The Hill Library’s Innovation Studio wins a MUSE Creative Award

The Innovation Studio at the Hill Library has only been open since the library’s renovation was completed last August, and it’s already winning awards. The dynamic, interactive space now boasts a MUSE Creative Gold Award in the “Experiential & Immersive” category.

The Libraries collaborated with Relative Scale, a Raleigh-based experiential design firm, which developed the software infrastructure that makes the Innovation Studio’s fantastic interactive tabletops work. MUSE lauded the interactive projection system that allows visitors to call up multimedia content merely by moving their hands above the tables.

“The media experience is built around interactive projection and designed as a lightweight and touch-free approach to exhibiting curated works at the D.H. Hill Jr. Library,” the MUSE award release notes. “The application, and the content management system that underlies it, facilitates dynamic exhibition in a multi-use space—one that is central to a larger transformation happening in the Library. This exhibition platform affords a new approach to collecting student work (in digital and physical form) and sharing their stories, further situating the Library as a truly experiential forum and learning space.”

"We are honored to be recognized with this MUSE Creative Award,” says Luke Cline, Relative Scale’s Founder and Creative Director. “The NC State University Libraries team had a unique and challenging vision for the Innovation Studio—and we loved the concept from day one. It was Relative Scale’s privilege to partner with the Libraries team in this endeavor. We couldn’t have asked for a better collaboration."

To see a short video showcasing the interactive tabletops in the Innovation Studio, click here.

"I am really honored that the Innovation Studio won the MUSE Award,” says Erin Willett, Innovation Studio Graduate Extension Assistant. “As a student myself, it has been a great learning experience to work with the Relative Scale team and with everyone at the Libraries to bring the idea of the space to fruition. The Innovation Studio, with its interactive projection display system, is such a novel and innovative way to experience the work being done by the NC State community. I am really proud to be a part of the team that created it and excited to be able to work with students and faculty to bring their work into it."

The Libraries site offers a virtual tour of Innovation Studio programs and exhibits from fall 2020. You can also suggest collaborations and exhibits, and request workshops and special events, through the Libraries site.

Located on the second floor in the south tower, the Innovation Studio is part teaching space and part interactive exhibit, showcasing student and faculty work at NC State. It serves as a venue to display and demonstrate emerging technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, machine learning, projection mapping, and the Internet of Things.