THE INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM’S NEW 360° DIGITAL HIGHLIGHTS TOUR
An Inside Look
The Basics
Interviewee: Jacqueline V. Eyl, Youth Education Director at the International Spy Museum
She specializes in programming and resources for educators who are planning visits to the museum
A joint project: the museum partnered with the American Institute for History Education (AIHE)
The Purpose
The 360° digital highlights tour serves as a pre-visit for teachers
Likely, at some point, the tour will be coupled with a small pre-visit lesson plan for educators
It also gives any visitor an exciting preview before they visit the museum
The Actual Tour
An entirely new service offered by the museum
Three rooms showcased The rooms are small and connected to each other Rooms with the best layout, etc. were chosen
Hotspots The ability to zoom in on the artifact allows for a deeper user
experience Some hotspots also feature audio and video files
The tour has yet to debut—it is still in its final stages
Inception
AIHE approached museum to partner together on this project
The tour was not one of the museum’s priorities until AIHE pushed it forward
http://americaninstituteforhistory.org/virtualtours/
Development
Walking a line The museum developers had to carefully consider how much to reveal
within the tour
AIHE camera crew filmed rooms All one day for about three hours
Minimal Problems changes that need to be made, glitches, were determined by the museum
and sent back to AIHE
museum has full ownership of the program; purchased from AIHE
The total production process took about 3 months
Future Plans
When it debuts, in around a month, it is likely to be located on the homepage—to promote both the tour and trips to the museum
Links to the tour will be distributed on the museum’s listserv once it debuts, as another means of promotion
Museum website will also be revised in the next few months
Overall, the tour’s purpose is for educators primarily, and also for individuals to view it in the comfort of their homes, and also to entice a visit to the museum
A Sneak Peak!
Preview of the tour
Feedback: Jackie’s email, [email protected]
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