British Museum online exhibits and educational tools.
Mobile a pplic ations, or apps, have explod e d in the last five ye ars. iPods as narrativ e
guid es appe ared quickly in m ajor muse ums, including th e Louvre, taking a dv a nta g e of the
wid ely fa miliar te chnology. Som e muse ums ch e ck out iPods as guides; oth ers m ake th e ir tour
apps fre e and a ssist p atrons with loading th e m. O v er th e last two y e ars th e domin a nc e of
iP od/iP hon e apps has proliferate d, and includ es the 9/11 Me morial Muse um, Mus e o del Prado,
the H ermitag e Muse um, and so forth all re a dily av aila ble on iTun es. The T ow er of D avid
muse um in J erus ale m’s Old City has just update d th e ir multim edia offerings with iP a ds th at
digitally ov erla y a ncie nt topogra phy wh en the c am era is used to vie w the surrounding
la ndscape . The Victoria & A lb ert Mus e um has a te a m of te chies and d e v elop ers whose key
function is to de sign e xciting multim edia proje cts to e nha nc e the muse um exp erie nc e . F or
example, the V & A S p elunk er is a ga me th at mimics ca ve exploration, but is sync e d up to the
mus e um’s collections. The “ Digital Media at the V & A" page on the mus e um’s we b site is
de voted to ongoing work on we b sites, apps, and g allery exhibits both in and outsid e of the
museum.
T here is also an external m arket for muse um and tourist apps—which v ary wid ely in
qu ality and cost, although g e n erally th e apps range from $2 to $10. Like virtual tours, the se
apps includ e colle ctions of im a ge s of obje cts, virtual tours of muse ums, audio guid e s to
monum e nts and muse ums, and interactiv e, rem e dial education tools. Som e apps, like MoMA,