Digital
We review the latest websites and apps
Audio tour
The Lost Palace, London
This cutting-edge experience takes visitors back to a royal past, writes Jonathan Knott
While the streets of Westminster in central London nowadays house the machinery of government, during the 16th and 17th centuries the area was home to the Palace of Whitehall, the main residence of English monarchs. Much of the palace burned down in 1698, apart from Banqueting House on Whitehall, where this tour devised by Historic Royal Palaces begins. Over the summer, it has given visitors a vivid glimpse into the political and personal dramas that took place there.
The experience is delivered through headphones, though it’s more than a standard audio tour, thanks to a handheld block of wood. The technology inside this simple-looking device allows visitors to tune in to different sounds or sensations depending on how it is placed, pointed or moved. This unobtrusive interactivity draws participants into the past, as does the high standard of audio re-enactments.
The contrast between the area’s past and present uses is particularly notable outside the defence ministry building, where, by moving the device, you can eavesdrop on conversations that include the interrogation of Guy Fawkes and the arrival of a young woman by boat to be greeted by the king’s “pimpmaster general”.
This format helps visitors to empathise with a wide range of past characters, most notably towards the end, when the vibrating device becomes the beating heart of Charles I as he approaches his execution. The tour finishes in Banqueting House, where participants can rest in comfortable seating as they contemplate the ceiling painted by Peter Paul Rubens.
Both the technology and the content are of high quality and, just as importantly, are used together effectively to bring the past to life. Buzzwords such as immersive, innovative and intuitive can be overused, but in this instance they feel justified.
App
Smartify
This free app allows users to scan artworks with their smartphones to identify and access information about them. It can be used in a number of UK institutions, including the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) and the Royal Academy of Arts (RA), all in London.
Participating museums outside London include Turner Contemporary and the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, with the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, leading the overseas pack.
When I tested Smartify at the RA on prints and a sculpture, the app scanned the works quickly. Basic text is provided by the gallery, similar to a wall label, though the app combines this with other content, such as links to gallery shops, Wikipedia and audio files. The text for a portrait of poet John Donne at the NPG allows you to listen to a work by him. Users can also save their favourite pieces to access later.
The number of artworks that can be scanned in each venue varies: the National Gallery offers 1,200 and the RA 100. Overall, this user-friendly app provides a promising new platform for people to engage with art.
Website
The Ring
This site has been launched to promote a new art project led by the Canal and River Trust, which celebrates a historic 21-mile circuit of natural and man-made waterways, the Mid-Worcestershire Ring. The Ring will feature five public art commissions, of which three have been confirmed so far.
Featuring a succession of high-definition moving images of scenic panoramas, the site’s homepage makes an eye-catching first impression. Elsewhere, a helpful video introduces the scheme, plus there is information on the commissions that have been completed and details of an extra £10,000 available for local artists.
The site includes a searchable events section, although at the time of writing this did not include future programming. Its clear and welcoming feel should help fulfil the project’s aim of encouraging locals and visitors from further afield to explore the region’s waterways.
The Lost Palace, London
This cutting-edge experience takes visitors back to a royal past, writes Jonathan Knott
While the streets of Westminster in central London nowadays house the machinery of government, during the 16th and 17th centuries the area was home to the Palace of Whitehall, the main residence of English monarchs. Much of the palace burned down in 1698, apart from Banqueting House on Whitehall, where this tour devised by Historic Royal Palaces begins. Over the summer, it has given visitors a vivid glimpse into the political and personal dramas that took place there.
The experience is delivered through headphones, though it’s more than a standard audio tour, thanks to a handheld block of wood. The technology inside this simple-looking device allows visitors to tune in to different sounds or sensations depending on how it is placed, pointed or moved. This unobtrusive interactivity draws participants into the past, as does the high standard of audio re-enactments.
The contrast between the area’s past and present uses is particularly notable outside the defence ministry building, where, by moving the device, you can eavesdrop on conversations that include the interrogation of Guy Fawkes and the arrival of a young woman by boat to be greeted by the king’s “pimpmaster general”.
This format helps visitors to empathise with a wide range of past characters, most notably towards the end, when the vibrating device becomes the beating heart of Charles I as he approaches his execution. The tour finishes in Banqueting House, where participants can rest in comfortable seating as they contemplate the ceiling painted by Peter Paul Rubens.
Both the technology and the content are of high quality and, just as importantly, are used together effectively to bring the past to life. Buzzwords such as immersive, innovative and intuitive can be overused, but in this instance they feel justified.
App
Smartify
This free app allows users to scan artworks with their smartphones to identify and access information about them. It can be used in a number of UK institutions, including the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) and the Royal Academy of Arts (RA), all in London.
Participating museums outside London include Turner Contemporary and the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, with the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, leading the overseas pack.
When I tested Smartify at the RA on prints and a sculpture, the app scanned the works quickly. Basic text is provided by the gallery, similar to a wall label, though the app combines this with other content, such as links to gallery shops, Wikipedia and audio files. The text for a portrait of poet John Donne at the NPG allows you to listen to a work by him. Users can also save their favourite pieces to access later.
The number of artworks that can be scanned in each venue varies: the National Gallery offers 1,200 and the RA 100. Overall, this user-friendly app provides a promising new platform for people to engage with art.
Website
The Ring
This site has been launched to promote a new art project led by the Canal and River Trust, which celebrates a historic 21-mile circuit of natural and man-made waterways, the Mid-Worcestershire Ring. The Ring will feature five public art commissions, of which three have been confirmed so far.
Featuring a succession of high-definition moving images of scenic panoramas, the site’s homepage makes an eye-catching first impression. Elsewhere, a helpful video introduces the scheme, plus there is information on the commissions that have been completed and details of an extra £10,000 available for local artists.
The site includes a searchable events section, although at the time of writing this did not include future programming. Its clear and welcoming feel should help fulfil the project’s aim of encouraging locals and visitors from further afield to explore the region’s waterways.