Multisensory interactive storytelling to augment the visit of a historical house museum

We present an interactive and multisensory intervention designed for a house museum. Digital technology holds great potential for such heritage sites, but current use is limited to the pre- and post-visit experience. Interviews with museum professionals highlighted their concerns about technology placed in historic houses and suggested four design principles that we used to carefully integrate interactive technology, and the value of a bespoke installation. The installation, the Interactive Tableaux, shows a novel use of digital interactive storytelling where we combined both tangible qualities and informational aspects while respecting the aesthetic of the house and its home feeling. We discuss the process of crafting a conversation in and with a particular place and present evidence from our evaluations that the interactive multisensory installation encouraged observation, reflection and conversation.