We recommend AI-reading services for museum audio guides! A thorough explanation of the benefits and how to implement them

I want to introduce audio guides to the museum!

Audio guides can greatly increase the satisfaction of visitors to museums .

By introducing audio guides , we can clearly communicate the appeal of the exhibits and the highlights of the exhibition , encouraging customers who are not normally familiar with art to return again and again .

But have you given up on introducing audio guides because you think it would be expensive?

In fact, with an AI-based text-to-speech service , audio guides for museums can be introduced easily and at low cost !

Why not introduce audio guidance to the art museum you manage or work at and provide a service that rivals that of famous national and prefectural museums ?

Recommended text reading services for museum audio guides

If you're creating audio for an art museum audio guide, we recommend "Ondoku" !

"Ondoku" is a web service that uses the latest AI to read text in an "easy-to-listen voice" and "realistic voice that sounds like a real human."

It's easy to use from your web browser, just enter the text .

Since it supports 100 languages , you can provide audio guides in foreign languages such as English, Chinese, and Korean to improve services for inbound tourists .

What's more, Ondoku is free to use!

• No registration: 1,000 characters/month
• With registration: 5,000 characters/month

This means that it is possible to create an audio guide for one special exhibition for free !

When creating an audio guide for a museum, why not try using "Ondoku" ?

What are the benefits of introducing audio guides to museums?

Audio guides (audio guidance) have become commonplace in large art museums and special exhibitions.

However, many small museums and private art galleries are probably hesitant to introduce this system.

In fact, audio guides can be introduced easily and at low cost !

Moreover, there are many benefits to adopting it.

Benefit 1. Increased visitor satisfaction

The biggest benefit of museum audio guides is increased visitor satisfaction .

Customers who visit museums have a wide range of objectives and knowledge.

If we write captions and explanations for customers who are knowledgeable about art, they will be too difficult, but if we make the content too easy, art fans will not be satisfied...

Have you ever had such concerns?

Introducing audio guides can solve this problem!

By using audio guides to clearly explain the key points of the works to customers who are not normally familiar with art, you can convey the appeal of art and increase the number of repeat visitors .

Benefit 2. Increased museum profitability

Of course, audio guides also help museums increase revenue !

The average price for renting an audio guide is around 300 to 500 yen.

If we consider a relatively small art museum with around 10,000 visitors per year, if we assume that 20% of visitors rent items, sales would increase by 600,000 to 1,000,000 yen.

This is no small amount of income for running a museum .

Of course, you can also promote your museum catalog and museum shop in the audio guide to further increase your revenue!

Benefit 3. Improved accessibility

Additionally, introducing audio guides can improve accessibility .

For the elderly visitors, who visit on weekdays in large numbers, reading the small captions can be very difficult.

On the other hand, making the captions too large would ruin the calm atmosphere of the exhibition room.

By introducing audio guides, more visitors will be able to enjoy the exhibition.

This also prevents problems such as damage caused by getting too close to the artwork in an attempt to read the caption .

The introduction of audio guides is also recommended in achieving universal design.

Advantage 4. Accommodating inbound tourists

Introducing audio guides to museums can also improve services for inbound tourists .

The number of foreign tourists visiting Japan is increasing rapidly, but with their busy schedules, many curators probably find it difficult to provide captions and explanations in multiple languages .

Therefore, we recommend that you start by introducing audio guides .

The biggest advantage is that it can accommodate foreign languages without making any changes to the exhibition room .

Since there is no need to take the time to rearrange the captions or explanatory text, it also prevents situations like "the explanations in the permanent exhibition are full of correction stickers."

If you are going to introduce it, it is recommended to start with English, Chinese, and Korean, which are the languages that attract the most tourists to Japan.

You can also increase the number of inbound visitors by posting on your official website that "audio guides in foreign languages are available" in various languages !

How to introduce audio guides to museums?

If you are planning to introduce audio guides (audio guidance) to your museum , we recommend using an AI reading service!

It can now be implemented at a much lower cost and in a shorter time than before!

Introducing audio guides with AI reading service

Until now, in order to introduce audio guides to a museum, it was necessary to have a professional narrator or voice actor record the audio.

Not only was it expensive , but it took a long time from writing the script to completing the audio, making it difficult to make corrections mid-way through the event .

What we recommend is a text-to-speech service that uses the latest AI .

The AI reading service can generate realistic, easy-to-listen audio simply by inputting text .

Since a single curator can create the audio without leaving the museum , introducing audio guides is much easier than hiring a narrator or voice actor .

Of course, the AI reading service is low cost.

For example, with Ondoku , you can have up to 5,000 characters read aloud per month for free just by registering an account!

If you are considering introducing audio guides (audio guidance) to your museum, we recommend an AI reading service !

We can provide detailed support for both permanent exhibitions and small-scale special exhibitions.

What we really want people to see at a museum is the permanent exhibition, not the special exhibition.

However, I imagine there are many curators who are struggling to increase the number of visitors to their permanent exhibitions .

Audio guides using AI, which can be introduced at low cost, make it possible to improve services for permanent exhibitions in ways that were previously impossible.

We can also provide detailed support for small-scale, original exhibitions that are not traveling exhibitions.

Of course, small museums such as municipal art museums with relatively small budgets and private art museums are also welcome.

Audio guides using AI reading services are an ideal way to increase the appeal of museums, improve profitability, and above all, promote art more widely .

"Ondoku" is an AI reading service recommended for audio guide introductions.

