Museum Guides for a Brave New World.
By: Henna Wang
Tags: Arts And Culture, Audio, Technology, Museum Education, Museums

In a pre-Covid world, museum professionals didn’t have to worry as much about crowd control, usage of communal audio guide devices, or making sure digital experiences were just as exquisite as in-person exhibition viewing. However, much of this has now changed.

Museums are now considering many prerequisite conditions to reopen institutions to the public including social distancing measures between individuals while inside buildings, limiting physical contact while interacting with exhibitions, and making sure the museum experience can be easily accessible without worrying about sharing headsets or handheld devices.

With Gesso’s innovative technology, easily accessible audio guides available in multiple languages all live on one platform. Visitors can easily use their own mobile devices to enhance their museum experience, eliminating unnecessary health risks associated with sharing communal devices.

Karen Wong, Deputy Director of the New Museum, elaborates on some of the measures that the New Museum has in place to reopen,

“As we reimagine a socially-distanced and seamless visit for our audience, we turned to our audio guide designers, Gesso. We already have dozens of audio files in our Gesso x New Museum app which allow our visitors to hear short audio segments from the artists themselves. One of our goals is to ensure visitors don’t crowd around wall text, so they have added the wall labels to our app. Another pain point is museums often have maps (laminated cards) and Gesso has devised a way to integrate maps as well so that visitors can appreciate artwork in a contactless manner.”

In addition to physical safety measures for in-person museum experiences, museum professionals are now faced with the task of making sure that their exhibition audio guides meet high standards, allowing for an intimate and transportive experience even while physically distancing oneself.

How much potential does audio really have? A lot. Over the years, the world has developed a strong preference for listening. According to the 2020 Stitcher Podcasting Report, two words that sum up the past decade in podcast content are explosive growth. In 2019, Stitcher recorded over 200 million hours listened to podcasts and more than 129,000% growth in the number of podcasts published to the platform since 2010.

What do podcasts and exhibition audio guides have in common? People are craving exceptional, well-produced audio because storytelling when done right can be a magical experience. Robotic voices just aren’t going to cut it anymore.

We’ve watched museums adapt quickly to this realization. The International Center of Photography (ICP) now allows photographers’ stories from around the world to be heard with a click of a button. Museum professionals at the Queens Museum are recording audio right from their homes and sharing it directly with the public.

We know recording your own audio content can feel daunting but it shouldn’t, and just think about the end-result. Every in-person museumgoer or admirer from around the world who wants to experience an exhibition will have access to curators and artists themselves sharing stories, insights, and personal reflections about their work.

You don’t need a fancy studio, and you don’t need to hire an expensive audio production team. Recording remotely means you can record exceptional audio guides for your visitors right from your home and you don’t necessarily need a large budget. Our recommendation is to use Voice Memos, Audacity, and Garageband to get started, but if you’re interested in a more detailed list, check out our previous article.