Mellon Technologies received two GOLD Awards
for Innovative Museum Applications Project with G.N.H.M

For the fifth consecutive year, Mellon Technologies managed to impress in the "Internet of Things (IoT)" and "Digital Transformation in Customer Experience" categories Awards at the Business IT Excellence (BITE) Awards 2021, in which it managed to receive two GOLD Awards. Together with Goulandris Natural History Museum, received the Gold Awards for the realization of the Project “IMA: Innovative Museum Applications”, aiming to upgrade the visitor’s experience and reform the Museum’s operations, guiding it into the new digital era.

In particular, within the framework of the IMA project, the G.N.H.M. in collaboration with Μellon developed an integrated solution/application with the use of innovative technologies for the Display of Exhibits/ Material and Educational Practices, which:

• Ensures the closer interaction of visitors with the Museum’s environment, since it meets the needs of all age groups in a modern and flexible way, while at the same time providing each visitor with the possibility of an independent tour;
• Provides educational activities that multiply the effectiveness and quality of education, as they make it possible to support a wider range of subjects and to create educational programs of a great variety regarding the number of issues studied and the depth of scientific specialization;
• Further expanding expands the public to which the Museum is addressed, and it enhances its popularity by strengthening and reforming its profile;
• Contributes to the promotion of various activities (exhibitions, education, research, communication with the public) as well as of the rich, unseen material that it possesses regarding important areas (e.g. environmental protection);
• It can be implemented in many types of museums and other similar sectors such as Tourism, Entertainment and Environmental Education/ Training.

On a more technical level, the solution was developed for mobile iOS /Android devices and it includes:

• Mobile Site with information on the Museum including 360° navigation, which provides an interactive virtual tour of the museum, as well as the on-line purchase of tickets and items from the e-shop.
• Application for use on mobile devices, which, provides access to extra, rich material of different means, sources and levels of specialization (videos, photos, sound and documents) for a large number of showcases and exhibits. The application is activated with the use of Beacons/ QR codes and it interactively presents multiple levels of documentation that upgrade the content provided to visitors.
• Development of new educational courses with the use of mobile devices. It will be possible to utilize educational programs, either as a tool in the hands of teachers, or per trainee based on selected degrees of freedom, or even as e-learning material.
• Development of games for different ages, which act as a supplementary tool in educational activities and at the same time constitute an additional mean for attracting the attention of visitors, such as treasure hunting.
• A number of themes of augmented reality, providing new experiences to the visitors.
• Real-time connection to external locations, making it possible to observe the behaviour of different species live.
• Digital corner where visitors will be able to focus on special subjects from the Museum’s exhibits, and to have access to specialized videos from the Museum’s research activities.

Mellon’s expertise on software development and the G.N.H.M.’s experience in managing information, collections and education by utilizing digitalized material created an integrated solution. Globally available solutions regard isolated components of the IMA solution, for example 360° navigation, virtual tours, while most of the other structural elements appear as pilot actions. The IMA solution, by using innovative technologies (Mobile/Gaming/AR/IoT) aims to provide a holistic approach for a Museum environment.