Amplifying a profound musical legacy
Bob Dylan Center
Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
How do you make it possible for visitors to choose what they experience in a museum space rich in over 60 years of audio and video about one of the most influential figures in modern music and culture?
Art Processors’ key challenge at the Bob Dylan Center was to empower visitors to curate their own Dylan experience. We wanted them to be able to choose what to hear easily, so they remained eyes-up and engaged as they explored the richness on display. And that's not all: we had to make sure the sound was the highest quality and in-sync at every moment for an audience of fans and audiophiles.
The Dylan Center is certainly the greatest monument to a single living musician that exists in the museum world.
– Variety magazine
Our solution used headphones and an in-house device that visitors simply tap on strategically placed illuminated touchpoints to immediately hear corresponding audio to the display. Using Pladia Event Sync, visitors are synced with imperceptible latency. They’re able to pause, sit or wander off while listening—an audio experience that envelops visitors and guides them through the exhibits, able to switch easily between individual and shared activities.
This frictionless UX is effortless for visitors of all-ages, and means they don’t need to look down at a device. “Although it's been hugely technical, no user would ever know because it’s so simple to use and really integrated into the overall experience,” says Rob Keniger, our Senior Mobile Engineer. Pladia’s Experience Management capability also enables the Center to rotate their curation, encouraging visitors to return and continue their exploration with new experiences.
Interactive elements such as the Digital Jukebox allows visitors to browse songs created, inspired, or curated by Dylan and customise their own playlist. A recording studio interactive lets visitors play the role of ‘sound engineer’, mixing their own music and sounds to experience what a live recording session would be like. With the streamlined audio integration effortlessly woven into the installations, they provide a personalised and engaging experience that brings Dylan's artistic journey to life.
The hearing sense can often be forgotten inside exhibition spaces but here, sound enhances the visual experience. This is especially true in personalised and shared moments.
– Nic Whyte, Founding Principal, Art Processors
