Microsoft Libraries and Museums Podcast

Microsoft's Catherine Devine and host Emily Kotecki use the themes from Season Three to imagine the future of mixed reality and the metaverse for libraries and museums. Plus, this is the end of the Microsoft Libraries and Museums Podcast! All episodes are available wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks for tuning in from around the world! 

Episode Resources

The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport has teamed up with the Athens Olympic Museum and Microsoft to create multi-platform, multi-site immersive experiences for visitors. The exhibition 'Ancient Olympia: Common Grounds' uses mixed reality, plus a mobile and a desktop to bring the site of Ancient Olympia to life. 

Dr. Erofili Kolia, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport, and Dr. Elina Pechlivanidi from the Programs and Collections department at the Athens Olympic Museum, share their journey of creating this multifaceted experience. 

Plus, commentary from Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

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Sometimes augmenting an experience doesn't mean virtual reality or immersive rooms. It can also mean using the technology that best fits the experience. In this case at the USS Midway, Mark Berlin, Director of Operations, and Jeff Danziger, North America Sales Director for Guide-ID, leverage the tried, true, and very successful audio guides aboard the ship to enhance the visitor experience. Listen to their story of audio guide hardware to mobile and back again after seeing visitors choose the device 90% of the time, and how they plan to approach other storytelling technologies.

Plus, commentary by Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

Episode Resources

Toby Coffey, Head of Digital Development has been pioneering immersive and technological experiences at the National Theatre in London since 2006. Most recently, his team created a mixed reality musical performance called All Kinds of Limbo. When the pandemic hit, they received grant funding and used the opportunity to democratize access to the show by creating ways for audiences to experience it on three different platforms. Join this conversation as we take a step outside museums and libraries, into the theater world and into new ways of leveraging immersive technologies. 

Plus, commentary by Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

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A visitor walks into a 13th century Italian castle and UNESCO Heritage site. The walls are bare. They poke around for a few seconds then walk out. 

That was then. 

Now, with a new mixed reality experience developed by Hevolus, Infratel, and Microsoft, Castel del Monte has become a HoloMuseum. Visitors can engage with various augmented reality experiences to add layers of information and detail about the castle. 

Antonio Squeo, Chief Information of Hevolus, shares the details of this experience and the role that the 'phygital' museum will play in the future of cultural experiences. 

Plus, commentary by Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

Episode resources

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles was one of the first public locations for visitors to use a HoloLens headset in 2015. Since then, they've continued to use mixed reality to drive attendance and enhance the visitor experience. Michael Bodell, Chief Operating Officer at the Petersen shares their journey as well as what technology they're experimenting with now to better 'future-proof' their museum.

Plus, commentary by Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

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In preparation for moving to a new library building and separate storage space, the National Library of the Netherlands is embarking on a series of experiments to digitally engage with their collection. In one particular experiment, Karin Vingerhoets, Curator of the Children's Books Collection, and Martijn Kleppe, Head of the Research Department, joined forces to create a virtual reality experience of four children's pop-up books. 

In this episode, Karin and Martijn share why libraries are a bit behind in the VR space; how they chose VR; and  the relatively low cost of their investment, which resulted in numerous lessons for their library moving forward.

Plus, commentary by Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

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In 'Revealing Krishna: A Journey to Cambodia's Sacred Mountain,' visitors learn about a 1,500 year old sculpture of the God Krishna through multiple digital experiences ranging from 360-degree immersive cinematic video to HoloLens to holograms.  

Jane Alexander, Chief Digital Information Officer and Sonya Rhie Mace, George P. Bickford Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian Art, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, collaborated closely to bring these experiences to life. In this episode, they share their journey of supporting the narrative of this important sculpture through mixed reality; their guiding philosophy around leveraging technology; and what the future of massive digital projects is at CMA. 

Plus, commentary by Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

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There's a revolution happening in university libraries that is changing the way they increase access to physical and digital collections, support professors, engage students, and redefine scholarly products. Matt Cook, Digital Scholarship Program Manager at Harvard Library, is part of that "evolution revolution" and shares two examples of how they're innovating for the future. 

Plus, commentary by Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

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"Museums create that bridge to humanity. So the more we learn about their collections and the stories, the more that we can learn about ourselves and each other." 

Ryan Gaspar is Director of Strategic Partnerships at Microsoft. Part of his role includes working with museums to create mixed reality experiences that enhances the visitor experience. In this conversation we talk about the importance of the branded museum in today's experience economy and how to authentically create engaging content for visitors. 

Plus, commentary from Microsoft's Catherine Devine. 

Full transcript: https://bit.ly/3nWCmoX