Vincent Roman: Here are a bunch of different reasons why I think developing Web Apps for visitors is by are a superior model and strategy for museums in the long run:

• Maximum Accessibility & iPad Ready! – No stone unturned in ensuring that each and every visitor has full access to the same information.  Saves the need to special case for devices and provides a breadth of service.  The best thing about this is that you are now officially iPad ready if you have developed a web app.  No ifs, buts or maybes about it.
• Seamless Development – The fact that you are simply developing another web service means that, as a development team, you don’t need to add any new dimensions.  You can carry on developing within the structure of the existing web site.
• Development Costs – Because are developing for a platform which your existing development team are 90% familiar with you can ring fence and reduce the potential costs.  iPhone development would be much more costly and less penetrative in terms of ROI.
• Open Source – There is so much prior art in the field of web apps the ability to get from 0-60 mph in no time is exceedingly easy.  This helps with reduction fo dev time and costs.  It also means that museums can more readily share their experiences and though their sites can share a common structure, they don’t need to all be the same.
• Flash-Content – You can use flash as desired.  Sure it won’t work on iPhone etc, but you can easily take care of alternate content in these cases, as you would on any setup where you miss flash.
• Niche Sites & Testing Ideas - Due to the fact that rollout time and cost can be kept to a minimum, as well as the fact that barriers to entry are low, it is super easy to create new content for specific exhibitions or tie ups that a museum does.  Testing ideas is also a lot easy before full roll out, which ties in nicely with Jim Richardson’s beta museum.
• iPhone Interface – Despite building a web app, you can still create a standard iPhone like interface to your web app, using whatever graphics and combining them with JS.  Libraries are being built that will make this task a whole lot easier.
• Reliance on 3rd Party – Part of the issue I have with iPhone Apps is the reliance on the App Store, in the same way of rolling out an Air App you rely on getting a certificate for it.  Developing a browser friendly web app cuts out this “unknown” from the equation.  I suppose it is possible, being a cultural institution that the App Store might fast track your app approval, but this isn’t something one can expect, rely on, or anything else.
• API / Web Services – Any API structure you create to service your web app can easily be opened up and made public so that other people can do cool things with the data on their own web sites.

Read more: http://www.vincentroman.com/blog/mobile-sites-web-apps-for-museums/

Mobile Sites and Web Apps for Museums is a post from: Museum Media

inLogic, a leading provider of RFID middleware and software solutions, today announced the success of a RFID pilot solution it has developed for the Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium.

In order to educate visitors about RFID technology, the Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium will be employing RFID to create personalized and participatory experiences in the upcoming Shark Bytes exhibit. Upon entering the exhibit, visitors will receive a reusable badge with an embedded RFID chip designating them as predator one of several shark species or prey. A series of RFID readers and antennas positioned throughout the gallery will track visitors movements through the exhibit, generating real-time dispersion patterns of how many visitors are currently at each station within the exhibit. The exhibit traffic will also be logged, providing the Museum insight into which stations receive the least amount of traffic and may need to be replaced.

The RFID badges will also trigger different multi-media responses at selected stations, providing visitors with clues as to their predator or prey identity. For example, one station might present visitors with food options, allowing them to see what they could and could not eat, and where they might be on the food chain. Other stations will provide insights concerning specific predatory abilities e.g. concealment, stealth, speed, sensory abilities.

Read more inLogic Announces RFID Pilot Solution for Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium Shark Bytes Exhibit.

inLogic Announces RFID Pilot Solution for Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium Shark Bytes Exhibit is a post from: Museum Media

Heritage professionals who are interested in technologies will find, in the Professional Exchange, a vast number of learning and reference tools, such as Artefacts Canada. Join this group to share knowledge, take part in communities of practice and gain access to experts through audio and video clips, workshops and webinars. Discover the resource par excellence in the field of technology for heritage professionals.

List with links: The Professional Exchange.

