Automatic Museum Guide

An audio guide that does what it’s supposed to!

Immersive Audio

Technology can distract and disconnect us, the Automatic Museum Guide is designed to do the opposite! Allow your visitors to connect with your museum with immersive audio that triggers automatically, eliminating the need to look at the screen. We’ll build the Android & iOS apps and assist with hardware and installation – you just use your CMS license to add (great) content!

What is the Automatic Museum Guide?

It’s a revolutionary audio guide system that empowers museums and galleries to easily create immersive multimedia experiences for their guests.

The app features audio guides, maps, quiz games, and the ability to add pages and web-content anytime via the Creator CMS.

Who is the Automatic Museum Guide for?

It’s suitable for any museum, gallery or venue that wants to engage their audience with contextual information in an innovative way.

The system makes signage redundant, navigation a breeze, and the audio guide only adds value to the visitor experience.

How is the Automatic Museum Guide used?

The app can be downloaded to a visitors own device from the App Store or accessed via provided rental audio guide devices.

Visitors select their tour & language and are shown a map (or list) with media triggering at preset locations.

Complete Package

The Locatify branded apps can include the following types of projects:

Indoor and outdoor projects

    1. Tour, audio guide, or game with points of interest presented on the map, location, and directions. Points can be activated/unlocked based on location:
      1. Outdoor using GPS for location detection.
      2. Indoor using BLE Beacons for proximity or UWB for precise location.
    2. Outdoor projects have Google/Apple maps with pins with content
    3. Indoor projects have custom floor maps, stations with content on the maps, or presented in a list format.
    4. Virtual tour with manual content activation by pressing the points or stations

  • Immersive Audio & Automatic content triggering means visitors don’t need to look at the device as audio and media are triggered automatically usingBLE Beacons/UWB for indoors and GPS for outdoors.
  • Offline content does not require internet access to operate once the app is installed and the content downloaded.
  • Multilingual, allowing you to reach a wider audience by providing game or tour content in multiple languages.
  • supported by GPS for outdoors and BLE Beacons/UWB for indoors.
  • Navigation supported by Google Maps and GPS.
  • Multimedia content includes audio, text, images, and video.
  • Custom Maps & Pins create a unique user experience and allow for monetizing the app with advertisements for cafes, shops, and other points of interest.
  • Map markers are extra points of interest or services, arranged into categories and subcategories, and presented in a list or as extra points on the map in a tour. They are entirely optional to visit and perfect to advertise local businesses. See map markers in action here.
  • Optional Login to collect user contact details.
  • Social Media sharing integration.
  • In-app purchases (optional add-on).
  • Website links can be opened within the app as new app pages or within tours, so no need to duplicate existing web content.
  • Open-ended questions help you collect visitor feedback.
  • Embed content like videos, playlists, buttons for donations, and e-commerce products to your points of interest or as a part of your tour or game.
  • Analytics & Heatmaps can provide detailed visitor information. Apps include usage analytics and Firebase can be installed to capture more detailed demographic info. Ultra-wideband enabled guides include heatmaps and detailed movement analytics.
  • Import and Export option to reuse content and tours quickly.

The treasure hunt games include all the same features as the tours, as well as:

  • Multiple Game Play Modes: Play competitive online multiplayer games or an offline single-player game. 
  • Question, Photo & Other Challenges Types: Award points and prizes for finding challenge locations and earning points. Optionally, measure time played and apply score penalties for using hints in challenges or not visiting important locations. Challenges offered:
    • Memory card games (easy, medium, difficult)
    • Jigsaw puzzle (easy, medium, difficult)
    • Multiple-choice questions (option of using images as answers)
    • Single-answer written text questions
    • Open-ended questions
    • Photo Challenges (plain, with stickers, draw on it)
    • Video Challenges
    • Draw on a canvas.
  • Advanced Game Settings: Specify how players will find and join a game (invitation code or from the list/map) and allow players to create private games or create an ongoing multiple-player game with a unique invitation code and scoreboard.
  • Customizable Invitation Codes & QR Codes to invite players to join a specific game instance.
  • Game Control Panel & Online Scoreboard puts you in control! Create game instances, share invitation codes, and start and stop existing game instances. Each game has a unique scoreboard where you can view (and export) uploaded game content, view player locations, edit players’ scores, and send players a message.
  • Rewards/Coupons: use the rewards manager to integrate digital items or discount vouchers/coupons to players. Rewards consist of an image, title, and subtitle and can be saved to the user’s phone. This can add another level of gamification or be used to encourage players to visit certain locations. Select if you want it to be awarded for a player reaching a certain total score or for finding a certain number of challenge locations.

