Context-aware computing for Cultural Tourism – Experiences from the Muse project

Making context-aware multimedia content available in museums and at archaeological sites is a challenging task, as the devices and software used need to be adapted to local requirements. This paper presents the experience gained in the MUSE research project. The main aim of MUSE is to make the visit to a museum or archaeological site more enjoyable and fruitful by means of mobile context aware multimedia guides. During the project a hands-free, sensor augmented, context-aware wearable computer named Whyre was developed. The purpose of Whyre is to act as a guide for cultural sites, hiding the technology from the visitor and making different types of multimedia content accessible through a unified interface. Appropriate content is selected based on the user's context-detected by sensors embedded in the mobile device. A prototype has been demonstrated in two italian museums and in the archaelogical area of Pompei. In this paper the MUSE system characteristics and the functionalities of Whyre are presented, followed by a summary of real world trials.