Open House

Leveraging Digital Tools to Increase Access to Historic House Museums

Rachel Ballou

A Capstone in the Field of Museum Studies

for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies

Harvard University

Extension School

May 2020

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Table of Contents

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... iii

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1

Americans with Disabilities Act Overview ................................................................................. 2

Historic House Museum Accessibility Requirements .................................................................. 3

Chronicle of Historic House Museums in America ................................................................... 6

History and Trends of Historic House Museums ........................................................................ 7

Historic House Museum Setting .................................................................................................. 8

Technology as a Solution ...................................................................................................... 9

Museums and Technology .......................................................................................................... 11

Digital Tours for Historic House Museums .............................................................................. 14

Digital Tours Overview ............................................................................................................. 16

Digital Tour Examples .............................................................................................................. 17

Maria Mitchell House: Website Video Tours ................................................................... 17

Historic Beverly: YouTube and Zoom Opportunities ..................................................... 20

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace: Google Arts & Culture Tour ...................................... 24

Eustis Estate: WordPress Website Tour ........................................................................... 26

Virtual Reality Overview ........................................................................................................... 32

Virtual Reality Headsets ............................................................................................................ 34

Virtual Reality Examples ........................................................................................................... 35

New York Transit Museum: 360 Degree Images on Google Maps ................................ 36

Tenement Museum: Website Accessibility Page and Google Expeditions .................... 37

Ford’s Theater: TimeLooper App ..................................................................................... 39

Caution Items & Challenges ...................................................................................................... 41

Pace of Technology Advancement ............................................................................................. 41

Staff Recourses .......................................................................................................................... 43

Digital Data Ownership ............................................................................................................ 44

Getting Started – Choosing a Digital Tour Option .................................................................. 46

Cost Considerations .................................................................................................................. 46

Technology Needed for Implementation ................................................................................... 47

Development of a Digital Tour Script ....................................................................................... 49

Implementation and Continued Support ................................................................................... 49

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Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 50

Appendix A: Quick Start Guide ................................................................................................ 53

Work Cited .................................................................................................................................. 70

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List of Figures

Fig 1. Maria Mitchell House tour showing front door access, "Maria Mitchell House," ............. 18

Fig. 2. Maria Mitchell House website homepage, “Mitchell House,” .......................................... 19

Fig. 3. Historic Beverly YouTube Channel, “Historic Beverly Home,” ...................................... 21

Fig. 4. Historic Beverly Facebook post advertising a free Spotlight Talk, ................................... 23

Fig. 5. Landing page for the virtual tour of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace House on the

Google Arts & Culture website, “Virtual Tour of Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National

Historic Site,” .................................................................................................................... 25

Fig. 6. Eustis Estate website homepage, “Welcome to the Eustis Estate,” ................................... 27

Fig. 7. The Library location webpage on the digital tour showing vertically scrollable content,

“The Library,” ................................................................................................................... 28

Fig. 8. Bed chamber location webpage showing the “Where Am I” button and additional

zooming functionality for the fireplace, “Bed Chamber,” ................................................ 30

Fig. 9. Mount Vernon Digital Tour showing directional wayfinding prompts and the contracted

company’s logo, “Virtual Tour,” ...................................................................................... 31

Fig. 10. New York Transit Museum on Google Maps showing high-definition images uploaded

by the museum staff, “New York Transit Museum,” ....................................................... 37

Fig. 11. Tenement Museum accessibility page, “Accessibility at the Museum,” ......................... 39

Fig. 12. Tenement Museum’s original virtual tour webpage showing Flash plug-in and other

discontinued web applications are required, “Baldizzi Apartment,” ................................ 42

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Introduction

Historic house museums have a problem with physical accessibility. The steep staircases,

sloping floorboards, and narrow door frames, which are educational testaments to building

practices and aesthetics of past eras, make access to the sites difficult or impossible for visitors

with a mobility disability. Historic house museums should be able to offer their educational

opportunities to everyone, regardless of whether they can physically enter the building. By

leveraging various digital and virtual reality tools, now widely available and easy to use, historic

house museums can promote inclusion and expand interaction for those who are unable to

physically access the site.

Historic House Museums (HHMs) provide the public with a unique learning opportunity.

Many HHMs are staged to resemble a bygone era and to teach the public, through a total

immersion of the senses, what it was like to live in the house during a specific time or by

presenting a particular narrative. The subjects of these historic houses are as diverse as the

American experience. People of all ages and education-levels can visit a HHM to learn about the

people who once lived there. These visits can communicate a point of view different from one’s

own, which in turn can promote a greater understanding of what it truly means to be an

American citizen today. A recent survey by the Institute of Museum and Library Services found

that “children who visited a museum during kindergarten had higher achievement scores in

reading, mathematics, and science in third grade than children who did not” (“Mission”), making

visits to HHMs important supplements to the classroom setting. A person with a mobility

constraint should not be precluded from interacting with, and learning from, historic house

museums now that the ability to digitally image these spaces, and provide remote access and

online programming, has become so readily available.

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A 2018 study calculating the number of museums in the United States found that there

are over fifteen thousand history museums, historical societies, and historic preservation sites

operating for the public (Frehill). Another recent survey found that less than three percent of

HHMs have front door access for people with a physical disability, and even fewer provide equal

access to other floors (“Physical Access Projects”). In roughly calculating the numbers from

those studies together, the results illustrate how those with a mobility disability are only able to

access a mere few hundred historic sites in the United States due to structural accessibility issues.

Those people who are not able to enter a historic house museum are then limited in their ability

to appreciate the educational and cultural offerings that the sites provide to the general public.

Americans with Disabilities Act Overview

Since the dawn of human civilization, the world has generally been built for the able-

bodied. For centuries, city streets were paved with uneven cobblestones, churches and altars

were usually located up a set of stairs, and houses were built in a standardized way considering

only the average person’s abilities. In America, the twentieth century brought acknowledgement

to the fact that people with a mobility disability were being kept out of both public facilities and

privately-owned businesses due to the inability to enter the buildings where the services were

being offered. One of the first major steps toward non-discrimination in building access occurred

in 1961 with the publication of the legislative standards entitled “Specifications for Making

Buildings and Facilities Accessible to, and Usable by the Physically Handicapped.” This was

followed by the passing of the Architectural Barriers Act in 1968, the Rehabilitation Act in 1973,

and finally the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 (Jester 13). The ADA continues

to be the definitive ruling in regard to enforcing non-discrimination on the basis of disability.

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The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed on January 26, 1990 by the 101st

Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990. The law sates:

The Americans with Disabilities Act gives civil rights protections to individuals with

disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex,

national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with

disabilities in employment, transportation, State and local government services,

telecommunications, and in the goods and services provided by businesses. (Americans

with Disabilities Act, Small Towns 1)

The ADA is split into two titles: Title II applies to all State and local government services, and

Title III applies to all public facilities. Both titles reiterate the same general intention of non-

discrimination, stating, “a public accommodation shall take those steps that may be necessary to

ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated or otherwise

treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services”

(Americans with Disabilities Act Title III 48). The ADA legislation is not a building code, rather,

a piece of civil rights legislation. Included with the ADA rulings are design guidelines, known as

the “Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines” (ADAAG), and the “2010 ADA

Standards for Accessible Design.” These documents offer suggestions and case studies for

institutions looking to become ADA-compliant.

Historic House Museum Accessibility Requirements

With the passing of the ADA laws, historic house museums found themselves in a quandary.

Due to the inherent nature of being a historic building, many house museums were in violation of

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the new building accessibility requirements. In 1991, the National Park Service acknowledged

these limitations in a published brief, stating:

Without being too critical of the past, access into historic buildings is often difficult

because earlier design and construction techniques did not usually consider people's

varying abilities to the extent they do today. Thus, many buildings were designed with

monumental entrance steps; some commercial row buildings have raised English

basements with stairs both up and down from grade; and some entrances are directly off

the sidewalk with no room for lifts or ramps. (Park 6)

Historic house museums were then left to decide what was more important to their organization

– ADA-compliant access into the space through new construction and building augmentation, or

preserving the space as-is in order to keep the historic artifact intact.

Privately operated historic house museums must comply with the rulings legislated in

Title III of the ADA legislation. Additionally, HHM organizations that receive funding from

State or local government must comply with Title II of the ADA legislation. When considering

the application of these laws to historic buildings, Title II further explains:

When programs, services, or activities are located in facilities that existed prior to

January 26, 1992, the effective date of Title II of the ADA, towns must make sure that

they are also available to persons with disabilities, unless to do so would fundamentally

alter a program, service, or activity or result in undue financial or administrative

burdens… Towns must provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services where they are

necessary to achieve an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a

service, program, or activity conducted by or for the town. (Americans with Disabilities

Act, Small Towns 5)

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Many HHMs fall into the category of not being able to make ADA-compliant structural changes

to the building due to financial and administrative burdens. Further, the need to fundamentally

alter the building structure to become compliant would go against the sole mission many small

HHMs have of preserving the building in its original state for educational purposes. The burden

to become ADA-compliant is simply untenable for many HHMs. The ADA agency

acknowledges this issue for HHMs in an article posted on its website, entitled “Common

Problems,” which details the following allowed exceptions and expectations:

Historically significant facilities are those facilities or properties that are listed or eligible

for listing in the National Register of Historic Places or properties designated as historic

under State or local law. Structural changes to these facilities that would threaten or

destroy the historical significance of the property or would fundamentally change the

program being offered at the historic facility need not be undertaken. Nevertheless, a city

must consider alternatives to structural changes in these instances - including using

audio-visual materials to depict the inaccessible portions of the facility and other

innovative solutions. (The ADA and City Governments 6)

The ADA is unwavering in its assertion that the educational services that a museum provides

should be available and accessible to everyone. It is the responsibility of the organization’s staff

to provide an alternative opportunity for people who cannot enter the building to be able to

interact with the organization’s educational offerings. In supporting the case for digital solutions

for HHMs, it is paramount to note that the ADA explicitly mentions the use of audio-visual tools

as an appropriate alternative to physical access. The ADA encourages further exploration of

innovative technology solutions to help augment the experience for those who cannot enter a

building due to mobility restrictions.

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Chronicle of Historic House Museums in America

Historic house museums provide the public with an important understanding of the past,

which can help a community understand how best to navigate its future. The United States of

America is a nation founded on the expression of freedom and inclusion, along with the resulting

complexities and contradictions that many people fought against to live their own American

dream. Many a challenging or interesting life has been lived on the continent both pre and post

the country’s rebellious founding in 1776. People across all religious, gender, socioeconomic,

and racial identifications have worked to improve the human experience for the next generation.

These stories, and the right to publicly memorialize them, are the backbone of American history.

There are thousands of historic sites and house museums located across the country that hold

vigil and retell these narratives to the new American public so that these lessons will not be

forgotten.

Americans care about preserving relics from the Nation’s history. A 2018 survey by the

Institute of Museum and Library Services found that there are 1,776 history museums, and

14,783 historical societies and historic preservation sites in America (Frehill). In comparison, the

ubiquitous food chains Starbucks and McDonalds maintain approximately 11,000 and 14,000

locations, respectively, in the United States (C. Ingraham). The pedagogical offerings of historic

house museums might provide more lasting nourishment than coffee or hamburgers, but

Americans are not visiting these historic sites with the same frequency. Many historic houses

across the country are facing a challenging if not dismal future within the context of

sustainability and relevancy. Without visitors, historic house museums are just empty residences

that are expensive to maintain for a ghost public.

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History and Trends of Historic House Museums

The reasons behind preserving a house and creating a historic house museum are as diverse as

the American populous. There are no formal rules as to what, how, or why a home is preserved

as a house museum. The inclination to preserve American home dwellings started with the

protection of early colonial settlements and Revolutionary War sites, and continued to grow, so

that “by the early 20th century, houses were being saved for their architectural interest, their

famous former residents, or simply because it felt wrong to allow them to be demolished. The

nation’s bicentennial in 1976 launched a new outbreak of interest in local history; again, the

default move was museum creation” (Graham). Many historic house museums experienced all-

time highs in visitation numbers in 1976:

That year, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello welcomed a record 671,000 visitors; in 2011,

attendance at the Charlottesville-area estate was 440,000. Stratford Hall, Gen. Robert E.

Lee’s birthplace on Virginia’s Northern Neck peninsula, was toured by nearly 80,000

people in 1976... In 1991, Stratford’s attendance was 51,000. [In 2011], it was 27,000.

(du Lac)

The current numbers of people traveling to historic sites are still below the highs seen in 1976,

but there is cause to be optimistic. The most recent report from the American Association for

State and Local History (AASLH), which documents visitation trends to historic places, reveals

that history organizations have been experiencing an increase of visitors over the past six years.

Specifically looking at historic houses, visitation, “has risen since 2013 by about 8.8 percent, a

trend consistent across most budget levels” (AASLH 5). These numbers point to an upward trend

of Americans recognizing and appreciating their local history sites, which should be encouraged

by HHM organizations as much as possible.

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Even with the recent uptick of visitors to history sites, many historic house museums find

themselves in a limited position in terms of resources and budgets. Decades of low revenues

have caused stressed operations at these institutions, which has produced the bleak situation

many historic house museums find themselves in today:

Most local house museums confront enormous challenges that threaten their

sustainability. Few have professional staff, and most of the volunteers who govern and

operate them are at or over retirement age, with no new leadership in sight. Only a small

fraction have annual visitation of more than 1,000; for many, holiday tours or tours by

appointment are their only public programming. At least 80 percent are faced with $1

million or more in preservation and deferred maintenance needs, yet their operating

budgets are typically $100,000 or less. (Godfrey 2)

Historic house museums are scrappy institutions, many of which try their best to promote their

mission and provide public education within constrained means and resources. Considering how

to open the structures to people with limited mobility may feel stressful or impossible for many

small HHMs. It is difficult to adapt to the changes in public engagement preferences, or to

create new programming to align with open accessibility, when there is no money in the

operating budget for new supplies, and when most staff are donating their time.

Historic House Museum Setting

When a segment of the visitor population is physically restricted from entering a historic house

museum, the organization’s ability to connect with its full community of interested patrons is

arrested. In her guide, “Programming for People with Special Needs,” public historian Katie

Stringer explores a common situation where special education teachers and individuals with a

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mobility disability have chosen not to visit a historic site due to feeling intimidated by the

environment. Stringer observes that these people “may not have felt welcome because the

fragility of artifacts or structures or physical barriers or may have felt uneasy about disturbing

other visitors or staff” (13). To Stringer’s point, entering into a HHM often feels precarious.

Many house museums are comprised of multiple levels, where access is only through stairs and

raised door frames. The rooms are often cordoned off with velvet ropes, requiring visitors to peer

awkwardly into preciously staged hushed rooms. These historic homes can feel claustrophobic to

even the most able-bodied of visitors, let alone someone who needs to use an assistive mobility

device like a cane, walker, or wheelchair.

Conscious of these barriers, a group with a person who has a mobility disability may

choose not to visit historic houses on their site-seeing excursions, or school trips, so as to not

preclude groupmates from being able to participate in the activity. This then further limits public

visitation and engagement to the HHM. Enabling access for one person with a disability could

result in two or more new visitors to the site. HHMs should be striving to make all perspective

visitors feel welcome.

Technology as a Solution

The Boscobel House and Gardens, located in Garrison, New York, provides an all too common

scenario when looking at the need to implement digital access solutions in order to be more

inclusive of the visitor community. The guided tour of the Boscobel property starts with the

outside gardens, which everyone can traverse via a smooth, paved path. The garden walkway

leads to the front porch of the historic Boscobel house, where visitors are invited up the stairs

and inside the multi-leveled residence to explore the interior with a dedicated guide.

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A person using a wheelchair for mobility is able to join the tour for the outside garden

introduction, but then excluded from the rest of the house tour experience because there is no

ramp or lift to bypass the stairs that lead to the narrow front door. The tour inside of the house

lasts about an hour, and for this time, the wheelchair user must wait outside for the rest of their

party. While waiting outside, the wheelchair user generally misses out on most of the historical

and educational content that the property has to offer visitors. Boscobel does make the effort to

ensure all of its supplemental public programs are available for individuals with disabilities, and

there is a visitor center on the property that has accessible facilities (“Accessibility Info”). As

stewards of the historic structure, built long before ADA legislation dictated building access

requirements, the Boscobel organization is not required to provide equal physical access to the

historic building. It could be demonstrated that to do so would cause a financial burden or

threaten the integrity of the historic structure.

Should the organization want to explore the access options for augmenting the multi-level

house with ramps or elevators, this would inevitably be a difficult project to undertake, requiring

extensive, and inherently expensive, alterations to the historic property. Boscobel has recently

begun a formal study on the feasibility of adding wheelchair access to the historic house

structure, funded through a grant, and plans to have this study completed within a year

(“Accessibility Info”). However, there is now another option for providing access to the interior

of the building to people who cannot physically enter the property; one that does not require any

structural changes to the house.

Using current technology is one way to solve this access problem. Perhaps the wheelchair

user could be directed to the ADA-compliant visitor center building, which could show a

recorded video of a docent-led tour, along with supplementary exhibits located in the space. Or,

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the wheelchair user could be provided with an iPad or virtual reality headset, where they could

explore a digital tour of the property. Alternatively, at the most basic of levels, someone on the

in-house tour could use the iPhone Facetime app to call the cell phone of the wheelchair user,

and with this readily available camera technology, they could be virtually included on the tour.

By leaving the wheelchair user outside with no access to worthwhile information on the

property, or a supplemental way to experience and learn about the interior of the building, the

institution inadvertently creates a barrier to knowledge for a segment of the visiting public.

Museums and Technology

Museums of all kinds now embrace and promote the use of technology both in their

physical spaces and online. These institutions cannot not remain stagnant in their programming

and exhibit design, with a new generation of “digital natives” demanding more virtual access and

interactive experiences. The first generation of “digital natives” was born in 1985 or later and are

generally regarded as “millennials” who choose to “develop their own creative content and

distribute it online through social networks” (Godfry). Museums have been forced to evolve

from the dusty “cabinet of curiosities” experience they were founded on in order to stay

profitable and relevant for a new public. This shift has also required much evaluation in terms of

balance, so that museums are able to successfully meet public demands while still staying true to

the educational mission. As museum consultant Rainy Tisdale observed:

In the digital age, Americans long for authenticity. A survey of 5,000 visitors to living

history sites conducted in 2008…determined “respondents felt that their lives had

become so crazy, so complicated, so unreal that they were seeking something real and

authentic in their lives” by visiting these museums…a hundred years ago objects were

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our raison d‘etre. Museums were in the acquisition-and-classification business. In the

twenty-first century, however, museums are in the serving our audience business. (19)

People visit museums in person for that unique feeling of authenticity of place, and when

appropriately scaled integration of digital tools is introduced, it does not detract from that

visceral experience. Technology can be utilized for a variety of different supplemental tools. It is

now commonplace to find informational videos playing on a loop in a museum space, or touch

screen tablets providing further information on collection items, along with interactive digital

games being promoted in an exhibition hall. Most museums have also enhanced their websites to

become engaging online spaces to learn more about the institution. These modernized museum

websites provide further learning opportunities through online collection searches, digital tours,

and the ability to directly interact with staff. Cultural content has become more malleable

through digitization, so that the public can shape and personalize their interaction with the topics

most interesting to them.

