Pocahontas

Audrey Hepburn

Michelle and Barack Obama

Pocahontas

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TALKING

heads

the

If you could ask history a question, what would it be?

The Talking Heads exhibition is an immersive exhibit sponsored by The National Portrait Gallery. This exhibit allows visitors to have a conversation with art and people from history with the help of VR glasses and parabolic microphone domes. The intent of this exhibit is to make the museum experience interactive and not quite as serious as looking at a painting on a wall. Much like the Brooklyn Museum's "Ask Art" visitors will be able to walk up to a portrait and ask anything wether it be "Where were you born?" or "Do you wear underwear on your head?". Click through the slider to the right to see all the people and portraits included in the exhibit.

William Walker, 12

Will is a 12-year-old boy who lives in Delaware. Will hates school and loves skateboarding with his friends (he’s going to be pro one day). Will wishes his parents and teachers would get off his back so he could just have fun. School is lame and takes too much time. Will has a younger sister who is super annoying and always wants to hang out with him and his friends, but she’s not cool enough.

possible pain points/ problems

1

Noise

The noise in the room could cause the listening device to not hear the correct speaker, thus we decided to fix in three ways. First we decided to use a call to action phrase like "Hey Elvis". Secondly we thought to add talking spaces which will be under a parabolic microphone dome and will be indicated by large dots on the floor. Thirdly we decided to only allow 20 people in the room at a time.

2

Phones

While we want people to be able to post about the exhibition we also want them to focus on the art and the conversation. In order to fix this problem we decided to have visitors offer cellphones as collateral when they are given the VR glasses at the beginning of the exhibit.

3

Funding

While the whole experience and tech would be really cool it would also be expensive. After consulting SME Laura Evans we decided the best way to go about this is private funding. A current proposal by Elizabeth Warren aims to make museum donations a tax write off and we would target are wealthy individuals with an interest in technology and education like, Elon Musk or Bill Gates.

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TALKING

heads

the

If you could ask history a question, what would it be?

William Walker, 12

possible pain points/ problems

1

Noise

2

Phones

While we want people to be able to post about the exhibition we also want them to focus on the art and the conversation. In order to fix this problem we decided to have visitors offer cellphones as collateral when they are given the VR glasses at the beginning of the exhibit.

3

Funding

Exhibit branding

Since the exhibit is made up of mostly black and white photographs we decided to stick with a black and white color scheme and a simple design.

TALKING

heads

the

If you could ask history a question, what would it be?

William Walker, 12

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possible pain points/ problems

1

Noise

​

2

Phones

While we want people to be able to post about the exhibition we also want them to focus on the art and the conversation. In order to fix this problem we decided to have visitors offer cellphones as collateral when they are given the VR glasses at the beginning of the exhibit.

3

Funding

Exhibit branding

Since the exhibit is made up of mostly black and white photographs we decided to stick with a black and white color scheme and a simple design.