Audio Guide for the "City Panorama" Museum in Kazan

Enjoy going to museums? But what to do if sometimes you quickly get bored in there? Unfortunately, museum exhibits don’t always speak for themselves and without somebody providing you with background information about each piece and making you pay attention to important details, the visit could become quite a dull story. You would admire the paintings, sculptures, historical artifacts for a time, but still, at some point you will want to know more about them. Let’s go for a guided tour, in this case, you’ll say. But even if you come to the museum as a part of a group and accompanied by a professional guide, you are still limited as you cannot choose only the things you are interested in, your guide makes it for you. The idea of replacing a professional with an interactive audio guide is not new. But, as a rule, these systems are primitive and usually, they offer just the sound.

Especially for the "City panorama" Museum in Kazan, the United 3D Labs has developed an individual virtual audio guide using iBeacon technology.

As soon as the tickets are bought, each visitor receives an Android tablet with disposable headphones at the entrance to the Museum.

Turn the tablet on and you’ll see the image of a lady guide and menu available in four languages: Russian, English, Tatar and Chinese. After selecting the language, the female voice in your headphones will offer you to start an audio tour. It is important to note, everything that the virtual guide says is duplicated as a text on the tablet screen.

iBeacon wireless technology helps the audio guide software to determine which floor of the Museum the visitor is on. The system, in turn, shows you information about the exhibitions located only on that particular floor. Also, each of the museum exhibition has its own intuitive icon placed on the screen of the audio guide. Therefore, approaching any exhibit, a visitor can easily understand which icon on the tablet screen to click on in order to listen to the right piece of audio.

What can be better? To get in-depth immersion in the local culture, you will be accompanied not only by the guide but the mesmerizing sounds of traditional Tatar music. You can lower/higher the volume or completely turn it off. In addition, the navigation map of the museum can be displayed on the screen.