HCMC to make museums smart

HO CHI MINH CITY Ho Chi Minh City authorities are reviewing a plan to make the city’s museums i ‘smart’ through the use of the latest technology.

Tuoi Tre News reported the ‘smart museum’ model will be tested at sellected establishments in around the southern city.

Pilot schemes are planned at the Southern Women’s Museum in District 3 and the Cu Chi Tunnels, before being tested at other museums across the city.

With the new model, visitors will be able to use special interfaces to search for information, pictures, and videos related to exhibits throughout each facility without the need for a guide.

Data for each exhibit will be stored within each museum’s smart system and easily accessible with only a keyboard touches, according to Ho Chi Minh City University of Science’s Software Engineering Department deputy head, Dr Tran Minh Triet.

The new technology will also offer a remote exhibition of artifacts by providing miniature images, minimising the risk of damage to fragile objects from transportation.

Special photo backgrounds created for the applications will allow museum visitors to relive special moments relating to different historical pieces within each museum, he said.

Researchers will visit Cambodia to study a smart museum and the technology used, the report added.

Ho Chi Minh City expects to welcome more than 5.2 million foreign tourists in 2016, a rise of 10% against 2015, and served 21.8 million domestic visitors, up 10% year-on-year.

The city’s tourism sector has set goals of serving 5.5 million foreign tourists and 24 million domestic visitors, with total revenue of USD4.9 billion in 2017.