US Museum Embraces Digital

Printer-friendly version

A new kiosk wayfinding system at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC to offer an enhanced visitor experience by seamlessly blending digital design into the historic environment of the Smithsonian. Developed by Fitch, OpenEye, 3M Digital Signage and Launch Dynamic Media, the new wayfinding system helps the museum to accommodate its numerous visitors. The museum, dedicated to inspiring curiosity, discovery and learning about the natural world, was originally designed to accommodate 500,000 visitors per year when it was opened in 1910; it now hosts more than seven million visitors a year, and therefore needed to implement new technology to deal with this demand. As the museum is the size of 18 football fields, with the main building on the National Mall containing 1.5 million square feet of space overall and 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space, it is no wonder that people need a little help finding their way around.
 
The new digital signage system extends wayfinding from simple directional guidance to an educational experience, providing detailed information on events and exhibits within the museum. Bryan Meszaros, Chief Business Development Officer and Founder of OpenEye: “This was a great opportunity for us to work on a high-profile project. We are excited with the results of the project and believe we have created a new standard for using digital signage as a wayfinding tool.”

 
The digital wayfinding concept was developed to boost the existing static system and more thoroughly engage visitors via strategically placed digital displays. Each display spins custom digital Flash content, developed by Launch DM, designed to educate, inform and direct the visitor to various activities and exhibits within the museum. The age and design of the museum made integrating these new technologies a particular challenge. The digital signage system also includes kiosks from Fitch, which encourage the sophisticated and highly technological network to blend in with the museum rather than overwhelming and distracting visitors. “The kiosk locations are at crucial points in the customer journey. Our design is a seamless bridge between the permanent physicality of the building and the dynamic, ever changing digital content. We also used the kiosks to establish a new visual language representing enhanced wayfinding for the visitor,” said Fitch’s David Hogrefe.
 
The success of this project was partly down to the strength of the partnership of the four companies, as Andy Snyder, creative director for Launch DM, acknowledged: “This strategic partnership has merged an immense amount of knowledge and experience into developing a single, client-specific digital signage solution.”
 
The 3M Digital Signage software enables the Smithsonian to schedule, distribute and play media-file playlists at multiple, strategically identified, museum locations, creating unified and targeted messages which work together to enhance the visitor experience of the museum. The contents and playlists can be updated from one central location, making it very easy for the museum to keep their content constantly updated and relevant.