[Web4lib] SmartPlanet > Museum Of The Future: Mobile Augmented Reality

[gerrymck]

Joe McKendrick / June 1 2010

Museums serve to document the growth of arts and sciences of our society,
and in recent years, have been able to reach across the miles to new
audiences, thanks to the proliferation of the Internet.

A new report suggests that museums are also becoming part of the mobile
revolution — yes, if you want to visit the Museum of London without flying
all the way to Heathrow Airport, there’s an app for that. [snip]

“The museum of London has launched an iPhone application which brings its
extensive art and photographic collections alive in advance of the opening
of spectacular new galleries next week. The free app, called “StreetMuseum,”
takes users to various sites in London where, via their iPhone screen,
historical images of the city appear. Over 200 sites have been selected
where users can look through their iPhones and see the past emerge.”

Now you may ask why someone would be inclined to squint at images on a
mobile device, versus using a standard laptop or desktop computer. The
advantage of a handheld museum is that users could access photos and details
of historic buildings or locations while they are physically at the subject
of their curiosity.[snip]

What’s really neat is you can superimpose older images over a current shot
of a streetscape or building — [snip].

The Museum of London is showing some great innovation in expanding its
knowledge beyond the walls of the actual museum itself. As the report says,
“Forward-thinking museums, libraries, archives, and universities will
embrace placing interactive tools in the hands (literally) of everyone from
history buffs to tourists walking through an unfamiliar city.”

Links Available At

[ http://tinyurl.com/26s2d23  ]

BTW: Shakespeare Meets The iPad [ http://tinyurl.com/39lphb2 ]

EnJOY !

/Gerry

Gerry McKiernan
Associate Professor
Science and Technology Librarian
Iowa State University Library
Ames IA 50011

Follow Me On Twitter > http://twitter.com/GMcKBlogs

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