Week 1 and 2

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Photos: © Lusail Museum, Qatar Museums, 2022.

My first week at the NMOQ for the internship was very welcoming and enjoyable. Each day I had something new to explore and this is summarised below:-

• DAY 1 and 2: Mr. Christophe gave me a quick visit of the National Museum of Qatar which included the Permanent exhibition galleries, Old Palace and quick tour of NMoQ’s Temporary Exhibitions (Pipilotti Rist and Olafur Eliasson). After that I joined the Lusail Museum team weekly meeting where I got introduced to the whole team. Lastly, I got started with the visitors’ observations to try to understand our visitors/users. The observations were recorded in a structured manner, noting down specific actions, reactions, and notable behaviors of the visitors. By the end of these two days, I had filled almost 20 observation sheets.


• DAY 3: After the observation, came taking surveys. These surveys were conducted at the end of visitors' museum tour in G12. I interacted with different types of people from all backgrounds and ages. These surveys were taken using Microsoft Forms and I was able to collect 18 responses from almost 40 people all together. After my day was completed, I attended the opening of the AI Digital Centre. It was wonderful to witness how NMoQ collaborated with Microsoft and have created this unique space for younger generation of Qatar to explore their talents and expand their interests in technology.


• DAY 4: I did several activities during this day. I familiarized myself with the Python libraries 'pandas' and 'matplotlib' using Jupyter Notebook (please see screenshoot below), these would help with the data analysis and visualization of the observations and surveys that I have collected. I created a GitHub page to post my weekly internship activities over there. Moreover, I visited the AI Digital Centre with Mr. Christophe and got to know more about what exactly the team will be doing there. Lastly, I was introduced to Mr. Martin Harvey, NMoQ’s Head of AV and Digital Support. He gave me an in-depth tour of the server rooms and how the technology behind the Art Films (that are displayed in NMOQ) works. During my visit to the server rooms, I observed the meticulous organization and cooling systems in place to ensure optimal performance and data security. As for the syncing and projector alignment challenges, it became evident that maintaining consistent synchronization between multiple devices and aligning projectors accurately could be complex tasks, requiring constant monitoring and fine-tuning to ensure seamless operation and visual clarity. This really broadened my horizon on how much work behind the scenes goes unnoticed. People and only those directly involved in these tasks truly understand and appreciate the dedicated professionals who ensure smooth operations behind the scenes.


• This is a screenshot of my work




• DAY 5: I ended this week by learning more about how I can use the python library tools to visualize my data and I also wrote a detailed report on my findings in the observations and surveys that I took.



• In conclusion, my first week of internship has been incredibly fulfilling. As a university student, transitioning into a professional work environment was a new experience that required some adaptation. However, I was fortunate to have a supportive supervisor and welcoming colleagues, which facilitated a smooth and quick adjustment process. Furthermore, surveying and observing people in the museum not only provided me with valuable data for my research but also offered personal growth experience. As an introvert, the lockdown during the pandemic made it challenging for me to interact with people. However, conducting surveys and observations in the museum pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to engage with visitors.

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Week 3

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Photos: © Lusail Museum, Qatar Museums, 2022.

• DAY 1: During the second week, we welcomed a new intern to our team, and I participated in the weekly Lusail team meeting. My primary objective for the week was to duplicate the source code of the Australian Center for Moving Image in order to develop my own audio guide for a fictional exhibition. I took the time to familiarize myself with audio guides and conducted research on existing projects and code repositories related to this field.


• DAY 2: I enhanced the audio guide by implementing audio stops, which involved incorporating various forms of media such as images and captions in both English and Arabic. To streamline the process, I utilized the SharePoint repository specifically for exhibition materials. However, this task proved to be time-consuming as it required extracting audio from videos and separating them into English and Arabic versions. Nonetheless, I enjoyed working on this objective. Furthermore, to ensure consistency and adhere to the Lusail Museum's brand guidelines, I incorporated their official logo and utilized their specified hex colors throughout the design.


• DAY 3: On the third day, I made significant progress on improving the audio guide by introducing additional elements. Specifically, I focused on incorporating videos into one of the stops, which serves to provide users with a multi-modal experience by combining visual content with the audio explanations. Additionally, I explored the integration of a translate button that enables captions to switch between Arabic and English languages.


