Locatify Powers the Audio Experience at WIM – The World of Icelandic Music
When you step inside WIM – The World of Icelandic Music in Reykjavík, you are immediately wrapped in sound, story, and memory. The exhibition, which officially opened on 18 August 2026, takes visitors on a journey through the rich and remarkably varied history of Icelandic music — from the earliest folk traditions to the global stages where Icelandic artists have made their mark. For a nation of around 400,000 people, the breadth, fame, and quality of the music scene is extraordinary, and WIM tells that story in a way that is both intimate and immersive.
We at Locatify are proud to have played a key role in making that experience possible.
About WIM
The World of Icelandic Music was founded by exhibition designer Axel Hallkell Jóhannesson and entrepreneur Þorsteinn Jóhannesson, and is led by CEO Hildur Harðardóttir. The interactive displays throughout the exhibition were created and delivered by Hér & Nú Agency, led by Ingvi Jökull Logason. The audio guide unfolds through a script by acclaimed Icelandic author Þórarinn Eldjárn, accompanied by an original soundtrack composed by his son, musician and composer Úlfur Eldjárn. Together, this exceptional team has created one of the most ambitious cultural experiences Iceland has seen in years — a permanent home for the story of Icelandic music, housed in Harpa Concert Hall in the heart of Reykjavík. To bring this vision to life technically, the team partnered with Locatify.
The Challenge: Bringing 28 Stations to Life in a Compact Space
From the start of the year, Leifur Björn Björnsson, co-founder and Head of Development at Locatify, began the technical preparation for the automatic audio guide system — the invisible backbone of the entire WIM experience. The concept was straightforward: as a guest enters each of the 28 stations within the exhibition space, the audio guide triggers automatically, synchronising perfectly with the video content playing at that station. Musicians perform, archive footage rolls, and the narration flows seamlessly — as if a knowledgeable friend is guiding you through each chapter of Iceland’s musical story.
The execution, however, was anything but simple.
Finding the Right Technology
Locatify has a strong track record with automatic location-triggered audio guides, having deployed them using a variety of technologies:
- BLE beacons at LÍ Safnahúsið for scavenger hunts
- Automatic guides at Þórbergssetur cultural centre and Eldheimar
- Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology at the Garden Museum in England
For WIM, none of these was quite the right fit. The exhibition space is compact, and the 28 stations sit in remarkably close proximity to one another. Some stations are just 1.5 metres apart — two steps to the right and you have crossed into an entirely new chapter of Icelandic music history. Others face each other directly across a narrow corridor, meaning a guest standing at one station only has to turn around and take a single step for the next station’s content to come to life.
In an environment like this, precision is everything. A system that triggered too early or too late — bleeding one station’s story into the next — would shatter the carefully crafted experience. The technology had to know exactly where you were standing, not just roughly.
The search for the correct technology took time. Testing kits were purchased from multiple providers and evaluated carefully. In the end, the team selected infrared light technology, sourcing the equipment from a supplier in Europe, Look 2 Innovate. Infrared offered the pinpoint accuracy required — triggering only when a visitor is directly in front of a station, not drifting into a neighboring one.
Synchronisation: When Audio Meets Video
One of the most rewarding technical achievements of the project was the synchronisation between the audio guide and the video content at each station. When a guest approaches a station and the introduction begins, the system detects the moment the narration ends and seamlessly cues the video to begin playing — aligning the spoken word with the visual exactly as intended.
The result is an experience that feels curated and effortless, where technology disappears entirely into the storytelling. Guests at the opening night were visibly moved, going down memory lane with beloved musicians, rediscovering forgotten gems, and discovering new chapters of Iceland’s musical heritage.
Understanding the Audience
Beyond the visitor experience itself, the system gives the WIM team a rich window into how the exhibition is actually being used. Through analytics, the team can see which languages guests are choosing, how they move through the exhibition — which stations they linger at longest, and whether they follow a linear path or wander freely — and how long they engage with each station’s audio content. This kind of insight is invaluable, not just for understanding the current visitor experience, but for making informed decisions about future content, staffing, and the overall development of the exhibition.
A Collaboration Worth Celebrating
The technical setup involved close collaboration with the wider WIM team — defining station boundaries, fine-tuning trigger zones, configuring multiple languages, and working through round after round of testing to get every detail right.
What set this collaboration apart was the genuine openness of the entire team to feedback and improvement. Trial guests were invited to walk through the exhibition before the doors opened to the public, and their experience was observed carefully. How did they move between stations? Where did they pause? Did the audio guide feel like it was leading them, or catching up with them? Every observation fed directly back into the system. Trigger sensitivities were recalibrated, content timings were adjusted, and the overall flow was refined — all based on real people having a real experience. Nothing was considered finished until it felt right, and that commitment to getting it right is evident in every step of the exhibition.
The Locatify team is proud to be part of an exhibition that celebrates something genuinely special. Iceland’s music scene — its variety, its ambition, and its ability to punch so far above its weight on the world stage — deserves to be heard. WIM gives it the platform it deserves, and we are honoured to have helped bring it to life.
Visit WIM – The World of Icelandic Music: wim.is/the-exhibition | wim.is/about-us
Learn more about Locatify’s audio guide solutions and indoor location activation technologies:
