Since visiting museums became popular during the Renaissance (Findlen, 1989), the industry grown to 12.1 billion dollars (IBISWorld, 2019). Only in the last year, 10.2 million people visited Le Louvre in Paris, making it the most visited museum in the world (Louvre, 2019; Orme, 2019). Maybe due to tourism marketing, maybe due to real passion for the arts, or maybe due to the power of Beyonce’s clip with The Mona Lisa, museums remain a top cultural activity, as shown by a steady 2.3% yearly growth of the industry (IBISWorld, 2019). But in an age when Google Images can give you a better close up to a piece of art, how can museums make visitors have a unique experience while in their corridors?
The answer is to make increasingly sophisticated and personalized services, reinventing the entire museum experience. And this is something that can only be achieved through the use of technology.
In fact, there are several museums that have already started implementing technologies. For example, through a visitor system based on a Nintendo, Le Louvre is now able to track what areas of the museum are most visited, and what “art routes” are preferred by their visitors. Thanks to this, the museum can have an insight on the preferences of consumers (De Geus, 2018). Another example are the technology applications developed by the Spanish company Minsait for the Vatican Museums in Rome. Through the implementation of connected systems (IoT), Minsait has developed an app that not only tracks consumer visits, but gives real time recommendations on routes and collects data on real time reactions to the works of art (El Confidencial, 2019; Minsait, n.d.). Not only does this allow for improved security measures, but it allows for personal collection of reactions on each Frescoes of Michelangelo.
It is clear that big players in the Museum industry are already looking at ways in which to change the customer experience through the use of IoT and other technologies. But will these develop into a new business model? Some experts agree that increasingly personalized data gained through these technologies might lead Museums to new models. For example, de Geus (2019) proposes a “pay-per-view” model, in which museums would charge a pre-specified amount per art-piece viewed based on insights of the most popular pieces in the museum. His article argues that this model could be similar to the one proposed by Youtube and Spotify, in which artists gain royalty based on the visits. This sounds like a revolutionary business model, attractive to those visitors interested only in those highly popular pieces of art. But a small questions pops up; who will receive the royalties for Da Vinci, Velazquez or Picasso?
All in all, we can see that museums are jumping in the train of technology to maintain and grow value creation for their visitors. Benefits are not only growth in consumer insights, but improvements in security and art recommendations. Nevertheless, we cannot forget the core underlying values of museums; a place where to collect finest pieces of art, history, and culture, from which visitors can learn and and appreciate the art of others. If museums start building their expositions and art routes based on “historical” data (the art pieces currently known and popular), how will the public get to know the future Botticellis, Van Goghs, and Warhols?
Sources
de Geus, D. (2018). Here’s What a Smart Museum Could Look Like. [online] IoT For All. Available at: https://www.iotforall.com/smart-museums/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
El Confidencial. (2019). Bienvenido al museo del futuro. [online] Available at: https://www.elconfidencial.com/tecnologia/2019-09-16/inteligencia-artificial-iot-museos-vaticanos-bra_2151975/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Findlen, P. (1989). THE MUSEUM: ITS CLASSICAL ETYMOLOGY AND RENAISSANCE GENEALOGY. Journal of the History of Collections, 1(1), pp.59-78.
IBISWorld. (2019). Museums in the US Market Size 2003–2025. [online] Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/market-size/museums-united-states [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Louvre. (2019). 10.2 million visitors to the Louvre in 2018 | Louvre. [online] Available at: https://presse.louvre.fr/10-2-million-visitors-to-the-louvre-in-2018/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Minsait. (n.d.). [online] Available at: https://www.minsait.com/es [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Orme, S. (2019). The 15 Most Visited Museums In The World. [online] Culture Trip. Available at: https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/the-15-most-visited-museums-in-the-world/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Interesting take on the influence of tech! Personally, I love that museums are using technologies to make exhibitions more interactive, technologies such as AR and mixed reality could also be great contributors to this. The pay per view model could be an interesting take on city tours and museum visits, although I doubt it will be widely implemented. Hopefully, technology can contribute to the wider dispersion and international appreciation for culture and history, in whatever way possible!
