BentoMuseum: 3D and Layered Interactive Museum Map for Blind Visitors
Shi-Jie Wang, Tao Yang, Jia-Le Gao, Zhi-Yuan Tang, Meng-Xi Chen, Cheng-Yue Jia, Yue-Han Wang, Jian Zhao, Wei Zeng · 2022 · Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '22) · doi:10.1145/3517428.3544811
Summary
This paper presents BentoMuseum, a novel 3D-printed interactive museum map system designed to help blind visitors independently explore and navigate museum spaces. The system addresses a significant gap in museum accessibility — while museums increasingly provide accommodations like audio guides and tactile exhibits, spatial orientation and wayfinding remain major challenges for blind visitors. Without accessible maps, blind visitors typically depend on sighted guides and cannot freely explore museums at their own pace. The BentoMuseum system uses a layered, stackable design inspired by Japanese bento boxes. Each layer represents a different floor or zone of the museum, and the layers can be physically stacked or separated for exploration. The maps are 3D-printed with raised features representing walls, pathways, exhibit areas, and points of interest. Conductive ink traces embedded in the map surface enable touch-triggered audio feedback — when a visitor touches a specific area, a connected system plays audio descriptions of the corresponding exhibit or location. The researchers developed BentoMuseum through an iterative design process involving consultations with accessibility experts and blind users. They created a prototype for the Miraikan (National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation) in Tokyo, covering three exhibition floors. The system includes tactile legends, consistent symbolic representations for different types of spaces (exhibits, restrooms, elevators), and orientation cues like notched corners to help users correctly position each layer. A user study with 12 blind participants evaluated the system across three tasks: learning the museum layout, locating specific exhibits, and planning routes between points of interest. The study compared BentoMuseum against a baseline condition of verbal descriptions alone.
Key findings
The evaluation demonstrated that BentoMuseum significantly improved blind visitors' ability to build accurate mental maps of museum spaces. Participants using BentoMuseum completed spatial orientation tasks more accurately and with greater confidence than those relying solely on verbal descriptions. In the exhibit-locating task, participants achieved substantially higher accuracy with the tactile map system. The layered design proved particularly effective for multi-floor buildings. Participants reported that being able to physically separate and stack floor layers helped them understand the vertical relationships between spaces. The conductive ink touch points received positive feedback — participants appreciated that audio descriptions were triggered by direct touch rather than requiring button presses or menu navigation, as this maintained their spatial reference while exploring. Participants identified several practical benefits: the ability to trace routes with their fingers, the consistent tactile symbols that became intuitive after brief training, and the physical durability of the 3D-printed materials. Some participants noted that the map helped them feel more confident about visiting the museum independently. The study also revealed design considerations including optimal relief heights for different map features, the importance of smooth edges on 3D-printed elements, and the need for clear tactile boundaries between adjacent areas.
Relevance
This research has direct implications for making cultural institutions more accessible to blind visitors. Museums, galleries, and science centers worldwide struggle with providing spatial orientation support beyond sighted human guides. BentoMuseum demonstrates a practical, reproducible approach using consumer-grade 3D printing technology and relatively inexpensive conductive ink, making it feasible for institutions with limited accessibility budgets. The layered design concept is transferable to other multi-floor public spaces such as shopping centers, airports, universities, and hospitals. The research also contributes to the broader field of tactile graphics by showing how interactive audio-tactile systems can support spatial learning more effectively than static tactile maps or verbal descriptions alone. For accessibility practitioners, the paper provides concrete design guidelines for creating effective tactile maps, including recommended relief heights, symbol conventions, and interaction patterns.
Tags: tactile maps · blind users · 3D printing · museum accessibility · audio-tactile interaction · wayfinding · assistive technology