Technology companies have entered the arts and culture field in recent years, providing

low-cost and scalable platforms to host online content for museum organizations. Many of these

companies have the potential to eliminate the restrictive need for organizational staff to know

how to write code or to employ outside consultants in order to build or implement a suitable

digital offering. Website companies like Squarespace and WordPress allow people without a

computer-science background the ability to create engaging websites for the institutions they

work for. Museum collections are now regularly posted online using licensed software products

like TMS Collections, or for free through big technology company initiatives like Google’s Arts

& Culture non-profit division. Modern online museum offerings invite ordinary people to

become their own archivists, curators, historians, and designers (Filene 7). Museums once feared

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that by hosting their content online, potential visitors would be encouraged to stay home. But, as

newspaper reporter Kristen Tillotson found, the opposite is true. Tillotson interviewed numerous

museum professionals for her investigation on “how museums learned to stop worrying and love

the digital world,” and found that those people who interacted with the museum online are then

“more deeply engaged and more inclined to explore in person.” Digital technologies have

become a tool to use in tandem with the physical space and collection. By being active learners

in a digital environment, instead of only looking at an object on a shelf, museum visitors are

granted the opportunity to make the content accessible to their individual needs and desires.

Looking specifically at digital and virtual reality tours, many institutions across the

museum industry have adopted this technology to expand their reach and impact. The

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has a section of its website dedicated to

“Museum Virtual Tours,” hosting dozens of photo-realistic journeys through exhibits both past

and present for widespread free public consumption and engagement (“Museum Virtual Tours”).

The Louvre Museum in France recently introduced a remarkable Virtual Reality (VR) tour,

entitled “Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass” as a supplement to seeing the “Mona Lisa” painting in

person. The VR tour allows viewers to virtually fly over the crush of visitors usually found in the

exhibit hall, and into the landscape of the painting for a closer look, and a deeper understanding,

of the subject (Carvajal). Additionally, the “Beyond the Glass” tour is available as an app for

purchase on personal Vive VR headsets for at-home exploration.

When reviewing current digital tour options, some of the most successful and engaging

experiences break away from the limits that are imposed on the in-person visitor. A digital tour

does not need to follow the conventional footpath through the museum space. Instead, it can

uniquely orient the viewer as an active participant in the scene. For those wondering what it

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might feel like to be a musician on stage at Carnegie Hall, a virtual experience can be found on

Carnegie Hall’s Google Arts & Culture webpage, where a camera situates online visitors in the

middle of the Philadelphia Orchestra as they warm up and play a live performance (“Carnegie

Hall”). Or, if someone wants to feel like they are in a salon-style setting discussing the nuances

of fine art, they can tune in every Friday evening on the Frick Museum’s YouTube page to join a

live “Cocktails with a Curator” conversation where art from the museum’s collection is analyzed

by the knowledgeable staff (“Cocktails with a Curator”). By utilizing digital tools, these

institutions, among countless others, can offer their value to a global audience who may never be

able to experience the setting in-person. This is especially true for people who may be

permanently homebound or who live with a physical disability or chronic illness. By providing

digital tours to the public, museums gain a multi-pronged tool for enhancing public participation

through increased accessibility, new visitor engagement, and flexible programming.

Digital Tours for Historic House Museums

Bringing technology into the historic house museum field is a critical component to

keeping these organizations sustainable and accessible for future generations. Due to the

circumstances of limited funds and resources under which many HHMs operate, it is common

for house museums to open for only a limited time each week, or only during warm months in

seasonal locations. But online, a house museum can be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days

a week, and there are no geographical boundaries for those looking to engage with the

institution.

In December of 2019, the National Endowment for the Arts published a report looking at

patterns of arts participation in the United States. The report confirms that the average American

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uses electronic media to consume artistic or arts-related content (74 percent, or 175 million

adults), more than experiencing an artistic, creative, or cultural activity in person (54 percent, or

133 million adults) (U.S. Patterns 3). In addition, the report found that only “28 percent of adults

attended a historic park or monument or toured a building or neighborhood for its historic or

design value” and that “about one‐third of adults used a[n] [electronic] device to get information

about history (36 percent)” (30, 54). With more people engaging with arts and culture and

history online than in person, HHMs must meet the needs of the technology-users in order to stay

relevant and accessible.

Even among those who choose to visit historic sites in person, new options and

technologies are catalyzing a shift in preferences. While some visitors still want a traditional

lecture-style guided tour, many, it seems, do not:

The 2010 Connecticut Cultural Consumers study, showed that overall “only forty-five

percent of respondents indicated that they enjoy a guided tour experience.” These were

members and frequent visitors of twenty-four Connecticut museums and historic sites.

Even with the 60+ group it didn’t go higher than 55% of visitors enjoying the guided

tour. (Olsen)

Rather than being ‘talked at,’ modern audiences want to be part of the conversation. Digital tours

allow audiences to break away from the “one size fits all” lecture tour by giving them the

opportunity to explore the museum on their own pace and in ways specific to their interests and

abilities. For people with a physical handicap who were once only able to gaze upon the outside

of a historic house structure, digital tours provide a way inside the building that was previously

impossible; and to see inside the building is often what is most important. As two chief officers

of the National Trust for Historic Preservation so aptly illustrated in a joint report, “one of the

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strengths of historic sites and house museums is that visitors have the opportunity to experience

place, which has the potential to convey history and story more powerfully than documents or

other artifacts alone can do. The place is not one element, but is a combination of landscape,

buildings, and objects woven together” (Malone-France 22). Digital tours are able to seamlessly

connect all of the elements that make a house museum valuable for public education and present

them in a format that is specific to an individual’s needs. These virtual tours may never, and

some may argue, should never, replace the in-person experience of visiting the historic property.

But the value they provide to those looking for a more personalized experience, and especially

for those previously unable to enter into the site, is massive.

Digital Tours Overview

A digital tour is an exploration of a place that is done through a technology device. A technology

device could be a smart phone, computer, tablet, gaming system, or any other gadget able to

process and display graphic content. Also commonly known as a “virtual tour,” a digital tour is

generally understood to be “a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence

of videos or still images. It may also use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music,

narration, and text” (“Virtual Tour”). There are many different mediums and applications of

digital tours, and the term is as broad as it is vague. With the advent of the Google Maps web

service, which became available to the public in 2005, anyone in the world can engage in a

digital tour of real-world places through Google’s 360-degree interactive panoramic views of

streets and places. A digital tour may use real images like Google Maps or utilize digital drawing

tools to create a sketched likeness of a place that could be explored through a game or a website.

A digital tour may be constructed to match the walking experience of a place, where users follow

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a set path through a virtualized space to experience the setting just as an in-person visitor would.

Or, a digital tour might be designed to surface information about a site that feels totally unique to

the online experience and does not at all resemble the traditional, guided walk through the

physical space. For the purposes of this research and proposal, a digital tour is a means to

explore the physical contents of a place with the aid of a technology device.

Digital Tour Examples

Digital tour examples in museums and historic houses range from the most basic of offerings

using free technology that people carry with them every day, to complex projects where third-

party companies are contracted to build the experience. Digital information posted online for

public consumption is now common-place and expected of museums. Social media allows both

the institution and the visitor to post images of, and feedback about, the museum for the world to

view. This online information is vital for those with a mobility disability who may want to first

check to see if the site is accessible for them, and if not, the digital information may be the only

path for engagement with the site. What follows are examples of how historic house museums

can, and are, using digital tours to broaden their accessibility and public engagement

opportunities. These examples are ordered in degree of complexity and intended as a guide for

HHMs to use when considering what sort of digital tour is right for them.

Maria Mitchell House: Website Video Tours

The Maria Mitchell House, located on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, is a classic

example of a small house museum. Built in 1790, the house is open to visitors seasonally, from

mid-June through to the end of September. The house employs only a few full-time staff

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members and operates house tours in the summer with a staff of volunteers and college interns

(Bernatzky). Tours of the house focus on the remembrance of Maria Mitchell, the first

recognized female astrologer in America, who lived in the house for a time. The house is only

accessible through a set of stairs into the narrow front door (see fig. 1), and the tour then winds

through three separate floors, ending in a vertical climb into the attic of the property. For

someone in a wheelchair or who has difficulty climbing stairs, physical access inside the house is

impossible.

Fig 1. Maria Mitchell House tour showing front door access, "Maria Mitchell House," YouTube,

youtube.com/watch?v=PHGID_t0MvU&feature=emb_title, Accessed 25 April 2020.

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Due to operating under limited financial resources, the website for the Maria Mitchell

House is rather basic, mostly highlighting important event and visitor information. But the

website does host four informative videos, where Deputy Director and Curator Jascin Leonardo

Finger is filmed discussing the history of the house, and its residents, in various locations around

the property (see fig. 1, fig. 2). The videos are embedded in the museum website and are hosted

and linked to from the Maria Mitchell Association page on YouTube. Hosting content on

YouTube is a free and easy web service to engage with when considering where video content

should be posted for public engagement.

Fig. 2. Maria Mitchell House website homepage, “Mitchell House,” Maria Mitchell Association,

mariamitchell.org/visit/mitchell-house, Accessed 25 April 2020.

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These videos were produced for free in partnership with the local television station,

NCTV, who provided the camera equipment and the assistance with filming and editing the

videos (Leonardo Finger). By leveraging the community-connection with the local television

organization, the Maria Mitchell House staff were able to create well-produced, informative

videos, which highlight the organization’s mission in preserving and educating the public on

Maria Mitchell’s legacy. It is unfortunate that a wheelchair user will not be able to enter inside

the Mitchell house, but through the online videos, they are still able to learn from the property.

Historic Beverly: YouTube and Zoom Opportunities

The Historic Beverly (HB) organization oversees the operations of three historic house museums

located in Beverly, Massachusetts (“Historic Beverly – Home”). These house museums include

the Balch House, the John Cabot House, and the Hale Farm. None of the interior properties are

accessible for someone who uses a wheelchair or who is unable to climb stairs (Battis). The HB

organization has unique connections with people who live all over the world. The Associate

Director for Collections at Historic Beverly, Abby Battis, explained that many of the descendants

of the families who once owned the properties want to keep a connection with the houses,

resulting in over sixty percent of HB’s members living outside of the New England area.

Because of this reach, and the physical limitations of the site, the staff at Historic Beverly have

found creative ways to welcome and educate the public who are unable to physically access the

properties. The organization operates a YouTube page with dozens of short “Spotlight Talk”

videos posted for free public viewing (see fig. 3). These videos highlight particular collection

items or topics of interest, providing the ability for the general online community to learn more

about the organization’s history and assets (“Historic Beverly”). In addition to the “Spotlight

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Talks,” the HB YouTube channel hosts discussions with local community members who

examine topics related to Beverly’s history, along with conversations with descendants of the

families who once owned the HB properties.

Fig. 3. Historic Beverly YouTube Channel, “Historic Beverly Home,” YouTube,

youtube.com/user/beverlyhistorical/featured, Accessed 25 April 2020.

When the recent COVID-19 pandemic forced the physical closure of the HB properties,

the staff saw a noticeable uptick in the engagement with their online content (Battis). In

response to this, the HB staff accelerated implementation of a project already in process in order

to keep their members engaged. HB members are now granted access to a private YouTube

channel as part of their membership benefits, where they can view premium, extended programs

recorded on-site (Battis). Battis further noted that membership numbers increased with the

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COVID-19 closures, making this private channel a nice gift to the patrons who were showing

their support for the institution during the trying time. These two YouTube options allow HB to

continue to promote and serve their mission seamlessly even when the HHMs are physically

closed to the public.

In addition to the YouTube channels, HB also offers remote audiences a chance to

participate in live tours of the properties and live “Spotlight Talks” using the Zoom online

conferencing application. Zoom programs are frequently promoted on HB’s Facebook page (see

fig 4.) and included in printed advertising materials and email campaigns. These Zoom tours are

often recorded and then posted to the YouTube channel after the live meeting to keep the content

on the YouTube page fresh. In the normal course of business, HB staff offer Zoom tours of most

of the special programs on-site, offering the general public continued remote access to this

content. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Zoom tours cost $10 for non-members to join (free

for members), and HB was seeing online attendance ranging in the single digits for each program

(Battis). During the COVID-19 shutdown, Historic Beverly was able to easily and flexibly pivot

its operations to be online-only using YouTube, Zoom, and other digital workflows that were

previously established.

In order to keep the public actively engaged when the buildings were closed, the HB staff

decided to offer the shorter “Spotlight Talks” for free, and promoted them heavily through

Facebook posts (Battis, see fig. 4). These free Zoom programs are currently attracting dozens of

online participants per live viewing, a sharp uptick from pre-COVID-19 engagement numbers

(Battis). HB is also offering longer Zoom programs, for which they charge the regular admission

fee ($10 for non-members). In addition, Battis reported that during COVID-19 their YouTube

channel activity statistics went “off the chart” and geolocation data showed people from around

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the world engaging with the content. By having these services in place prior to the pandemic, the

Zoom tours and YouTube page allowed an access gateway for people who are unable to access

the site, while also providing revenue for the organization via fees for premium online

programming. This demonstrates how by providing digital access to meet one need - like

bridging physical accessibility shortcomings - the organization will gain a valuable and flexible

tool to address further situations where digital contact may be the only way the public can access

the site.

Fig. 4. Historic Beverly Facebook post advertising a free Spotlight Talk, “Historic Beverly

Posts,” Facebook, facebook.com/beverlyhistory/, Accessed 25 April 2020.

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Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace: Google Arts & Culture Tour

The Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace museum, located in downtown New York City, is a

reconstructed historic house property built to replicate the look of the house as it was in 1865.

The museum stands on the same property lot as the original house in which Theodore Roosevelt

was born. According to the museum’s website, the original building was demolished in 1916 to

make way for new building construction, only to be purchased back by the Roosevelt family

three years later, at which point it was reconstructed to look like the original. The museum

website further details how the building was turned into a privately-run museum in 1923 and

incorporated into administration by the National Park Service in 1962 (“The Brownstone”). The

building is wheelchair accessible, offering a lift from street level to the visitor center, and an

additional elevator in the building to help visitors reach other floors. For those unable to visit the

site in person, the museum’s website offers a great digital tour that conveys a similar experience

as that of visiting in-person. Further, the digital tour allows viewers to get closer to the collection

items than they would when on-site, and explore rooms that are cordoned off from physical

access.

The virtual tour of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace museum was produced in

partnership with Google Arts & Culture. The tour is promoted on the home page of the museum

website, which then links to the Google Arts & Culture page where the tour is hosted. Once

redirected to the Google Arts & Culture page, using a computer, smartphone, or tablet, an online

visitor is guided by intuitive directional arrows and text on the screen through the Birthplace

museum much as the in-person visitor would experience the classic lecture tour (see fig. 5). The

tour starts in the “Lions Room” and then, by touching the arrows on the left and right of the

screen, the online visitor can virtually travel through the other public rooms on the property.

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Each room is accompanied by informative text on the screen that describes what the visitor is

looking at (“Virtual Tour of Theodore”). If a visitor wants to take a closer look at an object, or

move to a different position or view in the room, they simply touch the spot with either their

computer mouse, or press their finger on the touch-screen device. The rendering of the room

allows a 360-degree dynamic viewing of the space. The high-resolution imaging of the museum

was provided for free by Google Arts & Culture, and the hosting of the content on the Arts &

Culture institute’s website is also provided for no cost. Google takes no ownership of the asset

data or copyright to the materials; they simply provide a hosting platform to display the content.

By using the free services provided by Google, the Birthplace Museum was able to create an

engaging digital tour without the costs associated with purchasing a technology application or

contracting with a technology services company.

Fig. 5. Landing page for the virtual tour of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace House on the

Google Arts & Culture website, “Virtual Tour of Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National

Historic Site,” Google Arts & Culture, artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/TQICHkCrGvMhLQ,

Accessed 20 April 2020.

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Organizations looking to implement a digital tour within limited means are encouraged to

evaluate a partnership with Google Arts & Culture, like the Birthplace Museum did. To partner

with Google Arts & Culture, HHMs must have one hundred and fifty assets (images of collection

items) that are copyright cleared, and one “story” that can be narrated on the website (Kyung

Kim). According to Arts & Culture project manager Yoon Kyung Kim, upon request, Google

staff will assist with imaging any of the assets a site wants to post on its Google page, along with

bringing the Google Maps high-tech 360-degree camera on-site to digitally capture the space for

a virtual reality tour offering. Google offers these services at no charge, making this option the

most approachable for budget-constrained organizations.

Eustis Estate: WordPress Website Tour

The Eustis Estate in Milton, Massachusetts, is a newly established historic house museum whose

staff recognized the need for a strong online digital collection and website experience when the

museum first opened to the public in 2018. The Eustis Estate was built in 1878 by renowned

Boston architect William Ralph Emerson, and was privately preserved over the years. It was

recently incorporated into the Historic New England heritage organization, which opened the

Estate to the public to showcase a rare surviving example of late nineteenth-century architecture

and design (“Eustis Estate Museum”). By navigating to the simple URL “eustis.estate” from any

web browser, online visitors are directed to a list of topics and locations on the property that they

can explore virtually (see fig. 6).

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Fig. 6. Eustis Estate website homepage, “Welcome to the Eustis Estate,” Historic New England,

eustis.estate/, Accessed 20 April 2020.

When clicking through these topics and locations, the online visitor is presented with an

easy-to-understand, vertically-scrollable website experience. Each topic or location page

contains high-resolution photos of the house museum as it currently looks, along with

informative text, associated historical floorplans and pictures, videos, and further “deep dives”

into promoted subject matter (see fig. 7). This digital tour was originally built as a tool for the in-

person visitation experience, with tablets and large touchscreen computers installed in each room

of the property so that visitors could learn more than just what can be written on a basic wall

label (Gittleman). The Eustis Estate is ADA-accessible, and visitors can tour the house on their

own, without a required lecture tour. The staff found that the public were comfortable using the

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tablet kiosks to explore the digital information in each room, and some visitors chose to sit on the

lower floors and explore the entire property digitally (Gittleman). Soon after the property opened

to the public, the museum staff noticed how effectively the digital information was transmitted,

so the virtual tour was released online for the greater public to enjoy for free.

Fig. 7. The Library location webpage on the digital tour showing vertically scrollable content,

“The Library,” Historic New England, eustis.estate/location/library/, Accessed 25 April 2020.

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The Eustis Estate’s digital offering provides an example of a property tour that does not

simulate the walking experience of a classic lecture tour. Instead of using arrows to virtually

walk through the property like the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Museum, each location and

topic page on the Eustis Estate tour must be individually selected from the menu. Once in each

subject page, online visitors can easily navigate back to the main menu using bold and clear

guiding text on the screen. There is also a “Where Am I” button on each subject page, which

when clicked, provides a floorplan map of the property which highlights the room you are

virtually exploring (see fig. 8).

The museum website, along with the digital tour, was developed using the website

creation product WordPress. The Eustis Estate hired a local web design agency, Create +

Conquer, to design the website experience, and to create different “modules” which act as easy

templates that can be used when posting new content to the museum website (Gittleman).

According to Peter Gittleman, team leader of visitor experience at Historic New England, it took

only four months for the design company to build out the framework and modules, which were

then turned over to the museum staff for the specific content uploads. The eleven modules built

for the website allow museum staff to add new content to the digital tour pages easily, without

need for further contracting of the web design agency. Now that the website is live, it takes only

minutes to add new content for public access. By utilizing an easy-to-use website creation

platform and contracting design templates that can be reused without further consultation help,

the Eustis Estate has demonstrated a successful method for creating an engaging and flexible

digital tour offering.

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Fig. 8. Bed chamber location webpage showing the “Where Am I” button and additional

zooming functionality for the fireplace, “Bed Chamber,” Historic New England,

eustis.estate/location/bed-chamber/, Accessed 20 April 2020.

