NODEM 2014 Proceedings

Wonderful Stories on Digital Devices – How Museums Have the Power to Ignite Feelings of Resonance and Wonder
Boy A: “yes, I did not know that they were so clever in the Viking age, I thought that it was all about fighting
and ehmmm stuff”
Boy A was also very impressed by the fact that he could guide his friend by using the map, but yet again “it was
a bit like cheating, as they [the Vikings] did not have the opportunity to use a map”
The case of the sailing installation demonstrates how digital media have the power to reach and engage young
boys. After the initial sense of wonder, which made them stop at the installation, the boys had a resonant experience
that allowed them to reflect about past, present and the differences between the two periods of time.
The installation also allowed them to work together and have a social and personal experience.
Conclusion
The study illustrates how clever embedded digital media, combined with powerful narratives, can change the
museum and create meaningful experiences for adolescents. The results have been employed in the creation
of the new Moesgård Museum.
As the case studies demonstrate, embedded digital media combined with storytelling can potentially take on
a key role in the storytelling process and thereby create meaningful, emotional and engaging museum experiences
for adolescents.
The three case studies of young people interacting with digital media, prehistoric objects and each other, provide
different insights into how embedded digital media combined with digital storytelling, have the possibility
to create experiences of wonder and resonance, and the impact of these experiences. Case study one shows
how they can be used to address adolescents in ways that would not be possible without technology. The story
became alive to the girls, because of the combination of the subtle voice of the woman reading, which was
activated by the RFID tag and made alive through the storyline. Case study two showed that digital technology
has the power to create a sense of wonder, as it did for the grandfather and his grandchildren. Case
study three illustrates how digital media have the power to engage adolescents in a playful manner, in order to
make them reflect upon their past. Furthermore, the use of digital media may constitute a base for the creation
of a powerful connection between the exhibition and its visitors. To sum up, the use of digital storytelling has
three main benefits for museums:
• Objects become more relevant for the audience
• It allows the visitor to get an imaginative and reflective experience-resonance
• It can create a sense of wonder
Is the use of new trends, such as digital storytelling, a new tool for museums to use to attract and keep new audiences?
Implementing the newest digital media in every exhibition may evoke an immediate sense of wonder,
but does digital media help in creating an experience of resonance, an experience of richness or significance as
described by Greenblatt? I would argue yes, and in this paper I have proposed that embedded digital media in
combination with a powerful narrative story have the power to engage and create a significant museum experience
and therefore have the potential to be a method for museums to stay relevant for their audiences. And
while digital technology often acts as the means of conveying a message, it is the combination of technology
with sound, words, smell and light that constructs and enhances the emotional side of the experience, which
has the power to ignite a feeling of resonance. For instance, light, sound or stories can react with the visitors’
perceptual systems in order to create the experience of harmony or reflection. The simulated relationship between
the digital media and the physical space of the museum was possible because of the existence of the
frame of the narrative stories of the Vikings, together with the realistic and emotional scenography, allowed
the visitors to relate to the people of the Viking age, by creating a link between past and present.
NODEM 2014 Conference & Expo
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