Overall, the visualization table had a positive effect on the display of Gebelein Man and the gallery as a whole. It increased the attention-grabbing power of the display by 24% over surveys before table installation. Our visitor interviews revealed that the Inside Explorer visualization table had contributed to visitors’ understanding of the mummy, with many returning to observe it after having discovered information on his age, preservation, and cause of death. The Inside Explorer table also appears to have had a positive effect on the other physical displays and cases in the gallery. Based on these conclusions, the British Museum decided to turn the temporary installation into a permanent exhibit.

Even though these lessons learned are described primarily in the context of our work with the British Museum, we see similar results in many other installations worldwide and regard our work as only the beginning of the exciting possibilities promised by interactive visualization at public venues.

The Future of Science
Visualizations at Public Venues

The Inside Explorer visualization table described here is an example of an ongoing trend that is fundamentally changing the visitor experience in museums and science centers. 4 Instead of passively absorbing information and studying static objects or subjects on display, visitors are allowed to engage with digital objects and explore the secrets hidden within an object in a manner similar to the way researchers would process and explore the real object and its digital representation. We curated and annotated the datasets and provided additional information to furnish a complete story for the user experience with the table.

Based on the work presented here,
we now intend to take another step,
aiming to develop a solution that ad-
dresses the bottlenecks in the process
to enable rapid and efficient conversion
of a scanned subject into a compelling
visitor experience. The first bottleneck
is in the deeper initial exploration of
scans of the subject to facilitate discov-
ery. Deep technical knowledge of the
process should not be required, as it
is today, making it possible to address
a schematic of the adopted workflow.
The iterative approach was based on
frequent videoconferencing, as well as
regular on-site meetings and design
reviews, leading to refinement of the
software, as well as the physical exhibit
design, to improve aspects of the inter-
active public experience (such as acces-
sibility to visitors in wheelchairs).

The final Gebelein Man exhibit in the Early Egypt Gallery at the British Museum was subject to an evaluation by the museum’s Interpretation Department prior to, as well as after, installation of the Inside Explorer visualization table to determine its contribution to the visitor experience. 1 In the pre-table evaluation, we tracked 114 visitors and interviewed more than 50 of them. In the post-table evaluation, we tracked 133 visitors and interviewed 95 of them. Here are some of the main findings:

Time spent in the gallery. Prior to table installation, the median time spent in the gallery was two minutes. After table installation, visitor dwell time in the gallery increased by 40%, and visitors made an average of three stops (instead of two) in the gallery. An important finding was that the fraction of visitors stopping to view other displays in the gallery increased from 3% to 20%;

Visitor attention to original display. We were initially concerned that the virtual visual exploration table would divert interest from the physical artifacts and mummy in the gallery, but the opposite occurred, where the fraction of visitors viewing the physical display increased from 59% to 83%. The total visitor attention time given to Gebelein Man was shared between the table and the mummy, leading to a decrease in time spent observing the physical subject alone; and

Interaction with the table. The table saw heavy visitor interaction and was in use 95% of the evaluation time. Of the visitors to the gallery, 83% stopped at the Gebelein Man display, 59% stopped at the Inside Explorer table, and 36% engaged with the table. The average interaction time was two minutes, nine seconds. In our interviews, the display was scored nine out of 10 on average for ease of use and enjoyment and an average of 8. 5 for informativeness. Approximately 60% of table users discovered the cause of death.

The amulet of
Neswaiu, still
present within
the mummy
wrappings and
behind glass, can
now be physically
reproduced in
high-resolution
detail through a
process of digital
virtual extraction.