Voices:FAMSF

A New Way to Experience Outdoor Art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) presents Voices:FAMSF, an audio interpretation of the Museums’ outdoor art. Voices:FAMSF is unlike most museum tours; it brings to mobile devices a location-sensitive immersive soundscape that weaves multiple voices together with a musical soundtrack. These voices offer responses to 21 outdoor sculptures and architectural details at both the de Young and the Legion of Honor. The app uses global positioning to identify the location of each user and to supply content specific to each work of art or architectural feature within the immediate area. Museum curators and other experts provide the audio interpretations, and museum visitors can add their responses to the works of art by recording their own voices on the app. The soundscape can be personalized: users can listen to the voices of art professionals, of inquisitive and observant museum visitors, or a mix of both.