To help you diversify your games, GuidiGO Studio offers 9 types of challenges as standard features:

• Open question
• Multiple Choice with texts
• Multiple Choice with images
• Fill-in-the-blanks (with or without clues)
• Photo challenge
• Photo challenge with an Augmented Reality object
• Magic Scanner
• Solving a mystery word / a mystery code
• Solving a jigsaw puzzle

Do you want even more variety? Here are some possibilities!

First, consider using the “audio” field of the challenge. This way, you can invite the player to identify animal cries, tool noises, musical instrument sounds, etc.

You can also use standard challenges to create other types of games. Here are a few different ways to use them.

1. Matching game

Possible uses:

• Match each image with the correct statement
• Match works of art or characters with the correct era, artistic movement, etc.

2. Sorting game

Possible uses:

• Place events in chronological order
• Sort animals by speed or weight, sort monuments by height, length of construction, etc.

3. Completing an image

Possible use:

• Look at a work of art and put the missing details back in place.

4. Spotting the hidden detail

Possible use:

• Look at a work of art or a scene and spot a detail in it.

5. Finding the missing object

Possible use:

• Look closely at a work or scene to identify the missing detail.

6. Solving a rebus

Possible use:

• Involve younger children, especially those who are not yet proficient in reading.

To learn how to create each of these challenges, go to our online help center where you can access the files we used to create the examples above.

Interested? Try out all the GuidiGO features with a free 30-day trial.

GuidiGO AR Composer opens up incredible new opportunities for museums and cultural sites, as they can now design their own AR experiences in just a few simple steps, and make them available on site or for remote use by schools and other educational institutions.

Unlike virtual reality, Augmented Reality is not designed to immerse you in an entirely different environment” says GuidiGO CEO David Lerman, “AR integrates virtual elements into the real environment, and allows you to interact with them as you move around. You can physically feel the presence of AR objects, particularly when they appear in real size. The applications for Augmented Reality are actually quite different from virtual reality, but no less fascinating and engaging for users. Just look at the excitement around Pokémon GO!

This is a great opportunity to reach an even wider audience, including the digital generation, who are looking for new experiences. AR Composer is also an extraordinary educational tool capable of engaging different types of visitors as they explore permanent collections or temporary exhibitions.

GuidiGO AR Composer: How does it work?

GuidiGO AR Composer makes it possible to create experiences in augmented reality using virtual components. The Tango tablet works as a viewfinder to position virtual objects on the ground or anywhere else, with no need for markers or signals of any kind. The settings and location of the virtual objects are saved as soon as they are placed. They are then visible to visitors just like any real object.

A virtual 3D object can be static, animated, or interactive. It can be a character, an entire scene, a sound, or a visual hotspot, depending on the experience created by the museum.

GuidiGO AR Composer makes full use of Tango capabilities, including motion tracking, which enables virtual objects to behave as if they were real. For example, virtual objects increase in size as you approach them, and you can walk around them to get a closer look from any angle. It is also possible to interact with them, as you can see in this video where a dinosaur roars when the visitor approaches.

Ready-to-Go AR Plugins

Just like GuidiGO Studio, AR Composer is extremely user-friendly and doesn’t require special skills or training. Using presets or custom plugins, museums and cultural sites can quickly create a variety of experiences in which their visitors will see the real and virtual blend together seamlessly. For example, museums will be able to:

• Geolocate and guide visitors using a virtual path that appears at their feet:
  
• Leave comments about a place, or work of art, using AR hotspots:
  
• Create a Pokémon GO-style treasure hunt, inviting visitors to explore and collect virtual objects they find in the galleries:
  
• Share works that are missing from the collection, whether they are on reserve, being restored, or on loan… or simply too fragile or too large to be displayed in public,
• Place a work in its original context – for example, making an entire temple appear where only an ancient column remains,
• Compare a work to its previous version, or to the artist’s preliminary sketches,
• Take complex mechanisms apart and put them back together again to see how things work, whether it’s a machine, a process, the human body, the solar system, etc.
• Make virtual characters move around in front of the visitor,
• Recreate the décor and atmosphere of an entire room by superimposing its former or future state on top of its current reality:
  

And any other applications imaginable…

First Tango Smartphones Available

The Phab2 Pro, the first smartphone to feature Tango technology, is available at the Lenovo shop.

This new type of smartphone is the first step in a major technological breakthrough. Tango makes it finally possible to create AR experiences without using markers or any kind of infrastructure. In other words, there’s finally a mobile device that sees like we do.

The 3D Explosion

In recent years, 3D image production has become much more accessible. Techniques like photogrammetry in which an object is photographed from many different angles so it can then be reproduced in 3D, used to require complex and costly equipment. Today, you can create a 3D model of an object or even an entire scene using nothing but your smartphone.

Similarly, the diffusion of 3D models took a giant leap forward with the arrival of the WebGL standard, which makes it possible to display 3D images in any web browser. This is where Sketchfab comes into play. In only four years’ time, the platform has become the leader in publishing and sharing 3D models, with close to a million models shared by its members.

Sketchfab and GuidiGO: a Natural Synergy

Though Sketchfab initially appealed to designers wishing to share their creations, their community has expanded over the years to include a variety of museums. Over 350 museums and cultural sites all over the world are now using Sketchfab, including the famous British Museum, and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Brussels – who published no less than 355 models alone. Sketchfab now boasts a collection that would be the envy of a number of institutions the world over.

It soon became obvious that Sketchfab and GuidiGO, the leading storytelling platform with its 5,000 commented cultural sites and works, would be a perfect match. It is no surprise, then, that the 3D works on Sketchfab now interface with GuidiGO’s tour-creating tools.

GuidiGO now natively supports Sketchfab 3D embeds and lets you add 3D and VR illustrations to your stories.

Tremendous potential for GuidiGO users

This incredible functionality is available to anyone who creates a tour on GuidiGO. It is especially useful when accessing tours remotely, or when planning a visit. When it is impossible to make a trip to a cultural site in person, you can still enjoy the works on display and the cultural space itself.

For a few months now, the new GuidiGO web app has featured street views and 360° panoramas,” explains Corine Barbazanges, Head of Marketing at GuidiGO. “But 3D models open the way to even more possibilities. Our users are going to be able to create amazing tours based around a theme, rather than on the exploration of one specific site. They can even create their ideal collection by bringing together works from different museums with absolutely no geographic constraints.

This is the idea behind the 3D Imaginary Tour created by GuidiGO as a demo. In this tour, you will hear the story of the Nefertiti bust and the Roman Colosseum. As you listen, you can look at every detail and rotate the objects to see them from multiple angles. You can also learn about Protoceratops, a dinosaur that you can spin around in 3D as it walks across your screen.

Now, museums can offer virtual tours to anyone unable to visit in person—particularly schools with limited means. A teacher could also create a tour based on a thematic selection of works and then use it as part of their curriculum—they could even invite students to create their own tours as a class project. Art lovers might also create a gallery of their favorite works and enrich them with personal commentary.

Of course, a virtual tour can never replace an on-site visit. As GuidiGO CEO David Lerman is well aware:

There is nothing like the feeling you get from real contact with a work or space. But the fact is, no one has the means to visit every museum in the world. That’s why art books and documentaries exist. So why not have virtual tours as well? Augmented with Sketchfab resources, the GuidiGO web app makes it possible to view works in 3D and in great detail; it also enriches the experience with audio commentary and visual references. In my opinion, this is one of the best remote visitor experiences ever created so far.

The experience is sure to appeal to museums and culture lovers; especially since opening an account is free on both Sketchfab and GuidiGO.

What are you waiting for?

Would you like to create a tour of ancient Egyptian artifacts, animal sculptures throughout the ages, or the collections at the British Museum? It couldn’t be more simple.

Start by creating your tour in GuidiGO Studio. Decide which stops you want to add, then enrich them with text, audio and video content. If you’d like to add 3D content to a stop in your tour, simply copy the URL of the model from Sketchfab then paste it in your stop, in GuidiGO Studio:

Finally, publish your tour in just one click. A few minutes later, it will be accessible from any web browser.

Note: Sketchfab 3D models are not yet available in the GuidiGO mobile apps.

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.

Back when the project was launched, its goal was to bring educational establishments and cultural institutions together. We can now see the success of this collaboration, which produced tours and cultural games accessible to all through tablets and computers.