• DAY 4: I watched a fascinating video that offered an exclusive glimpse into the behind-the-scenes workings of ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image).It was an enlightening experience to learn about the various aspects involved in curating, preserving, and showcasing the diverse collection of films, videos, and interactive media at ACMI. What stood out the most was the LENS technology. The way it was incoporated into the museum was very interesting and out of the box. In my opinion, if this kind of technology is added in any of the Qatar's museums it would certainly gain more popularity. Apart from that, I attended the Museum Next Digital Learning Summit, an online event that brought together museum professionals to discuss innovative approaches to digital learning. The summit provided a diverse program of sessions and discussions, allowing for global networking and knowledge exchange. By participating in the event and watching the presentations, I gained valuable knowledge and expanded my understanding of how digital technologies were transforming the museum industry.





• DAY 5: I dedicated my time to making important updates to my weekly blog (such as created a section in my blog which could show my audio guide that I worked on this week) and intern passport. Lastly, I build QR codes using https://qrfy.com/ leading directly to each of the stop in the audio guide.


• Please scan the QR codes below:


• In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of tweaking the audio guide this week. It was a fun and novel undertaking that allowed me to explore new creative avenues. I found delight in experimenting with different approaches and enhancing the guide's effectiveness. This endeavor not only expanded my skill set but also deepened my appreciation for the power of audio in storytelling. Overall, it was a rewarding and enlightening experience.

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Week 4 and 5

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Photos: © Lusail Museum, Qatar Museums, 2022.

• This week, I had the opportunity to explore the Getty's Quire platform and utilize its features to publish my own publication in various formats. My goal was to delve into the capabilities of the platform and understand what it has to offer. Although the Getty's Quire platform presented some complexities, I persisted in my efforts to create a PDF version, convert my publication into a downloadable e-book, and publish my content online. Despite encountering challenges along the way, such as navigating through the platform's intricate features and tools, I remained determined to achieve my publishing goals. Moreover, I discovered that Getty's Quire platform has been trusted by real-life museums for their exhibition catalogues, further highlighting its credibility and potential. The fact that renowned museums have chosen this platform for their catalogues is a testament to its reliability and effectiveness in the field of museum publications. Here is an example https://www.getty.edu/publications/cultural-heritage-mass-atrocities/ . Moving forward, I am want to dedicate more time and effort to further explore the Getty's Quire platform in the upcoming weeks.





• This is a screenshot of my work







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• Here is the e-publication of the online version:
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Week 6

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Photos: © Lusail Museum, Qatar Museums, 2022.

• DAY 1: I had the opportunity to explore the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum (QOSM) with Mr. Christophe and Amamah. Mr. Christophe gave us a comprehensive tour of all seven galleries housing objects from around the globe, from the origins of sports to the present day. The multimedia used there like huge vertical interactive screen felt more interactive compared to the small interactive table found in NMOQ. The overall lighting at the museum was also much better compared to NMOQ (where certain areas are quite dim). One of the most impressive features was the immersive video in one of the galleries. The combination of four screens created a stunning 3D effect that left me in awe. However, the highlight of the visit was undoubtedly the last gallery, known as the Activation Zone. Its purpose was to promote physical activity throughout Qatar and encourage a healthy and active lifestyle. The implementation of the RFID system, which tracked our activities through interactive games and generated individual reports on physical literacy at the end of the tour, was unlike anything I had seen in a museum before. It was an immensely enjoyable and exciting experience, somewhat reminiscent of the LENS technology at ACMI. In my opinion, other museums in Qatar should consider incorporating similar technologies to enhance visitor engagement. Overall, I would like to thank Mr. Christophe for taking out his time and showing us around the museum. As a first-time visitor, I was genuinely captivated by the experience, exceeding my initial expectations. I am eagerly looking forward to revisiting the museum with my friends and family and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking an enjoyable visit.

• Here is a short clip from my tour at QOSM:



• DAY 2: This week my main task was to visualise on a map where the artists featured in a museum’s collection are from? and how it compares to the artists included in another museum’s collection. So I explored the provided links (videos and articles) and repositories, gaining knowledge about the open access policies and initiatives of diverse museums and cultural institutions. Additionally, I delved into articles that focused on visualizing artist connections using Gephi, further expanding my understanding of innovative data visualization techniques.


