So far a lot of the virtual museums I've seen can be classified as collections of super-informative web pages. They're all great and tell some interesting stories, but none quite mimics the experience of a real museum visit. None, that is, except the Adobe Museum of Digital Media.
Visiting Adobe's museum actually feels somewhat like walking through a museum building. The museum and its exhibits are set up as a 3D structure that's highly interactive - for example, the exhibits are laid out in a floating, rotating formation that move toward your mouse as you scroll through. There are even several exhibits whose content changes as you move among them.
Right now the museum has five exhibits plus a video by the museum's founder. Each exhibit includes text and audio commentary from the curator and spaces where visitors can leave comments and share each piece in their social media networks. The current exhibits are InForm, which displays colorful and random infographics; Journey to Seven Light Bay, a virtual tour of the artist Mariko Mori's work Primal Rhythm; Valley, a collection of digital art by the artist Tony Oursler; A + B = C, a video by Rhode Island School of Design's president on the intersection between real and virtual worlds; and Making the Impossible, which tells the story of how this museum came to be. I really can't do these exhibits justice by describing them, so I'll let you explore them on your own.
The Adobe Museum of Digital Media is an ideal of what virtual museums can be, and what I imagine they will look like in the future. I realize that this museum is made possible by Adobe's deep pockets, and that most of the virtual museums out there aren't nearly as well funded, but I think we can pick up some great cues here about how to bring museums online to the wider world. Pay close attention and take notes, because this might just be the future of museums.
Adobe Museum of Digital Media
Mission: The mission of the Adobe Museum of Digital Media is to showcase and preserve groundbreaking digital work and expert commentary to illustrate how digital media shapes and impacts today's society.
Website: www.adobemuseum.com
Monday, December 26, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
A Thousand Words: The Canon Camera Museum
In real life, if you were to encounter a museum about a product, housed within the headquarters of that product's corporate parent, what would you think? Would you find the information trustworthy, or would you be skeptical? Would you expect a slick, expensive presentation or a nerd-tastic display of every minute specification?
These are all questions I asked myself while visiting the Canon Camera Museum, which is hosted on Canon's website. I found that a company museum can be both interesting and selectively cheery, as well as shiny and new and a little too technologically detailed for the average camera user.
The museum is set up as a virtual space with five buildings, each hosting a different exhibit, surrounded by digital fields and pastures (which looked unfortunately similar to Farmville). One building is simply a short introduction to the museum, and the other buildings house History Hall, Camera Hall, Technology Hall and Design Hall.
History Hall, like the historical narratives of a lot of virtual museums, features blocks of text arranged as a timeline. You can read the digest form, which is long, or the full story, which is even longer and can't possibly appeal to anyone who isn't writing a research paper. History Hall also contains a slick presentation on the history of the EOS cameras, and even though this exhibit reads like a sales pitch, its layout is quite interesting. The main screen pans slowly back through images of the EOS line, showing what products looked like each year, which creates an interactive timeline that you can click on at various points for more information. I wish this was how Canon has chosen to present the rest of their history.
Camera Hall is a pretty basic showcase of images and specifications of Canon's digital and analog cameras and camcorders. There's not much to it, which is nice because it's easily accessible for those of us who don't know or care too much about mechanical specifics.
Technology Hall goes into great detail about how cameras are made and what the science is behind each product. In the Technical Room you can see demos of how different camera parts work. You can also view a Virtual Camcorder Plant and a Virtual Lens Plant, both of which feature videos showing the process of creating different products. The Lens Plant video is especially good, like something you might find in a real museum exhibit, but they are both a little too upbeat and couched in an aura of marketing and promotion.
Design Hall was the most impenetrable exhibit in the museum. I had no idea what most of the links meant, much less how to navigate through them, because they were full of technical jargon and product names that I was unfamiliar with. I was all but ready to give up when I saw the Making of Camera Design section, which unfolds as an interactive video explaining the process of making and marketing cameras. It was nice, in this sea of confusion, to sit back and have someone explain what camera design entails - someone who assumes you don't have a technical knowledge of cameras and lets you go at your own pace.
I suppose if you really like cameras, or if you desperately need a chunk of information on the Canon company, the Canon Camera Museum is for you. The rest of us will have to settle for cherry-picking the sections that are understandable and not too dull. And though I appreciate the Canon dollars that went in to making the unique design and the many interactive components of this museum, I can't help be a little turned off by the sunny corporate message on display. All in all, the Canon Camera Museum is worth at least a glance, as long as you understand that not everything will appeal to you, and remember who's keeping the lights on.
The Canon Camera Museum
Mission: The Canon Camera Museum is a virtual facility presenting a wealth of information on Canon cameras. You'll learn things you can't learn elsewhere as we highlight the appealing features of Canon cameras.
Website: www.canon.com/camera-museum
These are all questions I asked myself while visiting the Canon Camera Museum, which is hosted on Canon's website. I found that a company museum can be both interesting and selectively cheery, as well as shiny and new and a little too technologically detailed for the average camera user.
The museum is set up as a virtual space with five buildings, each hosting a different exhibit, surrounded by digital fields and pastures (which looked unfortunately similar to Farmville). One building is simply a short introduction to the museum, and the other buildings house History Hall, Camera Hall, Technology Hall and Design Hall.
History Hall, like the historical narratives of a lot of virtual museums, features blocks of text arranged as a timeline. You can read the digest form, which is long, or the full story, which is even longer and can't possibly appeal to anyone who isn't writing a research paper. History Hall also contains a slick presentation on the history of the EOS cameras, and even though this exhibit reads like a sales pitch, its layout is quite interesting. The main screen pans slowly back through images of the EOS line, showing what products looked like each year, which creates an interactive timeline that you can click on at various points for more information. I wish this was how Canon has chosen to present the rest of their history.Camera Hall is a pretty basic showcase of images and specifications of Canon's digital and analog cameras and camcorders. There's not much to it, which is nice because it's easily accessible for those of us who don't know or care too much about mechanical specifics.
Design Hall was the most impenetrable exhibit in the museum. I had no idea what most of the links meant, much less how to navigate through them, because they were full of technical jargon and product names that I was unfamiliar with. I was all but ready to give up when I saw the Making of Camera Design section, which unfolds as an interactive video explaining the process of making and marketing cameras. It was nice, in this sea of confusion, to sit back and have someone explain what camera design entails - someone who assumes you don't have a technical knowledge of cameras and lets you go at your own pace.
I suppose if you really like cameras, or if you desperately need a chunk of information on the Canon company, the Canon Camera Museum is for you. The rest of us will have to settle for cherry-picking the sections that are understandable and not too dull. And though I appreciate the Canon dollars that went in to making the unique design and the many interactive components of this museum, I can't help be a little turned off by the sunny corporate message on display. All in all, the Canon Camera Museum is worth at least a glance, as long as you understand that not everything will appeal to you, and remember who's keeping the lights on.The Canon Camera Museum
Mission: The Canon Camera Museum is a virtual facility presenting a wealth of information on Canon cameras. You'll learn things you can't learn elsewhere as we highlight the appealing features of Canon cameras.
Website: www.canon.com/camera-museum
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Patents and Prejudice: The Black Inventor Online Museum
I can tell you when Black History Month rolls around (it's March) because we celebrated it every year when I was in elementary and middle school. My teachers always put up illustrations of notable black Americans, and I learned a lot about George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. There were other important people we learned about - usually though assigned reports we had to present - but the details of their accomplishments are sketchy in my mind. I know that a black doctor invented the modern blood bank, and that traffic lights were the creation of a black man, but just who these men were escapes me. Thanks to the Black Inventor Online Museum, I can learn more about these inventors, as well as many others who made devices we now take for granted.
The only problem I have with the Black Inventor Online Museum is that, at times, it seems to be a swamp of advertisements. Besides having Google ads on every page, there are also ads in the middle of each biography, and on some pages there are links to related books on Amazon. I understand that online museums may need to generate revenue to ensure their survival, but having ads all over the place is distracting.
The Black Inventor Online Museum is, simply, a collection of biographies interspersed with photographs and other images of these famous creators. In this regard, the Black Inventor Online Museum isn't terribly innovative, but it makes up for this in the wealth of information it provides. The museum spans most of black history in America: from Benjamin Banneker's work planning out the nation's capital for George Washington, to IBM engineer Mark Dean. The biographies are highly detailed, and most include either an image or a technical drawing of each inventor's work.
Using the helpful search page, I was quickly able to learn that Charles Drew was the doctor who discovered how to store blood for long-term use, and Garret Morgan patented the modern traffic signal. I also learned that black Americans invented the mailbox, the raised golf tee and the beer keg tap.
The only problem I have with the Black Inventor Online Museum is that, at times, it seems to be a swamp of advertisements. Besides having Google ads on every page, there are also ads in the middle of each biography, and on some pages there are links to related books on Amazon. I understand that online museums may need to generate revenue to ensure their survival, but having ads all over the place is distracting.Don't let this deter you, though, because the Black Inventor Online Museum is a great place. Whether you're a student who needs some inspiration for your Black History Month project, or an adult who just want to know more about where our modern conveniences come from, this museum is highly informative. You'll leave having learned something you, and feeling thankful that someone more intelligent than yourself had the foresight to invent the third rail.
Black Inventor Online Museum
Mission: The Black Inventor Online Museum is a look at the great and often unrecognized pioneers in the field of invention and innovation.
Website: www.blackinventor.com
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Computers, Not Fruit: The Apple Museum
I was all prepared not to like the Apple Museum. After all, I'm not a computer geek - my eyes glaze over every time one of my technophilic friends starts talking about coding or trying to explain the new features on their iPhone. So imagine my surprise as I was working my way through the Apple Museum and thinking, You know, this is actually kind of interesting.
The cool parts of the Apple Museum are the sections on Apple Facts, Codenames and Prototypes. Apple Facts explains things like why the company was named Apple, where the Apple logo came from and what Carl Sagan has to do with Macs. Codenames gives a pretty detailed list of what products were called internally as they were being developed (although, frustratingly, the origin of these names isn't explained). Prototypes is my favorite part of this museum, because it includes pictures and descriptions of Apple products that were developed but never caught on in the market. Who knew that Apple once tried to market a screen-based portable phone called W.A.L.T., or that there was a computer called Stumpy?
There's also a comprehensive Apple Data section, and although this part made no sense to me, it has a lot of detail on a lot of products, so I'm sure more computer-minded people would find it useful. There are also biographies of four of Apple's founders and early developers - Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Rod Holt and Jef Raskin - which are nice additions to the website, but I suspect that you could find a lot more information on Wikipedia.
Unfortunately, amid this wealth of information, there are some problems. The Products section of the website is completely empty, and the in the Timelines section only three of the five links actually work (and these are just data dumps of dates and products). There is also a History section which could have a lot of potential, if only it weren't laid out in a Cliff Notes-style outline. The text in the museum is also a little hard to work through because it's just not well-written.
If you can ignore these frustrations and just focus on the good parts, the Apple Museum really is quirky, informative and surprisingly fun. If you love computers, this museum is for you - and even if you don't, I would recommend at least browsing. You may find yourself, like me, beginning to reconsider that maybe computers aren't so nerdy after all.
The Apple Museum
Mission: The Apple Museum of a non-commercial project, founded in 1998. With our continuously growing database, we have become the largest and most comprehensive Apple history website on the internet.
Website: www.theapplemuseum.com
The cool parts of the Apple Museum are the sections on Apple Facts, Codenames and Prototypes. Apple Facts explains things like why the company was named Apple, where the Apple logo came from and what Carl Sagan has to do with Macs. Codenames gives a pretty detailed list of what products were called internally as they were being developed (although, frustratingly, the origin of these names isn't explained). Prototypes is my favorite part of this museum, because it includes pictures and descriptions of Apple products that were developed but never caught on in the market. Who knew that Apple once tried to market a screen-based portable phone called W.A.L.T., or that there was a computer called Stumpy?
There's also a comprehensive Apple Data section, and although this part made no sense to me, it has a lot of detail on a lot of products, so I'm sure more computer-minded people would find it useful. There are also biographies of four of Apple's founders and early developers - Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Rod Holt and Jef Raskin - which are nice additions to the website, but I suspect that you could find a lot more information on Wikipedia.
Unfortunately, amid this wealth of information, there are some problems. The Products section of the website is completely empty, and the in the Timelines section only three of the five links actually work (and these are just data dumps of dates and products). There is also a History section which could have a lot of potential, if only it weren't laid out in a Cliff Notes-style outline. The text in the museum is also a little hard to work through because it's just not well-written.
If you can ignore these frustrations and just focus on the good parts, the Apple Museum really is quirky, informative and surprisingly fun. If you love computers, this museum is for you - and even if you don't, I would recommend at least browsing. You may find yourself, like me, beginning to reconsider that maybe computers aren't so nerdy after all.
The Apple Museum
Mission: The Apple Museum of a non-commercial project, founded in 1998. With our continuously growing database, we have become the largest and most comprehensive Apple history website on the internet.
Website: www.theapplemuseum.com
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Our Path to Education: The American Association of University Women Online Museum
Right now in the United States, women make up 57% of enrolled undergraduate college students. Feminists and other advocates for women's education rightly applaud this achievement, but how did it come to be less than a century after women received the right to vote? You can find some answers to this question at the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Online Museum.
The AAUW, which was founded in 1881, works to provide equity for women in all areas of life, especially education. Their actions during the past 130 years are spelled out in great detail in Our History, interspersed with many good-quality images. There's a lot of good information in this section, but the way it's presented - as a series of timelines to scroll through - is not the most appealing.
Three other sections - Advocacy and Action; Scholarship and Support; and Research and Publications - also speak to the organization's history and are presented in similar formats (though Research and Publications goes beyond this static layout by letting you download some of AAUW's early, out-of-print literature). Combining these galleries with the Our History section to make one all-encompassing interactive exhibit would make for a much more comprehensive and interesting historical portrait.
There's also the Portrait Gallery of famous AAUW members and the Outlook Gallery, which features images of past issues of the organization's journal. The Portrait Gallery is worth checking out to see who has been a member of AAUW, but I wish there was more information on these women's accomplishments. The Outlook Gallery isn't very helpful at all because it only shows AAUW Outlook covers. It would be much more useful to be able to look inside the magazine, or at least read some of the articles.
By far the most interesting section in the museum is the Buildings Gallery, which showcases the past and present headquarters of the AAUW. You can view artifacts and images of different rooms in these buildings, and you can even take a Flash tour of the organization's first headquarters.
This last exhibit is the kind of presentation that would most benefit the wealth of information presented here. There's so much history and literature contained in the AAUW's existence that it needs to be synthesized and presented in an engaging way that's more accessible and less like a textbook. I have high hopes that this organization, which has thrived for well over a century, can spruce up its virtual museum and become more visitor-friendly.
The American Association of University Women Online Museum
Mission: Through the AAUW Online Museum, AAUW is pleased to share our rich history as a leader in promoting equity for women and girls for more than 125 years.
Website: svc.aauw.org/museum
The AAUW, which was founded in 1881, works to provide equity for women in all areas of life, especially education. Their actions during the past 130 years are spelled out in great detail in Our History, interspersed with many good-quality images. There's a lot of good information in this section, but the way it's presented - as a series of timelines to scroll through - is not the most appealing.
Three other sections - Advocacy and Action; Scholarship and Support; and Research and Publications - also speak to the organization's history and are presented in similar formats (though Research and Publications goes beyond this static layout by letting you download some of AAUW's early, out-of-print literature). Combining these galleries with the Our History section to make one all-encompassing interactive exhibit would make for a much more comprehensive and interesting historical portrait.
