The simple text display near the showcases does not give all the information, history and other details of the artefacts on display, to the visitor. There is now a way, the museum administrators can find out who spent how much time there, which artefacts were most interesting, which artefacts captured the attention of visitors first when they entered a hall, what route a typical visitor follows, etc.
RFID Solution Of Museums:
There is not one, but many RFID solutions to the problem. The first is to equip each visitor with a handheld device, which is an RFID reader. The device can have a set of headphones connected to it. The main device can be kept in the pocket and headphones can be worn as usual. Each item bears an RFID tag.
When a visitor gets in front of the item, the reader senses this and relevant information (audio) is delivered to the visitor through the headphones. The handheld can also display some additional pictures and information about the artefact. It can also display a list and location of where in the museum similar artefacts are located. After the visitor leaves, the entire route that she takes and the time she spends on each artefact can be retrieved, which gives the museum curator or administrator some data which tells them which are the most popular items, what route a visitor takes, how much time is spent where, etc. The visitor also gets an enhanced experience. Additionally, the museum can also have a facility for sending information (by email) about the artefacts in which the visitor showed special interest.
Problems In The Present System
- There are not many educated, passionate and informed museum guides available in many museums, for whatever reasons.
- Doing away with a guide altogether results in a less-than-optimal solution.
- The visitor gets all the benefits of a guide without really paying for one.
- The Museum also utilizes an electronic guide, which can give a very good experience to the visitor, but without paying for a physical person.
- The Museum can assess which artefacts elicit the most interest, and decide on the placement of individual objects so that the visitors are interested.
Future Scenarios Of Museums
With the declining number of guides in museums, especially publicly owned or government-owned, and lower manpower budgets, the RFID-based system is sure to catch on. Also, the same system need not be used only in museums, it may also be used in less intellectually stimulating locations like furniture shops, open-layout stores, etc.
