From Caribou Hide to Pixels: Digital Heritage and Interaction Design in the Virtual Museum.

In this thesis I perform close readings based on my experience interacting with three different versions of an object – a traditional Inuvialuit parka in the Smithsonian’s collection, and the garment’s respective digital representations on two sites: 1) on the Inuvialuit Living History project and 2) on the Smithsonian Institution’s online database. My analysis is based on common principles between Activity Theory (AT) and the premise of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). AT claims human activity as the foundation in meaning making (Kaptelinin & Nardi, 2006), while ICH is defined as ensembles of actions considered as meaningful traditions and practices beyond utilitarian purposes (Kurin, 2007). The close reading attempts to understand how these principles may inform effective design practice for representations of digital cultural heritage. In particular, how they are manifested in the digital heritage interface through the analytical lenses of: 1) new media narrative; 2) interactivity; and 3) spreadability of meanings.