The Information Stands

In 1997 a system called Your Electronic Guide was developed within the framework of the Hermitage-IBM joint project. It included special software and a set of hardware made up in the form of information stands. The aim that the project participants set themselves was to compensate for the deficit of information within the museum and to install virtual guides that would help individual visitors find their way about the museum.

The four information stands are located in the Jordan Gallery where most visitors enter the museum, in the Field Marshals' Room where four routes meet, and on the Theatre Staircase where visitors pass from one museum building to another. The programme can switch between two languages: Russian and English. The interface chosen is an interactive monitor (Touch Screen System) where the user selects buttons graphically depicted on the screen simply by touching the glass. The programme is user-friendly and the screen prompts make it readily accessible for any type of visitor from young schoolchild to adult. Different sections feature Plans of the Museum, The Collections and Rooms, Masterpieces of the Museum, Recommended Routes, Museum News and Exhibitions, Visitors' Comments and General Information.

These sections contain information about the Hermitage's displays, descriptions and images of fifty masterpieces, descriptions of recommended routes and current information about temporary exhibitions. The information is updated daily, making it possible to warn visitors also about the temporary closure of particular rooms. Users can chose the required section by touching the interactive screen.

The Recommended Routes section has been created for those visiting the Hermitage for the first time and those who prefer to make their own way around. Depending on the amount of time they have available, visitors are offered a choice of one of six thematic routes. Those who have already visited the Hermitage and are familiar with its collections and highlights can choose five works they find most interesting in the Masterpieces of the Museum section, after which the programme indicates the best route by which to view them. The programme draws up the routes dynamically and the number of possible combinations runs into the thousands. Users can request a print-out of the route which consists of a floor-plan with the route marked as a dotted line through the rooms as well as a textual description of the route.

The programme of the stands located in the rooms also has a section entitled Nearest Displays. This enables visitors to acquaint themselves in detail with the state rooms of the Winter Palace and the displays of the Department of Western European Art. The information stands contain more than 800 high-quality images, more than 200 explanatory notes on exhibits and collections and also descriptions of general and thematic tours.

The programme also includes information about museum services that is linked to the navigational functions.

An original version of this multimedia programme that has been installed in more than a hundred museums worldwide was also created in the year 2000 with the addition of commentaries describing six masterpieces from the Hermitage collection. It has been translated into seven languages and is distributed with the aim of increasing public awareness of one of the world's largest museums.