Sidle up to a Chinese Companion on your next museum visit

Reuben Lee | Oct 05, 2007

We can promise you your very own Chinese Companion on your visit to the National Museum of Singapore. But sorry, this one won't make moochie sounds or moo eyes at you. Instead, this personal guide speaks in a pre-recorded voice and is programmed to give visitors access to videos and reading materials on the relevant artifacts and topics in the museum. The National Museum of Singapore claims it is the first and only museum in Southeast Asia, for now, to incorporate an interactive handheld companion to complement its exhibits.

The handheld device, bundled with earphones, is part of the Companion project which involved around two years of conceptualization and research and up to six translators and 35 voice actors. It was developed by Canadian firm GSM. According to the museum, the handheld contains more than 9 hours of audio and video footage and covers a period ranging from the 14th century to 1972. Operating is as simple as keying in the numbers found at the various sections in the History Gallery. An English Companion has already been introduced earlier, with plans for Malay and Japanese Companions later in the year.

Here's a little tech specs here for the techie. The handheld comes with 32MB of onboard flash memory, 64MB of RAM, and runs on Windows CE 5.0. Onboard storage can be extended to 4GB via the CompactFlash card slot for a maximum of 250 hours of audio content. The screen is a 4.3-inch, 16bit-color TFT with a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels. In addition to infrared, the handheld also features RF technology that automatically triggers the relevant content via proximity.

Filed under: Gadgets, Handhelds
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