CHIN’s Professional Exchange is a post from: Museum Media

Microsoft is planning to demonstrate this week at its employee-only Microsoft Research showcase in Redmond a project it is calling the “Mobile Surface.” Microsoft is briefing a few select press on some of its TechFest projects before the event begins. I wasn’t briefed; I just found the link for this while trolling around on the Microsoft Research site.

From a description of the Mobile Surface on the company’s Microsoft Research MSR Web site:“Our goal is to bring Microsoft Surface experience to mobile scenarios, and more importantly, to enable 3D interaction with mobile devices. We do research on how to transform any surface e.g., a coffee table or a piece of paper to Mobile Surface with a mobile device and a camera-projector system. Besides this, our work also includes how to get 3D object model in real-time, augmented reality and multiple-layer 3D information presentation.”

Read more Experience information: No Microsoft Surface available, then simply bring your own..

Microsoft Surface experience to enable 3D interaction with mobile devices is a post from: Museum Media

Editors, curators, Web and new media producers, designers, printers, marketing and public relations staff, publishers-we’re all thinking about the relationship between print and online sources, and the impact that new media have on our traditional practices. Although we have touched on this theme at some of our previous museum publishing seminars, you will want to join your colleagues at the 14th National Museum Publishing Seminar in June when we spotlight this topic.

We will address the increasingly complicated question of “how we read,” explore the relationship inside the museum between the Web and new media teams and the publications office, talk about writing and designing for the Web, and hear from colleagues at the Getty about their timely and important initiative to support online scholarly catalogues. These and many other topics-ranging from the one-person publishing office and what to expect on a press check to digital workflows and family-friendly publishing-will benefit from the perspectives brought to bear by professionals from throughout North America and abroad. From botanical gardens and art museums to zoos, science museums, and historic houses, institutions of every type and size will want to send representatives to the Seminar.

Register here The University of Chicago.

14th National Museum Publishing Seminar is a post from: Museum Media

Today ReadWriteWeb is announcing our second event, the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010. It will take place May 7, 2010, in Mountain View, California.

The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit will be an exploration of the latest Mobile development trends, both the technology and the emerging business applications.

Here’s a sample of some of the topics:

• Geo-location services – what can you do using location as a platform?
• Commerce & Marketing – as more and more consumers use smartphones, how can businesses utilize this channel?
• Content, Publishing & Recommendations – the technologies and best practices.
• Mobile Social Networking – how to tap into communities on mobile devices.
• Internet of Things – the emerging opportunities from sensor and RFID data.
• Augmented Reality – the technology and business applications of AR.
• Native App vs. Browser Based – Including iPhone, Android, RIM, Palm, Windows Mobile and Symbian.

Register here: The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit.

The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit, May 7, 2010, in Mountain View, California is a post from: Museum Media

The Chopin Museum collection numbers over 5,000 exhibits. Among them are autographs and first editions of the composer’s works, his letters, memorabilia and documents. Key editions of Chopin’s music, as well as of works by his contemporaries are also featured. There are also paintings, graphics and sculpture pieces.

The organisers, the Fryderyk Chopin National Institute, have given the museum a multimedia dimension. The means of expression are closely linked to the scenario, which consists of several strands. One is an audio track, made up of works by Chopin, soundscapes and dramatised audio presentations. Audio-visual presentations allow visitors to discover in detail what particular objects on display represent. There are virtual books, interactive displays, children’s games and projections. The museum is structured in such a way that the visitor can take an individual path depending on their interests and preferences. Owing to RFID technology used in ticket production, visitors are able to pick the length and intensity of their path. On many occasions visitors will come across exhibits highlighted through the use of visual and sound effects. “We want the museum to be a universal, inspiring place that will respond to the invidual needs of visitors in a well thought-out way” curator Alicja Knast explains. The museum opens to the general public in April.

via The most modern biographical museum in Europe.

