A digital layer to your experience at premier museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum, which celebrated its 200th birthday in 2016, is proving that while it’s home to ancient artefacts, it’s also keeping one foot firmly in the future with the release of a high-tech new mobile app in the spring.
The result of a funding grant from Discover England, the new app will make use of augmented reality to bring the stories behind the museum’s world-class collections to life.
Augmented reality allows for a layer of digital content to be overlaid on a real-world experience, live, via a mobile phone – a famous recent example being the worldwide sensation Pokémon Go. The ambition at the Fitzwilliam is that harnessing this new technology will not only enrich visitors’ experiences of the museum, adding a fun and interactive new element to their trip, but also appeal to a whole new generation.
“We want it to feel like you have been given a VIP pass to explore our remarkable building and collections – a personal invitation to embark on a journey of discovery through a world of art,” explains Kate Carreno, assistant director of Central Services at the Fitzwilliam Museum and board member of Visit Cambridge.
Emma Thornton, CEO of Visit Cambridge and Beyond, says: “Although Cambridge has a worldwide reputation as a heritage visitor destination, we continually need to innovate in order to reach new audiences. This augmented reality app will help us to change the way that we present and promote an important aspect of the city’s heritage, so that we can broaden its appeal to even more people.”
When finished, the app will be available through online travel agencies, trade partners, the app store, and to consumers.
