Museum of Aviation Announces free iPhone App Tour

Warner Robins, GA -- The Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins Georgia now has an iPhone app, available immediately for free in the Apple App Store. The app enables users to listen to audio information for 20 of the museum's more than 90 aircraft exhibits, and to explore additional information using Wikipedia and Youtube links.

"We wanted an app that could provide an exciting and informative audio experience for our visitors here at the museum as well as wet the appetites of iPhone users who may not have had the chance to visit us yet," commented Director of Marketing Bob Dubiel. "In addition, the Museum of Aviation is a major outreach arm for both the Air Force and the Warner Robins Community. Our free iPhone App will become a major new tool in our marketing efforts as well as enhancing our visitors experiences in new and exciting ways. We feel that VenuLex's Museum Mobile platform accomplishes both objectives beautifully, and best of all it is offered as a free service for museums, providing a win-win partnership for our museum and VenuLex."

"It's like a digital coffee table book for the museum," Dubiel continued, "One dynamic aspect is our connection to YouTube. Now a visitor can look at the U-2 reconnaissance plane in our gallery and later link directly to a video of a pilot basically wearing a spacesuit as he boards the U-2 and flies to the edge of outer-space. You can literally see the curvature of the earth. It's pretty cool." 20 of the museum's aircraft, ranging from WWII bombers to helicopters, have links directly to such videos. "A lot of YouTube material is already easily available and we just needed to get to it quickly. Eventually we'll include more of our own footage; but this app got us going really fast."

The app vendor, VenuLex, recognized museums as a unique space for smart-phone in early 2010. "We began discussions in late 2010 with museums from around Georgia," said Venulex Director of Marketing Frank DeFilippis. "Executives at the Tellus Museum in Cartersville were especially helpful in opening doors. Our beta release will include museums spanning the northern half of the state. The Museum of Aviation is our first release; and other beta museums will soon follow."

Assistant Curator Arthur Sullivan was tasked with central responsibility for compiling audio scripts for the app as well coordinating the narration effort. "The audio in the app offers brief insights and uses a variety of styles, from conversational to stories told by veterans who actually served on the aircraft. We included the Youtube and Wikipedia links to allow access to information about the aircraft from outside sources that people are familiar and comfortable with using. The app is one of the ways that the Museum is working to engage audiences in new and exciting ways.”

One key aspect to the app is the ability it provides users to link via social media including facebook, Twitter, and email, to share information for specific exhibits. "We studied the space for a long time before making a move," said VenuLex President Travis Thayer. "We wanted to be able to leverage the most important aspects of this technology for museums. Smart-phones are great; but you could easily overdue it and waste time on stuff that smart-phone users may not care about. The real draw is always the museum itself: These beautiful, 3-dimensional, adventures that the museums spend a lifetime creating for us. Nothing a 3x5 phone that most people carry in their pocket or purse can improve that. What we can do, though, and we can do very well, is help them share their story. So social media is absolutely critical and audio is also critical.”

"As VenuLex releases its museum apps over the next few months,” said Museum Deputy Director Dudley Bluhm, “we hope that the many successes will propel us into the android app market by the end of the year!"

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