Conversation starters

BY HELEN HARVEY

Forget about going to a museum, looking at the exhibit and reading the text panel. That is so last week.

Instead, imagine looking at the exhibit while holding an iPad. Press one of the icons and see related images or graphics or watch a story unfold. At the same time, listen to a narrator explain what you're looking at via the speaker.

Puke Ariki has bought, courtesy of some sponsors, 10 of the newly released Apple iPads and plans to start using them for the first time with an exhibition opening on August 20. The exhibition features paintings by Taranaki artist John McLean.

Pictures of the paintings were taken as they developed, so with the iPad, it will be possible to peel back the layers by swiping the multimedia touch screen, exhibitions manager Gerard Beckingsale says.

"In this case, you have the finished painting and it looks like you are actually pulling a page back. That gives you the half-finished painting. Pull that back, it gives you the sketch. Pull that back, you get the gridlines. Pull that back to . . . in John's case, he starts off with splatters. So you can visually see how that painting developed in the studio."

The paintings are a sort of fable of the farmer and his wife, their separation and finding themselves, he says.

"But there are a lot of different levels of interpretation in there."

The art experience is different in a museum compared to an art gallery, he says, "because we can actually explain the creative process".

"We can explain the levels of interpretation, whereas in a gallery, they are more reluctant to do that. It's up to you to decide. But a lot of people don't feel comfortable with that, so we will open up that door for them."

For this exhibition, the iPad will give the visitor spoken labels, an audio tour by the artist with images and five little videos that talk about five of the 19 paintings.

"Before, if we wanted to do this, we'd have to have a video on screen next to the painting, which would be just wrong. It would take the eye away from the painting."

On the front of the iPad will be floor plan. Each painting will have an icon and the viewer just needs to touch the icon to get options.

The technology has enormous possibilities. How it is used will depend on the exhibition and what the museum can afford to do.

"This is not an expensive exhibition. It's a good one to kick off with to see how people use it. It's a nice, simple, beautifully rendered exhibition that will look good on an iPad."

Puke Ariki is leading the way in the use of this kind of technology.

"We like to think we are. We certainly are aware of the issues and are keen to tackle them head on . . . we knew we wanted to be the first people to trial this."

The museum has been looking for a device that offers people new and better levels of engagement. People expect more than text, Mr Beckingsale says.

"It's a sign of the times. Younger generations are engaging on very different levels. They don't necessarily want to read. They expect to have a more personal level of engagement. They decide what it is they see and read and they expect to respond . . . They like to respond. They like to have their say.

"Apple has a system where third parties can write applications. So that basically means we can write an application to make this do what we want it to do."

For the John McLean exhibition, the iPads just give information to the user. But they are Bluetooth-enabled and have virtual keyboards, so in the future, users will be asked for a response, whether it is feedback on the exhibition or interactive responses to the exhibition.

"This is technology where, for the first time, I believe museums' creative environments can actually engage people in a conversational manner."

The iPads will be available to everyone over the age of 16. The charge will be $5 for museum members and $10 for non- members. There will be a counter at the entrance of the exhibition and people will need to leave their driver's licence or passport as security.

"We have to protect the asset. It's going to be interesting to see how it goes, because they are very desirable items."

A system is being set up to help prevent theft. As people walk out of the gallery, they will go past a Bluetooth pocket that will send a signal and render the iPad useless, so even if somebody walks out the door with the iPad, it won't be a lot of use. And it will have Puke Ariki engraved on it.

Puke Ariki will see how many people use the iPads and how they use them.

"There will be a generation that struggle with them, but they are incredibly easy to use. And then, from that, we will decide whether it warrants getting any more. We have been lucky to have sponsors who have bought these for us."

The museum has the cheapest iPads, which are worth about $800 each.

"It's quite exciting, really. The screen size [is good] and the resolution is brilliant. It can do a lot of really cool things."

There is an exhibition planned for next April on surfing and Mr Beckingsale is excited about the number of innovative ways the iPads could be used.

"What we want to talk about is how surf is formed, the wind around the mountain, offshore winds, the sea swell miles out, how it all contributes."

The iPad could be set up so the user could drag the wind in a certain direction, click "go" and see how that affects the surf, he says. Inc Creative in Wanganui is making the apps for the iPad.

"We are trying to build something that is reasonable and generic that other museums and galleries can use. Apple itself is interested in this as a case study to see what kind of uptake, what potential they have, in this kind of environment. It is the most flexible tool I've seen available to us."

It's always a bit stressful seeing how people react to new things like this, he says. But it's worth doing it, because it opens up a new realm in terms of engaging people and giving them information that is often hard to supply in some environments.

"We've just scratched the surface. We're going to watch people use them and understand what attracts them, what they do and don't like."

Puke Ariki is working out its 10-year strategic plan.

"There's a very intriguing question about what this place will look like in 10 years' time if this kind of technology has a general uptake by the community. If everybody starts reading books electronically, what's the library going to look like?"

Mr Beckingsale says Puke Ariki management has come up with a good few scenarios about what it will look like and it's all good, but it could conceivably look very different to how it does now.

"We have to do some serious forward planning to stay on top of the game and be mediators of knowledge and an environment that harnesses collective knowledge."

The application for the John McLean exhibition will be available on Puke Ariki's website and can be downloaded before visiting the museum if people want to use their own iPads.

- © Fairfax NZ News