Royal Air Force Museum trials mobile phone audio tours

The Royal Air Force Museum is trialling audio tours at its London site, beginning in the Bomber Hall. The tours are delivered via the visitor’s mobile phone: he or she calls a number and then presses a sequence of keys for an exhibit. There is an introduction to the Bomber Hall and an entry for each aircraft.

The tour recordings are also available on the museum’s website so users can download them to their mobile device before the visit if they don’t want to use their call minutes for audio tours, but do want to hear them.

It’s hoped that the device offers huge potential to increase the visitor experience. There can be several recordings for each exhibit which can be ‘layered’ and pitched at different levels. Therefore it can act as an introduction for the newcomer, add fresh insights to a student or an in-depth view for the enthusiast.