Content revision ea31a3343577b30cee4337cf2fef2b0864a5741341f27598e9108766c486fb2d

## Designing the exhibition

AI × Self
Source ID interactive.archive.exhibition-design
Original https://www.henryw.me/#/aipersonalarchive#the-exhibition-is-designed-as-one-experience

Henry designed the exhibition to make reading a View feel like an immersive visit. Eight design studies explain arrival, wall writing, objects, the afterword, the visit map, lighting, audio narration and language.

Entering the exhibition. The entrance gives visitors a moment to understand the exhibition before stepping inside. Its title, illustration and opening text establish the subject, while a view into the first room invites them onwards. A short guide introduces movement and opening works.

A narrative on the walls. I placed each chapter’s introduction on the wall, as museums do to introduce a room’s theme. This makes the narrative part of the exhibition space. Each room gathers works around one idea, and moving to the next room carries the story forward.

Material with a physical form. I gave digital material a physical presence through familiar exhibit forms. Their scale and spacing invite visitors to move closer and focus on an individual work. Opening an exhibit lets them explore it in detail or try an interactive project for themselves. The source’s registered type determines which exhibit forms it can use. Travel records become a globe, and writing can appear on a reading stand. Opening an interactive project renders its original Vue component, so visitors can use its controls and see the results inside the exhibition.

Closing the exhibition. The final room offers a place to pause and reflect on the visit. An afterword brings the narrative together, and a visitors’ book invites a response, leaving room for other perspectives alongside the exhibition’s own.

A route shaped by the reading. The layout is generated automatically from each AI-composed View. Its chapters and selected works determine the rooms and the route between them. The visit map makes that route visible and lets visitors go directly to a chapter or work. The layout algorithm groups works by chapter and sizes each room around their display forms and viewing distances. It arranges entrances, wall introductions and exhibits, then connects the rooms with doorways and a walkable route.

Lighting the visit. The next room begins to brighten as a visitor approaches its doorway. Rooms they have left gradually dim, keeping the works ahead visible and making the route easier to follow. The visitor’s position and distance from a doorway determine which rooms are lit. Each room’s lights fade together, making the next space visible as the visitor approaches its threshold.

An audio guide in my voice. An AI voice trained on my recordings narrates the exhibition as visitors move through it. They can look at the works while listening, or follow the highlighted words in the reading panel. Narration connects each passage to a viewing position. A passage can finish as the visitor moves, and the next begins once they arrive. The reading panel follows the active passage and highlights each word as it is spoken. Listening progress is remembered for each passage, so visitors can pause, explore a work and pick up where they left off.

Reading in another language. Visitors can choose a language for the exhibition’s narrative and audio guide. The translated text and narration follow the same rooms and works, so they can change language during a visit.