Hand-Held Museum Guide

April 12, 2007
Researchers from the Caesarea Rothschild Institute (University of Haifa) and The Center for Scientific and Technological Research (ITC-irst) of Trento, Italy, have come together to bring technology into the realm of culture.

Julie Kalista
Online Editor

The Gugenheim Bilbao Museum
They have developed a museum guide that uses artificial intelligence, tailoring a museum tour to each visitor's personal preference.

As a visitor approaches an exhibit, the guide identifies the exhibit and asks questions about it, letting the visitor choose subjects of interest. The guide also plays video clips that bring the exhibits to life.

The guide, a hand-held computer, also lets users communicate with other museum visitors using short message service, like that of cellular phones. Users can leave messages for up to five people such as, "You have to see this." When the recipient approaches the exhibit, the guide will play the message relating to it. The computerized guide summarizes each visit, asks for feedback, and stores data on each users visit. Researchers hope some day that the program will know each guest's interest based on previous use of the program and anticipate what sights will be of interest.

More Information:
Caesarea Rothschild Institute
The Center for Scientific and Technological Research


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