AUDISSEY MEDIA WINS PRESTIGIOUS MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Boston, May 12, 2009 - Audissey Media is pleased to announce they are a recipient of a 2009 MUSE Award for Audio & Visual Tours. Now in its 20th year, the MUSE awards competition recognizes outstanding achievement in museum media. The competition is an activity of the Media and Technology Standing Professional Committee of the American Association of Museums.
Rob Pyles accepting MUSE award; AAM Media & Technology
“We are very excited and honored to be recognized with such a prestigious award,” said Rob Pyles, Creative Director of Audissey Media. “This was a project that came to life both as we interviewed participants and in the sound studio and I am very happy the judging panel recognized the creativity and entertainment-value of the project.”
The Museum District podcast tour , which was produced in collaboration with the The Houston Museum district, is an indoor/outdoor audio tour designed to guide visitors and locals through Houston’s Museum District.
The 90-minute tour is practical and informative, familiarizing listeners with museum locations and collections. But the tour is also a work of art itself: it is at once experimental, emotional, meditative, and purely beautiful: strolls through sculpture gardens and parks are often free of any narration whatsoever, instead showering the listener with original sound compositions that enhance the physical surroundings.
The tour is produced in “real-time”, meaning that the narration and sound design occurs in perfect synchronicity with the visitor’s footsteps. Previously existing barriers between the listener, the audio tour, and the physical environment seem to dissipate. The listener is no longer a passive participant in the tour experience, but an active protagonist in it.
The tour, which was funded by the Houston Downtown Management District, is available as a free download at www.AudisseyGuides.com, and as a free podcast through iTunes.
“This is a very well thought-out audio tour with a pleasurable and imaginative use of sound and space. This tour should serve as a model of civic access to a wealth of cultural content,” said Jury Chair, Nat Sims.
The MUSE Awards competition received nearly 250 applications from a wide variety of museums in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Entries included audio, cell phone, and interactive handheld tours, interactive kiosks and multimedia installations, podcasts, blogs, games, websites, online collection and image databases, videos, and e-mail marketing campaigns.
“It is an honor and privilege for AAM’s Media and Technology Standing Professional Committee to host the MUSE awards, now in its twentieth year. Once again, the quality and diversity of entries has been exceptional. The ingenuity and creativity of the people who conceptualize and build these projects, never ceases to amaze me.” - Nik Honeysett, Chair of AAM’s Media & Technology Committee
Audissey Media was presented with the MUSE Award for Audio & Visual Tours during a champagne reception on Thursday, April 30 at the 2009 American Association of Museums Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. There to receive the award and represent Audissey Media was Rob Pyles, Creative Director.
Sixty-six judges – museum and media professionals from across the county – were involved in the process of selecting the winners. Winning entries were expected to demonstrate outstanding achievement in content quality; interface design; functionality; production quality; visual appeal; the user’s experience; and the intent to which new directions were charted or old challenges resolved through technical innovation. A complete list of judging criteria and MUSE Award winners can be found on the Media and Technology website: http://www.mediaandtechnology.org/
About Audissey
Audissey Media creates hip, entertaining audio and video content for cities, museums and historic sites that launch listeners into the soul of a destination. We use web video, podcasting and online virtual tours to attract a new generation of travelers. Visit AudisseyMedia.com to learn more.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Juliet DeVries
(617) 418- 7215
Juliet@AudisseyMedia.com
View a sample of the tour:
