Application of Bluetooth Wireless Technology to Guided Audio Tours

Bluetooth Wireless Technology can overcome some of the limitations of the conventional audio-guided tour systems that a growing number of museums, aquariums, and similar institutions offer to visitors. Such systems are designed to enrich the experience of visitors while generating revenue for the institution. Conventional systems, such as those developed by Acoustiguide and TourMate, are implemented using technologies ranging from low-cost portable cassette players to solid-state digital players. Cassette players deliver content in a linear format that requires visitors to follow a pre-planned route. Solid-state digital players are more flexible and can store hundreds of hours of commentary, but are more complicated to operate and much more expensive. Maintenance of the equipment and providing instruction to visitors consume scarce institutional resources. As a result, many museums and other institutions are still reluctant to go to the trouble and expense of implementing audio-guided tours. Here, we propose and demonstrate methods by which Bluetooth can enhance the performance of conventional audio-guided tour systems. In particular, we describe our design, implementation, and evaluation of a proof-of-concept version which is based upon a Toshiba Tecra 8100 laptop, an Ericsson Bluetooth Application & Training Tool Kit Module, and IBM's BlueDrekar protocol stack. We show how Bluetooth can be used to deliver audio content flexibly via the SCO links, synchronize audio content with real-time events, permit automatic recognition based on location proximity, and allow delivery of announcements targeted at a specific user. Bluetooth is not always the ideal solution for such applications and issues such as proximity detection remain areas of active research and standards development. However, Bluetooth's advantages compared to proprietary solutions will become greater as Bluetooth hardware becomes cheaper and developers with Bluetooth experience become more plentiful. 3 1.0 SYSTEM OVERVIEW We have developed a proof-of-concept version of an advanced audio-guided tour system that uses Bluetooth Wireless Technology to overcome many of the limitations of conventional systems. Visitors to museums, art galleries, and similar instutions would be offered Bluetooth-enabled audio tour headsets for use throughout the facility. These devices would implement a TourGuide profile that allows the vistor to interact with Bluetooth-enabled audio content servers placed throughout the exhibit area. As the visitor moves through the exhibit area, they will receive audio streams about individual exhibits, upcoming events, and other customized notices and informational recordings. Bluetooth would be used to deliver audio content flexibly via the SCO links, synchronize audio content with real-time events, …