Live Biblia: Evaluation of a Support System with a Tangible Interface for Viewing Science Museum Exhibitions

Abstract

In this study, we present a museum exhibit guide system that uses a tangible user interface: Live Biblia. Based on the visitor’s learning interests, museum exhibits are sorted and mapped by the system. Thus, it is possible to create a unique viewing map for the visitor, unrestricted by the existing exhibit environment. We describe the development and evaluation of the implemented Live Biblia prototype, which provides exhibit information based on selected material objects. We conducted evaluation experiments to examine the system’s effectiveness. The results suggest that the interface prototype using physical objects spurred participants’ interest in paleontology and facilitated effective museum exhibit learning. Additionally, we found that presenting information in the prototype animation aroused the participants’ motivation to learn and supported the viewing of not only the single fossil object but also the related museum exhibits.