Emily Siddons from the National Communication Museum in Australia presents at NDF25.

Abstract:

Inheriting a heritage technology collection and an old telephone exchange with no specific brief, I will take audiences on a journey through the creation of the recently opened National Communication Museum (NCM). Conceived virtually during the COVID-19 lockdowns, I assembled a multidisciplinary team to craft a vision for a museum at the intersection of culture and technology. Framing the museum as a "machine for conversation," NCM positions visitors as nodes in an evolving, interconnected network. Using the tools of communication technologies, audiences are engaged in an active exchange, unlocking content through their gestures, actions, words, and choices. Bespoke chat interfaces connect visitors to the omnipresent and disembodied voice of the building, guiding them as they explore and select content that interests them. These interfaces display continually updating content that responds to central provocations such as: Do you code? What is the line between us and technology? and How do you navigate the unknown?

A heritage telecommunications collection forms the nucleus of the museum, providing a platform to explore cycles of innovation and obsolescence. Duplicate collection items are repurposed to create new interactives and artworks, where they are reinterpreted, augmented, and re-imagined. NCM's approach is experimental and adaptive, positioning the museum as a collaborative facility for ideas and exchange. Through prototypes, renders, installation footage, and final works, I will showcase some of the groundbreaking research we are leading, including training Leonardo.ai on our collection, spearheading commissions that challenge biases in emerging technologies, and employing the first robot citizen to lead our official opening proceedings.