14 DAY TRIAL // If libraries are stepping into the era of technology by abandoning old fashioned books and replacing them with tablets and PCs, museums are not far behind.
The British Museum and Samsung have just renewed their five-year partnership that will see the arrival of a new educational tablet app.
Granted, this particular application was designed for children, but if the project proves to be successful, we don’t see why it won’t go on to be implemented further on to cover the adult population, as well.
So what will this app do, basically? First off, it will be mounted on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and then given to children to walk around the museum with, says Pocket-lint. By nearing the slate to a certain structure, kids will be able to see stories and related information pop up on the screen of the tablet.
As the name suggests, A Gift for Athena has been designed to attract children into learning more about Greek culture. By pointing the tablet at different objects in the museum, kids can uncover stories about the ancient gods and the people of that era.
On top of that, they will be able to uncover information, by piecing together jigsaw puzzles or discovering the hidden meaning of sculpture patterns.
The new program is actually an extension of the popular Discovery Center created at the British Museum back in 2009. The initiators of the experiment hope to be able to embed more in-depth programs that use image-recognition, AR applications and even 3D printing, further on. The idea behind the project is to inspire children, teachers and parents.
Families and kids should find the digital tools offered by the British Museum and Samsung quite irresistible, with the Korean tech giant also proving a point here, showing its tablets can serve healthy educational purposes.