No worries about getting lost in the museum as the Taipei museum has made the cultural trip a cinematic adventure in itself with the help of technology.
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) has tapped the expertise of STMicroelectronics and CSR to develop a technology that allows museum visitors to tour the exhibition by themselves but guided by information available from their mobile devices.
STMicroelectronics, which supplied MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems), and CSR, which provided the interactive platform for mobile devices, have teamed up to provide location-based services to MOCA visitors for the King Hu exhibition.
The exhibition, dubbed "King Hu: The Renaissance Man," marks the 80th birthday of one of the legends of Chinese cinema. According to a MOCA blog (http://www.mocataipei.org.tw/blog/post/28117165), King Hu is one of the most revered directors of Chinese cinema who is known for incorporating Asian aesthetics and modern artistic expression. He won a best director award at the Cannes International Film Festival for his kungfu movie ''A Touch of Zen',' which is hailed as his masterpiece.
The Taipei exhibition, which runs up to 26 August, includes King Hu creative works, notes and manuscripts, and other artworks created by artists who incorporated different media based on elements - such as inn, bamboo forest, and misty clouds - that distinguish Hu's work.
The interactive display also includes interviews conducted by the Chinese Taipei Film Archive with renowned figures in cinema, such as Ang Lee, Hark Tsui, Feng Hsu, Tong Wang and Edmond Wong, and the French director Hubert Niogret's 48-minute documentary, King Hu (2011).
For museum visitors to appreciate the interactive display, MOCA has teamed up with technology provides STMicroelectronics and CSR to offer an indoor navigation service where visitors can get information about the exhibition displays through their mobile phones, smartphones or even tablet.
CSR provided the SiRFusion platform and with the indoor navigation application from VisioGlobe and STMicroelectronics' MEMS, museum visitors get exhibition information on their mobile devices as they go near the exhibition displays. It is like the mobile devices act as an automatic exhibition guide complete with audio information.
STMicroelectronics said the cross-industry cooperation overcomes the limitation of satellite navigation in indoor spaces.
CSR said that previous attempts at indoor navigation was labour-intensive as it relied heavily on indoor wi-fi and cellular technology which often resulted in inconsistent location data.
"Indoor navigation will make the interaction between people and their mobile devices simpler and more direct, opening a new era of smart consumer lifestyle.
The combination of our accurate indoor-navigation technology with the latest exhibition of Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei showcases the power of this innovation," said Patrick Boulaud, regional vice president, Analog, MEMS and Sensors, Greater China and South Asia Region, STMicroelectronics.
"The joint project with ST on indoor positioning and navigation integrates art with technology in a truly innovative manner," said Jui-Jen Shi, director, Museum of Contemporary Art. "The museum is dedicated to exploring new possibilities and establishing new values for contemporary art through closer cross-industry cooperation that encourages greater creative development in both domains."
A hands-on demonstration of the navigation system was held last 1 August at the MOCA.