When talking about a museum that tells the story of cycling culture, most of the public will intuitively associate it as a museum with a collection of all kinds of ancient and modern bicycle models, and how cycling has developed and changed through history, etc. It would seem that everything is related with “the past and bicycles”; but with the addition of digital technology, the spectrum can be extended towards “the future and mankind,” making the visitation experience more personalized and engaging, and it also opens up the senses. We seeked to maximize the digital features. By combining the content and physical perception together, one can embark on a journey through cycling culture.

In the past, bicycles were merely regarded as a means of transportation. However, in the modern world today where tools for commuting are constantly being replaced, cycling is no longer just a means of movement, but also a choice on how we want to live. Through the various interpersonal interactions and self-challenges that occur through pedaling, and even the extension of fulfilling the philosophy of life through cycling, bicycles provide people with a living proposal at an appropriate speed that is neither too fast nor too slow.

Continuing with this original intention, we hope that after experiencing the whole museum, visitors can be deeply embodied by the cycling culture, and also start reflecting about their own lifestyle.

Unlike the past sensory-oriented digital experiences, this mission required integrating spatial narration, content communication, and brand interpretation. It also had to satisfy the various needs and preferences of different visitor groups. The team must have a deeper understanding of the needs of the museum and of various visitors, so as to define a more comprehensive and holistic strategy, while verifying that the translated experience fits the set theme. For this project, we decided to use the Design Thinking and User Experience process to ensure there is “a good experience within innovation” in this huge and complex mission.

Hall of Circular History

After entering the main entrance of the Cycling Culture Museum and passing through the dark corridors, standing still in front of our eyes is the first steerable two-wheeled vehicle produced in 1817. To fully witness the 200-some-year history of bicycles, we will start telling the story from here. In order to narrate this history, we planned it so that the whole exhibition hall followed the historical storyline. We have turned the walls above the classic bicycles into projection screens.

Through the guidance of dynamic images and lighting, visitors are able to witness how the bicycles developed over more than a hundred years and also step by step understand how they affected people’s lives. Throughout the exhibition hall, there are also interactive devices that can be viewed using a knob, where through continuous scrolling, the evolution of bicycles in history is pushed forward.

Science & Technologies

How is the appearance of modern bicycles designed?

After witnessing the historical development of bicycles, visitors have a basic understanding of the role they played in history. However, with just two wheels, why is it that bicycles can maintain balance and move at a fast speed? How are their materials, frame, wheels, and various components and parts determined? The mission of this hall is to lead the visitors from exploring basic physics, to the selection of materials, the transformation of craftsmanship, and future popular trends, even allowing them to personally participate in the design of a new frame and learn how a small decision in the design of a bicycle affects the cycling world.

In order to talk about these relatively rigid and difficult-to-understand technologies, apart from laying out all types of knowledge in front of the visitors, there is bound to be a more entertaining approach, and this is where interactive design come into play with its great advantages. We try not only to make knowledge interesting and easy, but to guide the visitors to experience the difference in materials through “touching,” to feel the resistance caused by cycling on a slope through “pulling,” to really experience wind resistance produced by the air on the frame through “wind movement,” to see the rigorous structure of the produced frame through “perspective,” and to sense the difference of various chainwheels through “rotation.” Visitors can even design bicycle frames from scratch and upload them onto the computer for the analysis of the structure. In this area, they’re able to understand the basic science of the cycling world from the basics to the more advanced knowledge.

Road Racing Palace

The popularity of bicycles comes from the development of professional competitions. Starting from Tour de France, bicycles have leapt out of the framework of just transportation and have become a mainstream sport. Road cyclists exert all of their strength and power, in combination with the effort of team members or the use of strategies, they are able to sprint at every second, which is the key to victory. Through VR riding experience and the setting of “simulation missions,” visitors can feel the intensity and context of the race in the most immersive way, and, in turn, understand the rules and the joy of watching the race.

Mountain Biking

Among the many types of bicycles, mountain bike is a very active group. In fact, mountain bike is only a subgroup, the entire system also includes: cross-country bikes (XC), bicycle motocross (BMX), all mountain bikes (AM), and even downhill bikes (DH) designed for downhill competitions. In this exhibition hall, visitors can experience the thrill of professional riders as they travel through the mountain areas, climb slopes, and speed diving at high speeds.

The diversity of the mountain bike sports, whether it’s cross-country, forest roads, or downhills, these test the endurance, concentration, and maneuvering skills of mountain bike riders. Visitors can get a feel of the total concentration of the cyclists at that moment, as well as enjoy the smooth-sailing feeling of traveling freely through the wilderness and mountain areas.

Right Ride

Speaking of the relationship between the bicycle and the individual, each person’s body shape, personality, and preferences are unique; there aren’t any two people in the world who are exactly the same, so how do you choose a suitable bicycle? Also, besides commuting, are there other methods, tools, and paths, where more fun can be found in cycling?

Bike-Friendly City

How should we build bike-friendly city from the perspective of urban environment? Taking road construction, public bicycle systems, transfer of transportation, and the establishment of traffic regulations for bicycles, etc. into consideration, in addition to the careful planning of the government, we need everyone to participate together in creating a friendly environment shared by people and bicycles.

To this end, we designed a number of interactive exhibition areas that are easy to understand, ranging from the etiquette of bicycle use, safe cycling distance, and correct cycling hand signals, to the introduction of examples of major bike-friendly cities in the world, and summarizing all of this with a huge model of a bike-friendly city. Visitors can operate the interface on the model to summon small bicycles, bringing forth various big data related to bicycles, including environmental climate, social economy, time and space, and energy and resources, etc.

At the end of the exhibition area, we established three interactive questionnaire devices to collect the opinions of all visitors to the museum with yes/no questions, multiple-choice questions, and short answer questions. With a huge volume of answers for big data, this will be given to the public sector as a reference when planning a bike-friendly city in the future.

Imagine Riding to the Future

After having experienced what the museum has to offer, at the end of the cycling journey, we need to give the audience a retrospective summary, for them to have an ardent desire to experience the emotions of cycling. For this, we created an eight-minute immersive theater, where through video, audio, wind, scent, and interactive design, the sense of speed, lifestyle, and gallop in cycling is simulated; hence, creating the various facets of cycling culture.

Speaking of the original intention of creating a museum, Mr. King Liu, the founder of Giant Group, once said, “I hope that it will spark people’s enthusiasm for cycling and exploration, and act as the best guide.” We believe this is undoubtedly the great desire of many cyclists for the cycling culture as well.

However, the target audience of the Cycling Culture Museum is not only cyclists, but everyone who has the opportunity to learn more about bicycles, start liking bicycles, and then fall in love with bicycles. Bicycles are no longer only a choice of transportation, but also emotional partners for people. Whether it’s for various interpersonal interactions, self-challenges, or even the search for self-realization in life, bicycles provide an appropriate speed.

So far, cycling culture has been vividly portrayed on paper. We hope that through this journey of understanding and feeling the culture, you will consider incorporating one of these situations into your life in the future, and move forward at your own preferred speed.