This story-driven mobile application presents five different experiences for patrons at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and for those enjoying NMAAHC from far away. With each experience, you can browse and select an exhibition or story of interest. The stories were developed by the exhibition curators and include images, audio/text transcripts, and video clips. Some stories also include related objects. The stories and exhibitions are presented in small cards to give the user a small preview before diving into the full content.
• Exhibition Stories
All eleven exhibitions at the museum are featured and have a range of stories including “The Edisto Island Slave Cabin” and “J Dilla’s Distinctive Sound.”
• For Families with Children
This experience includes curated stories specifically for families with children. Enjoy transcripts read by youth as well as activities and questions provided by the curators to enhance conversations with your family.
• Building Stories
This experience is about the architecture and design of the museum. These stories describe the landscape architecture, the museum’s Porch and beautiful corona pattern exterior.
• Outdoor Stories
This experience includes a variety of stories about the places around the museum. Some story titles include “The Washington Monument,” “Baseball on the Mall” and “The NMAAHC Museum Site.”
• Multi-Media Stories
This experience includes exhibition stories with additional media like video clips. One story, “Shirley Chisolm for President Poster, 1972” allows patrons to create their own selfie political poster based off of real posters made in the 1970s. More augmented reality features will be added soon.
Stories range in theme – history, culture and community – all together, showcasing the rise and resilience of the African American journey. You can record your reaction and see how others are reacting to the stories at the bottom of each story page, as well as share a specific story with a friend or family member through the app.
Other features include:
• Museum Maps
• Cafe
• Today at the Museum (Events)
• Language Choice (English, Spanish, French)
The app is available for download from the Apple and Google Play Stores. The application will also be available to use at the museum on iPhone devices.