Technologies

TechWatch

The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) allows Canadian museums to connect with each other and their audiences through the use of digital technologies. CHIN publishes an TechWatch, an enewsletter on new technologies.

For a new approach to works of art: Louvre-DNP Museum Lab

October 2006 — This unique project created by Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) is intended for any audience, connoisseurs and novices alike, who would like to see works of art in a new light.

Design: The goal of the Louvre-DNP Museum Lab was to create a totally new approach to works of art by using the most recent information and image technologies to make them easier for the general public to understand.

At the beginning of a visit, visitors record their choices and wishes on an RFID ticket (system for wireless Ultra High Frequency incorporated in the ticket). When the visitor enters the UHF wireless transmission zone located in front of the touch-sensitive screens, his RFID ticket is detected and the multimedia unit streams an audio commentary in the language chosen by the visitor along with visual content about the work and its artist depending on the circuit as defined by the duration of the desired visit.

In view of the fact that they wanted to try out museographical approaches by using a work from the museum’s most sophisticated image collections under the control of Dai Nippon Printing (DNP), DNP and the Musée du Louvre have just launched the Museum Lab project in Tokyo. A test space especially designed for this initiative in the DNP building in the Gotanda district of Tokyo opened its doors on October 30, 2006.

A one-of-a-kind collaboration between Dai Nippon Printing and the Musée du Louvre, Museum Lab is the result of close co-operation between the teams at the two organizations. The Musée du Louvre developed the scientific and educational content of this experiment under the direction of the Department of Painting of the Musée du Louvre and of Sylvain Laveissière, Chief Curator. DNP called on its skills and technological tools to produce the multimedia programs available in French, Japanese and English.