Figure 1: MyCam homepage. Source: Cinncinati Museum of Art.

MyCAM is an interactive table at Cincinnati Art Museum, providing visitors with a unique experience through art exploration and map design. Located in the Schmidlapp Gallery, which is close to the museum lobby, MyCAM creates a fun start to a visitors’ art journey.

MyCAM possesses two mode selections--Kids and Adults--targeting visitors of different age groups. The kid’s mode is vibrant and colorful, featuring adorable cartoons. The adult mode is themed with the colors of the Cincinnati Art Museum - red and white--engaging people with a simple and classic design. Visitors can then view and select preferred themes and corresponding artworks for their desired path, with the opportunity to learn detailed information and interesting backstories on selected works.

These steps create a unique, customized map of the museum space since MyCAM collects individual preferences to build the map design. More than 5,000 maps with different themes and artifices can be generated, which includes 320,000 possible artworks on display. This allows visitors to experience a different, personalized art journey each time they visit the museum.

Figure 2 shows an example map created by an adult visitor with selected artworks highlighted in red, encouraging visitors to navigate the space more easily and plan faster. On the back of the map is detailed information, insightful questions and a doodling area for visitors to better understand and interact with 4 selected pieces.

Figure 2: A sample, personalized map generated in MyCam adult mode. Source: Journey Maker.

Designed and developed by JourneyMaker from the Art Institute of Chicago, MyCAM aims at bringing an interactive, family experience into the museum space. This is a successful example of visitor engagement for all ages through interaction and gamification. The MyCAM interactive table is about 3 feet tall, which is a perfect height for both adults and children. Designing two interfaces that display on both sides of the table, MyCAM provides a balanced interactive environment for visitors to communicate and collaborative face to face. Kids and adults could stand at either side and talk about the thematic art journeys they are creating. This is one of the greatest benefits of MyCAM - building an interpersonal relationship through technology.

Figure 3: A visitor interacting with MyCAM. Source: Cinncinati Museum of Art.

Below are 3 recommendations for MyCAM to further increase visitor engagement:

1. Add built-in printer

Currently, MyCAM does not include a built-in printer. After visitors customize the map, they need to leave the Schmidlapp gallery and return to the front desk to get the map from the staff. Adding a self-printing function might be easier for visitosr to get the map, eliminating the barrier of travel back and forth in the space. This would create greater efficiency for both the visitor and museum operations.

2. Increase accessibility

Although the height of the MyCAM table is accessible to people with wheelchairs, it might be difficult for them to see and reach the edges of the screen. To improve that aspect, a separate touch screen could be added on the wall, allowing people with disabilities to interact with ease. A further addition to increase accessibility could be to add a storytelling feature in Kids mode, enabling children who are not able to read to understand the text and design a map on their own.

3. Take advantage of social media

The Cincinnati Art Museum created a hashtag for MyCAM - #MyCAMArtHunt. It is a good hashtag because no irrelevant posts pollute this hashtag's environment. Nevertheless, only 14 posts are on Instagram, from the beginning of 2018 until now. Integrating social media features at the end of the map design might encourage visitors to share their experience at the museum with people outside of the museum.

From user experience to museum operation, MyCAM is a great fit for the Cincinnati Art Museum. Its digital techniques create an innovative combination of art, technology, and education, inspiring the visitors and connecting them to the cultural community. It will be interesting to see what other cultural institutions adopt similar or more intelligent self-map-design machines, reshaping the conventional idea of museum maps and revitalizing map design and implementation in the near future!

Resources

“About MyCAM.” Cincinnati Art Museum. Accessed October 15, 2019. https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/visit/about-mycam/.

“Click, Create and Commence Personalized Art Hunts with Cincinnati Art Museum's MyCAM.” Cincinnati Art Museum. Accessed October 15, 2019. https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/about/press-room/mycam-online/.

“Cincinnati Art Museum’s Reinvented Schmidlapp Gallery to Reopen with Mosaic Murals and Interactive Experience on Oct. 12.” Cincinnati Art Museum. Accessed October 15, 2019. https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/about/press-room/schmidlapp-gallery-reopen/.

“MyCAM.” Cincinnati Art Museum. Accessed October 15, 2019. https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/visit/mycam/.