Acoustiguide
Acoustiguide is a provider in interactive museum guides for museums, art galleries, heritage sites and other public displays. In 2005 it merged with the Israeli company Espro Information Technologies.
History
Acoustiguide launched the first mobile interpretation at either a museum or cultural heritage site in 1957, with a tour of Hyde Park narrated by his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt.[1] example site.[2][3] Available on then-new portable reel-to-reel players, the tour led visitors through the estate's public and private spaces and told stories of day-to-day life and special visits by dignitaries. In 1959, the Phoenix Museum of Art was the first museum to use an Acoustiguide to interpret their permanent collection. Narrated by Vincent Price, the tour was listened to on a Walkman. Cassette players were used though the 1960s and infrared and radio frequency tour systems used in the 1970s with a specific cassette model, called the M1 player. Concurrently, AM and FM wands were introduced at Centrepoint Tower in Sydney, Queen´s House (National Maritime Museum) and the Mary Rose Trust.[4] Acoustiguide gained popularity in museum education with "blockbuster" exhibitions in the 1980s.[5] P2s or Panasonic XBS cassette players were bought off-the-shelf and the company built a mass charging system with custom made charging racks, in order to satisfy the increasing needs by museums.[4]
With this increase in demand, the company opened offices in Europe and Asia, which included one of the first American-based companies to be opened in Mainland China (at Beijing's Forbidden City). In 1993, Acoustiguide created digital wands with "random access tours" which allowed visitors to choose the objects they wanted to learn more about and go at their own pace. These players debuted at the Louvre, in Paris.[5]
Current Technology
Acoustiguide offers digital audio and multimedia interpretative tours via a variety of platforms including smartphones, multimedia MP3 players, radio transmission systems and the internet, as well as proprietary hardware and software guiding solutions designed and manufactured specifically for the cultural and tourism markets. Acoustiguide also offers Acoustiguide Mobile, a multimedia app for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. Acoustiguide's current products are solid state and include keypads to allow visitors to choose content appropriate to their current location in the exhibit as well as additional material as well as multimedia and video units. Acoustiguide technology is in use at hundreds of sites worldwide[6]
Inform
The first digital wand player which allowed for 'random access' tours. Still used in some institutions throughout the United States.[4]
Denon
In 1996, Acoustiguide and Denon co-created the second generation of digital players. These are used infrequently.[4]
AG 2000
The third generation of digital random access audio equipment was launched in 2000. It came with the ability to use it as a wand or with headphones, increased memory capacity, MP3 sound, customized data collection, LCD screens, features for individuals with disabilities and the ability to update via the internet. This model is no longer available for new purchases, but can be found in a few locations throughout the United States.[4]
exSite
Four models of exSite have been launched since 2000. Each exSite unit is wand-based and capable of collecting data about the use of the tour via a survey. exSite units are still sold by Acoustiguide.[4]
Opus
Launched at the Museums and Heritage Show in 2007, it comes in two models: Click (with keypad) and Touch (with touch screen). Both have color screens and provide audio content, images, video, photos, animation and maps. Both can be used as a wand or a headset player. This is currently the most popular unit available.[4]
Offices
Acoustiguide is owned and managed by Espro-Acoustiguide Group. The Group operates worldwide through 7 subsidiaries and a network of distributors with offices in New York, London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Taipei, Sydney, St. Petersburg, Prague, Mexico City, Shanghai and Tokyo. The company’s list of clients include NY’s MoMA and the UN visitor center, San-Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, Paris’ Musèe du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, London’s Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, Jerusalem’s Israel Museum, Taipei’s 101 Tower, Beijing’s National Museum of China and Sydney’s Opera House.[6]
Celebrity Narrators
- Laurie Anderson, American experimental performance artist, composer and musician [7]
- Mario Batalli,American chef, writer, restaurateur and media personality [8]
- David Bowie, English musician, actor and record producer [9]
- Tom Brokaw, American television journalist and author [10]
- Steve Buscemi, American actor, writer and film director[11]
- Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
- Joan Chen, Chinese actress, film director, screenwriter and film producer[12]
- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001[3]
- Walter Cronkite,anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years[13]
- John Goodman, American film, television, and stage actor[14]
- Neil Patrick HarrisAmerican actor, singer, director, producer and magician[15]
- Dustin Hoffman, American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre [10]
- Jeremy Irons, English actor[16]
- Steve Martin, American actor, comedian, author, playwright, producer, musician and composer[10]
- Vincent Price, American actor, well known for his distinctive voice [10]
- ?uestlove, American drummer, DJ, music journalist, record producer and frontman for The Roots[17]
- Eleanor Roosevelt, longest serving First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945[18]
- Liev Schreiber, American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter[19]
- Sissy Spacek, Academy Award winning American actress and singer[20]
- DJ Spooky, electronic and experimental hip hop musician
- Meryl Streep, American actress who has worked in theater, television, and film[21]
Competitors
Systems such as Acoustiguide's, and those of competitors Tour-Mate, ArtTours [1], and Cuseum,[22] are identified as providing "industrial-strength systems that can be used as audio guides in museums and other cultural heritage sites and support typically a very wide range of human languages (reaching 20 or more.)"[23]
Among competitors, there is another company, which was set up in Italy in 1959, almost at the same time as Acoustiguide and which is still active in the digital interpretation field: D'Uva Workshop www.duvaws.com.
References
- ^ Company history, Acoustiguide.
- ^ Ubiquity Interactive.
- ^ a b "Press Release: Clinton Center to Feature Audio Tour Led by President Clinton". Clinton Foundation. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Audioguides Part of an Exciting Journey".
- ^ a b "Company Profile". Acoustiguide. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ a b Client list Archived December 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Acoustiguide.
- ^ "Past Exhibitions". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Audio Tours". New York Botanical Garden. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b c d Vogel, Carol (November 18, 1996). "Museums Speak in Celebrity Voices". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Fischer, John. "Party Like It's 1829 at Eastern State Penitentiary". About.com. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "SHANGHAI A Unique and Dynamic Metropolis". MuseumTix. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "FAQ Content". Acoustiguide. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Dreams Come True, The Art of Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studios" (PDF). NOMA Press Release. November 3, 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Hendrie, Alison. "HOUDINI: ART AND MAGIC OPENS AT THE JEWISH MUSEUM ON OCTOBER 29TH". The Jewish Museum. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Leno to Narrate Audio Self-tours Of Orlando "The Art of the Motorcycle"Exhibit". Road Racing World. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Iconic Murals Collection Mobile App". Blue Cadet. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ McNatt, Glenn. "Enhancing the Experience". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ "Chagall and the Artists of the Russian Jewish Theater, 1919-1949". The Jewish Museum. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ "Visitor Information" (PDF). The Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ Vogel, Carol (24 November 1996). "Museumgoers Warm To Celebrity Audio Tours". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ Cuseum. "Cuseum - Museum Engagement Platform". cuseum.com. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
- ^ Augmented Reality based Cultural Heritage On-site Guide Archived April 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine project report.