Dear colleagues:

Indulgence coveted for cross-postings.

This most recent post on the Critical Museology Miscellanea blog argues that device apps employed as interpretation strategies in museum galleries actually undermine the quality & extent of direct experience with the museum collections on exhibit.

Communication technology apps are designed to monopolise user attention. One type of in-gallery beacon proximity marketing IT app for smartphones provides “ping” notifications with interpretive information & activities to visitor phones.

Of course, the problem with this type of interpretive technology is that smartphones are observable on the street, personally experienced, & demonstrable through research to be “behaviourally addictive,” defined as: any compulsive conduct not substance-related that undermines well-being in at least one respect (Alter 2017).

One supplier of beacon technology admits “It is nearly impossible to rip away someone’s attention from their smartphone,” & so it would seem it will also be “nearly impossible to rip” visitor attention back to exhibition content.

The main question at hand then becomes: do museums want to serve society by enabling even more such addictive behaviour in our exhibition galleries?

See a detailed, documented analysis of this & related questions at https://miscellaneousmuseology.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/get-noses-pressed-up-to-vitrines-not-devices/ .  Comments are welcome & encouraged to extend a needed dialogue on these matters.

Reference Cited:

Alter, Adam. 2017. Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technologies and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. New York: Penguin Press.

Respectfully yours

Paul C. Thistle