There has been much valuable discussion on museum-l of late about
virtual museums, but today I heard of an interesting idea to allow a
real museum to accept virtual visitors.
 
Phil Phillips at the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside in
Liverpool has for some years been involved in the JASON project,
which entails operating a remote-control vehicle of some sort in an
exotic location over a satellite link to a number of sites worldwide.
 
This year's project, running from 27 February to 11 March, involves
driving a vehicle situated in Hawaii (I believe it is a prototype of
some Martian probe?) from Liverpool and other sites internationally.
 
Phil's idea is to allow visitors to log in from remote sites and operate
remote-controlled vehicles with video/sound apparatus, driving them
around a real museum (with some specially-designed exhibits) during
hours when the museum is closed. This would provide 24h access to the
museum, in addition to the obvious benefits to people with limited
access such as wheelchair users.
 
Has this type of project been tryed anywhere else?
 
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 Tony Gill                          e-mail: [log in to unmask]
 Technical Outreach Manager
 Museum Documentation Association
 Lincoln House, 347 Cherry Hinton Road,     Tel:    +44 1223 242848
 Cambridge CB1 4DH, UK                      Fax:    +44 1223 213575
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