We have come a long way since the first version of GuidiGO in 2012! And so many kilometers walked by visitors! To keep them walking and to make it even more enjoyable, we have made the app more user-friendly and improved the user experience, taking into account customer and visitor feedback from over the years.

GuidiGO V3 is the synthesis of your most frequent requests:

• Modern interface that adapts to each device, regardless of screen size or resolution
• The same interface, whether you are using iOS or Android
• Instant and more fluid access to tours and treasure hunts: 
  • Free access, without having to log in
  • Immediate launch, without having to download
• 1-tap access to each type of content: audio / video / text & photo gallery / 3D panoramas / challenges
• Optimized offline use, with highly accurate vector maps for outdoor tours
• Improved gameplay experience, with resizable challenge images
• Improved experience for “logbook” type tours (narrative centered around the written word, without audio or video)

And as always:

• Games and treasure hunts for family experiences
• Customized multi-level maps for indoor tours
• 360° panoramas for immersive experiences that can be used with or without a VR headset

On the technical side, GuidiGO v3 has been entirely re-coded in React Native, one of the most popular languages for mobile devices today. Concretely, this means that it will be easier for us to offer you new features on a regular basis. And maybe even some surprises by the end of this year…

Until then, we’ll let you enjoy GuidiGO v3, and we can’t wait to hear what you think about it!

Install GuidiGO from the App Store or from Google Play.

Note: We recommend that you delete any previous versions of the GuidiGO app before installing this update.

Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels

An instant mobile experience

The new GuidiGO web interface is entirely responsive and gives you immediate access to tours on any mobile device, no matter what the screen size. All the users have to do is open their web browser when they arrive on site to access the tour. There’s no longer any need to install an app. Twice as fast as the former version, tours now load almost instantaneously. The new version is just as user-friendly as the native GuidiGO app, and the visitor experience is still optimized, no matter what mobile device or web browser is used.

The new web app makes accessing tours much faster and easier. Each stop of the tour can even be triggered with a QR code or BLE beacon. However, unlike the native GuidiGO app which makes it possible to access tours offline, the user does need an active internet connection for it to work. (The native app also includes in-app games and purchase options soon to be available in the web app.)

Street View Tours

Tours are now accessible directly via a web browser. This is a game-changer because it makes tours accessible remotely for those who are unable to visit sites in person, whether for financial, geographic, or physical reasons. It also makes it possible to preview a location before visiting it, or go on a virtual field trip in which an entire class can explore cultural and heritage sites from the other side of the world – like here, in Rome:

or at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California:

If the tour takes place outside, or inside a building already mapped by Google, the GuidiGO interface automatically synchronizes with Google Street View data. For other tours, the author simply needs to associate a 2:1 image with each stop, using GuidiGO Studio when building the tour.

The angle and zoom can also be adjusted so the user can look in the right direction as they proceed.

A Look at the Updates

Here is a preview of the main features of our new web interface:

• The tour map is now at the heart of the experience, and is always permanently running in the background.
• The list of stops is optimized: the user can now view more stops at a time without having to scroll.



• One key element of the new web app is the card grouping together all content related to each stop of the tour: the address, texts, images, audio, videos, and panoramic views. All accessible in one click:



• The display has been optimized to allow more space for the images.



• Navigating between stops is now more user-friendly and permanently accessible.



• Users can find their geolocation using any device.
• In Street View mode, the location of each stop is indicated with a pointer (as in the mobile versions of GuidiGO).



• It is now possible to share published tours in Private mode with people of your choosing.

Explore your own tours right away in Street View mode or in the Web App

Can’t wait to see your own tours using the new GuidiGO web interface? It couldn’t be more simple:

• On guidigo.com: With the Start button on your tour page – if the tour is public.



• In GuidiGO Studio: By clicking on the URL for your tour in the Publish tab. The URL appears as soon as you publish the tour, whether it is in Public or Private mode.

I caught myself wondering what the magic was about parks that made children never want to leave…and why they don’t tend to feel the same way when we take them to the museum.

The answer might seem obvious: at the park, children can play. But what is the psychology behind why they often prefer a fun excursion to the park over a visit to the museum? In my opinion, it all comes down to four key components:

Interaction, Emotion, Accomplishment, Emulation

These are the components that come into play when a child seeks the thrill of going down a slide, or pushes to come in first, or tries to climb higher than they have before. These also come into play when a child encounters a new environment, builds something with friends, or challenges them. All of these activities present the opportunity for children to feel joy and pride, and receive praise from their parents.

Is it possible to activate these motivators at the museum?

What can we do to make a visit to the museum just as exciting for our children as an afternoon at the park? A museum isn’t a playground; it doesn’t provide quite the same freedoms that a park or garden does. However, some museums do offer engaging and thrilling experiences for children – experiences that address the psychological motivators mentioned above.

