Waterford Museum of Treasures Nominated for Museums & Heritage Award

We are thrilled to discover that the Waterford Museum of Treasure's Viking Triangle project has been shortlisted in the international category for the Museums and Heritage Awards 2013.

The awards recognise excellence in museums and heritage visitor attraction projects of all shapes and sizes. The entries are judged by a panel of experts from a range of industry sectors and specialisms who look for evidence of ‘outcome, creativity, relation to objective and cost effectiveness’.

To be shortlisted is a great achievement, with the winners due to be announced at a glittering ceremony on Wednesday 15 May. Keep those fingers crossed!

Download 'Geopark Shetland' now!

The Geopark Shetland app for Android was launched on Google Play this week. It introduces users to Geopark Shetland through a map interface populated with information about geological sites throughout Shetland.

The app uses GPS triggering to alert users to sites of interest, helping both residents and visitors to get out and discover the natural and cultural heritage of Shetland for themselves. Sites can be explored by geological theme and the app also includes three walking trails. It will be launched on Iphone in June and will also be available online.

The project is a pilot that forms part of a wider transnational project funded by Leader, with partners from several Geoparks and aspiring Geoparks. The purpose of the cooperation project (known as the HINT project) is to explore the possibilities for Heritage Interpretation using New Technologies.

Geology project officer Robina Barton said ‘this project has been an interesting process and a steep learning curve! We have worked with developers Zolk^C and Allen Fraser of Shetland Geotours to develop an app that gives people an insight into Shetland’s 3 billion year geological journey. We experienced some technological challenges in the early part of the process that resulted in some delays but volunteers tested a prototype last Autumn and we have adapted the app in line with the feedback we received. We are particularly happy to launch the app during Climate Week (4th – 10th March) as it is a perfect tool to help people get out and explore their natural environment on foot’.

The Viking Triangle Walking Tour is Live!

Visitors to the Viking Triangle can now take a walk through a thousand years of history using their own personal interactive guide.

The vGuide - a handheld multimedia tour guide – is an initiative of Waterford Museum of Treasures and was developed by Waterford company Zolk^C. It is a leading smart-guide in the burgeoning heritage and visitor attraction market. The guide which is already available for visitors inside the Bishop’s Palace and the Medieval Museum, will now deliver an entertaining eight-stop walking tour through the historic Viking Triangle and was launched by the Mayor of Waterford Councillor Jim Darcy on Tuesday 8th January. The Mayor praised the co-operation between Waterford Museum of Treasures and the local company Zolk^C in this public-private partnership. He went on to thank Failte Ireland for their vision in supporting this initiative, singling out Gary Breen for particular praise.

Vivid stories and anecdotes are automatically played as the visitor arrives at must-see-sights, such as Reginald’s Tower, the Choristers’ Hall, Greyfriars Franciscan Friary, the Mayor’s Wine Vault, the Bishop’s Palace, Christ Church Cathedral, etc. Visitors can also personalise their experience by picking and choosing the stories they want to listen to from an interactive onscreen menu.

Reviews of the Bishop's Palace vGuide

Just a short note to share a couple of reviews we've just found on Trip Advisor for Waterford's Bishop's Palace and our Viking Triangle vGuide. Talking of which, we hope to have more Viking Triangle news for you, very shortly!

Striking a Balance

This year in the Zolk^C office we’ve probably had one discussion more than any other - how to strike the perfect balance within an app with regards to accessing content and features when on or off site.

Obviously you don’t want to alienate those who can’t visit a location, but at the same time you want to save something up your sleeve as a ‘treat’ for those who use the app on site.

I guess the best example of this is the Ben Lomond Trail Companion we created on behalf of the National Trust for Scotland. Every piece of content is accessible whether you’re onsite or not. However use the app on the trail itself and the automatic triggering powered by our Acculoc IO software comes into it’s own. People launch the app, put their phone in a pocket and hit the trail. Once they reach a content hotspot they receive a notification on their phone and are able to listen to the content in situ.

The augmented reality can also be seen as a treat for those who visit the Ben, as it provides them with the ability to scan the horizon and pick out all the key points of interest, in relation to where they’re standing on the trail path.

No doubt we’ll be having this discussion within the office again over the coming months, but for the time being, with the way we have approached both the Ben Lomond and Nire Valley Trail Companions we’re confident we’ve struck a reasonable balance.