Public Funding for Mima Group Limited

As museums begin to reopen post-COVID 19, new innovations will come into place to enable safe visits for museum staff and audiences alike. In addition, traditional museum challenges, such as the simple act of finding your way around, still stand. Whilst wayfinding initially seems a simple obstacle in comparison to social distancing and museum's potentially facing an 80% drop in visitor numbers, these hurdles actually come hand in hand. Effective wayfinding helps prevent overcrowding, provides greater accessibility through step-free routes and most importantly, delivers enriching experiences where visitors can easily find works that interest them. All of these moments reinforce the economic resilience of publicly funded museums through the increased likelihood of a visitor recommending a museum and spending more money in the cafe and shop which are key income sources. Current options for museum wayfinding are not only a potential health hazard; with rented devices and stacks of paper maps potential bacteria spreaders, but fall way behind innovations in other sectors. Only a small proportion of 23-38 year olds use physical maps with apps like Citymapper becoming the default route finding option for many; and a third of museum visitors reporting inaccessibility in confusing museum buildings (MuseumNext). Existing software solutions for museum wayfinding are time-consuming and expensive to develop and maintain. And on top of this, no existing museum wayfinding tools are personalised to visitor interests. By 2021, 75% of commercial apps will incorporate AI and over 50% of consumers will interact with AI (Information Age) - museums are already behind expected functionality. CCD and Smartify have come together to produce the world's first Artificial Intelligence assisted wayfinding tool for museums - 'Museum Explorer' which combines navigational and creative content. Museum Explorer will have a front-end navigation experience within the Smartify app and a corresponding management platform for staff to review analytics; visualise journeys; manage content and send push notifications. Personalised wayfinding will offer audiences an easy way to explore a museum, view busy hotspots to avoid, and immerse themselves in the cultural experience. For museums personalised wayfinding offers an opportunity to collect important data on visitor habits and increase visitor confidence in returning to museums in a post-COVID 19 world. It will also convert casual visitors to spend in the shop, cafe and as members.