Information for example in museum contexts often is presented in immersive digital environments. The project examines the influence of these rooms on basic cognitive aspects of perception and information processing: Is there a difference in viewing duration or the subjective flow of time in rooms of varying size? And do the rooms influence the processing of information presented in these environments?
The aim of this knowledge transfer project is to draw on empirical evidence to design and implement a prototypical exhibition space in the Deutsches Museum, where museum visitors can encounter conflicting information on a current science topic. In addition, an evidence-based, practice-oriented wiki on the subject of presenting conflicting information in museums and exhibitions will be developed.
As part of the "DigiMat" project, scientists from the fields of cultural studies, psychology and materials science are working together to combine digital imaging with physical-chemical analysis of historical museum artifacts in order to create new levels of perception and interaction between museum visitors and the exhibits. The assumption of digital imaging is that it can make new and otherwise hidden information about the respective exhibition objects accessible to the museum visitor.
How can the historicity of sounds and noises be integrated into a museum narrative? What role do acoustics play in the transfer of knowledge in connection with the movement of visitors and in the field of tension between analog and digital? In order to answer these questions, the project "Historical Sounds" investigates the influence of different representations of historical sounds on their reception in the context of a presentation using 3D glasses.
The project examines the influence of acoustic and semantic audio-text characteristics such as the position of the audio information in the room, speech characteristics, personalization and naming of depicted content on the text-picture processing.
The project 'Learning with 3D reconstructions' examines the influence of visual and auditive types of presentations on cognitive processing of archaeological 3D reconstructions and concentrates, among other things, on the depiction of uncertain information.
In various research areas and topics such as climate change or testimonies it has already been demonstrated that mental representations are influenced by true and false information. Problematically, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify false information in our daily lives. Furthermore, new technologies simplify the creation of realistic-looking false messages in media. This dissertation project, therefore, addresses the question of how discriminability of information influences mental representations.
Artificial intelligence-based applications, especially deep learning techniques, allow the manipulation of visual and auditory information. In the context of knowledge acquisition, these technological developments offer the potential to personalize learning materials and optimize their utility. Aim of the project is to investigate the extent to which aligning the tutor with the learner influences the learning process.
While current theories on learning in multimedia learning environments concentrate on visual and auditory access, this dissertation project focuses on a different sensory approach to learning content: The haptics and haptic exploration of physical objects. Thus, the extent to which this haptic experience - in combination with visual impressions - influences learning and the learning experience in informal learning environments, such as museums and exhibitions, is investigated.
How do museum visitors remember the spatial-temporal relationships of the exhibits after visiting a museum exhibition? A special exhibition at the German Mining Museum in Bochum with the title “Gras over it – Mining and Environment in a German-German comparison” presents developments and events during the last decades for three different mining regions in Germany. In the exhibition, the exhibits are ordered along different topics. The survey examines how visitors after visiting the exhibition remember the spatial-temporal structure of the presented exhibits. This project is funded by the Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past“.
