The American Museum of Natural History has recently launched an innovative and updated mobile app that allows museum visitors to personalize their onsite experience. By adding their personal interests and likes, the app will use cutting-edge “iBeacon” location technology to guide visitors to matching exhibits.
Developed with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the app will engage visitors with a wealth of new content, including animations, behind-the-scenes videos from collections and exhibition preparations, archival photos, audio, and quizzes. At the blue whale exhibit for example, a visitor can use the app to learn where to locate its belly button, listen to its haunting song, or watch a video snippet of how it gets cleaned by museum staff.
Hoping to redefine a visitor’s museum experience for the digital age, the app provides unique and interesting journeys throughout the 45 permanent exhibition halls. Its key features include:
* The Avatour augmented reality adventure, geared to younger visitors, lets users “Be the Bear” by unlocking the animal’s “superpowers.” “The kids go crazy,” says Matt Tarr, the museum’s digital architect. “We want our content and images to be engaging across all age groups.”
*Tree of Life, a quiz-based game that helps visitors discover how all life is related, from cats to Homo sapiens, as they build their own tree of life.
*Purchasing tickets via the app sets alerts to the user when nearing a ticketed film’s start time. Step-by-step directions are also provided to the museum theater from the visitors’ current location.
Tarr quickly mitigates any user concerns on privacy and security. “There is no tracking or gathering of any sort of data. Your location (in the museum) is your business and yours alone,” he says. The free app can be downloaded on iTunes App Store or on Google Play.
The American Museum of Natural History is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at the corner of Central Park West & 79th Street and is open every day from 10 am to 5.45 pm.
