ColorColab is an interactive art installation surrounding color and multiple ancient sculptures or their copies. The experience allows users to choose one or various polychromous visualizations of the sculptures through the use of an online tool or an augmented reality (AR) interface. A repertoire of pre-made palettes is available to choose from, yet the user can also dynamically design their own choice of a palette, including from the colors of their own skin, body, clothes, and surroundings.
At the end, the user will be able capture a “screenshot” of their 3-D piece as a digitally shareable souvenir. The project will be multi-accessible: complemented by an online application to have a similar (albeit less tangible) experience remotely, for those that can’t visit the sculptures in person.
ColorColab allows its users to explore colorization of multiple sculptures.
ColorColab works with a variety of palettes, allowing the user to choose from pre-made ones or to upload their own.
ColoColab thrives in the museums that host the sculptures, as users can explore their own colorizations on the real statues via AR.
All in all, ColorColab is meant to be a highly interactive project. The user can note which statues have a ColorColab stand next to them, and choose the statue of their choice to begin to enjoy their experience and move around how they want. Secondly, they can directly contribute to the color palette database with their own color uploads from their own skin and clothes (and they can even input some data they would like alter users to know about the color’s origin). Additionally, users can upload their creations to the general database of “colorized” statues.
ColorColab is designed for users of all ages. Ease of utilization of the online application as well as the AR interface was a core design principle: the idea is that users will interact with the application in an intuitive way, and that the application will also have helpful notes throughout its design to aid in cases in which the user might be confused.
Part of the design principle is that users’ knowledge of day-to-day tech (ex., smartphones) offers an opportunity to tap into the power of focus and modes of interaction that they are already comfortable with. The application will be available in Italian and English (to become accessible to a more varied global audience). Depending on user evaluation and data, the project can later be translated into the most common languages of its users.
In visitor studies, Eilean Hooper Greenhill identified target groups for museums that may include families, school parties, other organized educational groups, leisure learners, tourists, the elderly, and people with visual, auditory, mobility or learning disabilities (Hooper Greenhill, 1999: 86). ColorColab will work to make the project available, accessible and enjoyable to all these types of users by targeting, attracting, and entertaining these different groups.
ColorColab is a multi-accessible experience—it can be accessed and enjoyed either only through a mobile browser from any location, or both through a mobile browser and an AR interface in person at the Ostiense Museum. According to Schweibenz (1998), digital objects are special given their multi-accessible nature (including their remote accessibility). ColorColab’s digital application is meant to embody this concept, since it is a multi-accessible experience brings users closer to the artifacts regardless of their physical location. Not only is there a digital application, but the application itself is responsive, and can thus be accessed from every device with an internet connection. In this sense, one of the main design concepts of xChange surrounded the idea of individual users/visitors interacting with the service and tailoring their experience as they want.
Interactivity of an open exhibition like xChange is based on the existence of open patterns for the virtual visitors to approach the virtual object(s). The user can then tailor their path from beginning to end. Gibbs and Tsichritzis, when coining and giving a definition to the term ‘Virtual Museum’ (1991) focus on the fact that virtual realities in the cultural heritage tend to serve more as services rather than locations. As a matter of fact, this kind of service aims to serve as a cultural mediator through the presentation of meaningful, historical data through 3D models, and through inviting users to become co-creators by editing them.
In this way, the user has multiple ways to learn thanks of the many tools of different kinds that the virtual environment provides--it can evoke memories, feelings, and even past experiences through the means of an emotional approach.