Mount Vernon Tour: Contracted Design Company Services

The virtual tour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon historic property provides an example

of a digital tour that was created as a fully paid service through a digital design company. The

tour was created in 2014 by the company HULLFILM, and continues to be a top-ten page in

terms of popularity on the museum’s website, according to Vice President of Media &

Communications, Matt Briney. This tour example looks and feels like a classic online computer

game, where players can choose their own adventure in exploring the property. The virtual tour

offers 360-degree panoramic views of the estate and is piloted by clicking navigation arrows on

the screen so that the viewer can virtually walk through each location on the property (see fig. 9).

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The tour uses high-resolution photographs and accompanying informative text to describe to the

online viewer what they are looking at.

Fig. 9. Mount Vernon Digital Tour showing directional wayfinding prompts and the contracted

company’s logo, “Virtual Tour,” George Washington’s Mount Vernon,

virtualtour.mountvernon.org, Accessed 20 April 2020.

Originally built for teachers who could not bring their classrooms to Mount Vernon for

an in-person visit, the digital tour now sees regular use through the pre-ticket purchase path, and

the museum can directly attribute revenue to people who explore the virtual tour before their

visit (Briney). This digital tour creation approach of hiring a third-party company to create and

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maintain the online tour, is a great option for organizations with the financial wherewithal to pay

for implementation services and the ongoing support contract. The support contract with the

developer ensures that the site continues to be usable and is regularly patched with security and

software updates. This option is appropriate for organizations who may not have the expertise to

build the tour content in-house, and want an engaging digital tour built for them without much

heavy lifting required from the HHM staff.

Virtual Reality Overview

Virtual Reality (VR) takes the digital tour concept one step further. Whereas the terms “digital

tour” and “virtual tour” do not have a concrete definition, the Merriam-Webster dictionary does

provide a definition for Virtual Reality, explaining it as “an artificial environment which is

experienced through sensory stimuli (such as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in

which one's actions partially determine what happens in the environment” (“Virtual Reality”).

VR is usually experienced through a head-mounted display, where the user’s natural line of sight

is covered and directed to a screen, whose images react dynamically to movements from the

user. When VR experiences were first developed and introduced to the public, they were

complicated and expensive technology to build and maintain. Now, VR experiences are freely

and readily available through the devices most people already own. Virtual Reality hit the

popular culture zeitgeist in a palpable way in 2016, with many people calling it “The Year of

VR” (Coates). That was the year that the VR company Oculus released its first easy to use

commercial “Rift CV1” VR headset to the public (N. Ingraham), and popular augmented reality

games like Pokémon Go swept the nation (Coates). Since this time, the development of

affordable VR headsets for public use, in conjunction with the substantial development of

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engaging VR experiences for both the classroom and leisure, has led to VR experiences

becoming more commonplace and approachable.

Virtual Reality experiences are growing in popularity and are being implemented in a

broad range of industries, as journalist Patricia Marx discovered in researching the topic. Marx

explores how VR is now in the sports locker room to help football quarterbacks find open

receivers, in medical schools to educate students on how to interact with patients, and used by

prospective enrollees to tour college campuses, among countless other examples. There are now

many technology companies creating content specifically for VR experiences at history and

culture sites. Companies like HistoryView (“About”) and Google Expeditions (“Expeditions”)

generate virtual reality educational experiences that are being used in classroom settings to allow

students an opportunity for enhanced learning experiences through digital access.

For people with a mobility disability, VR has opened a world that was once literally

inaccessible. Virtual reality provides a physically risk-free experience to those who otherwise

may have these encounters cut off to them. Through VR, a person in a wheelchair can learn how

to surf, climb a mountain, become an astronaut, and if they so desire, tour a previously

inaccessible historic house museum:

By creating environments that simulate a person’s physical presence in worlds real or

imagined, VR can help learners with disabilities expand their knowledge, skills, and

attitudes in ways that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, enabling them to engage in

learning activities relatively free from the limitations imposed by their disability, and in

complete safety. (Chandrashekar)

Moreover, many landmarks have VR tours available online, which can be helpful when planning

a trip for someone with a physical disability.

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Virtual Reality Headsets

Today, a multitude of VR headset manufacturers offer headsets at various price points and for

different needs. The Oculus technology company (owned by Facebook Technologies) is at the

forefront of the industry, offering three different headset models to fit the needs of the end-user

(Smith). The Oculus Go model is the most basic and affordable product from Oculus, offering an

all-in-one headset, without hand controls, that does not need a phone or computer to run the

content which is viewed directly on the headset. The Oculus Quest model provides a step up

from the Go, intended for more advanced gaming capabilities, and includes two hand controllers

and better technical specifications. The most advanced of the Oculus offerings is the Rift S

model, which must be connected to a computer for high-performance gaming. These Oculus

headset options are comparable to other VR headset company offerings, with the HTC VIVE

company one popular direct competitor of the Oculus’ “Quest” product with its “Cosmos”

headsets (“VIVE”). For museums looking to purchase a high-tech VR headset, the Oculus Go is

the suggested model due to the general ease of use and understandability by the end-user, the

comparably low cost, and the uncomplicated technology support for staff.

One of the most affordable and approachable VR headset options is offered through

Google, called “Google Cardboard.” Google Cardboard offers individuals and organizations who

are not interested in investing in expensive VR headset technology a way to engage with

immersive VR experiences for just a few dollars. The Google Cardboard website offers different

versions of basic VR viewers, with prices ranging from $6 to $30 (“Get Your Cardboard”). This

is a much-discounted price for a VR experience, as compared to the hundreds of dollars required

for an Oculus or VIVE headset. The Google Cardboard devices offer only the most basic of VR

functionality. A separate smart phone device is required, which is inserted into the Cardboard

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viewer to run the content. The Google Cardboard devices are great for situations where people

are engaging with VR tours on the Google Arts & Culture website, but may not work well with

other custom-developed VR experiences that require further digital interaction from the viewer.

Virtual Reality Examples

The introduction of virtual reality headsets into the historic house museum space is still in the

early emerging trend phase, due to the restrictive cost of the headset technology and the staff

operations required for support. As previously mentioned, HHMs are often operating under very

limited budgets, and through the volunteer efforts of a graying staff who may not be comfortable

supporting advanced technology devises. Presently, the ability to create a free basic VR tour of

the property is available through partnerships with big technology companies like Google. But

the hardware and expertise needed to support this offering has left many organizations

intimidated.

When approaching a VR integration project at a HHM, the organization should consider

how many headsets are needed, where they will be safely stored, how they will be cleaned after

use, and who on the staff will be tasked with troubleshooting support and technology

maintenance. With the advent of the more affordable Google Cardboard products, HHMs are

released from some of the cost burden of bringing immersive VR experiences to site, so that

more sites can choose to implement this technology once operational procedures are established

for use and support of the VR tour. By implementing a virtual reality alternative to the physical

house tour, HHMs can become a more inclusive space for the general public who visit the site,

allowing those unable to enter the building to virtually walk through the historic narrative and

appreciate the organization’s educational mission. The following examples provide HHM

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organizations with options to review when considering what type of VR tour is right for their

organization. These VR instances are ordered in degree of complexity, and are scalable

depending on the organization’s resources, like the digital tour examples previously described.

New York Transit Museum: 360 Degree Images on Google Maps

The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn, New York, welcomes people with a wide range of

abilities to visit the site. The museum recognizes that many people with cognitive disabilities

enjoy trains, which prompted the creation of various special programs and tours that are tailored

for specific abilities. Though not technically a HHM, the Transit Museum is an example of a

“specialty” museum that is located in an alternative space (a discontinued subway station) where

the in-person experience is vital to interacting with the visceral educational content.

The museum website “accessibility” page has specific information for those who have

mobility or disability concerns. On this website page, the organization notes that “some of the

vintage cars on our platform level are not accessible by wheelchair” and directs the online user to

visit a linked Google Maps page where all of the trains can be virtually toured (“Accessibility”).

The high-resolution pictures were uploaded to Google Maps by the Transit Museum staff, and if

someone has a VR headset (or a Cardboard device) to view the images, they can feel like they

are inside the train just like the in-person visitor would (see fig. 10). This linking to the Google

Maps 360-degree images on the Transit Museum accessibility page is a great example of using

free technology to create alternative visual access to the site.

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Fig. 10. New York Transit Museum on Google Maps showing high-definition images uploaded

by the museum staff, “New York Transit Museum,” Google Maps,

https://goo.gl/maps/iu1o8PdxF6sDFT1S9, Accessed 25 April 2020.

Tenement Museum: Website Accessibility Page and Google Expeditions

The Tenement Museum presents tours of historically restored apartments in the Lower East Side

neighborhood in New York City, and encourages public exploration of topics that relate to

immigration. Much of the museum space in the historic buildings is not accessible to someone in

a wheelchair or unable to climb stairs. The renovated ground-floor visitor center is ADA-

accessible, as is one of the apartment tours via a connected wheelchair lift. Through the website,

special private tours can be organized for people with physical or mental handicaps, and the

website further offers comprehensive details on what tours are available for people with certain

needs, and what information should be considered for someone visiting with a handicap

(“Accessibility at the Museum”). The “Accessibility” website lists the precise number of steps

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required to reach each point of the property and features a video showing how the wheelchair lift

operates and what the general experience for a wheelchair user will be like once on-site (see fig.

11).

Close consideration of accessibility for each room and program at the museum is a top

priority, according to Ellysheva Bunge-Zeira, the Education and Accessibility Specialist at the

museum. For visitors with a physical handicap, in addition to the thoughtful “Accessibility”

webpage, the Tenement Museum also offers a VR tour developed in partnership with Google

Expeditions. According to Bunge-Zeira, the Tenement Museum partnered with Google

Expeditions to create a comprehensive VR tour of the property that teachers can use in their

classrooms when teaching topics related to immigration. This VR experience was created for free

through the partnership with Google Expeditions, requiring only staff time and access to the

collection. Now, the VR experience is also available for broader public engagement through the

Google Expeditions app, which can be downloaded on a VR headset or smartphone device. The

Expeditions tour transports viewers through different rooms at the Tenement Museum, in a film-

like interactive experience, instead of just looking at a static picture like with the Google Arts &

Culture digital tour previously described. The Expeditions tour explains much of the same

information that is shared on an in-person tour, with voice-over narration and live people filmed

moving around each location. The Expeditions VR tour is not available for general public use

when visiting the site, but the museum does keep one VR Oculus Go headset in the

administrative office in case a wheelchair user visits the museum and is not able to join a tour

(Bunge-Zeira). This partnership with Google Expeditions and the resulting VR tour allows the

viewer to experience the history lessons that the Tenement Museum stands to convey by

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providing an experience similar to attending an in-person tour, and requires minimal capital and

maintenance expense.

Fig. 11. Tenement Museum accessibility page, “Accessibility at the Museum,” Tenement

Museum, tenement.org/visit/accessibility, Accessed 25 April 2020.

Ford’s Theater: TimeLooper App

Ford’s Theater is a historic site museum located in Washington, D.C., where President Lincoln

was assassinated while watching a play in 1865. The Ford’s Theater staff have developed two

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different VR tours, which showcase great examples of both free and professionally-contracted

services for the creation of a VR experience. The most accessible VR tour that Ford’s Theater

offers is a Google Arts & Culture tour that is accessible directly from the main page of the

museum’s website. Much like the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace museum, this Google tour

virtually walks online viewers through the Ford’s Theater space, through static images and

accompanying text. The high-resolution imaging of the space was completed through partnership

with Google Arts & Culture, with no financial cost to the institution for the imaging and tour

creation services. This tour can be viewed without a VR headset, like what was described with

the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace tour. Or, anyone with a VR headset (both high-tech and the

low-tech Cardboard option) can turn this digital tour into a Virtual Reality experience by using

the Arts & Culture app on a smartphone or headset device. Google offers this free VR tour

creation service to any non-profit museum entity that meets minimum requirements for

partnership.

The Ford’s Theater museum also chose to contract with a technology company,

TimeLooper, to create a virtual excursion through the affiliated Peterson House museum space.

The Peterson House is the location where Abraham Lincoln was taken after he was shot in the

Ford’s Theater, and where he ultimately died. The Peterson House is operated as part of the

Ford’s Museum organization, and when the House was closed in 2017 for restoration and

renovation work, the staff recognized that this would cause a gap in the visitor experience at

Ford’s that could be addressed through digital alternatives (“TimeLooper”). The TimeLooper

tour is offered on-site at the museum and included in the cost of the tour. It can also be accessed

by the greater public through downloading the TimeLooper app onto a smartphone device and

searching for the tour through that app. The TimeLooper experience differs from the Google Arts

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& Culture tour in that it offers more advanced and engaging options for exploring the historical

narrative. The TimeLooper company creates immersive experiences of historic sites, complete

with digital characters moving around the screen, audio narration, and simulated first-person

interactions. When interacting with the app, the viewer is positioned in a computer-graphic

rendering of the historic space as it looked at the time of Lincoln’s death. The viewer can then

interact with digital characters to learn more about the house and assassination event, and is

generally able to get a sense of what life looked and felt like back in the nineteenth century. The

TimeLooper app is a great option when organizations want to advance the VR tour to be more

than just a quiet exploration of a photograph.

Caution Items & Challenges

Digital and virtual reality tours have a unique ability to allow people to feel like they are

interacting with or experiencing the real thing. The above examples illustrate that this can be a

powerful tool for museums, allowing them to offer their assets to an unrestricted audience in an

exceptionally visceral way. Still, there are sensitivity considerations, operational cautions, and

technology challenges that should be evaluated before implementing a digital solution on-site.

Pace of Technology Advancement

One caution item that implementers of digital technologies should consider early in the process is

how the tools will keep pace with the advancement of technology development. Engaging with

technology that feels old, clunky, or simply does not work and collects dust in an exhibition

space can be a trying and disheartening experience for museum visitors. Organizations looking to

implement a digital tour should consider partnering with the previously mentioned companies,

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like Google Arts & Culture or TimeLooper, who pledge to support technology through future

enhancements and updates. It would be a waste to dedicate recourses to a project that quickly

finds itself outdated or is met with non-interest from the public. Technological evolution is

inevitable, and so it is important to plan ahead for flexibility in the chosen technology product.

To highlight one common example, the original virtual tour created by the Tenement

Museum years ago, prior to its partnership with Google Expeditions, was coded using the Adobe

Flash software. This tour can still be found and accessed online by Googling “Tenement

Museum Virtual Tour,” but visitors to the page will find that the tour no longer functions. The

text and images on the webpage do not scale correctly to fit the page, and the discontinued

“Flash” website technology is required, which is no longer supported in any modern internet

browser (see fig. 12).

Fig. 12. Tenement Museum’s original virtual tour webpage showing Flash plug-in and other

discontinued web applications are required, “Baldizzi Apartment,” Tenement Museum,

tenement.org/Virtual-Tour/vt_baldizzi.html, Accessed 20 April 2020.

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Flash software was once a common tool for creating multimedia content online, so

organizations were correct to utilize it in prior website projects. In order to maintain seamless

functionality for the public, institutions utilizing Flash technology should then have closely

monitored the technology landscape and stayed abreast of tech news and enhancements so that

when it was clear that Flash would no longer be functional, they would have a chance to plan in

advance for new technology solutions. Organizations should have a documented technology

support plan, along with a team who is tasked with keeping software applications up to date and

secure through software patches and a planned update timeline. For some organizations, this may

be the responsibility of an in-house IT team; for others, maintaining a support contract with the

vendor who built the tour will prove to be a critical tool for application maintenance and ongoing

assistance. In general, organizations should look to the most scalable and flexible of technologies

when creating digital or virtual tour offerings, so that the hard work and resources that the

institution dedicates to the project can be enjoyed for years to come.

Staff Recourses

Just as technology lifespan is a critical component of efficient and effective digital management,

so, too, is the strategy for internal implementation and continued support. HHMs should evaluate

their staff resources to ensure that the workforce has the capabilities to successfully engage the

public with new technology offerings. Older volunteers may feel uncomfortable instructing on

technology use and may require significant support and instruction. Or, the staff may not

understand how to update and maintain new technology devices that are installed on-site. Staff

training is critical for successful deployment and maintenance of all technology offerings.

44

As Historic Beverly found when they began requiring docents to use the Zoom

technology to record tours, some staff members may need multiple training sessions and greater

administrative support, along with an unequivocal mandate that they are required to use the

technology, in order to feel comfortable and on-board with the new process (Battis). In addition

to training, organizations should have a plan outlining responsibility for key tasks such as

resetting technology devices at the end of the day, cleaning and repairing technology devices,

and keeping an orderly and comprehensive inventory of technology equipment. New technology

should never be dropped into a museum space without thorough staff training and a plan for

continued support.

Digital Data Ownership

The ownership of the data, along with who provides access to the digital experience, is also of

paramount importance when considering what tour is best for an organization. When HHMs

build their own digital tour through their website, as the Eustis Estate did, they unequivocally

own and manage all of the content. But they also must pay a monthly cost to the website host,

which for the Eustis Estate example is WordPress, in order to keep the website live and available

to the public online. Failure to pay a website provider will result in the website becoming

unavailable. Similar to this, organizations must stay vigilant when renewing their website

domain names with their service provider, else they could lose access to their website address,

which could be taken over by those opportunistic, unfortunate individuals who ‘poach’ popular

domain names and sell them back to organizations at an inflated price. Every organization with a

web presence should have a well-documented support and payment plan for hosting its virtual

assets to ensure they can retain proper ownership of the digital data.

45

Because the world wide web can often turn into the wild wild west of content

management and data security, smaller organizations should consider partnerships with larger

organizations who can help support online assets. When organizations partner with Google Arts

& Culture, Google does not take any ownership of the data, they simply host the content on its

public site. The assets posted on the Arts & Culture page are protected by the robust security

protocols that Google employs on all of its websites, as well as ensuring that the data will be

available for the public so long as the Google host provider is operational. Organizations who

want to remove their content from the Google page have the ability to easily do so with a click of

a button.

Should a museum want to contract the services of VR app development companies like

TimeLooper, the contract with the app company should be reviewed in relation to who ultimately

owns the produced content. With the TimeLooper app content that is developed for an

organization, that app data and experience is ultimately owned by the TimeLooper company and

must be accessed exclusively through the TimeLopper app. TimeLooper offers scalable prices

catering to diverse budgets, both for implementation and ongoing access, through a monthly

licensing fee (Yigiter). Organizations must continue to pay a fee to the company for their app

experience to be available to both the organization and the greater public. For a HHM hesitant to

incur additional fees after the project build-out is complete, advance financial planning must

consider all aspects of third-party partnerships and the ultimate ownership of the tour experience

and technology.

46

Getting Started – Choosing a Digital Tour Option

When a historic house museum has decided that they are ready to implement a digital

tour offering at its organization, the breadth of choices and considerations can be overwhelming.

But with some proper evaluation of resources, followed by thoughtful planning and careful

consideration of how the public will engage with the new offering, a HHM can introduce a

worthy and cost-efficient product. HHMs should review the various considerations presented in

this paper, along with the condensed “Quick Start Guide” (Appendix A), and further solicit

advice from peer institutions who have already implemented digital tours or other solutions, such

that management are comfortable with all factors of the project from the start. What follows are

highlights of major areas of consideration that will help determine what digital tour offering an

organization should choose to maximize the likelihood of successful implementation.

Cost Considerations

To ensure a successful project from the get-go, organizations should first evaluate what

technology option they can afford to support for the foreseeable future. They should ask

themselves the following basic questions, which will then influence the next round of decision

making when picking the appropriate medium of the tour:

Is there an in-house IT support group to build and maintain this project?

Are outside consultants or contract workers required?

Can the new technology integrate into the current website, or will a new website need to

be built in conjunction with this project?

Are additional technology hardware purchases required?

