Modernizing your Museum through Augmented Reality

One problem many museums have faced is in finding ways to modernize themselves and use new technology in order to draw in visitors and compete with more ‘entertaining’ ways of learning such as Apps, software, and video sharing sites like YouTube. Part of this challenge is finding ways to implement the technology many people use in their everyday life into the museum experience. Thankfully, there’s been a number of technological advancements over the years which make this not only feasible for museums, but also something they can implement rather quickly into their overall itinerary and offer to their guests. We’ve come up with a few different ways your museum can adapt Augmented Reality technology to boost guests and wow them with the new setups of your establishment. Don’t get left behind with the artifacts of antiquity; step into the future and take your guests with you!

Bring Famous Artworks and Exhibits to your Museum

One challenge museums may face is the fact there is only so many artifacts, priceless pieces of art, and other beautiful features of a museum gallery to go around. With these limited resources, it can be a difficult to create interesting and cohesive experiences for your guests at your museum. Thankfully, with AR and even using QR Codes, you can bring highly detailed, digital experiences to your guests with little to no cost. Not only does this increase the features you can bring to your exhibition, it creates spikes in app downloads and revenue streams; and helps to keep your museum at the heart of public conversation.

Collaborate with Digital Artists

Perhaps your museum is a bit more modern, and your aim isn’t to focus on history but rather the importance of art and culture. You may want to consider collaborating with digital, modern artists whose experience in AR, apps, and the digital space can be a critical insight when bringing new and exciting gallery features to your museum. Many artists are capable of setting up AR exhibitions for your location, and the results can be a stunning mix of performance art, abstract expressionism, and internet art. Regardless of what medium they reside in, the use and witnessing of AR in an artistic sense is likely to inflame your guests curiosity and make this exhibition a success!

Use AR on Guided Tours

Guided tours of your museum are a great way for guests to learn extra information about your exhibits and to make them more engaging and interactive for your visitors. Adding in QR Codes which can be scanned to provide extra information to your guests is a great way to get them involved in the learning experience and change things up using technology. Moreover, you can use augmented reality to bring images, videos, and historical documents to the overall tour experience; providing auxiliary materials your guests would’ve otherwise missed.

AR Strengthens your Niche

Most museums typically revolve around a specific topic or niche which is then fleshed out by the artifacts, art, and exhibitions found inside the museum. Given your guests are likely to be interested in the niche you’re presenting, you’ll be providing them extra layers of detail and information which is relevant to their interests. One example of this comes from the Riga Motor Museum, which used Augmented Reality segments and videos to provide tutorials into how older motor vehicles functioned and were designed. The exhibit was immensely popular with car enthusiasts looking to learn more about their own special interests.

Use AR to Guide Guests to You

Often times, another challenge which museums face are finding themselves in bloated or crowded city centers, where the variety of distractions, attractions, and things to do are vast and numerous. Thankfully, augmented reality can be used to circumvent this problem. GPS based apps are becoming more popular, with the advent of things such as Pokemon Go popularizing the technology. One way GPS apps have been used for the purpose of guiding guests is through the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan. Fearing low attendance rates, the museum designed an app which uses real time GPS coordinates to guide guests to the museum using virtual penguins to lead them there using the phones camera. This is effective for drawing in guests as it is interactive, unique, and a fun twist on the typical walk to the museum most of your guests will be used to. Additionally, you can use things such as augmented reality invitations, personalized greeting cards with QR Codes, and other creative uses of AR tech in order to send out mass invitations to your museums and attract more guests to your location. These unique greetings also help foster a sense of loyalty and belonging to your museum, and may make customers more likely to donate or visit your establishment regularly.

You may also refer to our AR App development service page and feel free to contact us for more information.