The museum info bot "GhostBox" is an accessible, interactive speaker that plays engaging stories as soon as small figurines with NFC chips are placed on it. Designed as a flexible toolkit, it allows museums to customize its use for their exhibitions. The bot can be positioned in front of selected exhibits to convey specific content or mark a parcours through the exhibition or museum. This makes various perspectives tangible, enabling visitors to engage with different cultural, historical, or artistic viewpoints in an immersive way.

The initial idea for this innovative mediation format emerged in the summer semester of 2024 as part of a collaboration between the Department of Mediation, Outreach, and Society of the Saxon State Art Collections Dresden (SKD) and the Faculty of Design at the University of Applied Sciences Dresden (HTWD).

Under the guidance of Prof. Diana Simon and Franz Ferdinand Richter, the students focused on developing interactive, prototype interventions related to four selected artworks from the Parade Apartments in the Royal Palace. These artworks required critical reflection regarding problematic representations, content, materials, and production techniques and were explored through new interactive approaches to art and cultural mediation.

The modular system captures and logs visitor data in real-time. The auditory content of the figurines can be flexibly configured via a database or selected in collaboration with the museum to fit the specific exhibition context.