Hi Paula! Cool article. Never thought of museums using technology to enhance their customer experience.
However, I have some questions regarding your topic. Since most museum visitors are >50, would you think this group easily adapts of using technology? The last time I went to the museum with my grandma she thought the audio tour device was an actual telephone and she started talking back to it… I don’t see her using any advanced technology unfortunately.
On the other hand, the pay-per-view business model seems very cool. Maybe we might not need any physical museum in the future by moving museums to the digital world. This would also open up art to an entire new audience (visiting the Louvre is quite expensive if you live in India / Africa). Would you go to a fully digital museum? I’d like to hear your thoughts on this
BR, Wouter
Hi Paula,
You discussed a very interesting topic!
I think that introducing a routing system is very interesting as it will enhance the customer experience and optimally monetize the museum’s space. I am, however, rather skeptical as to the adequacy of the pay-per-view system for a museum. I think the applicability of this business model is limited by two forces;
• Unknown artists benefit from the presence of well-known art pieces to be discovered and admired. Introducing a pay-per-view system will translate to less views, and thus revenue, for these unknown artists.
• The pricing systems assumes that visitors need to be familiar with the art pieces that are showcased before their visit in order to establish what they want to see (and thus pay for). Intuitively I believe that most visits are triggered by an artist’s or museum’s reputation; and not the individual art pieces within the collection.
I think that technology could take a much more prominent role within the art industry and revolutionize the way consumers can see art pieces. The customer experience has been rather static over the last centuries; maybe the museum experience could become real-life or immersive. Recently a painting that perfectly mimics Rembrandt’s style has been created through an AI (1), imagine if visitors could select their artist of choice and a machine will paint a Picasso.
1. https://www.nextrembrandt.com/
Hi Paula,
Fantastic read on the implementation of such emerging technologies within what is generally considered a standard traditional industry such as museums. After contemplating the potential uses of IoT and AI as outlined in the article, I certainly imagined a much more “efficient’ and streamlined experience, with these technologies often permeating numerous aspects of the industries they enter – the museum doesn’t seem to be an exception. That being said, I could not help but feel a sense of irony with this fusion, as outlined in your last paragraph. Namely, a place such as museums which are often known for its solace and tranquility, a place to reflect on ideas, memories and concepts from the past, where history is present instead of in the form of a book, would now be disrupted. Yes, there certainly would be more sales if a personalized programme can be shown to visitors, but at what cost? Would this slice of time displayed by museums limit the interpretation of the viewer? Would the art displays still accurately reflect the artists intents if held under the model suggested by de Gues? Despite the increased efficiency, I believe there certainly is an argument to be made regarding the true influence of implementing such technologies on the “museum experience”. Nevertheless, I remain a strong advocate of IoT and AI, but I remain cautious on the widespread usage of these emerging technologies as there are certain dimensions (such as what was just outlined) that often remain overlooked by those implementing. Would you agree or disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Hi Paula,
Fantastic read on the implementation of such emerging technologies within what is generally considered a standard traditional industry such as museums. After contemplating the potential uses of IoT and AI as outlined in the article, I certainly imagined a much more “efficient’ and streamlined experience, with these technologies often permeating numerous aspects of the industries they enter – the museum doesn’t seem to be an exception. That being said, I could not help but feel a sense of irony with this fusion, as outlined in your last paragraph. Namely, a place such as museums which are often known for its solace and tranquility, a place to reflect on ideas, memories and concepts from the past, where history is present instead of in the form of a book, would now be disrupted. Yes, there certainly would be more sales if a personalized programme can be shown to visitors, but at what cost? Would this slice of time displayed by museums limit the interpretation of the viewer? Would the art displays still accurately reflect the artists intents if held under the model suggested by de Gues? Despite the increased efficiency, I believe there certainly is an argument to be made regarding the true influence of implementing such technologies on the “museum experience”. Nevertheless, I remain a strong advocate of IoT and AI, but I remain cautious on the widespread usage of these emerging technologies as there are certain dimensions (such as what was just outlined) that often remain overlooked by those implementing. Would you agree or disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts.