Interactive Museum Exhibits with Microcontrollers: A Use-Case Scenario

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how microcontrollers like Arduino and Raspberry Pi can enhance interactive museum exhibits by enabling visitors to engage with models and view videos, even in environments lacking advanced infrastructure.

Contribution

It presents a practical use-case scenario showing how microcontrollers can be deployed in museum settings to improve visitor interaction and engagement.

Findings

Microcontrollers successfully enabled interactive features in model train exhibits.

Visitors experienced increased engagement through the integrated multimedia features.

The approach is feasible in traditional museums with limited technical infrastructure.

Abstract

The feasibility of using microcontrollers in real life applications is becoming more widespread. These applications have grown from do-it-yourself (DIY) projects of computer enthusiasts or robotics projects to larger scale efforts and deployments. This project developed and deployed a prototype application that allows the public to interact with features of a model and view videos from a first-person perspective on the train. Through testing the microcontrollers and their usage in a public setting, it was demonstrated that interactive features could be implemented in model train exhibits, which are featured in traditional museum environments that lack technical infrastructure. Specifically, the Arduino and Raspberry Pi provide the necessary linkages between the Internet and hardware, allowing for a greater interactive experience for museum visitors. These results provide an important use-case scenario that cultural heritage institutions can utilize when implementing microcontrollers on a larger scale, for the purpose of increasing visitors experience through greater interaction and engagement.