If you are thinking of introducing audio guides to your museum, we recommend "Ondoku" !

"Ondoku" is an AI text-to-speech service that uses the latest AI to generate realistic, easy-to-listen, high-quality audio .

It's a simple operation that just requires inputting text , so you can create audio smoothly and stress-free even in the middle of your busy curatorial duties.

Of course, it can also be used to fill out security sheets , so it can also be used in public libraries!

It also supports foreign languages such as English, Chinese, and Korean , so you can create audio guides for inbound tourists.

What's more, "Ondoku" is free!

Once you register for an account, you can have up to 5,000 characters read out per month , meaning you can create audio for one exhibition for free.

Also introduced at the National Museum of Ethnology

"Ondoku" has also been introduced at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) ! (Click here for more information on the case study)

Because audio guides at art galleries and museums contain a lot of technical terminology, we recommend using a service with a proven track record.

Why not try introducing audio guides using Ondoku, an AI reading service that's perfect for museums ?

[3 Steps] How to create an audio guide for a museum

How do you make an audio guide for a museum?

Finally, we will explain in detail how to create a museum audio guide using an AI reading service !

1. Write a script

First, I write a script for the audio guide.

The key is to clarify your target .

Based on the trends of regular visitors

• People who are not usually familiar with art
• Knowledgeable art fan
• Children
• Inbound tourists

When writing your script, keep in mind the type of customers who will be listening to the audio guide .

When in doubt, it's better not to make the content too niche, but to target people who don't usually visit art museums or casual art fans.

People with some knowledge about art are more likely to buy the catalogue , so it's best to leave the more niche content to them and write a script aimed at a more casual audience, aiming to attract repeat visitors .

Considering seasonal changes in visitors

It is also a good idea to write scripts for children during seasons when there are many children and families around, such as summer vacation and spring break .

When writing a script for inbound tourists , it is recommended that you research seasonal changes in inbound tourist numbers, such as preparing an English script for the New Year holidays and a Chinese script for Chinese New Year .

AI translation site used for foreign language scripts

When writing a script in a foreign language , it is recommended to use an AI translation site .

in particular

• English: DeepL
• Chinese: Baidu Translation (Baidu Translation)
• Korean: Papago

is a popular AI translation site.

However , be careful of mistranslations.

It is especially recommended to look up the standard translations in each language for technical terms, authors' names, and titles of works .

2. Create an audio file with Ondoku

Once the script is complete, use Ondoku to create an audio file .

Click here to open the Ondoku homepage.

Enter the text of your script in the text box .

Select your language .

Select your audio .

You can listen to audio samples on this page.

• Japanese audio sample
• Audio samples in various languages

Press the "Read aloud" button to start generating the audio file .

The audio file will be ready in just a few seconds .

Once the audio file is complete , the display will change and you will be able to listen to the generated reading audio.

If there are no problems, click "Download" to save the file.

The save format is MP3 .

In this case, it will be convenient to save the audio guide chapters in consecutive files so that you can play them in order.

As you can see, it's very easy to create audio files for guides using Ondoku!

Why not try out "Ondoku" here first?

3. Provided as an audio guide

Once the audio file is completed, it will be provided as an audio guide to visitors .

There are three main ways to provide audio guides :

1. Audio guide equipment

Many museums use dedicated playback equipment for audio guides .

In addition to purchasing, you can also lease it.

However, since it is specialized commercial equipment, the downside is that it is expensive both to purchase and lease .

Instead, if there is a problem, you can contact the manufacturer or leasing company.

2. MP3 Player

We also recommend simple consumer MP3 players that only have the functions of play, stop, rewind and fast forward.

The advantage is that it can be implemented at a very low cost .

The disadvantage is that if there is a breakdown or other problem, you will have to deal with it yourself.

This equipment is recommended for small-scale cinemas and other facilities where you want to keep costs down .

We also recommend lending neck speakers instead of earphones.

When lending equipment to visitors, we recommend lending them speakers that can be worn around the neck instead of earphones.

This is a method that has recently been increasingly adopted by large libraries for rental equipment.

Unlike earphones, they do not come into direct contact with bare skin , making them more hygienic.

In addition, since you can hear the sounds around you, you can prevent problems such as customers bumping into each other .

3. Have visitors play the video on their smartphones

Another great idea is to post the audio file on your museum's official website so visitors can listen to it.

The advantage is that there is no need to purchase new equipment and there is no hassle with renting it .

The disadvantages are that simply posting a listing means there is no rental fee, and it is a hassle to ask visitors to provide earphones.

This is a recommended method if you are not aiming to sell the audio guide alone, but are instead aiming to increase revenue through sales in the museum shop and increased repeat visitors .

■ AI voice synthesis software "Ondoku"

"Ondoku" is an online text-to-speech tool that can be used with no initial costs.

• Supports approximately 50 languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, and German
• Available from both PC and smartphone
• Suitable for business, education, entertainment, etc.
• No installation required, can be used immediately from your browser
• Supports reading from images

To use it, simply enter text or upload a file on the site. A natural-sounding audio file will be generated within seconds. You can use voice synthesis up to 5,000 characters for free, so please give it a try.

Text-to-speech software "Ondoku" can read out 5000 characters every month with AI voice for free. You can easily download MP3s and commercial use is also possible. If you sign up for free, you can convert up to 5,000 characters per month for free from text to speech. Try Ondoku now.

HP: ondoku3.com
Email: ondoku3.com@gmail.com