UPDATE
Word-of-mouth was presented in the Nordic Digital Excellence in Museums Conference (NODEM 08), December 2008, Reykjavík (Iceland). It was a wonderful conclusion for a dear project.
Introduction
This work is a graduation project for the Media Technology MSc program of Leiden University. Focusing "on creative exploration and on the understanding of science and technology", Media Technology seeks "to stimulate innovation and creativity in scientific research and the innovative application of technology". This research is the author's first attempt to (re)consider possible associations between the museum and technology and to approach museological issues from a Media Technology point of view. The project was supervised by Dr. Maarten Lamers and was completed in July 2006.
Abstract
This study investigates the possibilities of disrupting the museum experience as a way to promote a more critical approach of the visit. We suggest that disruption as the confrontation with unexpected stimuli that contradict one's expectations can have a positive and creative value and attempt to apply such a disruption in the museum setup. We explore theoretically the link between museum authority, disruption and critical thinking and identify elements of the museum visit with potentials to be disrupted. In response, we propose the "Word-of-Mouth" configuration, an unauthorized comment capturing and comment communicating agent that confronts the spectator of an exhibit with the unmediated expressions of the previous viewers. By means of a "Word-of-Mouth" prototype, we study the potential value of visitors comments and the impact of the comments' playback to the museum visitor.