museumsandtheweb.com - handheld

Mobile devices for orientation and way finding: the case of the British Museum multimedia guide

silviaf — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:38:32 +0000

MW2011

Silvia Filippini-Fantoni, Cogapp; Sarah McDaid, LSBU; and Matthew Cock, British Museum, United Kingdom

Abstract

When the first handheld devices became commercially available, museums were particularly excited about the opportunities that these could offer particularly in terms of visitors' orientation and way finding. The presence of a touch screen, in fact, supports the use of interactive maps, which, alone or in combination with location aware technologies can help visitors understand where they are and decide where to go.

More than 10 years have now passed since the implementation of the first handheld guide and, unfortunately, many museums are still struggling to develop and implement effective way finding solutions on mobile platforms. Location aware technologies have proven to be expensive and problematic to install and maintain, while interactive maps, particularly of complex sites can be challenging for people to use and interpret on small screens.

Building on the experience of other institutions such as Tate, the Met and the Louvre, the British Museum has recently launched a multimedia guide in 11 languages that supports way finding and orientation without relying on location aware technology.

In this paper, we will present in details the various way finding solutions that were developed for the guide, as well as the results of research and evaluations that were carried out on these applications during and after the launch. Through our experience, we hope to provide a reference for other medium and large size museums, which are grappling with similar issues.

Keywords: Orientation, Way finding, interactive maps, multimedia guide, handheld, guided tours

Program Item Reference:

Mobile devices for orientation and way finding: the case of the British Museum multimedia guide

Launching the MFA Multimedia Guide: Lessons Learned

jenabah — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:48:57 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Launching the MFA Multimedia Guide: Lessons Learned

Keywords:

multimedia guide

Keywords:

ipod

Keywords:

handheld

Keywords:

app

Keywords:

mobile

Keywords:

tour

Abstract:

For the opening of the Museum's new Art of the Americas wing, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston embarked upon a sweeping new program to transform the traditional audio guide into a new iPod Touch-based multimedia guide. This ambitious endeavor was fraught with challenges as diverse as managing content production at a new scale and determining how to reliably charge 750 devices at a time.

In this session, MFA New Media team members will share lessons learned from our large-scale project, including points such as:

Strategy - determining the best direction for our visitors and institution
Planning and evaluation - prototype testing of content and the device
Offerings - features and tours (adult, kids, foreign language, special exhibition, and audio described guides)
Content production - moving production in house while still leveraging experts
CMS - selecting and enhancing the guide content management solution
Updating content - crafting a solution for making content updates manageable
Security - protecting the investment
Equipment - cases, headphones, lanyards, chargers and more
Operations - managing workflow, training, and rental and return
Future growth - where we'll be heading next

The MFA uses TAP as the CMS, with a modified/customized TAP app as the user interface. We use the Nous case and a homegrown charging solution.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Mobile Parade

Authors:

Jenna Fleming

Phil Getchell

Jesse Kochis

Mobile devices for orientation and way finding: the case of the British Museum multimedia guide

silviaf — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:49:28 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Mobile devices for orientation and way finding: the case of the British Museum multimedia guide

Keywords:

handheld

Keywords:

mobile devices

Keywords:

way finding

Keywords:

orientation

Keywords:

interactive maps

Abstract:

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Mobile Parade

Authors:

Silvia Filippini Fantoni

Matthew Cock

Sarah McDaid

The Museum Is Mobile: Cross-platform content design for audiences on the go

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:57 +0000

Proctor, N. (2010). The Museum Is Mobile: Cross-platform content design for audiences on the go. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.