PARIS July 2011 |
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FUTURISTIC PARIS - Culture that fits in your pocketBy the courtesy of the Paris Convention & Visitors Bureau, we can reproduce here a first part this interesting article on how to find useful information and use advanced electronic tools during your stay for the next Congress in Paris. We are very grateful to the Tourism Office for their support and for permission to use this item. You can click here, to download the full version in pdf format. |
Rapid development of telecommunication tools, especially the Internet, at the end of the 1990s, led to a number of revolutions - great and small - which now lie at the heart of our modern society, from the digitization of our heritage to the transfer of content to electronic media and smart phones. We take a closer look at how these devices and their uses offer us another way of visiting Paris, at the cutting edge of technology… Used systematically or occasionally for certain exhibitions, smartphones, such as iPhones, MP3 digital personal stereos, and PDAs (personal digital assistants) offer new ways of visiting the capital's museums. Although each is based on downloading (automatically or on demand) multimedia content via the Internet (podcasting) and wireless networks, such as WiFi and Bluetooth, they offer an array of different applications and hold out some very exciting prospects for the future… MuseTrek is a sort of interactive museum "Wiki", in which everyone plays an active role in their visit. Using your phone, you are invited to discover a museum "trek" imagined and described by another visitor. Far from the monologue provided by audioguides and other academic guides, this exchange helps you see the museum's displays under a new light, offering a personal and, at the same time, shared vision of the exhibition. Once you have finished your trek, you can grade it, before writing your own trek on one of the themes suggested by the MuseTrek application. Initiated by Le Laboratoire (a centre for experimentation and research into the interaction between art and science, based in the 1st arrondissement of the capital) in collaboration with the Louvre, the idea was tested in April in the world's biggest museum and turned out to be a huge success. The Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine also uses the latest technology to offer new services to its increasingly technophile visitors, including virtual visits of its collections via touch screens at the Café Carlu, cyberguides of the museum's collections on PDA, and multimedia educational workshops, such as "Dessine-moi une architecture"("Create your own architecture"), which provide an introduction to architecture. The Cité's website offers an on-line ticketing service, as well as a VOD (video on demand) platform and podcast media. And last but not least, since this past summer, the Grand Palais has made a complete range of content available, free of charge, on a series of Bluetooth and Wifi terminals in its entrance hall, including Grand Palais news updates, behind the scenes stories, clips on the history of the palais, and personal accounts by artists, exhibition managers, etc. The Grand Palais also provides this content via an iPhone application available at the Apple Store in French and English. Downloaded more than 10,000 times in under two weeks during the summer of 2009, the iPhone Grand Palais application came a close second behind Google Earth… CITÉ DE L'ARCHITECTURE ET DU PATRIMOINE 1 place du Trocadéro-et-du-11-Novembre, Paris 16th Tel +33 (0)1 58 51 52 00 www.citechaillot.fr GRAND PALAIS Av. Winston-Churchill, Paris 8th Tel +33 (0)1 44 13 17 17 www.grandpalais.fr MUSÉE DU LOUVRE Place du Carrousel, Paris 1st Tel +33 (0)1 40 20 50 50 www.louvre.fr MUSETREK www.musetrek.com Timeless walks... using cutting edge technology Apart from museums, you can use the very latest technology to discover the capital's streets and boulevards too. The "Pass Paris Wi-Fi" is a free wireless broadband Internet service recently set up by the Ville de Paris and the Région Île-de- France. It's available to everyone, whether you live in Paris and the surrounding region or you're just visiting. 260 municipal sites have been equipped with one or more "Pass Paris Wi-Fi" access points, including parks and gardens, the town halls of the city's different arrondissements, plus libraries and municipal museums. The system is available during the opening hours of the sites in question. All you need to do is to turn on your laptop, iPhone or any other mobile with an Internet navigator, connect to the Orange network and select the option "Paris wi-fi 2h". Then simply sit down on a bench on the place des Vosges, in the Jardin des Plantes or the Jardin des Tuileries, and surf away. Another option for anyone wanting to discover more about the city as they stroll its streets is a new audioguide concept for MP3 players available in French and English offered by the New York recording studio Soundwalk since 2003. These guides provide the backdrop for walks in some of the capital's most fascinating neighbourhoods, narrated by famous French actresses: Virginie Ledoyen in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Isild Le Besco in the Marais, Hélène Filières in Palais-Royal, and Lou Doillon in Pigalle. An itinerary inspired by the "Da Vinci Code" and especially designed for the Musée du Louvre also exists in a Soundwalk version: simply hop along to Denon wing during the museum's opening hours and follow in the footsteps of Captain Bézu Fache… Staying with MP3 applications for the moment, the Zevisit.com website offers a wide range of themed audioguides, including "Paris - Montmartre: the history of the Butte, its hidden secrets", and more. In "Paris: discovery tour of the 8 greatest monuments", eight of the capital's top attractions are brought to life through stories that combine history and anecdotes, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur, Centre Pompidou, the Musée du Quai- Branly, and the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood. The soundtrack features performances by actors, reconstructions, interviews and music. Credit Mairie de Paris The guide also includes a metro itinerary to help you travel from one stage to another. Digi-guide is also developing its own audioguide, available either as a portable device combining multimedia and GPS (hired over the Internet or telephone), or downloadable onto smartphones or pocket PCs. The programme includes a "best of " guide to Paris, daytime tours, both classic and original, and night tours including a selection of restaurants, bars and nightclubs… DIGI-GUIDE Tel +33 (0)1 47 66 55 10 www.digi-guide.com PASS PARIS WI-FI www.paris.fr SOUNDWALK www.soundwalk.com ZEVISIT.COM www.zevisit.com |
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