Page 247 - AC/E's Digital Culture Annual Report 2015

AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2015247museum by interacting with the cameras on their mobile devices or those provided by the museum. Visitors can thus establish their loca- tion and seek different interactive points, obtain links or go on a self-guided tour using informa- tion based on their exact position and in real time.3.4 BeaconsThe next step up from geolocation with respect to technology is beacons. They are a low-energy consuming technology consisting of sensors that use Bluetooth, which are incorporated into physical objects and can detect the active pres- ence of visitors to any type of cultural institution (museums, libraries, bookshops, theatres, art galleries, etc.) thanks to a specific mobile app. This application provides up-to-date informa- tion at all times depending on the distance the person is from the beacons strategically posi- tioned on the premises.76Google Cultural Institute has launched a platform for offering museums the possibility of creating their own apps simply but powerfully– naturally, using Google’s technological tools such as Street View (geolocation) or YouTube, significantly reducing the cost to institutions of offering services of this kind.Eleven museums from different parts of the world (Italy, France, Netherlands and Nigeria) such as the Musee Curie, the Palazzo Madama or the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden have joined the platform for the development of this pilot project. The applications resulting from this ini- tiative are available free of charge from Google Play Store.75 Registration forms are available to museums wishing to take part.Image: anatomy of a beaconThe fact is that, by acting as sensors, the ability to determine accurately a person’s location in a space provides cultural organisations with a new opportunity to encourage interaction between visitor and space. Up until now other interac- tion systems based on geolocation had been discarded because of their high cost. However, beacon-based systems are proving to be highly effective and less costly.Although these systems are a very recent devel- opment and there are still not many practical examples in the cultural sector, their use is becoming widespread, such as in physical shops3. Technology associated with the actual visit