The Paterson Museum tasked Night Kitchen Interactive with creating an interpretive touchscreen that would teach visitors about the many innovators, inventors, artists and communities that have called Paterson home. The result was People of Paterson, a lightweight and portable touchscreen exploration of a richly textured digital mural featuring some of Paterson’s greats.

The mural showcases a view of an eclectic desk, dressed with an intriguing array of hotspots disguised as photographs and artifacts found within the museum. Each of the 55 hotspots can be explored individually or as groups and features a silk pendant motif that celebrates Paterson’s history as a textile center. This visual structure encourages visitors to browse freely while maintaining an understanding of how this vast array of people and communities comes together to form Paterson.

Tapping on any of the hotspots opens an information panel that introduces the individual and their contributions to Paterson, highlights related artifacts found in the museum, and links to connected profiles. These panels are designed to be approachable for a wide range of ages and levels of prior knowledge, allowing local experts to explore alongside tourists and newcomers. Together, they allow visitors to build an understanding of Paterson’s history one story at a time.

A visitor might learn about Samuel Colt and his development of the iconic Colt pistol through the mural, then encounter real artifacts of that invention elsewhere in the gallery. In this way, People of Paterson acts as a guide to the Paterson Museum in addition to functioning as a standalone experience, allowing the museum to offer robust interpretation on site or take it on the road thanks to the experience’s portable, lightweight design.