There’s a useful article on the Nesta site on Using Proximity Technology to Enhance the Gallery Experience.
Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw in Llanbedrog on the Llyn Peninsula is Wales’ oldest art gallery. They created a mobile app that uses iBeacons to deliver content to gallery visitors.
They have some insights:
- They found that audio-only content was best so as not to distract from the art itself.
- Users were most interested in content presented by the artists themselves rather than other commentators.
- Positioning the beacons was important. Planning and positioning of beacons was vital in ensuring a glitch-free experience.
Our experience of using beacons in art galleries shows that, as with Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw findings, most problems occur when beacon transmissions overlap. You have to fine tune beacon power and/or trigger on specific ranges in order to prevent false triggering or ‘bouncing’ between exhibits when the user hasn’t even moved. Apps can also be set to ignore multiple triggers that happen within a very short time.