{"id":971,"date":"2013-06-07T11:41:53","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T11:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memetechnology.org\/?p=2746"},"modified":"2013-06-07T11:41:53","modified_gmt":"2013-06-07T11:41:53","slug":"the-theatre-of-ghosts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Theatre of Ghosts"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve mentioned<\/a> Ghosts in the Garden before, but the first chance I got to experience it was three weeks ago as part of Museums at Night. Having been piloted last year, the Holburne Museum’s Special Listening Devices<\/em> were broken out again by Splash and Ripple for an extended season as a paid-for attraction at the museum. For just \u00a35 a family, or any other group or individual, can borrow one of the devices to eavesdrop on late Georgian activities in the pleasure grounds that surround the museum.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>

One of the Holburne Museum’s recently discovered Listening Devices<\/p><\/div>\n

The devices are stored in one of the the old metal museum crates in which they were originally discovered. Visitors are asked whether they’d like to hear about the balloon or the fireworks, and once a choice is made, the device is calibrated and then lifted out of the crate and handed to the visitor. At this point the complex clockwork inside the box is ticking loudly, almost as though it’s a bomb about to go off, and one has a sense of apprehension, clutching the surprisingly heavy little box as the safety strap is lifted over one’s head.<\/p>\n

\"Where<\/a>

Where the magic begins<\/p><\/div>\n

Then I’m sent out into the garden to see if I can pick up a signal. As I approach a set of gates, the box vibrates and emits strange noises, and through the aether I can hear a distant voice. The signal gets clear, and M. Merlin, a Francophone inventor and showman, celebrates his success in reaching into his future and our present. He explains that with the box, I’ll be able to wander the gardens and pick up snatches of conversation from the early nineteenth century. He even implies that my presence as an observer might change the \u00a0course of events, preceding Schrodinger’s theories by more than a century! He suggests some Georgian features of the garden to visit. Sadly most of these structures no-longer exist, but the thoughtful museum staff have provided me with a map, showing where they used to be, so I can find my way around.<\/p>\n

Soon I’m embroiled in a story of unrequited love and forced labour. Though I don’t fully understand the Georgian technology at work here, it seems to me that M. Merlin’s invention somehow resonates with moments of high emotion, as I heard nothing of the ordinary humdrum life of the gardeners, or the dowager ladies taking the air in the park. Between the locations where dramatic, emotional scenes took place, all I could pick up were brief snatches of music and one or two words heard almost as if underwater. And yes it seems that just by being there, I’ve altered the course of history, enabling an oppressed young woman to dramatically escape her tormentor.<\/p>\n

I rush back to the museum to have my device recalibrated, and then I’m out in the pleasure grounds again, meeting more unsavoury characters and helping them sabotage a fireworks display.<\/p>\n

Part of the success of Ghosts in the Garden, I think, has nothing to do with the boxes or the way the stories are scripted. Rather it comes down to good old fashioned theatre. The Museums at Night event marked the moment when responsibility \u00a0for day-to-day running of Ghosts in Garden passed from Splash and Ripple to museum staff and volunteers. I was privileged to watch, first Splash and Ripple staff hand over the listening devices to visitors, and then Holburne museum volunteers doing the same job. As you might expect, the volunteers, on their first day on the job, were less experienced and less confident in what they had to say. When Splash and Ripple wove the magical story of the discovery of the devices during the museums redevelopment, and the care that must be taken when tuning into the past, children listened with open mouthed belief, and adults played along with good natured engagement. The volunteers hedged their bets as they told the same story, adding the occasional “apparently” and “they say”, and sharing their scepticism with the audience. So they didn’t quite manage to engage the visitors in the way that Splash and Ripple had.<\/p>\n

It was their first day. Splash and Ripple \u00a0were also watching how they handled the theatre, and I’m sure were going to offer some constructive feedback. So by now I’m sure the museum staff and volunteers are all confident old hands, doing their bit to create the magical landscape that the special listening devices reveal. And they are helped in maintaining the illusion by the brilliant way in which the boxes tick as they are calibrated, taken out of the museum crate and handed over to the visitor. This sound effect alone is a brilliant piece of theatre.<\/p>\n

And the whole experience, just a day or two after I met with my supervisors<\/a>, has had me thinking about what it is that makes some interpretation companies technologists<\/em> and others storytellers<\/em>. I’m wondering whether all interpretation companies think of themselves as storytellers first and foremost, \u00a0even though some are obviously better at it than others? I’m also wondering whether cultural institutions reserve the storyteller role for themselves, and consider most of the companies they commission as “mere” technologists, providing the platform upon which the story is told?<\/p>\n

It seems obvious to me now, looking back on projects I’ve been involved in my life on both sides of the provider\/commissioner fence, that the most successful projects have often been where the commissioner has not tried to retain the storyteller role, and the provider has been given the freedom to become the storyteller. Or maybe in the Pleasure Gardens context, impresario<\/em> would be a better word?<\/p>\n

\"Ghosts<\/a>

Ghosts in the Garden playbill<\/p><\/div>\n

(Ghosts in the Garden runs at the Holburne Museum, Bath<\/a>, until 29th June)<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a> \"\"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve mentioned Ghosts in the Garden before, but the first chance I got to experience it was three weeks ago as part of Museums at Night. Having been piloted last year, the Holburne Museum’s Special Listening Devices were broken out … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[353,786],"class_list":["post-971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-games","tag-storytelling","column","threecol"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Theatre of Ghosts - Archaeology Blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Theatre of Ghosts - Archaeology Blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve mentioned Ghosts in the Garden before, but the first chance I got to experience it was three weeks ago as part of Museums at Night. Having been piloted last year, the Holburne Museum’s Special Listening Devices were broken out … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Archaeology Blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-07T11:41:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/06\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Tyler-Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew Tyler-Jones\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matthew Tyler-Jones\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a61d3a83f159c463727cd087c1ce643e\"},\"headline\":\"The Theatre of Ghosts\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-07T11:41:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":988,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224\",\"keywords\":[\"Games\",\"Storytelling\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Theatre of Ghosts - Archaeology Blogs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-07T11:41:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a61d3a83f159c463727cd087c1ce643e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/07\\\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Theatre of Ghosts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/\",\"name\":\"Archaeology Blogs\",\"description\":\"Archaeology Blogs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a61d3a83f159c463727cd087c1ce643e\",\"name\":\"Matthew Tyler-Jones\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b05de4152c16b059324bcceb7e15c65ec426d00af787220dcbb922248b71de61?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b05de4152c16b059324bcceb7e15c65ec426d00af787220dcbb922248b71de61?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b05de4152c16b059324bcceb7e15c65ec426d00af787220dcbb922248b71de61?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matthew Tyler-Jones\"},\"description\":\"I came to cultural heritage via five years working at Midland Bank when I left school. In my free time, I volunteered as a costumed interpreter at Kentwell Hall and, with re-enactment societies, at various medieval sites around the UK and France. When, one evening, a few of us said \u201cwe could make a business out of this\u201d I left my job at the bank to go to college, first to get an Art Foundation and then to Manchester Polytechnic to join an innovative course called Design for Communications Media. I specialised in Educational Media Design, with the intention of applying what I was learning to cultural heritage. During my vacations and upon graduation I worked for the nascent company my friends had started, Past Pleasures, creating immersive living history festivals at Lancaster and Tunbridge Wells, as well as projects including: an exhibition for the centenary of the Commonwealth Institute; a design for a metafictional Sherlock Holmes exhibition in Croydon; and, a game that combined real-time investment advice from 300 year-old characters at the Bank of England Museum with a digital simulation, tracking the players\u2019 investment portfolio from the founding of the bank to its tercentenary. In 1996 I helped found JMD&Co, and for two years I also lectured on Heritage Tourism and Visitor Management and Interpretation modules for a Portsmouth University validated HND\\\/degree course at Farnborough Technical College. Subsequently, I enrolled in the new Distance Learning delivered Masters\u2019 degree in Museum Studies at Leicester University, where I became interested in the social use of space, particularly Bill Hillier\u2019s \u201cspace syntax,\u201d and the increasing futility of cultural heritage sites trying to tell doggedly linear stories in three-dimensional spaces. Although my dissertation explored models for mapping interpretation, and particularly learning styles, onto spaces, a satisfactory reconciliation of linear story and three-dimensional space eluded me. After graduation, I decided my time in the \u201csmall business\u201d end of cultural heritage was over for a while, and I left JMD&Co to join a cultural institution, the National Trust, as a Regional Community, Learning and Volunteering Manager. I brought the first National Trust iPad into use at Batemans, where, combined with a wax cylinder record player, and the help of renowned folk singer, Jon Boden, we\u2019ve returned Rudyard Kipling\u2019s voice back into his old home. However, one of the innovations which I am most proud of is the National Trust\u2019s virtual tours. Working with a small company, and a range of disabled stakeholders, we created a touch-screen based human computer interface that could also, if required, be controlled with other input devices, and allowed visitors with a variety of disabilities to fully enjoy the virtual tour. The teams\u2019 achievement was recognised with a Jodi Award for Excellence in accessible digital media in 2008.