This graduation project describes the research and design process of taking on several challenges that arise in the context of blind people in the museum. Research showed that blind people are interested in going to museums and exhibitions in general. But most museums do not provide enough information for them to enjoy a museum experience.
This project, in collaboration with the Van Abbemuseum, started with an extensive literature study and field research to gain a deeper understanding of meaningful museum experiences for blind people and how blind and sighted visitors can be connected to each other. This research revealed five main challenges concerning the topics social inclusion, power balance, embedding interpretative resources in interaction, hasty sighted visitors and dialogue. A design, Art Valise, has been developed that empowers blind and sighted visitors to experience art independently together in the museum. Their different perspectives on artworks will enhance each other’s experience. This design exists of a wooden suitcase that presents three artworks within a theme of a collection in the Van Abbemuseum. Translation material in the form of a booklet and 3D objects per artwork are embedded in interaction, in which dialogue leads to complementation between the blind and sighted ones. The evaluation of Art Valise with the intended target group consisted of two parts. In the first evaluation the design was tested in what way design features can be improved in relation to the design goal. After the first evaluation the design has been optimized and a new prototype has been built. The second evaluation consisted of two tests with the intended target group to see in what way Art Valise fits the qualities of the design goal. In the end the design is based upon conveying two key-components. The first one is going beyond social inclusion, by bringing the blind truly in the museum, they can be recognized as visitors, being part of the museum crowd, who are independent meaning makers who use the museum to fulfil their identity-related needs.The second one is emphasizing the multimodal experience of art, in which a meaningful connection is created between the visitor and artist rather than only seeing the artwork. A change of understanding between the different communities can be reached, which could have a positive effect on the self-esteem of blind people and the ability to take greater control of their lives.