+ Concerns and Challenges Developing Mobile Augmented Reality Experiences for Museum Exhibitions (2018)
Marques, D., & Costello, R. (2018). Concerns and Challenges Developing Mobile Augmented Reality Experiences for Museum Exhibitions. Curator. doi:10.1111/cura.12279.
Article included in Curator The Museum Journal published by Wiley.
Abstract: There may be valid reasons why some technologies are readily adopted in museum exhibits, such as audio, video and touchscreen interactives, and others are not, e.g., holography and augmented reality; however, unless we collectively and deliberately experiment with, analyze and report our findings, it is likely that concerns with technologies are based on anecdotes and assumptions rather than empirical data and may be misleading and confusing. We examine concerns and the challenges commonly associated with the use of augmented reality in exhibitions and apply a case study from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to assess the veracity of these with this particular technology. Assumptions around detraction, replacement, gimmickry, and onboarding, for example, were not found to be a valid concern. Augmented reality can have high user experience rewards, yet as with any technology, there are technical and socially relevant challenges that should be considered before adopting augmented reality as a user experience.
+ Reinventing object experiences with technology (2018)
Marques, D., & Costello, R. (2018). Reinventing object experiences with technology. Exhibition, Spring, 75-82.
Article included in the journal Exhibition published by the National Association for Museum Exhibition.
Excerpt from the Introduction: Outdated exhibitions challenge museum practitioners: do we preserve the past, renovate from the ground up, or do an intervention to meet the expectations of modern audiences? Decisions are often limited by historical precedent and structural restrictions, and more commonly by lack of resources. Making use of innovative and interactive technologies is one approach to improving the object experience for exhibitions rooted in decades past and augmented reality technology has in some cases been adopted for that purpose.
+ Augmented Reality: the new kid on the block (2017)
Marques, D. (2017). Augmented Reality: the new kid on the block. Journal of Natural Science Illustration, 49(3), 12-13.
Article included in the Journal of Natural Science Illustration published quarterly by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.
+ The visitor experience using augmented reality on mobile devices in museum exhibitions (2017)
Marques, D. (2017, July 7). The visitor experience using augmented reality on mobile devices in museum exhibitions. University of Porto, Porto.
Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Digital Media, as part of the doctoral program at the UT Austin|Portugal CoLab. Degree granted by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto, Portugal. Research was co-funded by the European project POPH/FSE and a grant from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/51840/2012). It was hosted by the Office of Education and Outreach at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Read more about the research.
Abstract: This research addresses the compelling need of the modern museum to understand its audiences, their preferences and responses to technology mediated experiences. The focus is on Augmented Reality (AR) technology delivered through mobile devices in antiquated museum exhibitions as one approach to repairing the gap in visitor expectations and their actual experiences in such exhibitions. The investigation took place at the Bone Hall, a vertebrate skeleton exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, unchanged since the 1960s and no longer meeting visitor expectations for engagement and interactivity. A mobile app called Skin & Bones was developed to reinvigorate the Bone Hall. It features 13 of the animals on display and includes 10 AR pieces of content, 32 videos and four activities. The content and structure of the app were designed according to the IPOP theory of experience preference, a four-dimensional construct that proposes museum visitors vary from one another in their relative attraction for Ideas, People, Objects and Physical activities. The research adapted a UX framework developed for evaluating the user experience with mobile AR services and combined it with traditional visitor studies’ approaches such as observation and tracking, questionnaires and interviews. For research purposes, two versions of the app were developed to isolate AR as a variable and to collect individual user actions. App analytics provided information on how onsite and offsite users’ behavior differed. The findings of the research confirm the positive influence of AR technology over the Visitor Experience as reflected in increased engagement with the content on display and shaping of app content viewing and preferences. The analysis of all study variables associated greater viewing of AR with higher levels of satisfaction and surpassed expectations. The technology was shown to promote the most emotional and instrumental experiences, and the least social experiences. Visitor engagement increased to the level of another gallery in the same museum designed anew 40 years later. The research also contributes to testing the predictive power of the IPOP framework and provides guidance in the adoption of AR technology and development of mobile augmented tools for indoor museum exhibitions and offsite use.
+ Scientific illustration overview (2017)
Marques, D. (2017). Scientific Illustration overview. In O. Pombo (ed.) (2017), Image in Science and Art, Lisbon: Fim de Século, 175-182.
Article included in the proceedings of the conference Image in Science and Art that took place at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, Portugal) in 2012, organized by the Center for Philosophy of Sciences of the University of Lisbon.
+ A Location Based Understanding Of Mobile App User Behavior (2017)
Marques, D., Costello, R., & Alpert, B. (2017). A location based understanding of mobile app user behavior. Presented at Museums and the Web 2017, Cleveland OH.
Article included in the proceedings of the conference Museums and the Web that took place in Cleveland OH in 2017.
Abstract: Understanding differences in user behaviors with mobile apps developed for in-gallery experiences and offsite uses is a fundamental consideration when designing content for mobile devices. The user experience and engagement with mobile products are greatly dependent on a multiplicity of factors such as social context, time availability, noise and distraction level, personal comfort, and individual goals, all of which are related to the users’ setting. Developing an app that bears user location in mind can ultimately assist with successfully reaching a larger audience and extending the mobile product’s life cycle in the sense that mobile apps are disposable products. In order to understand user behaviors with one mobile app in different surroundings, we turn to analytic tools. As simple as this may seem, knowing the location of the device (and therefore the user) is not a trivial exercise, yet this information is paramount for comparing other user metrics. We suggest comparisons of user metrics with inaccurate location data compromises the study. For example, Google Mobile Analytics, one of the most popular tools, reports not on the location of the device but rather on the location of the Internet Service Provider, meaning that international or out-of-state visitors at the museum may be misleadingly reported as engaging with the app at their place of origin. Using the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History mobile app, Skin & Bones, as a case study on location-based user behavior, we describe how we customized Google Mobile Analytics through events coding, filtering and segmentation analysis to retrieve accurate location data, which allowed us to compare app sessions taking place inside and outside of the Museum.
+ Skin & Bones: an artistic repair of a science exhibition by a mobile app (2015)
Marques, D., & Costello, R. (2015). Skin & bones: an artistic repair of a science exhibition by a mobile app. Midas, 5. http://doi.org/10.4000/midas.933
Article included in the journal Midas dedicated to museums and interdisciplinary studies in a special edition about science and art.
Abstract: Due to the costs involved with renovating exhibitions at natural history museums, some permanent exhibits stay on display unchanged for decades. The Bone Hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has remained intact for 51 years. Here we discuss this exhibition as a stark exemplification of a science-only, art-free approach to communicating ideas and how creative reimaginings of the visitor experience have made it more accessible for the majority of visitors. Within the Bone Hall, mounted skeletons are displayed in static poses without any hint of movement and interpretation of their behaviors and text labels describe, in esoteric language, skeletal details. In a rare opportunity to redesign the visitor experience for an existing exhibition, we produced a mobile app. The app is guided by concepts in the natural sciences, yet inspired by artistic ideas applied to audio, video and 3D animation, which created a multisensory visitor experience. Indispensable to the approach was a production team comprised of individuals rooted in the arts/humanities and sciences. They used their crafts to make science more accessible to non-specialized visitors through audio/visual creations. Interviews and surveys with visitors confirmed the value of producing artistic interpretations of science as a more effective method of communication in the exhibit.
+ The sequential art in science (2014)
Marques, D. (2014). Sequential art in science. Journal of Natural Science Illustration, 46(3), 18–20.
Article included in the Journal of Natural Science Illustration published quarterly by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.
Abstract: Comics are resurging and expanding from their traditional formats into new media and new subjects. Luckily for us, a budding genre is non-fiction science comics. They reflect maturity and depth, and have the potential to make science reach unsuspected and large audiences. Not surprisingly, they also share a great deal with scientific illustration.
+ Book review: Bernard Durin's 'Beetles and Other Insects' (2014)
Marques, D. (2014). Book review: Bernard Durin’s ‘Beetles and Other Insects’. Journal of Natural Science Illustration, 46(3), 27.
Article included in the Journal of Natural Science Illustration published quarterly by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.
Abstract: On the introduction to Bernard Durin: Beetles and Other Insects, author Gerhard Scherer writes “There is (…) something mysterious about these objects, these small organisms with many hidden secrets. This aura of mystery and the fascination exerted by insects’ physical appearance are no doubt what has repeatedly induced artists to depict them.” Indeed it was only at thirty-two years of age that artist Bernard Durin (1940-1988) stumbled upon insects for the first time, during a walk in his native region of Provence. But the experience was so transformative that it set him on a journey to illustrate these animals with a passion and precision that are unparalleled in the representation of insects.
+ 3D Digital representations in ichthyological illustration (2014)
Marques, D. (2014). A Representação Digital Tridimensional na Ilustração Ictiológica. Boletim da Sociedade Brasileira de Ictiologia, 111, 21-23.
Article included in the quarterly bulletin of the Brazilian Society of Ichthyology. In Portuguese.
+ Augmented reality facilitating visual literacy for engagement with science in museums (2013)
Marques, D., Costello, R., & Azevedo, J. (2013). Augmented reality facilitating visual literacy for engagement with science in museums. Presented at EVA London 2013, London, UK.
Article included in the proceedings of the conference Electronic Visualisation and the Arts that took place in London in 2013.
Abstract: Visual literacy has not been a common topic in natural history museums. The visitor experience in those institutions is nonetheless object centred and a more visually connection could lead to stronger emotional experiences that promote lasting memories and the construction of meanings. Visual communication has also a universal character, which is of relevance in international environments like museums, where visitors present an array of backgrounds, motivations and disabilities. Augmented Reality, a promising technology in the rise of visitors’ engagement, can offer strong visual interpretive experiences and is being used for the renovation of a Victorian-age skeleton exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The Osteology Hall augmented reality app will perform with real time tracking and object recognition to enable the visualization of the animals’ unique anatomical features and the roles they play in the environment, to motivate learning, and increase the enjoyment and memorableness of the experience.
+ Drawing science, knowing what you are drawing (2013)
Marques, D. (2013). Desenhar a Ciência, Saber o que se Desenha. Prsented at Ciclo de Conferências Desenhar, Saber Desenhar, Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade de Lisboa.
Article included in the proceedings of the conference Drawing, Knowing How to Draw that took place at the College of Fine Arts of the University in Lisbon in 2013. In Portuguese.
+ Scientific illustration: its role in the work of Santiago Ramón y Cajal (2012)
Marques, D. (2012). Ilustração científica: enquadramento da sua importância na obra de Santiago Ramón y Cajal. In Exuberâncias da Caixa Preta: Charles Darwin. Museu Soares dos Reis, Porto.
Book chapter dedicated to the science and art of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, pioneer in neuroscience. Book published along exhibition dedicated to Charles Darwin, held by the Museum Soares dos Reis, in Porto, Portugal. In Portuguese.
+ A look at science illustration in Brazil (2008)
Marques, D. (2008). A look at science illustration in Brazil. Journal of Natural Science Illustration, 40(8 ), 22–25.
Article included in the Journal of Natural Science Illustration published quarterly by the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.
+ The twenty-six letters in science illustration (2006)
Marques, D. (2006). The twenty-six letters in science illustration. Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Newsletter, 1(January), 7–10.
Article included in the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators monthly newsletter.
Abstract: Science illustrators work with images and not with words. The visual communication of science often involves translating text into a more immediate and appealing way to communicate or, at least, to produce images that will go together with text and help to convey the written message. Nevertheless, we use letters, words and text quite frequently, with the purpose of identification (as in writing the common and Latin name of a species), or in complex diagrams, in sketchbooks and book covers, or, even just signing our artwork, since that also implies combining letters with the illustrations.