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/memetechnology.wordpress.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\\\/archaeology\\\/author\\\/matthew-tyler-jones\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Theatre of Ghosts - Archaeology Blogs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Theatre of Ghosts - Archaeology Blogs","og_description":"I’ve mentioned Ghosts in the Garden before, but the first chance I got to experience it was three weeks ago as part of Museums at Night. Having been piloted last year, the Holburne Museum’s Special Listening Devices were broken out … Continue reading →","og_url":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/","og_site_name":"Archaeology Blogs","article_published_time":"2013-06-07T11:41:53+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/06\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Matthew Tyler-Jones","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matthew Tyler-Jones","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/"},"author":{"name":"Matthew Tyler-Jones","@id":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/#\/schema\/person\/a61d3a83f159c463727cd087c1ce643e"},"headline":"The Theatre of Ghosts","datePublished":"2013-06-07T11:41:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/"},"wordCount":988,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/06\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224","keywords":["Games","Storytelling"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/","url":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/","name":"The Theatre of Ghosts - Archaeology Blogs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/06\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224","datePublished":"2013-06-07T11:41:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/#\/schema\/person\/a61d3a83f159c463727cd087c1ce643e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/06\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224","contentUrl":"http:\/\/memetechnology.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/06\/img_41111.jpg?w=300&h=224"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/2013\/06\/07\/the-theatre-of-ghosts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Theatre of Ghosts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/#website","url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/","name":"Archaeology Blogs","description":"Archaeology Blogs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/#\/schema\/person\/a61d3a83f159c463727cd087c1ce643e","name":"Matthew Tyler-Jones","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b05de4152c16b059324bcceb7e15c65ec426d00af787220dcbb922248b71de61?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b05de4152c16b059324bcceb7e15c65ec426d00af787220dcbb922248b71de61?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b05de4152c16b059324bcceb7e15c65ec426d00af787220dcbb922248b71de61?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Matthew Tyler-Jones"},"description":"I came to cultural heritage via five years working at Midland Bank when I left school. In my free time, I volunteered as a costumed interpreter at Kentwell Hall and, with re-enactment societies, at various medieval sites around the UK and France. When, one evening, a few of us said \u201cwe could make a business out of this\u201d I left my job at the bank to go to college, first to get an Art Foundation and then to Manchester Polytechnic to join an innovative course called Design for Communications Media. I specialised in Educational Media Design, with the intention of applying what I was learning to cultural heritage. During my vacations and upon graduation I worked for the nascent company my friends had started, Past Pleasures, creating immersive living history festivals at Lancaster and Tunbridge Wells, as well as projects including: an exhibition for the centenary of the Commonwealth Institute; a design for a metafictional Sherlock Holmes exhibition in Croydon; and, a game that combined real-time investment advice from 300 year-old characters at the Bank of England Museum with a digital simulation, tracking the players\u2019 investment portfolio from the founding of the bank to its tercentenary. In 1996 I helped found JMD&Co, and for two years I also lectured on Heritage Tourism and Visitor Management and Interpretation modules for a Portsmouth University validated HND\/degree course at Farnborough Technical College. Subsequently, I enrolled in the new Distance Learning delivered Masters\u2019 degree in Museum Studies at Leicester University, where I became interested in the social use of space, particularly Bill Hillier\u2019s \u201cspace syntax,\u201d and the increasing futility of cultural heritage sites trying to tell doggedly linear stories in three-dimensional spaces. Although my dissertation explored models for mapping interpretation, and particularly learning styles, onto spaces, a satisfactory reconciliation of linear story and three-dimensional space eluded me. After graduation, I decided my time in the \u201csmall business\u201d end of cultural heritage was over for a while, and I left JMD&Co to join a cultural institution, the National Trust, as a Regional Community, Learning and Volunteering Manager. I brought the first National Trust iPad into use at Batemans, where, combined with a wax cylinder record player, and the help of renowned folk singer, Jon Boden, we\u2019ve returned Rudyard Kipling\u2019s voice back into his old home. However, one of the innovations which I am most proud of is the National Trust\u2019s virtual tours. Working with a small company, and a range of disabled stakeholders, we created a touch-screen based human computer interface that could also, if required, be controlled with other input devices, and allowed visitors with a variety of disabilities to fully enjoy the virtual tour. The teams\u2019 achievement was recognised with a Jodi Award for Excellence in accessible digital media in 2008.","sameAs":["http:\/\/memetechnology.wordpress.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/author\/matthew-tyler-jones\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/archaeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}