LONDON.- The British Museum is launching a new audio guide, sponsored by Korean Air. The new audio guide will be a vital tool to access the permanent collection and will be available to hire on site to the museum's 6.7 million visitors each year. As a museum of the world for the world, the audio guide will help communicate and share knowledge with visitors from across the globe.

The new audio guide gives visitors easy access to and fresh perspectives on the British Museum’s collection. Four updated products make up the offer:

• Main audio guide for independent adult visitors in 10 languages
• Family game guide for children and adults to play together
• Audio descriptive guide
• British Sign Language guide

With the long-term sponsorship from Korean Air, all four products have been completely redesigned following best practice in user-centred design. The main audio guide covers more than 250 of the Museum’s most important objects with audio and video commentaries. It is available in 10 languages: English, Korean, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish and Mandarin, which is the top-selling language. This new version of the audio guide contains:

• 70 dynamic new commentaries featuring curators and experts talking about the most recent research on key objects

• 8 new introductions to self-guided tours, turn-by-turn directions for self-guided tours and new tours for China and A History of the World

• Easy access to the Museum’s most famous objects through Highlights feature and Top 10 tour

• Stunning new photography of all 250 objects in the galleries and in the studio, including close-ups showing details of many objects

• Intuitive user interface that was tested with over 400 visitors over the course of development

• Interactive map that tracks visitors’ locations and to helps them easily find their way

• A ‘My visit’ feature that remembers what visitors have seen and sends them a visual record of their visit by email

The family game guide allows children (aged 7 and up) and adults to play and learn together in the Museum’s galleries. It is available in English and covers 70 objects with exciting adventures and challenges. The British Sign Language guide includes 70 new signed commentaries from a dynamic group of presenters. The audio descriptive guide has been updated and improved.

The main audio guide, family game guide and British Sign Language guide are provided on Android smart phones. The audio descriptive guide is provided on an easy-to-use touchpad device. All the products will be available for hire at the Museum at a newly designed retail desk in the Great Court.

The audio guide project is an integral part of the British Museum’s Digital Strategy which focuses on innovation through user research and testing. The Museum strives to create products that deliver the best value and user experience for those visiting our galleries. The audio guide was continually tested with real visitors during development and will continue to be evaluated and improved to keep step with visitor needs, new research on the collection and the latest technology trends.