Experiences

Following are live projects using the DiscoveryPEN system

Conan Doyle Museum

Dr Janner's Museum

Ashdown Forest Trail

'The Gosport Gazette - 1914 to 1919'

RNIB Tactile Images and Map

 

Following are the completed projects in the last years:

Teignmouth Heritage Trail
 

There are twelve boards around the town which all are accessible via the pens. 

The text on the boards is read to the user, as well as an anecdotal story about the area where the board is located.

Butler Gallery Ireland

Holywells Park

Holywells Park in Ipswich Suffolk have just installed the Discover Bird board in their newly refurbished café. The Park has undergone a 3.5 m restoration as part of the Parks for People project  funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund, with additional financial support from Ipswich Borough Council and the Friends of Holywells Park. The board has been a great success with families learning about the 70 birds on the board. They love listening to the birds calls and song and the quiz is a real hit, especially the question about Harry Potters owl.

Weatherproof Boardsmail3

Bristol City Museum Audio Guide

We have partnered with Bristol Museum, enabling blind visitors to find out about many historic artefacts for the first time. Objects in the Egypt exhibition at the museum have been given stickers with audio descriptions stored on PenFriends.

“For visually impaired people, they just walk round museums and it’s just one glass case after another. The PENfriend really brought it to life. We knew what we were looking at, we knew the history of the items and how old they were and what they were used for. All things that we had no idea of before.” - Jennifer Stirratt, registered blind person

We are currently developing similar projects with The National Trust.

Ted Hughes Poetry Trail Audio

We worked with Stover Country Park, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Reserve that includes the Ted Hughes Poetry Trail. The poems in the pack were recorded by the poet Alice Oswald. Next to each title and poem on the sheet are soundspots for the TalkingPEN to play back the relevant recording. See the Ted Huges poetry trail.

 

"The DiscoveryPEN has been very successful in our trial and has received excellent feedback. We have extended its run and will certainly look to use this on a wider scale in the Museum in the future – incorporating different languages too."

British Golf Museum.

"We are very pleased with the Discovery PEN - It is an easy way to increase accessibility within the galleries."

Katey Boal - Learning Manager, Culloden Battlefield and Visitor Centre

 

"There is this 'Ah Ha' moment when visitors used the pen. It is magic."

Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden

"This is probably the most accessible trail of people of all kinds of disabilities in the entire state. I really hope it spreads."

Accessibility Coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Fern Trail

"We are very excited to get started. There are so many possibilities. This will really benefit our site."

John Fletcher, Manager of Oral Histories, Anderson House

"The audio was great. Very easy to follow and find sites and I am directionally challenged. Excellent guide for all ages. It was very easy to use. I wear hearing aids and I could hear it very clearly. Thankyou for a very interesting tour"

Visitor Feedback - Oxford Botanical Garden

"The pilot project has been so successful that the pen will be extended to more galleries and collection."

Paul Sullivan - Museum Access and Inclusion Officer, Bristol