augmenting the historic house museum

Augmenting the Historic House Museum: The Impact of Community Partnership and Augmented Reality

on Visitor Experience at Riversdale House

Quint Gregory, Nicole Riesenberger, and Caroline Paganussi June 22, 2016

Riversdale House Museum, Riverdale, Maryland

@NRiesenberger @MSCollaboratory

Charles Benedict Calvert


Rosalie Stier-Calvert George Calvert


Riversdale House Museum, Interior @NRiesenberger

@MSCollaboratory

Jan Brueghel, The Entry of the Animals into Noah's Ark, 1613. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Peter Paul Rubens, Cimon and Pero (Roman Charity), 1630-1635. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of Nicolaes van der Borght, 1625-1635. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.


Visitors to Riversdale House using Aurasma to access AR content


High-Resolution Zoomable Images


Salon Hang, Seen in Aurasma Studio


Videos


Interactive Provenance Map


Omeka Website


3D Reconstruction of the Carriage House


GENERIC LEARNING OUTCOMES Knowledge and Understanding: 1) The Stier family hosted an exhibition of important European art; 2) This was the first exhibition of major European art in the United States; 3) Visitors from all over the US came to Riversdale House to see the show. 4) American artists were influential in organizing and promoting the show 5) The Stier-Calvert family played an important role in sharing European art with American audiences. Skills: Use the Aurasma app to see digital images of the paintings that could not be reproduced for the exhibition. Utilize technology to enhance engagement with a traditional object-based exhibition format. Attitudes and Values: The Riversdale House and the Stier family played an important role in the cultural world of the Baltimore-Washington area in the early 19th century, and in the early United States at large. Therefore, the history of the home and family is significant to both local history and the broader history of art. Enjoyment, Inspiration, and Creativity: Inspire visitors to make portraits of themselves at the “Selfie station,” increasing the “fun” factor of the Riversdale House Museum. Action, Behavior and Progression: Visitors should be able to navigate easily between observation of objects and app-assisted viewing.

@CarolinePags89 @MSCollaboratory

-  Quality of films and Audio/Visual Content: “Very Good” (75%) -  Relevance of digital content to the objects in the exhibition: “Very Good” (50%)

-  69% of respondents criticized weak Wifi connection -  19% of respondents noted difficulty of locating triggers within the exhibition


“History coming to life!” “Gave life to space!”

“It lights up the pictures.” “I like the opportunity to see where paintings are now.”

“I loved seeing the images of the paintings as they might have been displayed originally. It was really fun to see the enhanced images.”

“It was cool to see the augmented vision of the paintings to get an idea of what the paintings really looked like and see how the building used to look.”

“I think it is a brilliant idea and the wave of the future. Great!” “I look forward to more and fuller use of this enhancement for other exhibits.”


How it works

1. Start with a photograph. 2. In an AR, program overlay that image with audio, text, video, or other images. 3. Open the AR app. on your mobile device and aim the camera at the augmented object.

Paintings To-Scale

augmenting the historic house museum

Education