Travelsee: Using Mobile App Technology to Revitalize Museum Engagement and Consolidates Content Accessbility
Lightning TalkKwasi Hope Agyeman, Pax Data, USA
The American museum is changing. It is shifting from the post WWII model that focused on the study and growth of collections to a more entrepreneurial establishment. This shift is dependent on museums finding new ways to engage diverse and younger audiences. A major step towards this new engagement model is mobile technology. Museums and cultural attractions are facing an increasing demand for mobile visitor engagement. Trend reports from the UK firm Thinkwell show that over 50% of museum visitors used their device to engage with the museum. Also the use of mobile apps is a trend that is building momentum. According to the Pew Research Center, over 60% of Americans own smartphones. If museums plan on staying relevant to young and diverse audiences they will need an effective and easy-to-use mobile app that increases visitor engagement and content accessibility.
Currently there is an early developmental stage mobile web application named Travelsee that seeks to increase visitor engagement and consolidate content accessibility. The app allows people to find and share cultural experiences through GPS and keywords. The simplicity of the application is based on the complexity of increasing visitor engagement and attracting new audiences. By consolidating various events at museums and cultural institutions, people can quickly find experiences they desire without any prior knowledge of a specific institution. Lastly, each experience listing serves as a social media hub allowing users to view real-time event data such as photos, tweets, comments and Facebook posts all in one place.
This last feature provides qualitative and quantitative information to museum professionals thereby giving them the necessary tools not only to increase visitor engagement and consolidate content accessibility but also use the data to solidify more funding opportunities.
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