ABSTRACT

The application of computer vision on museum collection data is at an experimental stage with predictions that it will grow in significance and use in the coming years. This research, based on the analysis of five case studies and semi-structured interviews with museum professionals, examined the opportunities and challenges of these technologies, the resources and funding required, and the ethical implications that arise during these initiatives. The case studies examined in this paper are drawn from: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (USA), Princeton University Art Museum (USA), Museum of Modern Art (USA), Harvard Art Museums (USA), Science Museum Group (UK). The research findings highlight the possibilities of computer vision to offer new ways to analyze, describe and present museum collections. However, their actual implementation on digital products is currently very limited due to the lack of resources and the inaccuracies created by algorithms. This research adds to the rapidly evolving field of computer vision within the museum sector and provides recommendations to operationalize the usage of these technologies, increase the transparency on their application, create ethics playbooks to manage potential bias and collaborate across the museum sector.

摘要

计算机视觉在博物馆藏品数据上的应用正处于试验阶段，预计在未来几年它的重要性和使用量会增加。这项研究基于对五个案例研究的分析和对博物馆专业人士的半结构化访谈，审查了这些技术的机遇和挑战、所需的资源和资金，以及这些举措中出现的伦理影响。本文中研究的案例研究来自：大都会艺术博物馆（美国）、普林斯顿大学艺术博物馆（美国）、现代艺术博物馆（美国）、哈佛艺术博物馆（美国）、科学博物馆集团（英国）。研究结果强调了计算机视觉提供分析、描述和展示博物馆藏品的新方法的可能性。然而，由于缺乏资源和算法造成的不准确性，它们在数字产品上的实际实施目前非常有限。这项研究增加了博物馆部门内快速发展的计算机视觉领域，并为这些技术的使用提供了建议，提高了其应用的透明度，创建了道德手册来管理潜在的偏见并在整个博物馆部门进行合作。