Before the gathered parents, the participants shared Viewing Angles’ success, a success that involved no less than 400 students and 17 renowned cultural institutions. Christophe Girard and Pierre Aidenbaum, mayors of the 4th and 3rd districts of Paris respectively, highlighted the importance of actively involving the youngest members of society in valuing their town’s cultural heritage. Sonia Zillhardt, representative of the Department of Culture and Communication, praised this ambitious project, which brought students, teachers, and cultural institutions together to collaborate on the key areas of focus established by her department for the year 2015: youth and cultural tourism.

David Lerman, CEO of GuidiGO, revealed the project results, presenting key figures and the list of skills used by the students involved (infographics available here). He highlighted Viewing Angles’ great success in garnering support and uniting effort beyond all expectations; in addition to the Paris Marais and Sarthe schools, classes from Yonne and even the Lycée Français de San Francisco joined the project along the way, adding a dash of international flare. All in all, using GuidiGO Studio, our budding historians created 15 cultural tours, each augmented by games, and published them on the GuidiGO app.

After the presentation, guests were able to test the tours on tablets made available at the event. Students proudly presented their work and discovered what their fellow students had created.

In light of the conclusive results of the Viewing Angles project, GuidiGO hopes to expand into other regions. We are already planning to put this new educational tool for the arts and culture into widespread use for the 2015-2016 school year. If you are a teacher, open to innovative pedagogical projects, or if you represent a cultural institution and would like to learn about GuidiGO, contact us at: education (at) guidigo.com.

We at GuidiGO thank everyone who so enthusiastically participated in this exciting project as well as all those who have supported it since its inception.

Happy summer to all!

PS: To explore the 15 tours (in French), download the GuidiGO app and search for Angles de vue (ie, “Viewing Angles”).

Learn more:

• See the Infographics “Viewing Angles – Report 2015”

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to all the schools and teachers who participated: Muriel Etcheber (Collège Couperin, Paris), Véronique Ferey (Ecole élémentaire Quatre-Fils, Paris), Carole Josodola (Ecole élémentaire Tournelles, Paris), Marie-Josèphe Tholomier (Ecole Neuve Saint Pierre, Paris), Agnès de Willecot, Claire Granone, Jennifer Willms et Agnès Guillemard (Ecole élémentaire Renard, Paris), Christelle Blanchard (Ecole Condorcet, Yvré l’Evêque), Bénédicte Lecuyer (Ecole de Sougé-le-Ganelon), Lise Manguy (Ecole Ferdinand Buisson, Le Mans), Vincent Devaux (Collège Stéphane Mallarmé, Sens), Aurélie Caudron (Collège du Parc des Chaumes, Avallon), Cathy Germain (Collège de Puisaye), Anne-Sophie Danieau (Lycée Français de San Francisco).

We’ll keep you updated!

If you’re a Glass Explorer, this new tab gives you access to the QR code of your tour. Just scan it, and you’ll be able to test your tour inside the GuidiGO glassware!

Today, we offer you a great feature to enrich your visitors’ experience. You can now embed one or even several videos directly into a stop. Check out the new button “Add video” at the bottom of the stop page.

Unlike the video links, the embedded videos will be available offline for users once they have downloaded your tour.

Your video clips will be automatically encoded to minimize the space used on their device. However, downloading your tour will of course take longer and that’s one of the reasons why we strongly recommend you to upload only short videos (maximum 3 minutes) – for this and also for a better user experience.

Studio side, note that the video can take some time to upload – according to its size – and also that the publication of a tour including videos can be longer than usual.

Hope you will enjoy this new feature!

Well, good news: this has now been made possible!

You can test every challenge in your tour, whatever its type, and check the questions, answers, number of tries, etc. Once on the challenge screen, click the “Answer” button and you’ll also be able to preview the reward screen.

You can even launch a realistic simulation of your “Magic scanner” challenges (with the real sound of the scanner!) and see the artifacts appear.

Last, not only can challenges be easily reviewed, but also the whole content of the inventory (artifacts, messages, letters to complete a mystery word, and jigsaw puzzles).

Now let your visitors have fun… and have fun yourself creating your game tours!