Unique and creative features
This is a mobile digital guide app to enhance M+ Sigg Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art exhibition experience. With iBeacon technology we applied to this project, audiences are able to receive artwork information nearby automatically without input anything.
Audiences use it to learn about the art in front of you by accessing audio interpretation and interviews from the artists and M+ curators. You can keep a record of your favorite artworks and review the history of visited artworks anytime. Moreover, audiences can learn the art history conveniently from the art achieves instead of reading catalogues or browsing the Internet.
Come up with idea
Between 23 February and 5 April 2016, M+ presents M+ Sigg Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art – the first-ever chronological exhibition of the emergence of Chinese contemporary art.
We question why isn't there someplace where audiences can see all the art? Therefore, our team created this app to serve as a deeper insight into Chinese Contemporary Art. Our team has worked to build a resource that will help anyone with a mobile device/ tablet to discover and learn about art. With the vision to make the Chinese Contemporary Art accessible, our focus naturally turned to making artworks available on the move and at people's fingertips.
Design and obstacles
This app is specifically for both android and iOS operating system. When we first started to design the application, we interviewed curators and art enthusiasts about how they engage with art, how they use technology, and what they hoped to see from our app.
We focused on building an app experience that lets audiences to explore artworks automatically when they walk through the exhibition. Most importantly, we wanted users to be able to do it in a way that's fast and natural. We came up with iBeacon technology with showing nearest artworks on the app top bar. We also wanted the app to present artworks in a way that synchronise their exhibition journey. Tapping a piece of art on your screen opens a detailed view of artwork’s information.
Benefits
With this mobile digital guide, audiences can listen the audio interpretation and appreciate the artwork at the same time. It is different from the traditional exhibition experience, which require audiences to read the details form the wall or catalogues. You can spend more time in appreciating the artwork.
On the other hand, you can review the history of visited artworks quickly. You can find which artworks that you are missed and complete the whole exhibition.
It also encourages audiences to learn more on the art field. It provides four art archives. You can review the details of exhibited artworks, information of artists, timeline of art history and individual chapters. You can consolidate the experience of this exhibition and learn art in anytime.
Sustainbility and prospects/future of app
Our team believes the app has a great potential in exhibition market. The aims of most exhibitions are hoping to promote a kind of art and cultivate the interest of audiences. By using this app, the enhanced experience can impress the audiences. At the same time, they can review the artworks in their exhibition paths. It can consolidate their memories. Besides, they can know more about the history of the artworks. It can entirely satisfy the aims. In long term, it can advocate the art culture in Hong Kong once it can greatly apply in most exhibition.
Impact in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, most art exhibitions are traditional which seldom involves interactivity. Only art lovers are active in exploring more information of an artwork. Others may just look at the artworks without knowing the details of an artwork.
With this mobile digital guide, audiences receive information automatically. By providing a convenient way, those audiences will have a greater chance to know more of an artwork. In future, our team hope that this app will greatly apply in most exhibitions which greatly enhance audiences’ experiences and cultivate the interest on art field of audiences.