The Bata Shoe Museum introduces a mobile phone tour for it’s Permanent Collection

Toronto, ON, (RPRN) 4/28/09 -– The Bata Shoe Museum has created an exciting and innovative audio tour that will lead visitors on a journey through some of the Museum’s most intriguing stories. Using their own mobile phones visitors can learn about the history of the Museum, its founder Sonja Bata, the Museum’s architecture as well as the culture and customs of footwear from people around the world.

The tour is brought to life with the help of leading interpretive audio tour specialist Tour-Mate Systems Canada. Using Tour-Mate’s mobile-phone platform, the Bata Shoe Museum provides visitors with a unique on-demand interpretive experience enabling visitors to enhance their understanding of the Museum and its artifacts.

Visitors simply dial a number from their mobile phone and listen to information about the specified artifact or exhibit. Each tour stop ranges from one to two minutes. Visitors will also be able to share and comment on the various tour stops and their experience at the Museum by recording their thoughts via voicemail.

Sarah Beam-Borg, Assistant Curator said, “The Bata Shoe Museum is delighted to be able to offer a new level of interactive learning for our visitors. The new Tour-Mate Mobile guide is an added level of interpretation that is sure to enrich and entertain its users.”

The Museum’s unique collection houses over 12,500 artifacts and spans 4,500 years of history, from the earliest civilizations on earth to the catwalks of today’s leading designers. The tour begins with the story of how Sonja Bata began the Museum’s incredible footwear collection and what inspired her to create one of the most memorable museums in Toronto. The tour goes on to discuss the design and inspiration of Raymond Moriyama’s unique architectural design, then leads visitors on a tour of some of the Museum’s more renowned pieces. With stories of footwear from Napoleon Bonaparte’s socks and their journey from St. Helena to the Museum, to a very rare pair of Huron moccasins from 1790. Selected items in the permanent collection now come to life with additional details and perspectives via a visitor’s own mobile phone.

Neil Poch, President of Tour-Mate Systems Canada Ltd., said, “Tour-Mate’s mobile platform provides visitors to the Bata Shoe Museum with a new level of interaction that is simple, and easy to use.”

A Toronto based company; Tour-Mate provides interpretation to some of the Canada’s leading cultural attractions. Including the AGO, the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic, Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Links:
The Bata Shoe Museum: www.batashoemuseum.ca
Tour-Mate Systems Ltd.: www.tourmate.com

About The Bata Shoe Museum:
With an international collection of over 13,000 shoes and related artifacts, the Bata Shoe Museum celebrates 4,500 years of footwear history in four distinctive galleries. We offer dynamic exhibitions, special programming events for adults and children, and a unique gift shop, in short, something new to see each time. Visitors will discover, and be inspired by, the myriad stories behind the footwear of the world’s many cultures. Definitely for the curious!

About Tour-Mate:
Headquartered in Toronto, Tour-Mate develops and markets self-guided audio tour systems for the interpretive market. The Company has installed systems in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Australia, Japan, China and Macao. Millions of visitors have experienced Tour-Mate audio tours in museums, art galleries, historic sites, zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens. Tour-Mate’s easy to use audio platforms and its creative approach to content creation ensure that each visitor has a significantly enhanced visit experience. Tour-Mate has 20 years of audio tour experience, including the provision of audio tours to institutions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Corning Museum of Glass. The Company’s commitment to customer service is second to none.

Jacqueline Nuwame
Eventide Media Inc.
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