[Nhcoll-l] Collaborative Research Opportunity: Design Partners Needed for Museum Audio Guide Platform

[Thor Martin Jensen]

Dear List Members,

We're reaching out to this community to share an early-stage research
collaboration opportunity that may be of interest to institutions working
on digital visitor engagement.

*The Challenge:* How can we make audio guides more accessible,
cost-effective, and pedagogically sound for museums of all sizes? We've
been exploring this through *Walkie Talkie <https://walkietalk.ie/>*, a
web-based platform that eliminates traditional barriers like app downloads
and device compatibility issues, and makes high-quality audio production
instant based on the latest text-to-speech technology (existing recordings
can be used as well).

*What We've Learned So Far:*

   - 27 institutions have signed up in the initial three weeks since
   launching the platform
   - Key insights emerging around multilingual accessibility and content
   production workflows
   - Interesting patterns in visitor behavior when barriers to access are
   removed

*Seeking Collaborative Partners:* We're looking for museums interested in
*co-research* to help us understand:

   - How audio guides can better serve diverse learning styles
   - Optimal content structures for different types of exhibitions
   - Accessibility considerations we haven't yet explored
   - Integration challenges with existing museum workflows

*What Collaboration Looks Like:*

   - Joint development of best practices for digital audio content
   - Shared research findings with the broader museum community
   - Collaborative problem-solving around common implementation challenges
   - Co-creation of resources that benefit all participating institutions

*Research Support Provided:*

   - Technical platform access and content development assistance
   - Free 1-year access to a state-of-the-art audio guide solution for
   design partners
   - Documentation and sharing of findings for publication/presentation

*Our Approach:* We're practitioners who understand the museum sector's
unique challenges. Our backgrounds span cultural institution design (Åsmund
- Copenhagen Contemporary, Gyldendal) and digital experience strategy (Thor
- cultural sector focus post-Apple/TIDAL).

If your institution is interested in collaborative research around visitor
engagement technology, we'd welcome a conversation about how this might
align with your current initiatives.

*Get Started:* Anyone can sign up for free at *walkietalk.ie
<http://walkietalk.ie>* to explore the platform and begin creating audio
guides.

For institutions interested in becoming a design partner, please reach out
directly:

   - Contact: hello at walkietalk.ie
   - Website: https://walkietalk.ie/  <https://walkietalk.ie/>
   - Brief demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdniE930IkQ

Best regards,

*Thor Martin & Åsmund Garden*
Walkie Talkie
hello at walkietalk.ie
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