Group-Based Museum Audio Dramas forWell-Being

Well-being in a small group can be tied to how much its members interact. Small group tours are social occasions, and the discussion that ensues has been shown by ethnographers to be important for a more enriching experience. Increasing conversation can thus be seen as a way to improve social and psychological well-being. We present DramaTric, a mobile presentation system that delivers hour-long dramas to groups in museums. DramaTric gets sensor data from its environment and analyzes group behavior to deliver dynamically adapted dramatic scenes designed to stimulate conversation. Each scene contains slight differences in the story, leading visitors to understand their own drama only by talking with other group members. We describe an experiment with a full-scale drama to test if switching from presenting a drama with one technique to another results in more conversation. This shows that by using adaptive techniques we can modify social behavior, which can in turn promote well-being. Received on 03 December 2013; accepted on 03 February 2014; published on 04 March 2014