History through the ears

Soon visitors to Delhi's National Museum will get to hear the history of Indian civilisation instead of just looking at artefacts. And if things go according to plan, a small hand-held device will change the country's premier museum from a storehouse of dead artefacts to a "living" experience.

The device,an MP3 player, has voice recordings narrating the importance of selected artefacts. Also recorded would be music and sound effects making the whole experience come alive.

The gadget has a keypad on which the visitor enters the appropriate tour stop number. There is also a pair of headphones to listen to the narration. Besides major European languages, the commentary will also available in Hindi and Japanese.

The new experience at National Museum is being brought to you by an Australian company Narrowcasters Pty Ltd. Says its founder-director Penelope Street: "We are storytellers and we try to bring alive historical monuments and museums."

Narrowcasters, set up in 1988, is one of the world's premier audio tour service provider. In 2001 the company set up its Indian subsidiary, Narrowcasters (India) Pvt Ltd and offered its audio tour services at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum) and the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur.

"Our job is to enhance the visitor's tour experience," says Robert B Cutler, managing director, Narrowcasters.

"We use the spoken word to narrate the history of the monument. Our job is to put in as much information without being boring." Though audio tours are quite popular abroad they are still to catch on in India.

Refusing to divulge details on the size of Narrowcasters' business, Cutler says: "It's not a business that will make you a Bill Gates." The company works with institutions that do not make huge profits, he adds.

Narrowcasters' revenues come from either a consolidated service fee or fee per visitor. In India, for foreigners the service is included in the admission price to the monument.

According to Street an audio tour has direct financial benefits for tourist sites as visitors view it as a value addition.

Though the company is not willing to share investment and turnover figures, with close to 70,000 tourists visiting Mehrangarh fort and 25,000 buying tickets for Shivaji museum last year, the company is looking at a profitable revenue stream.