The most modern biographical museum in Europe is a post from: Museum Media

Eric Schmidt presents Google’s vision of the mobile future at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

Eric Schmidt presents Google’s vision of the mobile future at Mobile World Congress 2010 is a post from: Museum Media

TEAM International recently co-developed iSBMNH, a free application available on the iTunes store. Now users can visit the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History in the comfort of their home.

iSBNature allows museum enthusiasts to access the museum’s website, displays multiple exhibits including butterflies alive and provides a detailed map of the museum. The following features are available for customer review: Santa Barbara’s famous Rattle Snake, Butterflies Alive, Musetube and the Ty Warner Sea Center. Musetube takes users to the museum link on YouTube and the rattle snake button takes them to the snake world and help discover different types of rattle snakes. Butterflies Alive is one of the current exhibitsat the museum, which includes pictures, names of various species and a brief history ofbutterflies along with an audio tour.

press release: Iphone Application Isbmnh Launched By Team International.

Iphone Application Isbmnh Launched By Team International is a post from: Museum Media

Saturday 10 April, during the National Museum Weekend, Play Van Abbe Part 2, Time Machines, will open. In this part, utopian museum models of the past and radical historical prototypes will be assessed to find out if and how they can be applied today. How does a museum tell a story through presentation techniques and what are the underlying assumptions? We will be delving into the structure of the museum to examine its foundations, historical and otherwise. The museum reveals itself as a machine that continually produces a past via a mechanism of selection and exhibition: it is a time machine in the literal sense.

Read more Van Abbemuseum: Play Van Abbe – Deel 2 (exhibition).

Van Abbemuseum: Play Van Abbe is a post from: Museum Media

MuseumMobile is a forum for conversations about mobile interpretation – media & technology – for museums and cultural sites. It also aims to be a vehicle for connecting to related resources on the web, including:

• The MuseumMobile Podcasts
• The TEC-CH Online Course on Mobile Interpretation
• The MuseumMobile Wiki
• The Museums-to-Go mobile application development working group
• Tate’s Handheld Conference Wiki, Sept 4-5, 2008
• The online Handheld Conference, June 3, 2009

Suggestions for additional resources, links and discussion topics are very welcome! ideas@museummobile.info

Visit MuseumMobile.

MuseumMobile managed by Nancy Proctor is a post from: Museum Media

The “Museum Planning” blog is a resource for board members, museum staff and museum consultants working in the field of interactive museums. Blog topics include; museum planning of new museums and centers, planning and the development of interactive exhibitions and the project management of exhibitions.

On the blog of Mark Walhimer is a nice list of the software he uses: Museum Planning Software : Museum Planning.

Museum Planning Software, a nice list is a post from: Museum Media

The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History presents NanoDays 2010, a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering, March 27 to April 3. The Lemelson Center is one of more than 200 science museums, research centers and universities across the country presenting hands-on activities, experiments and lectures pertaining to nanotechnology—the study of controlling matter on an atomic and molecular scale.

Read more Smithsonian Offers Activities and Experiments during NanoDays 2010 – 7thSpace Interactive.

Nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering is a post from: Museum Media

Join an elite group of leading thinkers and museum experts for an incisive and up-to-the-minute analysis of trends in uses of mobile devices by museum and science center audiences. Hear assessments of current systems and projections about future possibilities in terms of how social networking and mobility tools can help museums connect with their audiences, and how they can help enrich and extend the learning experience. A special focus will be on outreach efforts to under-served communities. Share your views and concerns to inform designers about what services are needed and what problems need solving.

On April 26-27, researchers, museum staff, and program developers will be gathering in New Brunswick, New Jersey. They will be taking an in-depth look at what the future holds in terms of mobile media devices and social networking applications in the museum setting. Presentations will include data-driven analyses of what is going on in the field and insightful distillations of museum experiences to date. Forecasts of trends and developments that are “just around the corner” will be offered. In addition to plenary talks, interactive sessions will be held to draw on “crowd-sourcing” of attendees to identify consensus views as well as important points of divergence. This event promises both unique perspectives about the principles that guide new social media applications as well as practical advice about how to integrate such systems into contemporary museum practices.

Read more: SocialMedia – Welcome. For any questions or more information on the conference, please contact: Ellen Lynch at elynch@lsc.org or 201-253-1245

Museums, Mobile Devices and Social Media is a post from: Museum Media

A low cost apparatus for capturing stereoscopic video is described and footage from the apparatus is presented in anaglyph form:  Case Study 27: Making Low Cost 3D Video for your Museum.

