Museums pool: A mobile application for museum network

In an era of smartphone ubiquity, many museums have developed mobile applications, either for the purpose of providing basic museum information or guiding visitors through museum exhibits. Such applications have been provided in both free and paid formats, and select museums are known to offer multiple applications for one location. From a museum operator's perspective, a smartphone can act as a direct channel between the museum and its visitors; it functions as a means of advertising, informing and guiding the visitor through the experience. However, from the visitors' perspective, it is highly inconvenient to download a new application for each individual visit and delete it afterwards in the interest of smartphone memory. As such, the concept of an integrated app across museums was initiated for the convenience of museum goers. In order to implement this idea, collaboration between museums is necessary. The system design consists of a central database center that it is connected to various museum databases. This allows potential visitors to access information via the central database center without being on museum grounds. The central database collects necessary data from each museum database and displays this on the mobile application, so users can retrieve museum locations, directions, and highlighted exhibitions. When the visitor is located at a participating museum, the mobile application connects to the local museum database to acquire further details such as floor plans, and media items that elaborate on specific displays. Currently, this application includes information from the Science Museum, Information Technology Museum, and Chaosamphraya National Museum. The foremost issue on implementation is the collaboration required from museums to generate content. One solution is to generate sufficient budget to outsource this component of the project. As the application remains within its trial period, we hope to continue to receive more feedback from museum visitors in order to improve the system.