Curator Central was my final group project for MIT's Software Studio Class. I worked with Andrew Stoddard, Maria Ascanio, and Stephanie Howe. Curator Central is a community platform to connect more deeply with museum works, using the Harvard Art API to enhance artworks in Harvard Art Museum’s galleries.
Project Pitch
Museums are in need of our help. Many people feel that museums are antiquated and aren’t geared towards younger generations. Museums are looking to change this by enhancing visitors’ experiences, and many have moved to a “participatory model,” centered around the visitor experience. Often serving as a cultural center, museums empower visitors to connect to their broader communities. Museums need tools to facilitate conversations around exhibits and promote distribution of visitor input.
Recogntion
My group was selected for an Excellent Project Award at the end of the class. We were recognized for our fluid implementations of:
01. Scanning QR codes to collect artworks and
02. Enabling users to leave threaded comments directly on an artwork.
01. Scanning
In Curator Central, scanning is facilitated through QR codes associated with each artwork. Visitors at the museum can scan these QR codes using their mobile devices. After scanning, the app adds the artwork to the user's personal collection within the platform. This allows users to track the art they were drawn to and learn more about the artwork after leaving the museum.
02. Commenting
The commenting process in Curator Central is uniquely interactive. Users can tap on a specific location on the artwork image on their device to place their comment. This allows users to comment on a specific part of the artwork, facilitating more focused discussions.
Users can have these discussions with each other through "threaded" comments. Multiple users can add their thoughts to a specific part of the artwork.
Video Demo
Below is our video demo. We had fun with it.
Tech Stack
Frontend: Vue
Backend: Express
Database: MongoDB