Museum of Science and Industry

In 2005, the Museum became a supporting partner in a successful grant application to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).  The lead partner was the University of Salford's Centre for Computer Networking and Telecommunications Research (CNTR).  Building on previous research into context-sensitive devices at CNTR, the main output of the project is the development of the mi-Guide, a handheld multimedia guide for the Museum's Connecting Manchester Gallery.   

The mi-Guide handsets communicate with a computer server via a WiFi wireless network.  At each information point in the Gallery, the user holds the mi-Guide scanner close to an RIFD (Radio Frequency Identification) tag.  This sends a request to the server for the information relevant to the particular display.  The server identifies this information from the tag's location.

At present, the mi-Guide content is aimed at general visitors.  Thanks to a second successful grant application to EPSRC, we will be going on to tailor the mi-Guide content to meet the needs of schools.  This content will also be linked to pre-visit and post-visit learning.