Acoustiguide Introduces Advanced Interactive Bookmarking Function

Bookmarking Feature Debuts at Peabody Essex Museum and Extends Museum/Visitor Experience

(New York and Salem, MA) - Partnering with the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., Acoustiguide propels its time-honored technology to a new level with an innovative bookmarking application. Using Acoustiguide 2000 technology, visitors can log (bookmark) favorite objects into their audio players while they are listening to Acoustiguide’s permanent collection tour at the museum.  The bookmarking experience, “ARTscape,” went live when the museum reopened to the public in June 2003. Working together to  customize the Acoustiguide player’s data collection capability, Peabody Essex becomes the first client to take advantage of this innovative use.

ARTscape is a dynamic, multimedia encyclopedia that allows visitors to use the museum’s objects as a launching point for a self-guided journey through art and culture that can continue long after their physical visit.  At the end of a visit, an / userARTscape user docks his or her Acoustiguide wand at any of the computer kiosks provided by Friendlyway located throughout the museum. The visitor then downloads the bookmarks during his/her session, generating a personalized collection URL that is emailed to the user to be explored at home or at one of the computers in PEM’s Media Studio. Users interact with an intelligent, fluid and customizable interface, developed with Second Story, that suggests relationships between objects and ideas. Resources in ARTscape includes photos and descriptions of objects in the collection, definitions, book excerpts, quotations, video and audio clips, as well as related retail opportunities. 

Dan Monroe, Executive Director and CEO, Peabody Essex Museum, states, “In an effort to broaden access to our collection and appeal to an increasingly inquisitive and tech-savvy demographic, our new media department set some pretty ambitious goals.  Acoustiguide shared an equally progressive spirit and was ready to marry its technology to our vision.”

In a recent Associated Press article on Peabody Essex’s bookmarking efforts, Ed Able, president of the American Association of Museums, added, “If it’s online and it has these tools associated with it, it can be useful anywhere and that’s the beauty of it - museums are reaching out beyond their geographical boundaries.” (Ray, Bipasha, AP as picked up by The Providence Journal. Nov. 15, 2003)

ARTscape and its bookmarking capabilities have also recently been reported in CIO Magazine’s Trendlines. 

Why Bookmarking?  Why Now?

Bookmarking is an especially valuable feature for museums that have large digital holdings (images, videos and text), are interested in finding ways to link audio commentaries to additional layers of digital information, and are eager to create on or offsite portals to their collections. While bookmarking requires a rich database and specialized software connections, it offers an unobtrusive, intuitive, and cost effective way to measure audience demand for and comfort level with more sophisticated handheld technologies. It accomplishes this without the museum having to migrate costlier wireless infrastructures and hardware. 

About Acoustiguide

More than 45 years ago, Acoustiguide invented the audio tour, and the company has remained at the leading edge of creativity and technology ever since. Acoustiguide provides audio programs for museums, heritage and historic sites, tourism attractions, zoos, aquaria and corporate clients in 22 countries around the world. Acoustiguide offers complete creative and production services, the most advanced audio technology and comprehensive on-site management. For more information, visit www.acoustiguide.com.