47

If the technology will be offered in-house, are there adequate power supplies and

supporting furniture in these areas?

How will the technology be supported going forward?

By asking these questions at the start of the project, instead of learning them as the project moves

along, an organization should gain a clearer understanding of initial and ongoing costs related to

the digital tour offering. Organizations should also consider those smaller purchases that may be

associated with these projects, like cleaning supplies, charging cables, power strips, and

additional staff hours incurred during training sessions. The cost of the new project should align

with what the HHM can reasonably afford both now and in the foreseeable future.

When considering costs, HHMs should also evaluate what grant funding may be

available for digital development projects. There are many grant opportunities currently available

to non-profit organizations looking to add a digital component to their museum offerings,

especially when including the intention of improving accessibility at the site. Applying for grants

well in advance of the start of a digital project will ensure that the HHM has the proper funds

available to them to successfully start the project, and keep the implementation going within a

reasonable timeline. Organizations should approach the project with a solid understanding of

what they can afford to spend, working backwards from there to determine what option best fits

their needs and constraints.

Technology Needed for Implementation

While selecting or planning for a digital tour option, HHMs must evaluate what technology is

required to run or support the project. If the tour will be offered on an online-only basis, as with

uploading images to Google Maps or through the museum website, the organization should

48

consider if they require the purchase of a high-resolution camera to capture the digital images. If

a filmed tour requires new television screens or tablets in the museum space, consider what types

of devices will be purchased and if they require access to additional power outlets in the

designated locations. If VR headsets will be offered on-site, determine how many headsets are

needed and what brand will be purchased. Additionally with VR headsets, it is encouraged that

organizations purchase a cleaning and disinfecting headset cradle station to ensure the devices

are sanitized between uses. Extra power cords and other computer accessories, however minor,

should also be evaluated and included in the project plan at the onset of the implementation, so

that financial and operation planning accounts for all associated costs at the start of the project.

If an organization determines that it does not have any available funds or operational

resources to create a new digital offering, they should still consider what can be done using the

smartphone devices that most visitors have with them wherever they go. For example, if

someone in a wheelchair arrives at an inaccessible HHM with their family or friend, and is then

unable to join the group inside for a tour, a video conferencing app can incorporate the

wheelchair user into the tour in real-time. All smartphones can host an application that allows for

easy video conferencing. On an Apple iPhone, the “Facetime” application can be used to video

call other Apple phones, and through that connection, people can live videoconference to show

each other their surroundings. There are many other mobile device apps that can be used for this

same purpose, including Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, and WhatsApp, among others. Using a

video conferencing app between cell phones is one quick and easy way to incorporate someone

on a tour who may not be able to physically enter the building when the HHM has no other

alternative for access or supplementary information.

49

Development of a Digital Tour Script

Having selected the format and medium for the digital tour, organizations should next create a

script detailing how users will engage with the tour, and what information will be relayed

through the virtual technologies. To start, HHMs may want to approach the subject considering

what the experience is like for a current visitor who uses a wheelchair, and how that encounter

can be improved with the new offering. If the property is non-ADA accessible, the HHM may

want to create a virtual tour that follows the footpath of the live docent-led tour. Or, if the rooms

of the HHM are mostly cordoned off to the public, the virtual tour might offer expanded access

to collection items currently away from public view.

If the HHM features a layered history with multiple viewpoints, such as the divergent

experiences of servants and employers in a historic house, the HHM might consider

incorporating those voices into the digital tour script in a dynamic way. Important collection

items should be identified, and all associated copyrights cleared, if applicable. Mapping these

storylines at the onset of the project will give a clear understanding of how long the project

should take to implement, what additional technologies may be needed, and how to distribute the

final product to the public. The creation of a clear and concise script for how the digital tour will

be approached and developed, room by room, will lead to a smooth and uninterrupted creation of

the tour once that exciting phase of the project has been reached.

Implementation and Continued Support

A well-developed project can still fail if not implemented properly, or if there is no plan for

continued support. HHMs should not allow their hard work in developing the tour to be

undermined by poor introduction. When the tour is ready for public participation, it is important

50

that it undergo many rounds of testing with both internal staff members as well as a public “soft

launch.” Pre-launch testing, with a diverse selection representing potential visitors, can provide

valuable and fresh objective feedback on the tour and the ease of usability. The museum should

be ready to make changes to the tour according to this feedback, ensuring the product has the

highest chances of success when introduced to the greater public.

The project does not end once the tour solution is implemented. Staff should be consulted

to ensure they feel comfortable supporting the digital tour, and technology training for new staff

members should be part of any onboarding process. If the organization is maintaining the

technology on-site themselves, a technology plan should be developed to strategize for future

updates and the eventual software and security patches needed to keep the technology healthy

and usable. There should also be a policy for how new content can be added to the tour, so that

the digital offerings can remain fresh and dynamic for repeat visitors. A digital offering will only

be as successful as the plan and the people behind it.

Conclusion

Historic house museums are important tools for fostering civic engagement and

continuous informal learning. They educate the public by welcoming the community to learn

from a unique combination of objects, place, and narrative. Should someone want to travel to a

historic house museum for that special, authentic, visceral offering that HHMs provide, it is

important that the institution be ready to accept them. For people visiting a HHM with a mobility

impairment that makes physical entry into the house difficult, an effective institution’s staff

should be able to offer an alternative option to experience the sense of place, and to convey the

lessons the organization stands to tell. Digital tours present historic house museums with both the

51

ability and some obligation to provide their educational offerings to a broader population.

Further, by providing an alternative entry into engaging with the museum through online content,

those who are altogether unable to visit the site can still connect with the organization, increase

engagement, and provide revenue through online ticketed events.

Historic house museums may exhibit ways of life and artifacts from past eras, but the

public who visit them are very much of the modern age. HHM organizations are encouraged to

find the right balance of promoting historical authenticity and scholarship while utilizing digital

tools that are relevant and approachable to their public. The physical structure of the house

should no longer be an absolute barrier to the knowledge inside. HHMs have an obligation to

promote their mission and convey their narratives to all visitors, regardless of mobility ability.

By embarking on a digital tour solution that is in accordance with the resources the HHM has

available, the organization can become an inclusive and sustainable public service.

The organizational and monetary resources required to embark on new digital projects at

historic house museums are not insignificant and represent an understandable barrier to

implementation. But, as demonstrated by the Historic Beverly organization during the COVID-

19 pandemic, once an organization achieves digital and online functionality, they can apply these

capabilities flexibly to enhance resilience in the face of a cataclysmic event forcing the closure of

the HHM. A historic house museum can serve its mission uninterrupted, and in perpetuity,

through modern online digital tours.

This document and the following “Quick Start Guide” (Appendix A) are intended to offer

a comprehensive overview of functioning, additive digital solutions available to historic house

museums facing a broad range of budgetary and operational realities. The “Quick Start Guide”

condenses the information detailed in this document to provide HHMs with instruction on how to

52

choose and implement a successful digital tour. Organizations should review these materials to

determine best fit. Every HHM organization, large or small, technologically advanced or averse,

has the opportunity to leverage digital tools to expand access, generate new channels of

engagement, and further their mission of education. The important public history education that

historic house museums provide must be made available to everyone, regardless of the need to

use an assisted mobility device. By implementing a digital tour option, historic house museums

can ensure that a physical handicap will no longer prevent access the valuable public service they

provide.

“Open House”Leveraging Digital Tours to Increase Access to Historic House Museums

A Quick Start Guide

Rachel BallouSpring 2020

Appendix A

2

Con

tent

s

Introduction 3

Historic House Museum Statistics Highlights 4

Digital Tours Overview 5

Virtual Reality Overview 6

Choosing A Digital Tour 7

Evaluate Your Resources 7

Create A Realistic Timeline 8

Small Scale Option 9

Medium Scale Option 10

Large Scale Option 11

Getting Started Worksheet

Cost Considerations 12

Digital Tour Script 13

Technology Needed For Implementation 14

Staff Training 15

Other Advantages of Digital Tours 16

3

Intr

oduc

tion Historic house museums have a problem with physical accessibility. The steep staircases, sloping

floorboards, and narrow door frames, which are educational testaments to building practices and aesthetics of past eras, make access to the sites difficult or impossible for visitors with a mobility disability.

Historic house museums (HHMs) are important tools for fostering civic engagement. They educate the public by welcoming the community to learn from what has been left behind.

Historic house museums should be able to offer their educational opportunities to everyone, regardless of whether they can physically enter the building.

By leveraging various digital and virtual reality tools, now widely available to the public and easy to use, historic houses can further expand interaction for those who are unable to access the site.

This quick start guide details the options and organizational choices that HHMs should consider when approaching the implementation of a digital tour at their organization.

4

Intr

oduc

tion

His

tori

c H

ouse

Mus

eum

Sta

tistic

s Hig

hlig

hts

On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a comprehensive civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability.

Per the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design: “If alterations to a qualified historic building or facility to achieve program accessibility would threaten or destroy the historic significance of the building or facility, fundamentally alter the program, or result in undue financial or administrative burdens, the Department of Justice ADA regulations allow alternative methods to be used to achieve program accessibility. In the case of historic preservation programs, such as an historic house museum, alternative methods include using audio-visual materials to depict portions of the house that cannot otherwise be made accessible.”

Less than three percent of historic house museums have front door access for people with a physical disability, and even fewer provide access to other floors (“Physical Access Projects”).

As of 2018, there are 1,776 history museums, and 14,783 historical societies and historic preservation sites in the United States (Frehill).

5

Dig

ital T

ours

Ove

rvie

wA digital tour is an excursion of a place that is done through a technology device.

A technology device could be a smart phone, computer, tablet, gaming system, or any other gadget that is able to process and display graphic content.

Also commonly known as a “virtual tour,” it is generally understood to be “a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence of videos or still images. It may also use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, and text” (“Virtual Tour ”).

Digital tour examples in museums and historic houses range from the most basic of offerings using free technology that people carry with them every day, to complex projects where third-party companies are contracted to build the experience.

