Open Forum

Hello everyone, 

I recently learned about an old app called Sparkatour which guide users much like some museums used personal audio equipment to act as a tour. Unfortunately, from what I could find, Sparkatour is no longer available. I was wondering if any museums have or are using similar apps, or if anyone has heard of similar apps, and what patron's reactions to it were.

Thanks!

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Brandon Young MLS
Museum Assistant II
The Sherman Museum
Sherman TX
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We're working with a company called Guidekick to develop something similar.  Here are a couple of links to more information:

The de Young App by Guidekick

FAMSF		remove preview
The de Young App by Guidekick "The de Young's new mobile app is like a private tour with a curator..."-7x7Get the most from your visit with the de Young mobile app, offering fascinating insights from the museum's curators and an easily navigated map to help you see more of the collections. View this on FAMSF >

New museum app: like GPS, only indoors

Mercurynews		remove preview
New museum app: like GPS, only indoors The de Young Museum in San Francisco has launched a new app that uses the latest indoor mapping technology to take you by the hand, in a virtual sense, guiding you toward that favorite painting or installation. Just like GPS, only indoors, it's the first app to use Apple's indoor positioning with core location technology. View this on Mercurynews >

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Neda Asgharzadeh
Director of Member & Visitor Services
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
de Young | Legion of Honor
San Francisco CA

uDiscover is a mobile App that doesn't charge the cultural site (museum). We use a technology where you could add information (movies, photos, audio, etc.), indoor and outdoor, to each piece in your exhibition. No taking care of equipment, no rentals, the visitor provides their cellular phones. We work with your content in order to make it appropriate (interpretative and educational purposes) and we charge the user (visitor) for access to your content. The visitor download for free the app (Google app store), he'll have access to your information (phone, address, entrance fee, etc), get to your facility (through google map's) and then decides if he's interested in your extra offering. Google bills .99 cents (to the visitor), they keep the 30%, and the rest is divided between the app (to ensure growth) and your cultural site (yes, an extra income). Since there are other cultural sites available through the app, it promotes re use (from the visitor), meaning that after a visit to your site the user wouldn't erase it. That way we can send notifications (as an example: every time you change your offering or have an activity) assuring your communication with your visitor. Right now we don't have cultural sites interested in the United States...but we're here anxious to start a new way of business. An economical model interested in cultual improvement through technology. My email is jessicaopp@live.com. 

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Jessica Oppenheimer
WLG Innovations, Inc.
Caguas

UDiscovery app sounds very interesting to sustitute those earing gadgets. Could you be so kind to send me more regarding information to AMIG (Museums and Interpretive Centers Association). Just, we have preparing our next International Meeting and are looking for speechs about museums and tech. Thank you so much!

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Maria Ines La Rosa Ducato
AMIG I & D Director
Coordinator II INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON MUSEOLOGY AND MUSEUMS
marines_larosa@yahoo.com / amigperu@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/congresodemuseos/?ref=bookmarks
Lima

Original Message:
Sent: 01-18-2016 01:12 PM
From: Jessica Oppenheimer
Subject: Touring Apps

uDiscover is a mobile App that doesn't charge the cultural site (museum). We use a technology where you could add information (movies, photos, audio, etc.), indoor and outdoor, to each piece in your exhibition. No taking care of equipment, no rentals, the visitor provides their cellular phones. We work with your content in order to make it appropriate (interpretative and educational purposes) and we charge the user (visitor) for access to your content. The visitor download for free the app (Google app store), he'll have access to your information (phone, address, entrance fee, etc), get to your facility (through google map's) and then decides if he's interested in your extra offering. Google bills .99 cents (to the visitor), they keep the 30%, and the rest is divided between the app (to ensure growth) and your cultural site (yes, an extra income). Since there are other cultural sites available through the app, it promotes re use (from the visitor), meaning that after a visit to your site the user wouldn't erase it. That way we can send notifications (as an example: every time you change your offering or have an activity) assuring your communication with your visitor. Right now we don't have cultural sites interested in the United States...but we're here anxious to start a new way of business. An economical model interested in cultual improvement through technology. My email is jessicaopp@live.com. 

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Jessica Oppenheimer
WLG Innovations, Inc.
Caguas

Cuseum offers an interesting and affordable app platform.

Cuseum - The Future of the Museum Experience

Cuseum		remove preview
Cuseum - The Future of the Museum Experience At Cuseum, our vision is to transform the way people engage with art and culture at museums and beyond. We powers interactive, socially engaging, and context-aware mobile apps for museums to enhance the way we experience art. View this on Cuseum >

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Mark Osterman
Guiding Programs Manager
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
Miami, FL 33141

CultureSpots is also a great option! http://culturespots.com

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Margaret Walker
Art Curator Assistant
Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery
Nashville TN

I will second the Cuseum recommendation. 

HQ

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Heidi Quicksilver
Digital Asset Management Specialist
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cleveland OH

Thanks Mark and Heidi for the recommendations.

For anyone looking for a platform to help build another layer of engagement for their museum, I'd be glad to connect with you and learn more about your needs and goals for your institution. Our top goal at Cuseum is to provide you with all of the tools you need (and more) to quickly and easily create a mobile tours for your visitor.

My e-mail is brendan@cuseum.com and phone number is 617-356-8200 x700 - all and all, please consider me a resource. I'm always happy to chat, strategize, answer questions, and share experiences.

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Brendan Ciecko
CEO & Founder
Cuseum
Boston MA

Original Message:
Sent: 01-20-2016 10:04 AM
From: Heidi Quicksilver
Subject: Touring Apps

I will second the Cuseum recommendation. 

HQ

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Heidi Quicksilver
Digital Asset Management Specialist
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Cleveland OH

At the IMA we have developed an Open Source tour solution called TAP. TAP contains a Drupal based content management platform, an web based tour app, an iPhone app and an iPad app. Each of these can be configured with audio, video, text, and image content. We have used this at the IMA for a number of years and have helped other museums implement it as well. We are always looking for ways to enhance the tools and if you have developer support are open to contributions to the platform as well. 

TAP into Museums by IMAmuseum

Tapintomuseums		remove preview
TAP into Museums by IMAmuseum TAP is a collection of free and open-source tools which support the creation and delivery of mobile tours. The tools also serve as examples of producing and consuming tour content using the TourML specification. Currently TAP consists of authoring tools built on top of the content management system Drupal, a native iOS mobile application, and a web-based mobile application built upon the jQuery Mobile library. View this on Tapintomuseums >

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Kyle Jaebker
Director IMA Lab
Indianapolis Museum of Art
http://lab.imamuseum.org

izi.Travel is an app  that is free and easy to use. You can add a great deal of things in the app or just have it be very simple. It has museums all over the world and lets the user know which museums are closest to them as well.

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Jessica Strom
Briscoe Western Art Museum
Boerne TX

Just had a meeting this morning with a really innovative company called Gamar here in the UK. They have worked with the BM, V&A and Maritime Museum in Greenwich. I actually had seem of their apps before realising that they were the ones making them.

Their app allows you to make games and tours within your institution using really high-level Image Recognition software (one of the guys used to be a technology guru at the government). 

I know they do charge museums to use the app, but it's really easy to use and build content for, and from what I can tell you can build the game/tour just with your phone inside the museum (taking photos) and then edit it using a web browser.

Here's a link to their site: http://gamar.com/

Might be helpful!

Best,

Bernadine

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Bernadine Brocker
Director
Vastari
London

Hello everyone! 

UniGuide is another great option for mobile audio-tour delivery, as we are a universal application for audio guide content. With UniGuide, visitors do not have to download a different app for each venue they visit (typically users will delete a single app after one-time visit, for mobile-device memory and storage purposes). 

The benefits of choosing UniGuide are:
- Free content development (up to one-hour of completed script development, recording, and production, per venue)
- Free platform delivery for existing recorded content
- Free for both content providers and visitors
- Venue retains complete ownership and control of content (no fees for changes to the content, which many mobile app developers charge)
- Accessible, simple, and easy-to-use
- UniGuide hosts hundreds of audio tours, and users use an interactive map to discover content
- Tours may be downloaded with Wi-fi connection (users do not have to use cellular data if they do not want to)

If anyone wishes to set up a time to speak over the phone, or if you has any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me at Lauren@uniguide.me. We are currently based in the United States, but plan to expand to include international content this year. 

Best wishes to all the hardworking Museum Professionals out there!

Lauren Bacchus


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Lauren Bacchus
Lauren@uniguide.me
UniGuide Representative
Asheville, North Carolina
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Hello everyone! 

UniGuide is another great option for mobile audio-tour delivery, as we are a universal application for audio guide content. With UniGuide, visitors do not have to download a different app for each venue they visit (typically users will delete a single app after one-time visit, for mobile-device memory and storage purposes). 

The benefits of choosing UniGuide are:
- Free content development (up to one-hour of completed script development, recording, and production, per venue)
- Free platform delivery for existing recorded content
- Free for both content providers and visitors
- Venue retains complete ownership and control of content (no fees for changes to the content, which many mobile app developers charge)
- Accessible, simple, and easy-to-use
- UniGuide hosts hundreds of audio tours, and users use an interactive map to discover content
- Tours may be downloaded with Wi-fi connection (users do not have to use cellular data if they do not want to)

If anyone wishes to set up a time to speak over the phone, or if you has any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me at Lauren@uniguide.me. We are currently based in the United States, but plan to expand to include international content this year. 

Best wishes to all the hardworking Museum Professionals out there!

Lauren Bacchus


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Lauren Bacchus
Lauren@uniguide.me
UniGuide Representative
Asheville, North Carolina
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Hello!

We are a new company located in Chicago that provides this service specifically for museums and cultural spaces. Museums use our content management system to create their own custom, native mobile apps at an affordable rate on a monthly subscription. The museum can create indoor, location based tours with social media integration. There is no upfront cost to start and everything is included. You can download one of our museum's apps here: 

International Museum of Surgical Science on the App Store

I'd love to send you more information or answer any questions that you have! 

Kind regards,
Nancy

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Nancy Harmon
Chief Curatorial Officer
Encurate Mobile Technology
Chicago, IL
www.encurate.com
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