Chances are, if you've ever cared to take a stroll through any museum without a tour guide, you probably lost your way at some point. My recent visit to the Louvre in Paris was one of mixed success: my girlfriend and I found the Mona Lisa, The Virgin of the Rocks, and Liberty Leading the People. However, Venus de Milo remained hidden from us - and I thought at that moment how helpful a location-based museum app would be.
Well, the American Museum of Natural History has finally done it. Their recently released Explorer app makes exploring the 500,000 square-foot museum as easy as getting to 1000 on Doodle Jump. And, what's more, it does it using some rather clever technology.
The application is location-aware, yet you can run the app and interact with it perfectly on an iPod touch. This is made possible through the fact that the museum's Explorer application uses the institution's 300+ Wi-Fi hotspots to triangulate the user's position - meaning there's no need for a cellular data network.
And, what's more, if you don't own an iPhone or iPod touch, the museum will let you borrow one of its 350 devices for free!
The application itself allows users to do a whole host of things. Users can embark upon independent tours using the application, or they can use it to direct them towards a particular exhibition (or facility). Additionally, the app provides detailed information about the museum's contents and also includes a dinosaur treasure hunt for children to enjoy. All in all, the app seems to be pretty much perfect.
So, the next time you head over to the American Museum of Natural History be sure to take your iDevice with you, and test out the museum's Explorer application! Hopefully, we'll be seeing a few other museums adopt this great concept in the near future - so keep your eyes peeled! For more information, check out the museum's official page regarding the app.
