Anna Lowe: An Audioguide for the Digital Age Anna Lowe, Founder, SMARTIFY UK Museums and Web, 2016
I love storytelling but hate museum audio guides: They cost £4 and you don’t know what you’ll get; you follow a crowded predetermined path of museum ‘greatest hits’ rather than a lovingly crafted mixtape of objects; it’s usually one institutional interpretation; and they’re ugly, second-hand and poorly designed. In May 2015 I cofounded SMARTIFY, a Community Interest Company that hopes to transform the experience of uncovering and sharing stories about art. Our goal is to make the discovery of art as easy and personal as the discovery music on Spotify or TV on Netflix. SMARTIFY is a free app for museum and gallery-goers that uses image recognition and augmented reality technology to instantly recognise artworks and allows audiences to discover varied commentary while sharing their own responses.
