Self-guided audio tour featured in unique CMHR mobile app

Accessibility goals drive innovation for entire visitor experience

Winnipeg – March 19, 2015 – An innovative mobile app for visitors has been launched by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR), including a self-guided audio tour and accessibility features unparalleled by any museum in the world.

Using Bluetooth iBeacons, the app communicates with more than 120 Universal Access Points located throughout the Museum – the first such use of this technology in Canada, and the largest installation in the world. It also includes an interactive visitor “mood meter” that is unique to the CMHR.

“We wanted to create a truly inclusive experience, where visitors of all abilities could easily experience everything the Museum offers,” said Scott Gillam, CMHR Manager of Digital Platforms, who today demonstrated the new app for the media. “That goal turned out to be a driver of innovation that has enhanced our entire visitor experience. This new app puts human rights subject matter into the palm of your hand.”

The app was created in cooperation with Acoustiguide, a global company that has done similar work for major museums such as the Louvre, the Guggenheim and the Smithsonian.

“This is the most complicated project we have ever done,” said Jeff Hunt, the Ottawa-based creative director for Acoustiguide. “The way information is delivered to the user is technically complex – we’ve only done it like this a couple times before.”

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights App can be downloaded to iOS or Android devices for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play. It includes the self-guided tour – which features the voices of the CMHR’s own experts who worked on the galleries and programs they describe. Information is available in English and French, American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ).

For visitors who are blind or have low vision, the app pulls exhibit information from the Universal Access Points that can be relayed via text reader on their devices. This enriches the experience for all visitors, by providing gallery highlights that are picked up by the mobile device when it passes near one of the iBeacon points.

Another feature creates panoramic and “augmented reality” views from the Israel Asper Tower of Hope with hot-spot buttons that contain information about visible Winnipeg landmarks for the benefit of out-of-town visitors. There is also an interactive map, online ticket purchasing, and information to plan your visit. See the attached backgrounder for additional information about features of the Museum’s app.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights. Using multimedia technology and other innovative approaches, the CMHR creates inspiring encounters with human rights for all ages, in a visitor experience unlike any other.

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For more information, please contact:
Maureen Fitzhenry
CMHR media relations manager
Ph: 204-289-2112
Cell: 204-782-8442
maureen.fitzhenry [at] humanrights.ca

NT3