Making Low Cost 3D Video for your Museum is a post from: Museum Media

GestureWorks ships with an open library of over 20 unique gestures. No longer constrained by the limitations of the OS, the developer has full programmatic control. The gesture library is built upon an open source gesture framework. Developers can customize their own gesture library by simply extending the Gesture object and setting fundamental parameters which dictate point and cluster selectivity. As user expectations, UI complexity, and gesture discipline levels change, your gesture library can be adapted to match.

Open Source Gesture Library
Download the Gestureworks
Open Source Gesture Library 38.9MB
zipLibrary released under a FreeBSD license.

Gesture Illustrations & Poster
Individual Gesture Icons (168KB png – zip)
Icons and Poster (340KB png/pdf – zip)
Poster – Vector (721KB ai/eps – zip)

Images released under a Creative Commons license.

via Open Source Multitouch Gesture Library and Illustrations.
Gestureworks (www.gestureworks.com).

Open Source Multitouch Gesture Library and Illustrations is a post from: Museum Media

Are you developing new exhibitions, interpretive programs, or public spaces that involve technology? Do you have a technology success story you’re eager to tell or a project failure you’re willing to share? Contribute your skills and experience by presenting a virtual session during AAM Technology, Interpretation, and Education 2010 TIE 2010, June 23 – 24.

TIE 2010 is a two-day, multi-session online conference that provides an interactive forum for museum professionals at all levels to explore current technology trends and practices in museum education, interpretation, exhibition, public programs, and outreach. Participants will engage with technologists, education/interpretation specialists, and other expert practitioners to examine technology and new media projects that support the interpretation of collections and enhance learning experiences.

Deadline for proposals is Friday, February 26. For more information and proposal form, visit: http://www.aam-us.org/getinvolved/learn/interpretation2010.cfm

via .

There’s only 4 days left to submit your session proposal for TIE 2010! is a post from: Museum Media

James Kalm slips into the Madison Avenue branch of the Gagosian Gallery to bring viewers unauthorized video of one of the seasons most controversial exhibitions. End of an Era may be a cynical ploy by Hirst to vaccinate himself from complaints of his promotion of overly conspicuous consumption. Whether a preserved bulls head, or a gold plated cabinet with nearly 30,000 manufactured diamonds, the presentation of ostentation is the apparent point of Hirsts latest body of work.

Damien Hirst, End of an Era, unauthorized video of one of the seasons most controversial exhibitions is a post from: Museum Media

Interview with Nancy Proctor, Head of New Media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, during the Going Mobile conference sponsored by the Balboa Park Online Collaborative in San Diego, February 17 2010. Run time: 8:50.

Interview with Nancy Proctor about Going Mobile for Museums is a post from: Museum Media

The Ideum MT-50 retails for about $21,000 USD and is designed for use in museums, tradeshows and other exhibitions why not my living room? and features a massive 50-inch multitouch glass surface. It can detect up to 40 simultaneous points of input, so multiple users can interact with it at the same time. The MT-50 is designed for durability too. It’s built from aircraft-grade aluminum and steel, and the tempered glass tabletop is designed to be nearly indestructible.

The Ideum table offers a 1280 x 720 display, and ships with Gestureworks, a library which allows true multitouch interaction using Adobe Flash. By comparison, Microsoft’s Surface only has, 1024 x 768 resolution display, and requires that your develop apps using Microsoft proprietary toolkits such as WPF, XNA and Expression Blend. The MT-50 also bests the Surface standard build with a beefy 3GHz quad core CPU, versus Microsoft’s 2.13 GHz dual core.

The MT-50 has already found its way into numerous museum exhibitions, such as this recent mashup between Google Maps and Flickr used in an exhibit at the California Science Center.

via ideum mt-50 multitouch table: surface who? on [technabob].

Ideum mt-50 multitouch table is a post from: Museum Media