  • Creator CMS Content Management System: Allows for updating tour locations and content anytime from a desktop browser.
  • Outdoor Location Technology: To determine the user’s location outdoor, GNSS or GPS is used. 
  • Indoor Location  Technology (BLE): When room level accuracy is required or you want the visitor to use their own device,  Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitters are placed in the venue. Trilaterion can be used to show a users location as a blue dot and proximity detection can be used  
  • BLE trilateration vs proximity: Trilateration requires more beacons but allows the guest’s location to be shown and used to trigger audio. More commonly, when the user’s location does not need to be shown, proximity detection can be used to trigger audio.
  • UWB Indoor Location  Technology: To precisely determine the users’ location indoor, Ultra-wideband (UWB) infrastructure is placed in the venue. This requires giving guests a tracking tag, but provides 30cm positioning accuracy and includes API’s for communicating user position with lighting and audiovisual systems to create immersive experiences.
  • Indoor venues without location triggering: can use a map with clickable areas for containing tour content, or show tour content in a list.
  • Devices and software: Both Android and iOS devices are supported with Locatify apps available for iOS 8.1 + Android 4.3+ devices.
  • App store publication: Apps are published to the Locatify App Store and Play Store developer accounts or app source files are provided for the client to manage via their own developer accounts.
  • Rental Audio Guides: Locatify works with a number of hardware providers and provides a Kiosk app to assist in remotely managing audio guide apps on third-party devices.
  • Offline use: All tour content is available offline once the app and tour has been downloaded. The users device needs to be connected to the internet in order to receive content updates. To receive push notifications the app needs cellular or 3G/4G connection.
  • Installation of BLE Beacons: Certified local installation partners available or do it yourself with the assistance of training material. Warranty included for indoor solution. 
  • Support: Professional support including a reasonable service-level agreement (SLA).

Game challenges and content can easily be added in multiple languages, allowing users to listen, watch or read descriptions in various languages. The owner of the app is responsible for translating content into the languages chosen.

We’re constantly adding to our list, but so far the languages supported for content are:

Audio description for visually impaired, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian,Faroese, Finnish, French, German, German sign language, Icelandic,  Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese,  Russian, Swedish,  Spanish, Slovenian, Turkish, Ukrainian.

The interface is available in the following languages: English, Icelandic, Norwegian, German, Italian, Danish, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Lithuanian, and Portuguese.

If you don’t see your language here, talk to us about adding it.

Apps for museums by Locatify

Plans & Pricing

No setup fee and no hidden costs!

Features

What Our Customers Say

“The Locatify system makes it simple to create and publish your own tours, add updates, and new content as projects develop.”

Andrea Easey, Interpretation Editor, National Portrait Gallery

“Locatify developed an audio guide for Eldheimar, which is a very important part of the museum. The cooperation with Locatify is very good, the company is enthusiastic and professional.”

Kristín Jóhannesdóttir, Director, Eldheimar Museum

“The interactive map, that we made for the Netherlands-Bauhaus expo in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, shows the visitor a hidden layer of interconnectivity between artists in this art period. Thanks to the clever and easy to use mapping system and customisation services of Locatify we were able to realise the challenge of making hundreds of stories and images associated, interactive and ultimately: accessible.”

Kuba Szutkowski, Studio Maslow (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen)

“The Locatify’s UWB indoor positioning complements the interactive, immersive, full-sensory experience of the Newt’s ‘Story of Gardening’. Being prompted by the tablet as one enters a different room or walks up to an exhibit gives a true sense of connectedness with the space and the exhibits.”

Arthur Cole, Head of Programmes for the Visitor Attraction , The Newt at Somerset, UK

How To Get Started

1) Talk to Locatify sales team
2) Provide branding assets
3) Create your guide content
4) Publish to your app