But things can get messy when you decide to visit a museum with your family on a whim. As a parent, I’ve often been disappointed by the lack of “on demand” solutions for capturing a child’s attention and helping them to have fun in cultural environments. While science museums tend to be very imaginative when it comes to engaging young visitors, the same can’t be said for all museums. In most cases, it’s best to plan your visit in advance to make sure appropriate activities are available for children. Otherwise, you may be left to your own devices on subjects you may not necessarily be familiar with.

Digital devices to the rescue?

This is where digital tools on tablets and mobile phones come in handy. They provide an “on demand” solution with great possibilities, they offer content that can be adapted to many audiences depending on age level, skills and interests.

Digital tools provide quick solutions that are likely to activate all four motivators we’ve discussed above — turning museum visits into an experience your child will want to do again and again, and giving parents tools they’ll be excited to talk about with their friends. Here are a few examples:

INTERACTIONS

This is, of course, where the digital tablet comes in. A tablet should never be the focal point of the experience, but rather, a starting point. It should foster conversation between you and your child and facilitate interaction with the works of art and other artifacts on display. This is why digital games that combine storytelling and puzzles are the perfect tool for facilitating that interaction — they engage children and make them active participants in the cultural experience.

EMOTIONS

Digital tools can intensify the emotions children feel when they see a work of art or visit a heritage site. First of all, when they listen to a story, they are transported into the world of the imagination. In order for this to happen, you need a passionate narrator who not only tells the story, but brings the characters to life.

Digital tools offer infinite possibilities that are both fun and exciting for your child. For example, with augmented reality, your child could meet a historical character, dress a friend in a medieval costume, or pet a dinosaur… and of course, take photos to capture all the fun! Your child could also have a memorable cultural experience in virtual reality, which has been shown to have a particular emotional impact (see our article on VR here).

In short, digital tools bring you the best of new immersive technologies that can transport your child straight into another time and place.

ACCOMPLISHMENT

A digital visit can also foster a sense of accomplishment in several different ways. First, they provide rewards when the children earn points, collect objects, or look for virtual clues. Games also encourage them to keep progressing, for example, when they make it to the next step in a game because they were able to complete a challenge.

Gaining knowledge also contributes to that sense of accomplishment. When children learn something from a story, a quiz, or funny anecdote, they feel like they’re the only one who knows this special information, and they feel proud of what they know.

Another way to activate this motivator is to encourage creativity by asking the child to solve a complicated puzzle or complete an artistic challenge.

EMULATION

Games should be as varied as possible. That way they present a variety of challenges based on listening and observation (for example: searching for clues in the décor or in a work of art), questions that require careful reflection, or fun tasks (like taking a selfie posing like a character in a painting).
Games should also allow the child to accumulate points and/or objects to stimulate a healthy sense of competition. Children can then share their scores with friends.

These four motivators also have a biological basis

This empirical approach also has a more scientific explanation. Each of the motivators mentioned above also release different hormones that contribute to feelings of joy and happiness: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins.

• Dopamine produces the feeling of satisfaction we get when we earn a reward, meet an objective, or experience a good surprise.
• Serotonin triggers the feeling of self-esteem and self-confidence. It is released when a child feels proud.
• Oxytocin is released during social interactions; it produces feelings of attachment, connection, and sharing with others.
• Endorphins produce feelings of well-being, related to laughter.

Besides their emotional virtues, these hormones also facilitate memorization. Dopamine, for example, strengthens episodic memory, which allows us to relive scenes from the past.

When to start?

Today’s children are immersed in an environment that is both digital and physical. They see technology as a means to foster interpersonal relations and connect with both the reality and fiction of others’ lives.

When digital tools are used intelligently, they help museums and heritage sites to create strong ties with young visitors, allowing them to discover and enjoy the many treasures these sites have to offer.

Whether digital tools should be used in museums and heritage sites is no longer a question. The question for museums to answer is “How can we adapt digital tools to the particular needs of each museum and heritage site?”

In practice, these solutions require an infrastructure that is often more cumbersome and more expensive than expected, and the results are sometimes disappointing (see our article on Tech Trends). Taking into account the limits of such technologies, GuidiGO decided to explore a different path by making our app compatible with Google Project Tango. This technology offers an incomparable advantage: it works without any infrastructure. Yes, you read that correctly: no infrastructure at all! No need for an internet connection, WiFi, sensors, or GPS. Museums have nothing to install and no equipment to maintain!

David Lerman, GuidiGO’s CEO, explains the magic behind it: “The tablet is loaded with sensors that detect motion, volume, and depth. A 3D map of the interior of the museum is created in advance by scanning the walls, partitions, installations, etc. The tablet later recognizes these elements and makes it possible for the visitor to remain continuously localized, with no need to connect to any signal.”

But that’s not all, not only do visitors know their exact position, they can also opt for a 3D view with an AR path superimposed on the floor…

… or choose a dual view with the 2D map:

Would you like to see a live demo? Take a look at our app running in this video shot at the beautiful Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, during the recent MWC 2016 (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona. The GuidiGO app was presented to the press in the presence of teams from Google Project Tango, and Lenovo – the manufacturer of the tablet.