6

Vir

tual

Rea

lity

Ove

rvie

wVirtual Reality (VR) takes the digital tour concept one step further.

Virtual Reality is an artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (such as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one's actions partially determine what happens in the environment (“Virtual Reality”).

VR is usually experienced through a head-mounted display, where the user’s natural line of sight is covered and directed to a screen, whose images react dynamically to movements from the user.

For people who have a mobility disability, VR has opened up a world that was once totally restrictive. Virtual reality provides a physically risk-free experience to those who otherwise may have these encounters cut off to them

Cho

osin

g A

Dig

ital T

our

What Option Is Right For Your Historic House Museum?

Start With an Assessment of Your HHM to Determine Your Needs and Recourses

What Does a Digital Tour Mean To You? What is the Scale of the Project?

- Is your HHM accessible to someone with a mobility disability? - What rooms of the HHM are most important for public access?- What areas would you want to highlight in a digital tour?

Evaluate Space:

Evaluate Resources:- Do you have the staffing resources to start a new project?- Could you hire or contract with someone to help implement this project?- How many hours a week, or total, could your staff dedicate to this project?- Are staff comfortable supporting technology and/or the museum website?- Are there available funds, or grant opportunities, that your HHM can utilize to pay

for the development of a digital tour?- Can you afford additional hardware to show and support the digital tour on site?

Evaluate Options:- Ask visitors to use their personal mobile devices?- Record a video of the HHM spaces and post online? Youtube?- Partner with an institution who provides free resources for digitization projects?- Add a digital tour component to the museum website?- Build a custom digital tour or application in-house?- Hire a resource who can build a digital tour or virtual reality experience for you?

7

Cre

ate

a R

ealis

tic T

imel

ine

Discovery Phase = Determine what type of tour you want to implement, and what resources can be dedicated to the project, highlight collection items, choose project lead.

Build Phase = Record video, update website, code the app or digital tour, create tour script, collaborate with consultants.

Implementation Phase = Purchase additional hardware, train staff, test digital tour and tweak as needed.

Public Launch = Incorporate new hardware into space, promotion campaign, flexible to public feedback.

8

Smal

l Sca

le O

ptio

nsEx

ampl

es o

f tou

rs th

at a

re lo

w-r

esou

rce

inte

nsiv

e

Website Video Tours – Record and Post on YouTube and Museum Website

Videos can be recorded with a video camera or a smartphone device, or by partnering with a local television broadcast station who may offer their video production services. These videos can then be posted on YouTube for public access, and on the museum website.

This option may be all that is available for a small HHM that is completely inaccessible to someone using a mobility device. Visitors could watch the videos from home, or from a personal smartphone device when at the museum.

Accessible Visitor Center – Video & Live Tour Viewing Area

If there is an ADA-accessible space at the museum, that area should be outfitted with a video screen that can show a recorded tour of the historic space.

This area can also be used for people who are not able to access the historic space, where they can sit and be included in a live video conference tour if the space. Someone attending the live tour could use a video conferring app on their phone, like FaceTime, to virtually include the other person on the tour.

Google Maps – Upload High Resolution Images

Managers of museum organizations can upload images to Google Maps for free, so that online viewers can interact with the space remotely. If an organization can capture 360-degree views of the historic spaces, and upload those to Google Maps, people can use a VR devices to experience an immersive tour. See these linked instructions for how to add photos to your business on Google Maps: Add Photos to Google 9

10

Med

ium

Sca

le O

ptio

nsEx

ampl

es o

f opt

ions

that

requ

ire so

me

staf

f tim

e, b

ut a

re lo

w c

ost

tech

nolo

gy so

lutio

ns

Live Zoom Tours – Invite Online Viewers to Live Events

HHM Organizations can offer ticketed programming for online events and tours by utilizing video conferencing systems like Zoom. People who want to watch a live tour of the HHM, or watch an in depth discussion of featured collection items with staff, can purchase a ticket to the event on the museum website, and then be provided with a link to the virtual meeting.

Google Arts & Culture Partnership - Create an Online Digital Collection and Virtualized Museum Space

Google Arts & Culture is a non-profit segment of the Google Corporation. They provide non-profit museum organizations with their digital imaging and hosting services for free, making this option the most approachable for organizations looking to implement a digital tour that will be accessible online.

To partner with Arts & Culture, museums are only required to have 150 assets (images of collection items) that are copyright cleared, and one “story” that can be narrated on the website.

The Arts & Culture organization will come to site to assist with imaging any of the assets, along with bringing the Google Maps high-tech 360-degree camera to site to digitally capture the space for a virtual reality tour offering. Sign-up here: Partnership Form

The HHM should still considered staff rescores for this partnership, as the project will require dedicated staff time to review and upload assets, along with customizing the design of the dedicated Arts & Culture webpage.

11

Larg

e Sc

ale

Opt

ions

Exam

ples

of p

roje

cts t

hat r

equi

re si

gnifi

cant

staf

f tim

e or

reso

urce

s

Digital Tour Via Website – Use website creation tools like WordPress or Squarespace, to create templates and modules that can be easily recycled for new content pages.

The website does not need to mimic a walking tour. Scrollable pages of engaging information, which should include text, videos, historical photos, and deep dives into particularly interesting collection items, can be just as engaging as filmed walking tours. See eustis.estate website example.

Contracted VR Design Services – Hire a Digital Design Company To Work With Your Organization To Create a Virtual Reality Experience

This may be the most expensive option when considering creating a new digital tour, depending on the scale of the project. But it can also result in the most engaging of products. Organizations should review current VR options to determine what they want to implement. Staff collaboration time and continued support contracts with the vendor should be considered.

VR Educational Classroom Experiences – Partner with companies like TimeLooper or Google Expeditions to build an immersive VR App

Depending on the company, this option may be a free service (Google Expeditions) or a paid service with a private company. The development of this option will require much staff participation and collaboration with the contracted company. A review of who owns the VR experience once it is created, should be considered before entering into the partnership.

12

Get

ting

Star

ted

Cost ConsiderationsTo ensure a successful project from the get-go, organizations should first evaluate what technology option they can

afford to support for the foreseeable future.

Organizations should also consider the smaller purchases that may be associated with these projects, such as cleaning supplies, charging cables, power strips, and additional staff hours incurred during training sessions.

By asking these questions at the start of the project, instead of learning them as the project moves along, an organization should have a clearer understanding what costs will incur related to the implementation.

Is there an in-house IT support group to build and/or maintain this project?

Are outside consultants or contract workers required?

Can the new technology integrate into the current website, or will a new website need to be built in conjunction with this project?

Additional technology hardware purchases required?

If the technology will be offered in-house, are there adequate power supplies and supporting furniture in these areas?

How will the technology be supported going forward?

13

Get

ting

Star

tedDevelop A Digital Tour Script

Once the type and medium of the digital tour is selected, the organization should then create a script that will detail the usability and information that will be relayed through the virtual technologies.

Mapping these storylines at the onset of the project will give a clear understanding of how long the project should take to implement, what additional technologies may be needed, and how to distribute the final product to the public.

The creation of a clear and concise script for how the digital tour will be approached and developed, room by room, will lead to a smooth and uninterrupted creation of the tour once that exciting phase of the project has been reached.

If the property is non-ADA accessible, the HHM may want to create a virtual tour that follows the footpath of the live docent-led tour.

If the rooms of the HHM are mostly cordoned off to the public, the virtual tour may be able to assist with further inspection of collection items that are far away from the viewer in real life.

If the HHM has a layered history where it is important to hear different viewpoints, like when considering the experience of a servant versus an employer living in the house, those voices could be incorporated into the digital tour script in a dynamic way.

Important collection items should be identified and all associated copyrights cleared, if applicable.

14

Get

ting

Star

ted

Technology Needed For ImplementationOnce a tour option has been selected, or during the consideration process, HHMs should

evaluate what technology is needed to run or support the project.

If the tour will be offered via uploading images online, the organization should consider if they require the purchase of a high-resolution camera to capture the digital images.

If there will be new television screens or tablets introduced into the museum space, consider what types of devices will be purchased and if additional power outlets need to be installed in the current locations.

If VR headsets will be offered on-site, determine how many headsets are needed and what brand will be purchased. Additionally with VR headsets, it is encouraged that organizations purchase a cleaning and disinfecting headset cradle station to ensure the devices are sanitized between uses.

Extra power cords and other computer accessories, however minor, should also be evaluated and included in the project plan at the onset of the implementation, so that the associated costs are accounted for at the start of the project.

There should be a policy for how new content can be added to the tour, so that the digital offerings can remain fresh and dynamic for repeat visitors.

Get

ting

Star

ted

Staff Training & Continued Support

A well-developed project can still fail if not implemented properly with the staff, or if there is no plan for continued support. HHMs should not allow their hard work in developing the tour to be undermined by poor introduction. A

digital offering will only be as successful as the plan and the people behind it.

When the tour is ready for public participation, it is important that it undergo many rounds of testing with both internal staff members and a public “soft launch.”

The museum should be ready to make changes to the tour according to feedback from staff and the initial launch to the public.

Thorough staff training is essential. Everyone should feel knowledgeable supporting the new technology. Identify the segment of your staff that is less comfortable with technology and offer additional training sessions.

Once the tour is live, the project doesn’t end there. Staff should be consulted to ensure they feel comfortable supporting the technology, and additional training for new staff members should be part of any onboarding process.

If the organization is maintaining the technology onsite themselves, a technology plan should be developed to strategize for future updates and the eventual software and security patches needed to keep the technology healthy and usable.

15

The Future Is Digital!

People who can not travel to the site can engage with the organization

Promote interest on a global level

Public can get closer to digital objects, and interact more with a digitized space, than they could in the real world

Keep history education relevant and engaging

Providing alternate access to the site for one visitor, may well result in two or more new visitors to the site

Encourages all perspective visitors to feel welcome

Oth

er A

dvan

tage

s Of D

igita

l Tou

rs

16

70

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