0709 – Voicing and Producing Audio Guides

2022.12.10 – 0709 – Voicing and Producing Audio Guides

Audio Guides

These are pre-recorded guides for places such as museums, galleries and historic houses or street walks and are often on players you pick up at the entrance, on a loop system, downloadable apps or mp3s. They may also be on playout systems at fixed points either playing continuously or on push-to-play buttons, on pick-up headphones, on video walls and so on.

They have some of the following attributes:

·        They give audio directions for where to go and what to do

·        Help make the information more engaging, connecting better with the audience and bringing the information to life

·        They are less stuffy and more interactive than text-based information panels and signs

·        They allow easy dissemination of information in different languages or for various age groups, think faster and more family-friendly perhaps in the style of the ‘Horrible Histories’ series

·        Guides may include dramatisations and sound effects to make the information more character-led and immersive, to bring information to life with a more friendly, accessible, conversational tone. So rather than a lecturer, a character (say a queen, or a relatable person such as a pauper, solider or artist), may read from a diary or newspaper, or give a first-person account (either real or imagined) to bring ‘history to life’

·        Some may give the user a choice of what to hear (more or less information), some auto-play depending on their exact location, and others have to be manually selected to play, either from a number guide on the exhibit or simply un-pausing the continuous audio stream.

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