Besides being a game changer for indoor positioning, Project Tango’s ability to recognize the user’s environment opens the door to numerous AR applications. At the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, we were excited to present the interpretation of a painting in Augmented Reality. Above a 33-foot-long canvas (“The Battle of Tetuan” by Mariano Fortuny), AR 3D markers appear in the air, indicating that additional content is available to explain a detail in the piece.

 
And this is only the beginning… Stay tuned!

Learn more:

• Lenovo: “How Project Tango Will Change the Way You Use Your Phone”
• Tom’s Guide: “How Google’s Project Tango Won Me Over with AR and Art”
• Digital Trends: “Digital Trends Top Tech of MWC 2016 award winners” (Read: Lenovo’s Project Tango)
• Digital Trends: “Touring a museum with Project Tango is an empowering glimpse into the future”
• Slash Gear: “How Lenovo and Project Tango will reinvent your smartphone”
• CNET: “Project Tango could come to a museum near you”
• BGR: “Lenovo and Google are about to blow the lid off digital indoor mapping”
• The Verge: “Google just showed me the future of indoor navigation” (watch GuidiGO app at work in the video!)
• PC Mag: “A Night at the Museum With Project Tango”

A fully redesigned interface and a design specific to each type of screen

Clean, crisp, and clutter-free, the new GuidiGO interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, with more direct access to the menus. The iPhone app makes use of the full iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus screen. Not content to re-use the iPhone interface for the iPad, we designed the iPad interface specifically for the iPad and its larger screen.

This redesigned interface isn’t just bells and whistles. Whether you are using the iPhone app or the iPad app, you will find a more powerful application, entirely redesigned to make the content pop and to be incredibly user-friendly — this is an interface that you will actually enjoy navigating.

In designing these new apps, we listened to tour authors and their concerns about quality and how users interact with their tours, and also to the users themselves, who always want simplicity and guidance.

The map – the heart of it all

The GuidiGO tour experience now starts at the map. From this central point users can access the audio-visual content for each stage of the tour as well as additional content like videos and games.

Also from the map, users access one central menu with the basic tour features: summary, means of access, useful links, etc. This menu also allows users to set audio preferences, review the tour, update the tour, or restart the game. If the tour is a treasure hunt, the map displays a second menu that shows inventory, virtual objects won or discovered, clues, and game stats.

The content looks better than ever – creating an even more immersive experience

« Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent » – Joe Sparano.

We embraced this philosophy and made it our own. The GuidiGO app design fades into the background to emphasize the content. With an entirely transparent interface and magnified, full-screen images that can even be animated (a feature that can be deactivated), it’s now even easier to lose yourself in the content.

Of course, you will still find one unique GuidiGO feature that hasn’t changed: images that sync perfectly with the audio and pull users into the story.

On the iPad, treasure hunts take full advantage of the larger screen, offering an interface that encourages open-ended questions, multiple choice questions, and word searches.

A new twist on your content: the 360º virtual tour

The map now integrates the Street View feature. So your exterior tour is now accessible to all users — including users who can’t visit your site in person for whatever reason: economic, geographical, or physical.

While listening to your content, users can take a virtual stroll through the neighborhood that you invite them to explore. They can enjoy 360º views and can even zoom in on details in the environment. The app uses the gyroscope to turn the iPad into a window opening onto a new destination.

This new use is proving to be extremely useful in an educational context; students are now free to tour educational sites the world over.

An app that makes the most of Bluetooth LE and iBeacon

Another new feature: the app can now interact with beacons. Install these little Bluetooth sensors in your museum, enter your beacon numbers into GuidiGO Studio, and offer your visitors a liberating museum experience. A unique symbol will alert visitors to nearby works with content in the app.

Good news for GuidiGO cultural site clients: we have partnered with one of the primary beacon manufacturers, Kontakt.io. This is a great opportunity for you to test beacons at your location at a special price. Contact us to learn more.

More than 600 total workdays to bring you nothing but the best

We don’t always realize just how much work is required to create an app so refined that it sets new standards for an industry — a universal app optimized for all users:
– whatever their screen (iPhone 5, 6, 6 Plus, iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini)
– whatever their iOS

Some trivia for the curious —

The new GuidiGO app for iPhone/iPad is:

• More than 300 screens (the image above is just a preview) — a considerable undertaking, even before tackling the 1st line of code!
• Tens of thousands of lines of code
• 600 man-days of design (UX & UI), coding, and tests
• More than 20,000 words in six languages
• …not to mention many epic battles, a few laugh riots, and several all-nighters (It was our Designer and our CTO who insisted that I add that ;-)

I’m sure you can’t wait to test out the results of so much work for yourself. And you can — the apps are available here.

Now, have a look at our future iPhone app!

We can’t wait to announce the release of this version! In the meantime, here is a small insight to give you a taste…

Now, have a look at our future iPad app!