How Museums and Attractions Are Delighting Audiences with New Technology

As the Brand and Communications Strategist for Tiqets, Lauren Voges has global insight into how the world’s leading online ticketing platform is helping museums and attractions make their brand stand out from the crowd.

Lauren and her team are responsible for helping Tiqets venues develop brand awareness and increase their online presence through the use of content marketing, PR and offline / online brand campaigns.  During her time at Tiqets, she has witnessed first-hand how innovative venues are using new technology to not only enhance their onsite experience but reach a younger audience online in the process.

In her recent MuseumNext Digital Summit presentation she offered some prime examples and explores the many benefits of technology adoption.

Why Invest in New Technology?

So, just what are the benefits of incorporating new technology into your venue or as part of your online marketing? Lauren believes the biggest reason is to harness the desire of your audience to try something new.  She says:

“More than 40% of travellers visit museums and attractions specifically to try something new. They’re looking for novel ways to engage with the past and with more niche subjects. With the help of the right technology, you can help people to engage with your venue and experience your venue in an entirely new way.”

So how are different museums around the world adopting and adapting new technology to attract new visitors, enhance the visitor experience and encourage greater engagement with their subjects?

La Mostra di Leonardo, Rome

La Mostra di Leonardo brings the life and works of Leonardo Da Vinci to life using new technology to immerse audiences in the inventor’s story and creations.

Using digital screens, holograms and projections, visitors can feel like they are stepping into the artwork of Leonardo Da Vinci or a three-dimensional view of his most inspired work and inventions.

Remastered, Rotterdam

Another museum taking an immersive approach to exhibitions. Remastered has created a 60-minute experience to rethink how visitors see the Dutch Old Masters. It takes visitors through unique exhibitions such as floating through a waterfall door or flying a UFO on a giant LED Screen. The immersive technology is not just about the giant LED screens but the cohesive aspect of the audio-visual part of the experience too.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders are also praised for their use of special effects to tell a captivating story to their visitors. Tour hosts control the audio-visual aspect of the tour with a wrist-based device to cue an emotional musical score or light up a section of the exhibition with a personalized message.  Making the special effects part of the tour rather than the main event.

Paris Montparnasse – Top of the City

Similarly, Paris Montparnasse – Top of the City uses technology to enhance its on-site exhibition.  With the assistance of Augmented Reality (AR), visitors can use immerse themselves in a multimedia storytelling experience to gain insight about what they are seeing from the observation deck in the city.

Attractions are also finding ways to use social media to really engage with a younger and more diverse audience. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London used its TikTok profile to digitally vandalise their famous works of art. This light-hearted and playful technique served to capitalise on the latest social media trends, making the museum much more interesting to new and potentially younger audiences.

@vamuseum Ever wonder if you are doing the most? #marieantoinette #vamuseum #learnontiktok #painting #museum #art #learnwithtiktok ♬ I am a Socialist – Brandons.Sounds

Showing that cultural institutions can indeed be playful with their brand online is critical when looking to attract future generations. But, as Lauren advises, it is often best to start small.  Experimenting with single exhibitions or testing the waters with social media campaigns can be effective pilots.

Success in this area is also all about cohesion. New technology should form a holistic experience which is fully integrated into an exhibition so visitors can appreciate it with the assistance of technology and not be distracted from the core values and message of the attraction itself.