There's also the Portrait Gallery of famous AAUW members and the Outlook Gallery, which features images of past issues of the organization's journal. The Portrait Gallery is worth checking out to see who has been a member of AAUW, but I wish there was more information on these women's accomplishments. The Outlook Gallery isn't very helpful at all because it only shows AAUW Outlook covers. It would be much more useful to be able to look inside the magazine, or at least read some of the articles.
By far the most interesting section in the museum is the Buildings Gallery, which showcases the past and present headquarters of the AAUW. You can view artifacts and images of different rooms in these buildings, and you can even take a Flash tour of the organization's first headquarters.
This last exhibit is the kind of presentation that would most benefit the wealth of information presented here. There's so much history and literature contained in the AAUW's existence that it needs to be synthesized and presented in an engaging way that's more accessible and less like a textbook. I have high hopes that this organization, which has thrived for well over a century, can spruce up its virtual museum and become more visitor-friendly.
The American Association of University Women Online Museum
Mission: Through the AAUW Online Museum, AAUW is pleased to share our rich history as a leader in promoting equity for women and girls for more than 125 years.
Website: svc.aauw.org/museum
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sink-sational: The Online Titanic Museum
If you're like me, you're excited for next year's 3D re-release of James Cameron's Titanic (not because the movie is any good, but because I want to see that ship crack in half in lifelike detail). The movie premiers in just five months, so in the meantime you may want to brush up on your Titanic history. For a shallow immersion into this ship's iconography, check out the Online Titanic Museum.
Built around a private collection of Titanic memorabilia, this museum features four exhibits of objects. The Unsinkable Titanic shows advertisements for the ship and images of some of its furnishings. Disaster Strikes is a gallery of newspaper articles and postmortem commemorative books and sheet music (and you can even listen to some snippets of song). White Star Line displays artifacts with the White Star Line insignia, which were on board the Titanic and its sister ships Olympic and Brittanic. Finally, the gallery simply named Related Items is a mishmash of images that couldn't be slotted in elsewhere.
The images are of pretty good quality, and there is plenty of information given for each object. I was also impressed that this museum decided to display not just historical photographs and newspapers, but also White Star Line promotional materials and artifacts recovered from the ship. These really help in conveying the excitement surrounding Titanic's maiden voyage, and show how passengers were living on board the ship in the days and hours before it sank.
I'm a little disappointed, however, that there's not more information on how this museum came to be. The museum's home page states that it's built from a personal collection, but whose collection is it? Does it belong to an institution or an individual? Why did this person or place start collecting, and what is their interest in Titanic history? Knowing these things would help to better evaluate how trustworthy the objects and their interpretations are, yet this information is unavailable.
Still, it is interesting to be able to look at chair slats and upholstery and White Star Line china that are almost a hundred years old and have (in some cases) been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for a few decades. I'm sure most of us approach the history of the Titanic with more than a little morbid curiosity. This museum - featuring furniture and postcards that were handled by people who didn't know they would be dead in a matter of days - helps satisfy that curiosity.
The Online Titanic Museum
Mission: The online Titanic Museum is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Titanic; her twin sisters Olympic and Brittanic and the White Star Line - the shipping line that owned and operated the three "Olympic Class" steamers.
Website: www.onlinetitanicmuseum.com
Built around a private collection of Titanic memorabilia, this museum features four exhibits of objects. The Unsinkable Titanic shows advertisements for the ship and images of some of its furnishings. Disaster Strikes is a gallery of newspaper articles and postmortem commemorative books and sheet music (and you can even listen to some snippets of song). White Star Line displays artifacts with the White Star Line insignia, which were on board the Titanic and its sister ships Olympic and Brittanic. Finally, the gallery simply named Related Items is a mishmash of images that couldn't be slotted in elsewhere.
The images are of pretty good quality, and there is plenty of information given for each object. I was also impressed that this museum decided to display not just historical photographs and newspapers, but also White Star Line promotional materials and artifacts recovered from the ship. These really help in conveying the excitement surrounding Titanic's maiden voyage, and show how passengers were living on board the ship in the days and hours before it sank.
