Engaging Visually Impaired People in Science Museums Through an Immersive Workshop: Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities
Xiyue Wang, Seita Kayukawa, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility · doi:10.1145/3663547.3746348
Summary
This paper investigates how science museums can become more accessible to visually impaired visitors through the design and evaluation of an immersive, tactile workshop. Conducted at Miraikan (The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation) in Tokyo, the research followed a year-long Research Through Design process involving collaboration between museum staff, accessibility researchers from IBM Research, Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs), and blind and low vision (BLV) participants. The team developed a workshop titled "Learning by Touch – Life in Space" structured around the museum's International Space Station exhibition. The workshop was organized into seven sequential steps progressing from tactile orientation materials in a side room (a raised-line map of Japan, 3D-printed ISS models, and a Falcon 9 rocket model) to full-body immersive exploration of the actual exhibition (walking through the Oval Bridge, touching the ISS module exterior, and entering replica chambers). The design process followed IDEO's Human-Centered Design framework across three phases: Inspiration (contextual visits with BLV students), Ideation (co-creating themes and materials with domain experts and TVIs), and Implementation (refining facilitation through trials with BLV participants). Once launched as a recurring free program, 28 visually impaired participants attended over the course of a year. The study also conducted focus group interviews with six museum staff and seven BLV participants to explore broader challenges with workshop and exhibition accessibility, and to evaluate the potential of emerging technologies including conversational AI agents, navigation robots, and interactive 3D models with audio feedback.
Key findings
The workshop received strong positive evaluations: 75% of 28 participants rated it very easy to understand, and 71% were very satisfied. Participants particularly valued the combination of 2D silhouettes and 3D models for building mental images, the opportunity to touch exhibits normally behind glass, and the welcoming staff attitude. Three key design strategies emerged from the iterative process: coherent narrative structure (following a space journey story arc), multi-fidelity tactile materials (progressing from simplified overviews to detailed models), and active social interaction through group discussion. Focus groups revealed significant barriers to general museum engagement for BLV visitors: biased or insufficient verbal explanations from guides, difficulty gaining spatial overview of exhibition floors, inadequate tactile alternatives for dynamic visual exhibits, and limited independent exploration. Participants expressed strong interest in conversational AI agents for flexible, on-demand information (preferring machine interaction over potentially biased human guides), but raised concerns about contextual awareness and social isolation. Navigation robots were seen as beneficial for reducing cognitive load during wayfinding, though participants worried about social stigma. Interactive 3D models with audio feedback were unanimously valued for enabling independent, enjoyable exploration. Staff highlighted the challenge of developing accessibility skills, emphasizing that manuals alone are insufficient — hands-on experience and iterative co-design with the BLV community are essential.
Relevance
This research provides a practical, replicable framework for making science museum experiences accessible, moving beyond the common approach of simply adding audio descriptions to visual exhibits. The four-stage adaptive design framework (stakeholder engagement, collaborative content development, iterative facilitation validation, and public deployment with feedback loops) is applicable to any informal learning environment seeking to improve accessibility. For practitioners, the study's emphasis on multi-fidelity tactile materials — starting with simplified overviews before progressing to detailed models — offers a concrete strategy for scaffolding non-visual learning. The finding that participants preferred conversational AI over human guides for certain tasks (due to perceived objectivity and user control) has implications for museum technology adoption. The paper also highlights an important tension between accessibility tools that promote independence and the social dynamics of group museum visits, suggesting that technologies should be designed for shared use rather than isolating individual users. The practical guidelines for museum staff — co-design as core practice, capacity building through experience rather than manuals, flexible pacing, and reducing social barriers through inclusive communication — are directly actionable for cultural institutions.
Tags: museum accessibility · science education · blindness · low vision · tactile learning · inclusive design · participatory design · informal learning · multisensory · assistive technology