Using the future to tell the past
Until this past weekend it had been many years since I stepped into a museum – let alone three! My reason was to understand how mobile technology can transform the visitor experience, and while most museums nowadays have a smartphone app of some sort, they seem to vary widely in what they offer the end user in terms of personal engagement.
Museums are far from being laggards in this space, but faced with a backdrop of funding cuts, dwindling staff numbers and the fact that most are free to enter, many museums are looking for ways to increase their appeal and income.
A great example is the British Museum (the first national public museum in the world, no less), which will be recreated in the video game Minecraft as part of its museum of the future scheme to generate interest and attract more visitors.
By 2018, over 10 billion mobile devices will populate our planet, and with 70% of those users accessing public WiFi hotspots (57% of which do so at least once a week), it’s unsurprising that people have now come to expect access to reliable WiFi networks at attractions like museums.
Not only this, but guests are also actively seeking to use their mobile devices to enhance the onsite experience where possible – this means that businesses need to be putting strategies in place to meet this demand.
There are some really exciting possibilities in this space – imagine if you were able to personalise your visit in advance so that when you arrived, you bypassed queues and you received an itinerary direct to your device. Or how does being immersed in engaging, relevant digital content based on your age, interests and real-time location in the museum sound?
Functionalities like this bring a host of tangible benefits to the business, too. Take technologies that facilitate real-time crowd management capabilities to improve access and safety, or delivering targeted promotions based on where visitors are spending their time to help increase revenue and membership subscriptions.
This week, Cisco and several of its eco-system partners hosted a successful event for Museums introducing the ‘visitor experience’. The message struck a chord with Museums who, mindful not to turn visitors into zombies whose gaze is occupied by a screen rather than the exhibit recognised the multiple benefits for both the visitor and venue.
Cisco’s Connected Mobile Experience’s location-based services enable attractions to deliver enhanced interactive experiences just like this via mobile. To find out more, take a look here or perhaps register for our next customer event focused on the ‘Retail Experience’ in London on November 6th.
One last note -I noticed on my exit from the museum a large box asking for a recommended £3 donation. I thought to myself “how much more would others value their visit if it had also been a connected mobile experience?” I for one am confident there would be a few more notes in the box.
2 Comments
Trolling comment 2/10 unnecessary.
Clickbait article. 2/10 shit.