Snoqualmie Valley Museum | Bellevue College | Northwest XR EDU | Onward >
Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum located in North Bend, WA.
Madeline Parker, Museum Educator
Cristy Lake, Executive Director
Adriana DiMercurio – Artist & 3D Designer
Travis Bridgman – Project Manager & Developer
Support from Maria Sanchez, Ron Austin – Digital Learning Specialist, Bellevue College, The National Science Foundation, The NW XR EDU Network, DMA 294 |. DMA 295
Primary Users:
Visitors to the Snoqualmie Valley Museum website who want to learn more about Snoqualmie Valley history. These users are primarily adults with access to the internet on mobile devices or computers and the ability to navigate a website. The experience will be designed to be inclusive, supporting users with adaptive or special needs as well as knowledgeable industry leaders seeking deeper historical insight.
Problem:
How do we expand the reach of the museum and provide additional viability? How can we consolidate the museum experience into an immersive and enjoyable experience that will engage users?
Goal:
To increase user engagement and connection with the Snoqualmie Valley Museum through interactive and accessible digital experiences. To showcase the entire museum at a high level while while zooming and focusing on the story of specific artifacts.
Proposed Solution:
A web-based virtual museum tour that presents information in an intuitive and engaging format. Each room will be displayed in 360° or 3D, allowing users to explore spaces, zoom in on artifacts, and interact with educational content.
User Interaction and Sharing:
Users will be able to navigate related topics, follow personalized learning paths, and share opinions or feedback. Links to the virtual experience and interactive video tours can be shared on social media to expand reach and encourage broader participation.
Context:
The solution will be delivered as a web application hosted on the museum’s website.
Why It Matters:
Community engagement and historical credibility are essential to preserving local history and supporting the ongoing mission of the Snoqualmie Valley Museum.
Working Problem Statement
The primary users of this project are visitors to the Snoqualmie Valley Museum website who want to learn more about Snoqualmie Valley history. These users are primarily adults with access to the internet on mobile devices or computers and the ability to navigate a website. The experience will be designed to be inclusive, supporting users with adaptive or special needs as well as knowledgeable industry leaders seeking deeper historical insight. However, users often encounter historical information online but are unsure how to continue engaging with it, which can lead to decreased interest and a limited connection with the museum. This problem matters because community engagement and historical credibility are essential to preserving local history and supporting the museum’s mission.
The goal of this project is to increase engagement and strengthen connections with the Snoqualmie Valley Museum through interactive and accessible digital experiences. Links to the virtual experience and interactive video tours can also be shared on social media to expand reach and encourage broader participation.
Our Objective:
We are digitizing the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum exhibits by integrating visual stories, interviews, artifacts, and images into an immersive, interactive XR environment for learning and exploration. Using state-of-the-art tools, we are creating a fun, engaging, and informative digital world that honors knowledgeable historians, highlights authentic artifacts, and is accessible to all.
Key Features for Next Quarter
We will build upon the "look-around" experience and adjust the design so that is user friendly and engaging. We will also create a focused, interconnected subject spheres focused on local nature , plant life, and specific exhibit stories. Users will be able to dive deep into artifact categories, discovering how different historical elements relate to one another through an intuitive, non-linear narrative flow.
Content to be Created
We will gather and film new stories using museum archives and live demonstrations to provide a rich, narrative-driven layer to the environment. This content will focus on "deep-dive" topics, potentially incorporating XR avatars and interactive elements to give the history a human, relatable presence.
A primary technical focus will be mastering the Meta Quest 3 integration to unlock the full potential of the XR hardware we already have available. We will also implement feedback to improve the experience.
We will implement a user-friendly landing page to serve as the primary gateway for the immersive experience. We will also host direct links to the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum, our feedback survey, and project credits. By redirecting our existing software links back to this "Super Cool" site, we create a seamless, marketable ecosystem that allows visitors to explore the museum’s stories at their own pace.
