Using narration networks to model distributed tangible systems for cultural heritage sites

Abstract

The goal of the EU meSch project is bringing back the physical experience to cultural heritage sites using tangible interactive systems connecting the experience on site with digital information in novel ways. To realize this, many distributed sensors, presentation devices and tangible objects are needed that are able to work together to create the overall experience for the visitor. Furthermore, the system should support authoring done by curators through creating digital narratives as well as online exploration of personal visits to discover more information. These requirements draw the needs for a common software architecture for on-site systems that supports fast creation of detached prototypes as well as embedded use in a bigger software life cycle. As a challenge for integration the distributed devices might use different platforms and communication technology. They must be easily maintainable and there must be a fixed set of interfaces for integration within a larger environment, getting predefined digital narratives as input and outputing a log of the visitor's interactions. This work should give an outline of the requirements and the integration of the in-place system with the whole meSch server architecture. It focuses on using narration networks to model the interaction and facilitating these networks as an exchange format between the authoring environment and the in-place system. It provides sample prototype implementations for distributed tangible systems in cultural heritage sites controlled by predefined narration networks and evaluates their use for the meSch project.