Some museums may soon offer Google Glass-enabled tours: GuidiGO announced it will be partnering with museums around the world to offer virtual tours optimized for Google Glass.
The partnership is the result of Google's Glass at Work program, which certifies companies that make Glass apps specifically for businesses. GuidiGO was among the first five companies to be selected for the program earlier this week.
Museum visitors who own Google Glass can use the app — the way you would rent an audio tour — and begin by simply saying "start tour." The app uses image recognition to automatically identify works of art and other exhibits, quickly surfacing relevant information about what the wearer is looking at. The app also offers narrated audio guidance and indoor and outdoor navigation to help guide visitors around the museum's grounds.
Right now, it's up to individual museums to sign up for one of the company's licensing options if they want Glass-assisted tours. But the company says it has already been testing the program at two museums in the United States for the last six months with success. Pricing information was not immediately available, but we will update this story as we find out more information.
GuidiGO already has more than 200 tours available to existing Google Glass explorers, and is offering museums the opportunity to offer the tours for free to those who already have Glass.
"We have completely redesigned our solution to take advantage of Glass features and the specific needs of visitors," Damjan Stankovic, GuidiGO's head of user experience, said in a statement. "Via our platform, and with no technical skills, every museum and cultural site can now easily publish their existing content, automatically optimized for Glass."
