Master’s student looks to digitise and enhance gallery experience

Consolidating the experience she had garnered throughout a career in commercial exhibition design and building on her love for art and museums, Fi embarked on a project which looked at economic sustainability in the arts.

“By studying my Master’s I had the opportunity to research the subject on my own terms and I discovered an interest in Augmented Reality that can be used to enhance the visitor experience at museums and galleries,” Fi said.

“I took inspiration from museums, galleries and artists that have used new technologies and I wanted to experiment with AR to add a bit of storytelling behind the objects and exhibits.

“I looked at curated exhibitions that were being converted into digital exhibitions and the reach that gave for audiences that could physically visit the exhibition as well as those who could only see it virtually.”

Fi has spent the last year working on her Master’s, and will mark the end of her studies and research by exhibiting her work at the Gray’s MA Degree Show.

“I have interviewed curators and digital designers and the culmination of my research was to design and collaborate with a Digital Design Consultant to create an app which can be used to view additional content, video, audio and text which otherwise wouldn't been available in traditional museum settings.”

Fi’s time on the Master’s at Gray’s has allowed her to develop her research interests in the field of Computer Science and she is now set to take this further within a new role.

“There are a lot of issues surrounding AR to consider for the future and how it will be incorporated in everyday life and I will be continuing my research in this new and emerging area.”

You can see Fi’s Master’s Degree project, along with the other 17 Master’s students, at the MA Degree Show, which takes place at Gray’s School of Art from Saturday 24 August until Saturday 31 August.