AUDIOGUIDES
both groups fed into the process of testing and honing the script.” The design includes a telephone-style
keypad with a raised dot on the fi ve key, which can be used with headphones or like a mobile phone, allowing a choice of keeping hands or ears free. Commentaries
are linked, and the visitor presses the play button to navigate through the exhibits in a logical sequence. “Visitors with less severe visual impairment are able to negotiate the space without relying on a companion, in a way they probably couldn’t do with a ran- dom access tour,” Cooper says. The guide highlights opportunities
for sensory engagement — for example, exploring aircraft models by touch, holding differently shaped solids in an air current to investigate ‘lift’, and recording and play- ing back Morse code. In the aircraft hall, where the size of exhibits makes discovery by touch diffi cult, colourful descriptions are used, often drawing on animal and marine terminology to convey the essence of an exhibit, Cooper says. “Although there are similarities in
approach to earlier audioguides, what’s innovative is the engagement with visually impaired people at all stages of production, from concept to delivery,” she says.
OOKL
OOKL has already been providing venues with a unique guide device aimed at school groups, using Nokia smartphones – the service allows venues to easily create and upload their own content to the devices, which students can also use to take photos and make notes throughout their visit. Now, the company has launched a service allow- ing attractions to create their own iPhone apps for all visitors to download. The service, which is free to join, allows
OOKL’s new service allows attractions to create their own iPhone apps
venues to upload images and descrip- tions of the objects in their collection, and set a retail price for the app. Visitors who download the app can access the content on their device for 30 days, and the venue earns 60 per cent of the net retail price. The system allows venues to have their app immediately while avoiding Apple’s
application submission process, and allows venues with limited resources to create downloadable guides for low costs. Though the product has only just launched, OOKL director Dan Medicoff says he’s already received lots of enquiries and met with 10 venues. “Small venues are really interested because of the low entry price, as they would never have the resources to create their own app,” he says. “Large venues are really interested because they have huge num- bers of visitors and can have a hard time coping with the logistics of audioguides and changing content, so having visitors use their own device is a real plus.” Many venues have also expressed interest in when the service will be available for other devices, such as Android and Blackberry phones, he says.
The Catalyst Science Centre in Cheshire, UK, is one attraction that will be using OOKL’s iPhone app service. Head of visitor services Paul Meara feels selling iPhone apps will be benefi cial, as the popularity of purchasing apps is on the increase with visitors. “We also see an OOKL iPhone app possibly supplanting audioguides as a way of providing additional information to gen- eral visitors,” he adds.
DATATON Dataton’s Pickup audioguide offer has been put to interesting use in two cur- rent exhibitions –Dronning Margrethe og Arkælogien at the Moesgård Museum in Denmark, and And There Was Light, a tour- ing exhibition which opened in Gothenburg, Sweden in March 2010. Dronning Margrethe og Arkælogien
is an exhibition about Danish Queen Margrethe’s love of archeology, in honour of her 70th birthday this year.
YOU HEAR WHAT YOU SEE…
PICKUP AUDIO GUIDE BY DATATON Enhance each and every visit. PICKUP audio guide features superb sound quality, onsite updates, multiple tours, and a single button for easy control. Just point, click and enjoy the tour.
www.dataton.com/pickup
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