Open Forum

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.

I'd suggest taking a look at a BrightSign digital signage player paired with a touchscreen. Unlike Raspberry Pi or Arduino options, they're a prepackaged appliance that's built to plug in and run for years, and compared to computers they're more than those options, but still pretty inexpensive. BrightSigns are also incredibly reliable. I've had just 3 out of hundreds and hundreds fail in 15 years of using them.

For touch interactives, the capabilities within BrightAuthor (a free download) are limited to "press a button and get a new page," but if you're mainly providing navigation from page to page that may be enough for the UX you'd like to do. If that includes video content they're really shine as interactive video players. They can also display HTML content (either stored locally or on a server) and that would offer another way to deploy interactivity if you have someone willing to develop for them. That's a bit quirky but works well when the dev has worked out the limitations.

Best of luck! 

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.

Brightsigns are my recommendation. The development app is a bit more complicated to learn than, say, KeyNote, but you can do more than just static pages because you can include video/animations. The BrightAuthor (the free development app) does not create media, just the layout and instruction set: play this, put links here, then this, etc... So an animated transition is just a video with matching start and end points. If you need something much more complicated, say with accumulators or if/then logic, Brightsigns can run interactives built with HTML5 and Javascript. If you have a web developer, you have an app developer. They can connect to and display external feeds. They can do exhibit-oriented tricks such as GPI triggering, syncing multiple players, scheduling, etc... They have great "retail" support, and they have become such an industry standard that getting third-party help and support is easy. The biggest advantage is that they are NOT standard Windows or Mac computers. They are rock-solid 24/7 appliances that are highly unlikely to "crash" and are extremely difficult for visitors to trick, essentially impossible to "hack." No need to lock down the OS.  They come in different models and power levels that are cheaper than equivalent computers. 

Ultra-compact computers like Raspberry Pi can be cheaper at the hardware level, and are highly customizable, but unless you have a Linux-savvy computer geek, the learning curve and risk of failure are not worth it in my opinion. There are also cloud-based services, like Dakboard, that use cheap ultra compacts and some are quite user-friendly, but these require external connections and are not IMHO worth the effort unless you are deploying to multiple locations and require remote reconfiguration. 

I'd suggest taking a look at a BrightSign digital signage player paired with a touchscreen. Unlike Raspberry Pi or Arduino options, they're a prepackaged appliance that's built to plug in and run for years, and compared to computers they're more than those options, but still pretty inexpensive. BrightSigns are also incredibly reliable. I've had just 3 out of hundreds and hundreds fail in 15 years of using them.

For touch interactives, the capabilities within BrightAuthor (a free download) are limited to "press a button and get a new page," but if you're mainly providing navigation from page to page that may be enough for the UX you'd like to do. If that includes video content they're really shine as interactive video players. They can also display HTML content (either stored locally or on a server) and that would offer another way to deploy interactivity if you have someone willing to develop for them. That's a bit quirky but works well when the dev has worked out the limitations.

Best of luck! 

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.

We use regular Mac minis with our touchscreen monitors. As for ensuring people cannot randomly swipe/click out, I do not remember the steps we take, but it is possible to ensure they stay within the designated program. We have two touchscreen monitors. As for the program, we just create a Keynote (Mac's version of Powerpoint) with clickable links. It works great for us because it's free and allows us to fully customize what we show on the monitors. 

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.

I love this method, would you be able to connect us with your IT folks to explore this a bit more?

We use regular Mac minis with our touchscreen monitors. As for ensuring people cannot randomly swipe/click out, I do not remember the steps we take, but it is possible to ensure they stay within the designated program. We have two touchscreen monitors. As for the program, we just create a Keynote (Mac's version of Powerpoint) with clickable links. It works great for us because it's free and allows us to fully customize what we show on the monitors. 

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.

Ami,

We are experimenting with iPad Pros using a platform called Genially to develop gallery based interactive presentations. We are also using Kiosk Pro app and iPad guided access to lock down the interactive. You can try and use Kiosk Pro lite which is free to see if lock down works well enough. With a subscription to Genially you can download experiences as HTML files and run locally or run the presentations off the cloud. We are running off the cloud so when we make changes or updates they are automatically and quickly reflected in the iPad experiences. We are placing iPads into standing kiosks in gallery spaces. There is a free version of Genially that lets you experiment and create presentations so you can have an idea if it will meet your needs. This is a link to a proof of concept interactive experience that focuses on a hotspot UI. This is not the actual interactive. We are currently developing the content for that now. I like experimenting with this platform as you can easily create a variety of types of presentations, it is very affordable for a subscription, you can upload audio and video, and it allows the option to not only create an interactive in the gallery but also make that interactive available on the web. 

Best

Mark 

Hello museum folks,

We are planning to integrate touchscreens into some exhibits in our small museum this winter. The screens will display various videos and information, which visitors could select and view as they wish by using the touchscreen.

I know there are many options out there for museum screen kiosks, etc., but I am wondering if anyone here has suggestions for lower-budget options, such as using a touchscreen monitor with raspberry pi or other computer? Some questions/concerns I have about that are how to "lock down" the user interface so that visitors can't accidentally exit the program, and what program or app to use (or self design, such as creating an interactive PDF). 

I would appreciate any suggestions! Thank you so much.