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The Norton Simon Museum in collaboration with Acoustiguide has developed an extraordinary multimedia audio tour that is designed to engage and stimulate visitors. There are approximately 400 artworks that are highlighted and can be heard in both English and Spanish through a headset. They also offer to Children headsets that are both in English and Spanish with “lively commentary, engaging questions and occasional jokes that touch on approximately 35 artworks.” (Norton Simon Museum)
There are two ways to experience the Museum's audio tour: when visiting the Museum, visitors can rent a headset for $3; or, online visitors can listen to the entire highlights tour in English on the Museum's website, where the tour is linked individually to each artwork. The online audio tour offerings are continually being updated; expect to soon find the Children's audio tour online. There is a link called audio index on the website where visitors can then chose what artwork and artist they would like to learn about.
Firsthand or secondary review/critique:
This audio tour uses Acoustiguide a company that produce audio and multimedia interpretations for visitors to museums, heritage sites and visitor centers. The audio device is a simple easy to use headphone with clear sound of first person narrative. The headphones look comfortable and not bulky which would allow the visitor to enjoy their viewing of the artwork. It offers a hands free opportunity for visitors to take notes and get up close and personal with the artwork. I wanted to find out about Acoustiguide so I went to their website and read about what they offer. I listened to A Sleeping Woman (Vanitas) by Georg Pencz, 1544 and found the audio had clarity while describing the painting with detailed narrative also interesting and easy to understand. At the bottom of the artwork description you can find the audio tour which is an added plus for visitors who may not be able to visit the museum in person.
One downside to the headset audio is children could find it rather bulky and people with hearing aids may find it hard to adjust the headsets to the hearing aids. I am personally not fond of headsets and rather enjoyed the audio on the website. It does say that tours can also be done by docents and for some this would be the way to go.
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