GURU’s ‘The San Diego Museum of Art App’ Selected as a Winner of CONNECT’s 29th Annual Most Innovative New Product Awards

Popular Mobile App Offers Museum Visitors an Enhanced Experience Through Augmented Reality and Beacon Technology

SAN DIEGO – December 4, 2016. The San Diego Museum of Art, the region’s oldest, largest and most visited art museum, announced that The San Diego Museum of Art App (SDMA App), powered by Guru, has been selected as a winner in the Software, Digital Media, Mobile App Category at CONNECT’s 29th Annual Most Innovative New Product Awards. CONNECT, a premier innovation company accelerator in San Diego that creates and scales companies in the technology and life sciences sectors, annually hosts this prestigious competition. Starting each year in the spring and culminating in the awards ceremony in December, the awards recognize and laud groundbreaking products released within the last 18 months from San Diego-based innovation companies.

The SDMA App is an interactive indoor-mapping mobile app that allows visitors to easily navigate the Museum and further explore exclusive information about specific exhibitions and works of art. The app’s popular augmented reality feature brings works of art to life. In one example, The Molo from the Basin of San Marco, Venice by Bernardo Bellotto (ca 1740), uses augmented reality to give the painting movement — users see the boats in the canal sail by, hear birds chirp, and are given a chance to experience what the artist might have seen in 18th century Venice, Italy.

In addition to the augmented reality features, the app includes 150 audio tour stops, full mapping of the museum, hours of engaging video content by curators and conservators, various themed tours and more for visitors to immerse themselves in an interactive art experience. Once a user downloads the app for free and is at the museum, Guru’s technology can instantly pinpoint a person’s location and automatically deliver content to their smartphone as they walk up to the works of art. As users pass through each exhibition, the app lights up with information regarding artists, history, inventors and other hidden secrets waiting to be revealed.

“The SDMA App, powered by Guru, allows visitors of all ages to experience personalized tours of the Museum with compelling content, videos by our curators, augmented reality, and new ways of connecting to our institution and its rich history,” said Dieter Fenkart-Fröschl, Chief Operating Officer of The San Diego Museum of Art. “We are thrilled our app was selected as a winner of CONNECT’s Most Innovative New Product Awards, and look forward to working with Guru to enrichen the experience of current audiences and to attract new audiences of museum goers.”

Winners were selected from the following 10 categories: Bluetech; Cleantech, Sustainability, and Energy; Defense, Transportation, and Cyber Security; Information Communication Technologies; Life Science Diagnostics and Research Tools; Medical Devices; Pharmaceutical Drugs and Biologic Therapies; Robotics and Unmanned Vehicles; Software, Digital Media, and Mobile Apps; and Sport and Active Lifestyle Technologies. For a complete list of winners and additional information, please visit the Most Innovative New Product Awards Website.

The San Diego Museum of Art’s app is free and available for iOS and Android devices and empowers people to rediscover the institution’s many treasures with ease and convenience.