• DAY 3: Today, I searched for datasets containing information about artists from various museums that can be utilized to create visual representations on a map. Furthermore, I familiarized myself with Gephi (a powerful tool for network visualization and analysis) by watching tutorials on youtube. To solidify my understanding, I worked with an example dataset that was provided in one of them youtube tutorials. This dataset was divided into two csv files, nodes and edges. The example dataset demonstrated a citation network, which is a network of connections formed by citations between academic research papers. Scholars often cite previous works to support their arguments and build upon existing research. Through this exercise, I had the opportunity to apply the learned techniques and visualize the citation network using Gephi. Additionally, I performed thorough analysis and statistics on the network, enabling me to gain deeper insights into its structure, connectivity patterns, and important nodes or clusters within the network. The final visualisation is shown under screenshots. (Below you can find a clip of navigating between nodes in Gephi)




• This is a screenshot of my work
• The singular nodes were filtered as they were authors who had cited others work but had no connection with other authors. The main network I was left with had two clusters one on the right (people who studied small world networks and its mathematics) and other on the left (people who studied the sociology of networks). The network was then filtered using the node size and colors based on its attributes. The nodes that are orange in color have a higher degree of closeness and high betweeness, meaning it has the most connections with other nodes. In this case, this author was cited by almost all other authors in their work. This node was removed since it did not provide anything new to the network.


• DAY 4: On my last day of the week, I focused on cleaning the datasets obtained from museum archives. This process took longer since I was not familiar with it. Additionally, in order to create clear visualizations on Gephi, I had to generate separate CSV files for nodes and edges. The node file included the artist's name, which served as the label for the node, along with additional information like their nationality. The edge file, on the other hand, represented connections between artists based on their shared nationality. These edges were utilized to link nodes of artists from the same nationality. Upon loading these files into Gephi, I encountered some difficulties navigating through the filters and eliminating unnecessary nodes. Nevertheless, in the end, I managed to make some sense of it.


• Screenshot of my work from today




• Currently, I have solely focused on artists from a single museum. However, in the upcoming week, my plan is to merge two museums and establish comparisons between them. On the whole, I found the experience of working on something distinct this week quite enjoyable. I am pleased that each week brings me fresh tasks to tackle. Over the past month, I have gained a substantial amount of knowledge and learning.

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Week 7

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Photos: © Lusail Museum, Qatar Museums, 2022.

• DAY 1: This week I had to experiment with museum APIs, so I researched existing projects and code repositories. I learned how to use Airtables to build free APIs. This is a powerful and versatile tool that allows users to create and manage databases in a user-friendly, spreadsheet-like interface. I set up a table named "Artist" within my Airtable base. In this table, I incorporated fields such as the artist's name, birthdate, description, image, and its corresponding caption (refer to the image below). I also tested my API using Postman which made sure that the API was working and fetching the data correctly. Having previously worked with APIs using MongoDB and Node.js, I found this approach to be novel and more straightforward in implementing the APIs. The ease and simplicity offered by Airtables presented a refreshing and efficient way to accomplish my API-related tasks.


• This is how the Airtable looks:
• The outcome of testing API in Postman:


• DAY 2: I took part in the Lusail Museum's team meeting, where we reviewed proposals for Expo 2023 Doha. This valuable experience granted me insight into the collaborative process of brainstorming ideas and engaging in discussions that lead to concrete solutions. Witnessing the transformation of ideas into reality was truly gratifying, knowing that some of these concepts would materialize in just a few months. Although my internship at the museum would soon come to an end, I felt fortunate to be involved in these discussions, as it allowed me to witness the fruition of the projects even after my departure. Among the various concepts discussed, one of them involved implementing a QR code poll for visitors during Expo 2023 Doha. For this particular concept, I was tasked with rapidly prototyping the response page for the QR code questions. During this process, I explored the capabilities of Microsoft Forms to determine its suitability for the task. However, I encountered a challenge with filtering out questions that asked for personal information like emails, as Microsoft Forms did not provide a direct solution. I conducted thorough research and discovered the potential of both Power BI and Power Automate. These tools proved to be invaluable in displaying real-time survey results while allowing customization of the displayed questions. To acquire the necessary skills, I turned to YouTube tutorials, immersing myself in the learning process of utilizing Power BI and Power Automate effectively. In the end, by utilizing Power BI and Power Automate, I effectively managed to exclude questions that sought personal information.


• DAY 3: I had the privilege of attending a meeting with the organizer team at Doha Expo 2023, and it proved to be yet another wonderful experience. I am truly grateful to the Lusail team for providing me with this opportunity. Witnessing the behind-the-scenes processes and witnessing how the organizers were willing to collaborate with our team to implement our ideas was truly fascinating. During the meeting, I shared one of my ideas with the Lusail team, even though I was aware it might not be fully developed. The idea involved hosting a tree planting activity for the expo's visitors, with the intention of relocating these planted trees to Al Maha Island or a nearby location once the Lusail Museum construction was complete. I envisioned using social media to provide updates on the plantation progress and encourage people to visit the Ajyal Film Festival, creating a light-hearted and engaging introduction to our museum at the expo. I thought it would be a cool and engaging way to connect with visitors and raise awareness about our museum at the expo. Following the meeting, I worked on creating a simple proof-of-concept response page using GitHub Pages, which incorporated the survey responses using powerbi and power automate and some additional information about the museum.


• This is a screenshot of my work
• DAY 4: I successfully integrated the API I had been developing earlier in the week into my audio guide. This integration allowed me to showcase relevant information about artists from LM museum. However, the task came with its challenges, primarily due to the limited time available for implementation. Despite that, I managed to accomplish the integration successfully. Apart from this, I also prepared a concise presentation on cybersecurity. The presentation is scheduled for the upcoming Lusail weekly team meeting, where I'll be sharing important insights and knowledge about cybersecurity with my colleagues.


• This is a screenshot of my work






• In conclusion, the highlight of my week was grasping the importance of rapid prototyping and development for specific needs. This experience offered valuable insights into managing real-time situations and their challenges. As my internship comes to a close, I'm looking forward to making the most of the final week😊.

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Week 8

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Photos: © Lusail Museum, Qatar Museums, 2022.

• DAY 1: During the final week, my task involved working on a prototype project. To accomplish this, I dedicated time to watching, reading, and exploring various research projects and code repositories, such as those related to raspberry pi, Arduino, sensors, RFID, and QR codes.


• DAY 2: Today, I participated in the Lusail weekly team meeting where I delivered a presentation on cybersecurity. It was a pleasant experience witnessing Amamah's insightful thoughts on AI, and I thoroughly enjoyed the engaging discussion session we had afterwards. I also generated ideas for enhancing the museum experience for visitors. Some of the ideas included incorporating an audio guide with RFID interaction using a Raspberry Pi. Additionally, I explored the concept of using QR codes alongside paintings, enabling visitors to scan them and access information about the respective artists who painted them.


• Idea 1
• Idea 2


• DAY 3: I engaged in a series of exercises focused on Prototyping for Digital Experiences. It was a stimulating experience that allowed me to dive into the world of creativity and abstract thinking. One particular exercise that caught my interest was envisioning a conversation with a familiar app, which sparked innovative ideas and provided me with fresh insights into design and user interfaces. Moreover, I also participated in a brainstorming session with Mr.Christophe and it was unlike anything I had done before. The objective was to prototype a digital museum experience tailored for tourists aged 25-34 from the Philippines. The primary goal was to create an enjoyable and practical experience that aligns perfectly with their specific interests and needs. Both experiences pushed me to think creatively and strategically about user experiences in the digital realm.


• DAY 4: On my last day, I had the opportunity to work on two small projects using an Arduino Kit. The first project involved setting up a RFID module with the Arduino to create a secure pass gate. The second project was to display data on an LCD using Arduino. It was an incredibly enjoyable experience for me, as I had always observed my computer engineering friends working with Arduino, but this was my first time trying it myself. I was thrilled to see how quickly we could work on these projects and witness tangible results. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and motivated me to explore more with the Arduino Kit. I'm looking forward to using it throughout the rest of my summer vacation to build exciting and fun projects. To top it all off, Mr. Christophe treated us to a farewell lunch, which provided a great opportunity to chitchat and discuss our internship experiences. It was a nice way to wrap up the internship and reflect on the valuable learning and growth we gained during our time here.


• The connection to display data on an LCD using Arduino
• The RFID module with the Arduino to create a secure pass gate
• This is a screenshot RFID working properly






• During my internship, I gained valuable insights and skills that have been instrumental in my personal and professional growth. I learned how to conduct thorough research, enabling me to gather relevant information efficiently. Additionally, I honed my ability to devise effective strategies for task completion by breaking them down into manageable steps. Dividing complex projects into smaller levels and implementing them sequentially allowed me to approach tasks with clarity and focus. As my internship comes to an end, I can't help but reflect on the incredible experiences and knowledge I've gained during this period. This last day marks a significant milestone in my professional journey, and I want to take the time to thank my colleagues and mentor for their support throughout my internship. I am proud of the accomplishments I've achieved during my internship, and I'll take some time to look back on the tasks and projects I've completed, recognizing the progress I've made in developing new skills. I am grateful for the experiences, skills, and connections I've gained during my internship, and they will serve as stepping stones to propel me forward in my chosen field. I'm excited about what the future holds, and I know that this internship is just the beginning of a promising career. I genuinely look forward to the moment when Lusail Museums' visions become a reality. I hope to be present and witness that remarkable milestone when it happens.





• Here is a clip of the Exhibition "Olafur Eliasson: The Curious Desert" at NMOQ.





GRATEFUL TO QATAR MUSEUMS FOR THIS OPPURTUNITY! THIS IS TOOBA AZIZ SIGNING OFF! :)

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