Evaluation of the use of mobile phone tours

EVALUATING THE USE OF MOBILE PHONES FOR AN EXHIBITION TOUR AT THE TATE MODERN: DEAD END OR THE WAY FORWARD?
EVA London Conference ~ 11–13 July 2007
Silvia Filippini-Fantoni and Nancy Proctor

Abstract
As part of its pioneering work in mobile interpretation, Tate Modern, in cooperation with Antenna Audio, launched a mobile phone tour pilot of the David Smith exhibition, on 18 December 2006. This allowed visitors to dial a local number to access information about 10 exhibited artworks. An evaluation was carried out during the 5-week pilot run to determine visitors’ interest for this type of mobile interpretation with a view for possible further development. In this paper we will present the results of the evaluation; which provides an interesting insight into the pros and the cons of using mobile phone and IVR technology in museums in comparison to other forms of mobile interpretation, i.e., MP3 players and hand held devices.

Find the paper here.
Mobile Phone Tour for the Cy Twombly exhibition here.