New digital technology at the Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum at Vajanské Nábrežie 2, Bratislava is introducing a new digital interactive system for visitors as part of its Giants of the Ice Age exhibition.

The museum concentrates on researching, documenting and presenting the diversity and evolution of both living and nonliving nature, especially in Slovakia. Its collections (more than 3.8 million items) rank the museum among the top museums of natural history in Europe.

The animals selected for Giants of the Ice Age are marked with small plastic beacons that respond to approaching visitors by downloading explanatory applications to their smartphones before they even enter the exhibit. Nature enthusiasts can add their own images, text and voices to the exhibit.  Any visitor that finds all five indicated “giants” can enter a contest and win attractive prizes. The Slovak National Museum draws three winners each month.

A beacon is a small computer, fitted with Bluetooth and other sensors and programmed to send a signal to up-to-date smartphones, which recognizes a visitor in the room and triggers the desired action.

The exhibition features three-dimensional replicas of gigantic mammals. Giants of the Ice Age will be open to the public until June 18, 2017.