Hypernavigation in the Physical Space: Adapting Presentations to the User and to the Situational Context

The experience of visiting a museum typically consists in moving in a physical space and acquiring information about the objects shown. New technologies can help innovate substantially the way information is made accessible to visitors, when they most need it, with the most suitable output modality, and in the form that best adapts to their interests and knowledge. In the new interaction scenario, the computer allows the integration between the physical space and the related information space, yielding a new way of exploring cultural heritage: the individual visitor is at the centre of the physical-virtual space exploration and his/her movements and interactions provide input to the system to tailor appropriate presentations. This paper describes a portable system to support people in this new way of visiting. The perspective is that the visitor moves in the physical space of a museum while seeking information and guidance through the use of a hand-held electronic guide. Techniques are presented to adapt the content of the presentations to the particular visitor, place, and moment of visit (that is, taking into account the user model, the knowledge of the physical location and the physical space around it, and the history of previous interactions). Some heuristics are also proposed for dynamically updating the user model during the visit