward the interactive.  In the same way that you once charted the progress of your favorite baseball player but can now “be” him using your video game console, technology is allowing for visitors to experience history in ways that were only a dream less than a decade ago.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum has taken its first step toward visitor immersion with two interactive kiosks, placed within the galleries, that allow the use to explore the whaling bark Lagoda, not as an oral, written, or even graphical history, but as 3D object accented by stories, music, and videos that tell the story of the vessel like it has never been told before.

Of course, visitors to the Museum have been able to “climb aboard” the Lagoda for nearly a century, as the Bourne Building is home to a half-scale model of the ship.  The ship is a hallmark of the Museum, and the perfect subject for the first truly multimedia project undertaken on the institution’s behalf. 

The Lagoda was a “greasy” whaleship from the 1840s through the 1890s, and with the interactive installation, visitors can now access areas not available aboard the model, as well as identify every major feature and connect with hundreds of images, objects, and videos.  All of these items serve to illuminate the whaling process and life aboard ship, highly accented by clips from Down to the Sea in Ships.  To explore the entire rendition of the ship that is available on the kiosk, one would need most of a day. 

The interactive was designed by Brad Johnson and Second Story, Inc., a Portland, Oregon-based design firm that specializes in multimedia productions for museums and similar organizations.  Recreated in three dimensions, the kiosk reveals every notable detail of a whaling ship from bow to stern, from high aloft to below decks in the hold.  The program is navigable in any direction, allowing the visitor to select most objects onboard.  These are then linked to a chapter in “The Story of Whaling,” where they can connect with the people, art, artifacts, photographs, movies, and songs that bear witness to an important industry, era, and way of life.

For the Whaling Museum, the next step toward interactive installation will take place with the completion of the planned Central Exhibition in 2009.  This exhibition will provide a detailed overview of the story of global whaling, complete with new pieces and many multimedia aspects.  For museums, dealing so greatly in the past is making the future arrive even faster. 

New Bedford Whaling Museum

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the world's most comprehensive museum devoted to the global story of whales and whaling.

The cornerstone of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the Museum is located in the heart of the city's historic downtown at 18 Johnny Cake Hill.

Open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and until 9 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month, admission is free for members and children under the age of 6, $10 for adults, $9 for seniors (59+) and students with a valid ID, and $6 for children ages 6-14.

For a complete calendar of events and programs, visit the Museum online at www.whalingmuseum.org.

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