Intro
The Book of Franz Bock is an interactive museum installation created for De Schat van Simpelveld, a former cloister turned museum located in Simpelveld, the Netherlands. With a vast collection of religious vestments, paraments and objects connected to the Gothic Revival culture. The installation was inspired by a historic design book belonging to Franz Bock, a German priest, art collector and researcher helping the cloister develop garment designs by collecting various references and decorative patterns.
Concept
My first instinct in the museum was that I wanted to browse through that design book to learn about the different patterns and decorations. The book itself is a museum exhibit so that wasn’t possible. But that feeling of wanting to physically browse a book became the foundation for this project. To try and transform this protected object into something more accessible without removing its value, fragility or mystery. That’s why the installation itself is based around a real, tangible book. Because that physical feeling of browsing through the pages of a book, makes all the difference in preserving that mystery and value compared to browsing digital pages on screens.
Process
The design process started by looking through the museum’s collection and doing research into the various patterns, styles and decorations of these garments. For the purpose of the prototype various designs and patterns were recreated in simple line-art style. This way the various inspirations and shapes from the Gothic Revival culture could be emphasized and more easily identified. A large empty sketchbook was used for the prototype to design and develop the interaction. Using the left page as an interaction surface and the right page for projected visuals. By allowing users to touch the book and flip its pages, the tactile and curiosity inviting feelings of a physical book are preserved whilst still making room for a digital layer for enrichment and visualisation.
Development
To actually achieve the interaction Touchdesigner was used to bring various components together. The various designs and layers are projected on the right page along with some information about the design. To actually facilitate the “control panel” on the left side, I used a webcam, hooked up to Teachable Machine, an online machine learning model that can be fed images to recognise various scenarios. This simplified artificial intelligence was brought into Touchdesigner so that everything could work together. By recognising various positions of a hand on the left page and the flipping of a page the book could function as a means to control the digital projection. This naturally paved the way to place emblems on the left page for different design options, inviting users to place their hand on one to select it. Then by flipping a page the system recognises that gesture and moves on to the next segment of the design.
Outcome
The final prototype, though low in fidelity, explores a hybrid approach between tangible, physical installations and digital experiences. During an exhibition at the end of the project, the installation showed that there’s still a lot of value in tangible experiences. Especially in these historical or museum contexts, where most exhibits are locked away behind glass with just a small explanation on paper nearby. To truly get invested in the subject matter of an exhibition, curiosity, discovery and wonder are aspects that should be stimulated. For me, the project became a good exercise in designing interaction for cultural heritage: using technology not to replace the objects on display, but the present a fun and interactive way into the stories these objects hold.