I Am a Man
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The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, honored the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination with a large celebration. Derek Ham, one of my professors, developed a virtual reality experience that brought the user back to that time period for the assassination. Our goal was to design a museum exhibit around the virtual reality experience and present it to ambassadors from the museum.
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We began by researching how virtual reality had previously been used in museums including what materials were needed, sanitation equipment, how many people could participate and one time, etc. to get a better understanding of what would work in the space. We looked at how people move throughout spaces and the experience of fatigue as people finally make it through the entire museum. After performing the preliminary research we began learning about the Civil Rights Movement, the role Memphis had in the movement, and what it was like to live during that time period.
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After conducting our research we planned how people would move throughout our exhibit space, the order of information, and how the virtual reality experience would fit in without disrupting the flow. The final design includes an introduction to the virtual reality experience, silhouettes of people who were living during the time and personal accounts of their experiences. Once visitors complete the experience, they have the opportunity to reflect and give feedback.
Exhibit Design, Experience Design, Research, Collaboration
Final Proposal
Process
Interim Exhibit
Traveling Exhibit
Final Exhibit Proposal
We sent the final design proposal to the National Civil Rights Museum. Visitors would first walk in and see the large "I Am a Man" on the wall along with an introduction to the exhibit and virtual reality experience. Then, visitors would continue, following the red line, which acts as a guide through the space. They would see multiple silhouettes of significant figures from the Civil Rights Movement that are also shown in the VR Experience. Following the virtual reality stations, visitors are able to reflect on what they saw in the VR Experience.
Process
Virtual reality exhibits are a relatively new concept. Before we began thinking about how to design our exhibit, we explored existing VR exhibits and how virtual reality was being used in other museums and gaming conference. Specifically, we looked into how to store the equipment, how many VR bays should be available at a time, what the experience looks like to spectators. Following our preliminary research, we began planning the layout of the space in the museum we were given to work with, thinking about how visitors move through the space and the flow from and to other exhibits in the museum.
Small Wonders VR Exhibit
Real Violence VR Exhibit
Temporary Exhibit
We designed a temporary exhibit that would go up while the permanent exhibit would be under construction. The design is much simpler giving visitors a taste of the whole exhibit. This allows visitors to get excited about what is to come, encouraging them to return to the museum for the exhibit.
MLK 50 Event Pop-Up Exhibit
The museum, located in Memphis, Tennessee, hosted a remembrance event for the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The museum invited us to Memphis for the event and allowed us to set up an exhibit where people could see the virtual reality experience before it became a permanent exhibit in the museum. We received great feedback from users and spectators who simply wanted to take pictures in front of our exhibit.
