He Iwi Rū | Quake Nation: effective interactive data visualisation in the museum

Tuhinga 32: 135-151

ABSTRACT: This paper looks at He Iwi Rū | Quake Nation, an interactive visualisation in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, as a case study for the practical application of interactive data visualisation in the museum space. It explores how the considerations that affect the concept and design development can impact the visitor, and vice versa (i.e. how considering the audiences can affect the exhibition development process); what the production, control and use of interactive data visualisations tell us about museum interpretation and the visitor as meaning maker; and how the general principles of museum and heritage interpretation apply to this particular example and medium. As just one part of the Whakarūaumoko | Active Land exhibition within the museum’s Te Taiao | Nature exhibition zone, Quake Nation demonstrates that well-visualised data can be used not only to tell and reveal stories, but also to invite personal interaction.

KEYWORDS: Data visualisation, digital interactive, earthquakes, exhibitions, interpretation, meaning making, museum, Quake Nation, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Te Taiao | Nature.