Interactive Media Guides for Living Collections – The Key Facts in 60 Seconds
Discover in less than a minute how digital media guides enhance exhibitions with multimedia content and actively engage visitors.
Media guides transform collections into interactive experiences through images, audio and video content, as well as narrative elements. They can be provided flexibly as web applications or native apps and may be enhanced with beacon technology to enable location-based features. Intuitive navigation and different tour options support both guided experiences and individual exploration. The underlying technical infrastructure connects content, data and delivery channels within a sustainable digital ecosystem.
Visitors benefit from multimedia enhancements and unexpected connections that extend beyond the physical exhibition. The applications remain flexible and scalable and can be supported over the long term through hosting, maintenance and regular updates. Practical examples demonstrate how digital media guides bring cultural heritage to life and make it immediately accessible.
Read on and discover the possibilities of digital media guides.
“Our media guides turn your collection into a vivid, multimedia experience.”
Images, audio and video content make your exhibits speak for themselves, while narrative elements such as storytelling clearly convey complex scholarly relationships. You decide which content to add – we only provide advisory support when needed.
The media guides are highly flexible: they work as a web application on any device or, if required, as a native app. This allows the use of beacons to guide visitors through exhibitions, connect locations or enable unexpected discoveries. Guided routes and free exploration exist side by side, enabling both specialist audiences and interested visitors to explore content in a playful and self-directed way.
Technical Foundation and Infrastructure
The media guides are not conceived as a standalone application, but as an integral part of a comprehensive digital infrastructure for research, documentation and engagement. The underlying system architecture connects collection data, editorial workflows, knowledge modelling and multiple output channels into a shared ecosystem. This enables a wide range of extensions, integrations and the development of new digital services.
Learn more about the technical and conceptual foundations of our solutions on the System Architecture page.
Theoretical concepts only realise their value in practice. The following project example from the Landesmuseum Bonn illustrates how our infrastructure combines scholarly content, cultural heritage and digital engagement within a shared system.
Media Guide for the LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn
For the LVR State Museum Bonn, we developed a digital media guide as a progressive web app (PWA) based on TYPO3, which is now also available as a native app for iOS and Android. Visitors can use the guide on their own smartphones or on provided loan devices. Thanks to integrated beacon technology, location-based navigation through the museum is enabled. Various thematic tours allow for an individual and interactive exhibition experience.
Why just read about it when you can experience it yourself? Immerse yourself in your media guide, navigate interactively through exhibits, discover unexpected connections and explore digital layers of content that remain hidden in the physical exhibition. Each stop offers something new – bringing your collection to life in an interactive and immediately accessible way.
Inspired by what’s possible?
This raises the next question: How can a collection, exhibition or research project be transformed into a digital media guide that clearly conveys content and actively engages visitors?
Your media guide is built from your content – vibrant, multimedia-rich and ready to use immediately. You define the structure, while we ensure that chapters, stations and exhibits are clearly connected and that technical components such as audio, images and video are seamlessly integrated.
Implementation is carried out step by step and with full flexibility, so you always retain control over your content. Whenever you need support, we provide advisory assistance – whether for complex linkages, beacon integration or technical optimisation. In this way, your media guides become interactive tours that engage visitors and bring content to life:
I. Technical Structuring of Your Media Guide Content
Your media guide extends the physical exhibition with digital layers.
Chapters, stations and exhibits are transferred into custom-developed data models and linked together to create a curated and structured framework. You can manage your content independently, integrate multimedia elements such as images, audio and video, and add digital layers of interpretation and context – while we provide advisory support whenever needed.
The underlying models remain modular, flexible and extensible. Connections between exhibits are established dynamically, allowing visitors to move seamlessly between overviews and detailed information. The result is a digital experience that complements the physical exhibition, brings content to life and remains technically robust and easy to maintain – turning your collection into something that can be experienced at the touch of a button.
II. User Interface and Accessibility
We design interfaces tailored specifically to your target audience.
Navigation, multimedia content and context-based pathways turn the media guide into an exploratory experience in which visitors can discover content in a playful and intuitive way. Serendipity is an integral part of the experience: unexpected connections, surprising exhibits and additional digital content invite visitors to wonder, explore and delve deeper.
The application runs as a web app on all devices but can also be provided as a native app, including optional beacon technology for location-based guidance and interactive highlights. In this way, you combine digital flexibility with physical orientation and create an experience that engages visitors, guides them and encourages independent exploration.
III. Long-Term Support and Continuous Updates
Your media guide should not only shine at launch, but continue to perform smoothly over the long term.
We are happy to provide hosting, maintenance, support and regular updates – even after the application has been fully transferred to your institution. Content remains up to date, multimedia elements continue to function reliably, and performance evolves alongside your requirements. This allows you to focus entirely on your content while your media guide grows with you in a stable, dynamic and future-proof way.