Smart Survey Tool: A Multi Device Platform for Museum Visitor Tracking and Tracking Data Visualization

Abstract

This paper describes the Smart Survey Tool, a novel multi-device application for museum visitor tracking and tracking data visualization. The application allows museum staff to capture detailed information describing how visitors move around an exhibition and interact with individual exhibits. They can then visualize the results of tracking either on a single mobile device or with multiple mobile devices connected to a large display. The platform uses orthogonal views of the exhibition space for tracking and visualization, with a chess-piece icon to represent visitors during tracking, and curved semi-transparent lines with animated semi-circles to communicate the path and direction of visitor movement. Our visualization is novel in its use of an orthogonal projection for pedestrian tracking and animation to communicate the flow of visitors around the exhibition space, as well as allowing users to dynamically switch between views representing different groups of visitors. The design of our application was informed through an extensive requirements analysis study conducted with Nanjing Museum and evaluated by conducting expert interviews with museum managers who considered that the application allowed for more effective and efficient recording and analysis of visitor tracking data.