MULTIMEDIA AND AV
MASS CATERING
Multimedia and audiovisual aids are being used in increasingly inventive ways to ensure all audiences are catered for at attractions. Kath Hudson looks at some of the latest applications
arents no longer need to worry about bored children syndrome on cultural days out: the latest multimedia
and audiovisual guides are being designed to really bring the subject to life and pique the interest of young minds. The wealth of information and entertainment pro- vided means visitors can build their own tour, picking and choosing the information which interests them most. At London’s V&A Museum, Antenna
Audio has created the UK’s fi rst in-gallery multimedia guide and iPhone App to accompany a temporary exhibition. The guides are available on iPod touch players, plus a downloadable application (or ‘app’) is on sale at the iTunes App Store, creating an additional revenue stream. Accompanying ‘Quilts 1700 to 2010’,
which takes visitors on a journey through three centuries of quilt-making in Britain, the guides use audio commentaries, video
clips, original interviews and photography to tell the stories of the quilts and the quilt making tradition. Although the subject mat- ter might appeal to an older audience who may be nervous of the technology, the guides have been made very user- friendly and there’s plenty of help at hand for those who are struggling. The use of the iPod Touch and iPhone
allows visitors to zoom in on high-res images for a detailed look at selected works. Since many of the quilts are being displayed in recreated domestic settings, visitors can’t get close enough to the exhib- its to see the intricate details, so this zoom feature is an important interpretation tool. Antenna’s marketing, press and com- munication manager, Matthew Vines, says: “There’s a growing trend in the interpretation industry towards a multi- platform approach, with a view to reaching wider and more diverse audiences and, ultimately, to secure additional revenue
streams. If the app is produced at the same time as the onsite iPod tour, then the costs are minimised, as many of the assets can be repurposed for an online platform.”
BRINGING THE SUBJECT TO LIFE
After experiencing a large increase in visitors, Cardiff Castle in Wales charged Acoustiguide with the task of producing a tour that would interpret 2,000 years of his- tory for all of its visitors. Dominic Thurgood, Acoustiguide’s mar- keting and multimedia coordinator, says:
“As an extension of the site’s guided tours, the audioguide was to cater for as many visitors as possible, whether they be young or old, local or from abroad, or if they are deaf or visually impaired.” Opus Click was used, with 15 tours: 10
adult tours in different languages; three children’s tours in English, French and Welsh and two visually impaired tours in English and Welsh. A British Sign Language tour, in the Welsh dialect, was installed on Opus Touch to take advantage of the larger touchscreen. Care was taken to make sure the content
of the tours would resonate with the differ- ent audiences. “Both the children’s tours and the visually impaired tours were written by scriptwriters with extensive experience in those particular fi elds,” says Thurgood.
“The children’s tours use local actors for its English and Welsh versions and feature characters from various phases of the Castle’s history, including a Roman soldier, a medieval archer and a Victorian maid, who bring to life the stories of its past. The VI tour elegantly blends historical commen- tary with descriptive representations of the site and its artefacts.” Similarly, the colourful history of Texas
cowboy attractions, Stockyards Station and the Texas Trail of Fame in the US, is told with the help of BarZ Adventures’ GPS Ranger system, installed last year. The attractions receive visitors of all
ages, from all around the world, and BarZ Adventures’ brief was to make the experi- ence relevant, interesting and fun to all of them. Using the voices of big names in
The V&A Museum in London is utilising the latest trend of iPhone applications to accompany its Quilts 1700 to 2010 exhibit
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AM 2 2010 ©cybertrek 2010
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