Special Session 13

SPECIAL SESSION #13

Marina Carulli

Politecnico di Milano, Italy

• marina.carulli@polimi.it

Elena Spadoni

Politecnico di Milano, Italy

• elena.spadoni@polimi.it

Monica Bordegoni

Politecnico di Milano, Italy

• monica.bordegoni@polimi.it

In the last years, museums and cultural institutions have been subjected to important changes in the approach they use to involve visitors, also by using Extended Reality (XR) technologies. So, they are implementing a digital revolution to change how people relate to and visit exhibitions and experience cultural content. In this new scenario, museums and exhibitions are becoming real and virtual spaces where interacting with cultural and educational content is more and more possible. However, the process used to design and develop interactive exhibitions using XR technologies is often based on a trial-and-error approach, and few structured approaches have been proposed in this area.

The call of this Special Session is addressed to all the studies that involve the definition and/or the use of a structured design process to conceptualize, embody and develop Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality experiences for museum exhibitions. Special attention will be given to the design process involving multidisciplinary actors, such as museum professionals, designers, and VR/AR developers. We invite researchers, educators, industry professionals, and students to submit abstracts related to these topics and share their insights and experiences with the community. The special session will provide a platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange.

The session will cover a variety of topics, including but not limited to:

• Methods and tools for eXtended Reality awareness and communication for museum professionals
• Prototyping software and techniques for eXtended Reality exhibitions
• eXtended Reality to enhance museum collections education
• eXtended Reality for inclusivity purposes in museum exhibitions
• Impacts and social implications of the use of eXtended Reality in museum exhibition
• Design methods and techniques for integrating eXtended Reality and/or Artificial Intelligence in museum exhibitions (theories, case studies and applications of XR)

Prof. Marina Carulli is associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. She is a product designer and holds a Ph.D. in Virtual Prototypes and Real Products from Politecnico di Milano. Her research interests include design methods, integration of tools for Virtual Prototyping within the product development process, user experience design, Development of Multisensory Augmented Reality Experiences. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers. She is currently involved in the Euro- pean Commission-funded ROSE project, aimed at restoring odor detection and recognition in those with smell deficits.

Elena Spadoni is Ph.D. student in Design at Politecnico di Milano. She previously graduated in Product Design as Bachelor’s and in Digital and Interaction Design as Master of Science, at Politecnico. After graduation, she attended an Internship as UX/UI Designer, and she conducted a one-year Research Fellowship at the Mechanical Engineering Department of Politecnico. In the past years, she also worked as a freelancer on different Design projects, she covered the role of assistant in some courses at Politecnico, and she is currently covering the role of assistant in the Virtual and Physical Prototyping Design course. Really fascinated by Extended Reality technologies, her research focuses mainly on the design process for the integration of immersive technology in museum exhibitions.

Prof. Monica Bordegoni is full professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Design of the Politecnico di Milano. Her expertise lies in product design methods, virtual and physical prototyping, extended reality technologies, user experience design, multisensory interaction, and olfactory display. She has published around 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers in international journals and conference proceedings and has served on roughly fifty conference and workshop program committees. She is a member of the Advisory Board for the Design Society and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Engineering Design. Additionally, she is member of the Digital Olfaction Society and organized and chaired their conference in Milan in 2016. She co-chaired the Emotional Engineering Special Interest Group of the Design Society from 2012 to 2018.