HYDERABAD: How about having the four-hundred-year odd old history and culture of the region at your fingertips? That is, to be precise, what the Telangana State Department of Archaeology and Museums (TSDAM) has managed to achieve in its 101th year.
Bringing technology closer to public and, in the process, making the city’s history and culture relevant to the younger generation, the TSDAM has developed a mobile app for Android OS users. The yet to be named app will soon be available on Google Playstore. The department worked with e-learning tech firm Future e-Learning Resource for development of the app. According to officials at the department, the app is one of its kind to be launched by any Archaeological Department in the country. A user would be able to get virtual 360 degree tour of museums and monuments, audio tours, watch educational and promotional videos, get updates about the department’s activities and events, take up archaeological quiz and puzzles, go through photo galleries, read blogs and also get connected to the department’s various other online platforms.
However, the most important aspect of the app will be the QR scanner facility. One could just scan any artifact in any of the 13 museums across the State and get connected to all available pages online without even knowing what the artifact is about. “In order to visit them at your own speed and in your own chosen way, select from all the museums using a map, follow the guided instructions for selected artworks as you begin exploring the museum’s rooms; then you can listen and learn as our experts offer their commentaries,” said Vijay Kumar N, of Future-e.
The app will also list details of 13 museums and 346 monuments across the State. The department had last month launched a Facebook page ‘Telangana Museums’ and a new website ‘http://telanganamuseums.com/’ “The collection, classification of data and developing the app took eight months.
It will be continuously upgraded to make it more interactive and attractive,” said Sunitha M Bhagwat, director, TSDAM.
Under the department of Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture(YAT&C), the Telangana Tourism Development Corporation too is working on a mobile app which would source all information relating to tourist sites, available packages, infrastructure, and amenities etc and is learnt to be in talks with several vendors.
Earlier in 2011, the then APTDC had launched a global positioning system(GPS)-enabled video tour of the Golconda Fort and plans were afoot to develop similar services for the Qutb Shahi tombs and the Charminar.