Bauhaus University, Weimar

About: Bauhaus University, Weimar is a education organization based out in Weimar, Thüringen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Finite element method & Isogeometric analysis. The organization has 1421 authors who have published 2998 publications receiving 104454 citations. The organization is also known as: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar & Hochschule für Architektur und Bauwesen.

Evaluating tangible and multisensory museum visiting experiences: lessons learned from the meSch project

Abstract: This paper explores the potential of tangible and embodied interaction for encouraging a multisensory engagement with museum objects and artefacts on display, by means of focusing on the subtleties of devising and planning for evaluation and audience research. Measuring the impact of new technologies is one of the main challenges identified in the 2015 NMC Horizon report (Museum Edition). The challenge is even greater for emerging concepts, technologies, and approaches, such as the use of tangible and embodied interaction in museums and other Cultural Heritage settings. Taking as an example two case-studies from the EU meSch project, from Museon and Allard Pierson Museum in the Netherlands, we discuss our plan for devising and carrying out audience research so as to “document,” analyse, and interpret the impact of digitally enhanced, tangible, embodied, and multisensory museum visiting experiences. Our intention is to provide an honest account of the different strengths and weaknesses encountered for all evaluation methodologies that were used, namely observations, interviews, video data, questionnaires, meaning maps, and post-visit interviews. We also share and discuss lessons learned, insights and best practices that could be of benefit for museum and audience research professionals.

Comprehension of multimedia health information among older adults with chronic illness

Abstract: The authors explored knowledge effects on comprehension of multimedia health information by older adults (age 60 or older). Participants viewed passages about hypertension, with text accompanied by relevant and irrelevant pictures, and then answered questions about the passage. Fixations on text and pictures were measured by eye-tracking. Participants with more knowledge of hypertension understood the passages better. This advantage was related to how they processed the passages: while knowledge differences were unrelated to overall time viewing displays, relationships between allocation and knowledge emerged when the data were partitioned into phases (during and after first reading the text). More knowledgeable participants spent relatively more time fixating text than pictures during the first pass. After this pass, they spent more time viewing the relevant picture rather than re-reading, with some evidence that this strategy was associated with comprehension. The findings have implications for designin...