I'm a little disappointed, however, that there's not more information on how this museum came to be. The museum's home page states that it's built from a personal collection, but whose collection is it? Does it belong to an institution or an individual? Why did this person or place start collecting, and what is their interest in Titanic history? Knowing these things would help to better evaluate how trustworthy the objects and their interpretations are, yet this information is unavailable.
Still, it is interesting to be able to look at chair slats and upholstery and White Star Line china that are almost a hundred years old and have (in some cases) been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for a few decades. I'm sure most of us approach the history of the Titanic with more than a little morbid curiosity. This museum - featuring furniture and postcards that were handled by people who didn't know they would be dead in a matter of days - helps satisfy that curiosity.
The Online Titanic Museum
Mission: The online Titanic Museum is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Titanic; her twin sisters Olympic and Brittanic and the White Star Line - the shipping line that owned and operated the three "Olympic Class" steamers.
Website: www.onlinetitanicmuseum.com
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Art Without End: Olga's Gallery
Have you ever had a painting spring to mind that you know you learned about somewhere, but now you can't remember what it's called or who created it? You can only recall a few details - it was from the Rococo period and there was a slipper and a swing involved - and it's driving you crazy. But there's an easy way to solve this dilemma: visit Olga's Gallery, type in a few keywords, and soon you'll find out that you're thinking of is The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
Olga's Gallery claims to be one of the largest online art collections, and it's probably true. You can search for pieces by artist, movement or country of origin. You can even do a search by subject - so if you wanted to look up Prince Albert, you could find portraits by both British and German artists. Olga's Gallery also provides a helpful index of which pieces are recent additions to the gallery.
But this museum is more than just images - it provides a wealth of information about each artist and most of their works. Besides listing the year, medium, size and location of each image, Olga's Gallery also includes a detailed description of subject matter of many pieces. And if you're confused about what is being referred to, just hop back to the homepage. There you can find sections that explain Greek and Roman myths, stories about the saints, notes about the Bible and other religious traditions, and summaries of literature from around the world. And if you want to delve even deeper into art history, you can read the archived newsletters that Olga's Gallery used to send out.
With so many images and resources available at your fingertips, Olga's Gallery would seem to be an art lover's paradise. I do appreciate having so much information and history all in one place, but the website is marred by tons of ads. There are Google ads off the side and embedded in the text; there are huge block ads that you have to scroll past to see the pieces; and there are those devilish pop-under ads that spring up every so often. Be prepared with deal with these annoyances before you visit.
But do visit. There's so much available to look at and learn, and you could spend hours jumping from one subject or artist to the next. Sure, it's grating to find ads everywhere, but if that's the price to pay for having thousands of years of art right in from of you, so be it.
Olga's Gallery
Website: www.abcgallery.com
Olga's Gallery claims to be one of the largest online art collections, and it's probably true. You can search for pieces by artist, movement or country of origin. You can even do a search by subject - so if you wanted to look up Prince Albert, you could find portraits by both British and German artists. Olga's Gallery also provides a helpful index of which pieces are recent additions to the gallery.
But this museum is more than just images - it provides a wealth of information about each artist and most of their works. Besides listing the year, medium, size and location of each image, Olga's Gallery also includes a detailed description of subject matter of many pieces. And if you're confused about what is being referred to, just hop back to the homepage. There you can find sections that explain Greek and Roman myths, stories about the saints, notes about the Bible and other religious traditions, and summaries of literature from around the world. And if you want to delve even deeper into art history, you can read the archived newsletters that Olga's Gallery used to send out.
With so many images and resources available at your fingertips, Olga's Gallery would seem to be an art lover's paradise. I do appreciate having so much information and history all in one place, but the website is marred by tons of ads. There are Google ads off the side and embedded in the text; there are huge block ads that you have to scroll past to see the pieces; and there are those devilish pop-under ads that spring up every so often. Be prepared with deal with these annoyances before you visit.
But do visit. There's so much available to look at and learn, and you could spend hours jumping from one subject or artist to the next. Sure, it's grating to find ads everywhere, but if that's the price to pay for having thousands of years of art right in from of you, so be it.
Olga's Gallery
Website: www.abcgallery.com
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