I think we make a lot of assumptions about what alienates the viewer from the
art object or what helps the viewer feel more comfortable with an art object
when in fact we have no notion of the answer to any of these questions.
 
As other posters have mentioned, the Art Gallery of Ontario has experimented
with a number of novel strategies which address these issues. There were
extensive  visitor comments available (mostly positive, as I recall) and I
believe the museum has done even more scientific assessments of their
interactive installations.  I would hesitate to condemn or endorse a
particular means of interpretation before researching what is actually going
on in the field and what the viewer response has been.