No.1 Royal Crescent and the Herschel Museum of Astronomy launch new digital Bloomberg Connects guides

No.1 Royal Crescent and the Herschel Museum of Astronomy in Bath have this week launched new digital guides on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and cultural app created by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The museums are currently the only ones in Bath to offer guides on the app. The Bloomberg Connects app, available for download from Google Play or the App Store, makes No.1 Royal Crescent and the Herschel Museum of Astronomy accessible for onsite visits through photo, audio and video features. The museums also have devices that visitors can borrow to access these new guides.

The guides can be accessed here. 

At No. 1 Royal Crescent, visitors can explore the history of the house and find out more about the rooms, interiors and collections, as well as how each room would have been used during the Georgian period. At the Herschel Museum of Astronomy visitors can find out more about how the Herschels lived in the house, and their work in science and music as well as exploring the collections and items belonging to William and Caroline at the time that the planet Uranus was discovered from the museum garden. Both of the museums’ guides also include sections just for children so that they can engage with the museums independently.

With some translated guides added, as well as built-in compatibility with Google Translate and screen readers, the museums’ content has become available for many more non-English speakers and those with access needs. An in-built map also provides navigation for museum visitors. Whether you are in the museum or sitting at home, you can explore the museums and collections and engage with its stories. There are also sections to support visitors coming to the museums, including pre-visit information and access guides. For more information and to take a deeper dive into the houses, collections and stories, app users can visit sections such as ‘Previous Exhibitions’ and ‘History of the House.' 

Claire Dixon, Director of Museums for Bath Preservation Trust says: “At Bath Preservation Trust we practise a culture of continuous improvement, especially when it comes to the visitor experience as we know that people’s expectations and requirements are always changing. Our new guides with Bloomberg Connects will really enrich and enhance the experience in both museums, offering visitors extra content and information in an accessible easy guide that they can access from their own devices. By introducing this app we hope to further enrich every visitor’s experience in a way that is more inclusive and engaging, whilst boosting public interest and footfall via the support of the PR and advocacy of the Bloomberg group.”

The Bloomberg Connects app is a free digital guide to cultural organizations around the world that makes it easy to access and engage with arts and culture from mobile devices, anytime, anywhere. The app offers information about current exhibitions at a portfolio of over 210 participating cultural partners through dynamic content tailored to each organization. Participating collections currently include botanical gardens, performance venues, outdoor sculpture parks, and world-class museums. Features include expert commentary, video highlights, pinch-and-zoom capability and exhibition maps. The app can be downloaded for free via Google Play or the App Store. The app platform is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ longstanding commitment to supporting digital innovation in the arts. With dynamic content exclusive to each partner organization, the app provides a range of features including video, audio, and text; expert commentary; and way-finding maps.