A phenomenological design analysis of audience experience in digitally augmented exhibitions

The museum is undergoing profound changes in the way it conceptualises its audiences. The providers of augmented spaces and interactive media seldom reflect on audience practices (beyond usage) and on attendant potential new ways of interacting and being. A phenomenological analysis of audience experience of the PLACE-hampi, a digital immersive exhibition provides new knowledge of audience behaviour, modes of interaction and detailed discussion on technological, virtual, individual and social outcomes. Along with this analyses an interactive artifact visualizing audience experience designed employing aesthetic visualisation semiotics drawn from the principles of information design, computational aesthetics and human centred design is argued as a relevant adjunct to a digital exhibition. This artifact known as the Coda proposes a dynamic and evolving post installation activity. It draws audience participation and provides a space for experiential and cognitive debriefing. The data in its visual new media form provides a conceptual map of the exhibition experience. It constitutes audience research that is contiguous with the installation in medial and experiential terms. The data yielded can inform stakeholders about the epistemological, curatorial and cognitive effects of a new media installation.