Ben Ostermeier created this web application for IS 426: Museum Informatics in fall 2021. It is meant to be part of a theoretical exhibit on the notorious “blue and black” or “white and gold” dress.
\r\n\r\n One of the defining features of the early 21st century\r\n has been the splitting of groups into smaller communities due to\r\n the rising influence of digital tools, especially social media.\r\n This division often results in groups that have sharply different\r\n world views than others. This proposed exhibit aims to explore\r\n this digital-driven division through a contentious, but largely\r\n non-consequential issue: the dress Internet phenomenon.\r\n
\r\n \r\n\r\n A low resolution, poorly lit photograph of a striped dress went\r\n viral on social media in late February 2015. People vehemently\r\n disagreed on whether the dress was black and blue or white and\r\n gold, resulting in debates on how one image could have such widely\r\n different interpretations. While the media was able to eventually\r\n confirm that the dress itself was blue and black, after seven\r\n years there is still no scientific consensus about why the\r\n photograph elicits such different perceptions.\r\n
\r\n\r\n While the proposed exhibit may explore several of the neuroscience\r\n and vision studies that propose explanations as to why the dress\r\n image is contentious, this web application would form as a\r\n particular interactive backdrop to the exhibit which will inspire\r\n dialogue both between visitors and the exhibit and amongst\r\n visitors themselves.\r\n
\r\n\r\n This interaction is inspired by the work of curator Nina Simon,\r\n who in The Participatory Museum describes the Ontario\r\n Science Center’s “Facing Mars” traveling\r\n exhibition. Visitors entered the exhibit by answering the\r\n question, “Would you go to Mars?” by entering\r\n turnstiles labeled “yes” or “no”.\r\n
\r\nVisitors to The Dress exhibit would also answer a question as they enter, in this case a query about how they see the dress on a tablet touch screen. This screen is shown on the Add Response page. This poll allows for visitors who see something other than the most common colors to select the “Something Else” option, a response that is also viable for those with visual impairments such as color blindness or full blindness.
\r\nUpon selecting their choice, visitors learn what percentage of exhibit visitors selected the same response, giving immediate feedback that not everyone sees the image the same as they do. Visitors then receive a sticker that indicates how they voted, which they then wear in the exhibit.
\r\nVisitors then enter the actual exhibit, and one of the screens displays the results of the vote, as shown on the Results page.
\r\nThe goal of this digital interaction, along with the badge stickers, is to provoke visitors to discuss why they see the dress differently and why social media causes different viewpoints to develop.
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