Museums iPhone
Probably all of you is now aware about the new Apple iPhone that will create the revolution on the way to use cell phones.
But the iPhone can find an ideal usage also in museums environment as a video/audio/web guide, all into a unique device connected by Wi-Fi or by Edge protocol.
We start to work in cooperation with Apple to test it as museums visitors tools.
Who will have ideas or comment to share please do it here or write me directly.
Mario
July 13th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
While the iPhone is a pretty toy, the initial cost and service contract would seem to put it out of the budget of most museums. If you are interested in using a WiFi device in a museum, why not look into a less expensive device like a Palm Tx or the Amida Simputer?
July 13th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I not agree about the “pretty toy” definition, as the million peoples that buy it the first week.
It is not only a problem of the device itself, the difference is not in the hardware but in the user interface. All of us know better how difficult is for visitors to use device like Palm or others.
The revolution made by iPhone is the user interface, a gestural interface!
It was like when the first Mac was on the market, on the other side only MsDos without any user interface!
Mario
July 14th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
If Museums had wifi networks within their venues it would allow the user to download exhibition information like audio guides to their iphone.
As Mario suggests, the iPhone will change the face of mobile phones, within a year most new models will have features like wifi, and we need to think now about how we can use this technology to make exhibitions better for our visitors.
As well as audio guides, visitors could read additional information on all objects, artists, historical figures making the experience as ‘light’ or ‘heavy’ as the individual wishes.
July 15th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
A good example of the potential for this type of museum interaction is discussed by Dr. Turkel at his website on Place Based Computing (http://digitalhistory.uwo.ca/pbc/). Hand held units that could make use of GIS have been around for a few years and are only getting better. I am not familiar with the iphone’s capabilities (though I soon will be) but having a locative device to guide ones visitors offers the ability to deliver not just a website and additional materials into their hands but a device that KNOWs where they are and can deliver custom content. This suggests that the world can become a museum provided someone makes the effort to annotate the space in which we live beyond the confines of museum walls.
This is one of the goals of the “Distributed Museum” concept we are working on at the online Museum of Underwater Archaeology (http://www.uri.edu/mua).
Best regards,
T. Kurt Knoerl
MUA
November 5th, 2007 at 7:46 am
We are currently working on a application on the iphone specifically for museums. People would be able to control large flat panel displays to choose what video they would like to view on the large screen via iphone, therefore eliminating touchscreens. We build a web 2.0 application that people access through their phone or ipod. This allows for a more intimate experience for the museum visitor. Should be done by the end of the month.