Arts institutions offered new kiosk concept

Prominent arts journalist Laurie Brown and veteran new media producers marblemedia inc. have teamed up to rehabilitate the image of kiosks in an initiative to create a network of interactive displays in arts institutions across the country. Last week at the Canadian Arts Summit in Banff, the duo, along with the National Arts Centre, the Harbourfront Centre and the Banff Centre for the Arts, presented their concept for arts and culture kiosks designed with relevant and engaging content first and foremost in mind. Mark Bishop, a partner in marblemedia and respected new media producer, says the kiosks have been pitched as a new distribution platform that will enhance the arts-going crowd’s experience when they visit different facilities. Bishop says the kiosks, if they take off, will be an ideal way to cross-promote events, draw the user further into the event they’ve just seen, and help cultural institutions put their digital efforts where users can access them. "The challenge of creating web sites for your clients is that there’s not a physical presence. You can create the best web site in the world, but as many people have found, it’s the marketing to actually draw audiences that’s where it falls apart," he tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "Most just don’t have the resources. It’s a problem in television; it’s a problem in new media. So we asked, ‘how can we give something on the web a physical presence?’" The answer, he says, is a network of kiosks that will put interactivity at the fingertips of users. Prototype designs for the kiosks include several display screens, a touch pad, a keyboard, cameras and other interactive devices. The machines would also be equipped with printers and infrared ports to beam content to handheld and other devices. Early drawings show impressive installations that include other physical elements to create an attractive and engaging display that could be enjoyed by bystanders as well. In the future, the kiosks might even serve as localized Wi-Fi hot spots. Bishop acknowledges that convincing arts institutions, and government bodies that would fund the early spread of the installations, that kiosks aren’t an old and irrelevant technology will be one of the initiative’s challenges. He’s the first to say that, in the past, kiosks have been viewed as a technology-driven, not content-driven, product. There is an association with bank machines, poor security and little worthwhile content to contend with, he says. But, he notes, Canadians are among the first to adopt self-service technology, according to a recent Ipsos-Reid survey. Arts institutions have already begun expressing interest in the project. Bishop says it provides an opportunity for them to publicize their events in other cities across the country. When not in use, the kiosks would display a national broadcast of events, which would be put together under the editorial direction of Brown. "Because we’re talking about this being a content tool, what we’re actually creating is a national broadcast model…It would turn into a beast on its own. Laurie Brown would actually be the voice and face of it and would be involved to lead the national content team." Canadian Heritage has also expressed an interest since the kiosks could be a vehicle for its digital content collections, such as those in the Virtual Museum. The project has been funded with seed money from Telefilm Canada’s Canada New Media Fund. Bishop says that he and his partners are still fine-tuning the business model moving forward. "The idea at the end of the day is that we don’t want to burden these institutions any more than they already are. We’re not going to be charging them. We’re not looking for additional resources from them. It’s to try and work with them to figure out new business models. There are a lot of them that are in the cooker right now. Most people think of the obvious one, which is sponsorship." But Bishop notes the kiosks wouldn’t lend themselves to large corporate logos plastered around the installations. Instead, he says the initiative will have to find ways of integrating existing sponsorships in some other manner.

Arts institutions offered new kiosk concept

News | 03/21/2003 5:00 am EST

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