Customer Journeys Improved Through LinkRay Technology

Founded in 1994 by magazine publisher Robert E. Petersen and wife Margie, the Petersen Automotive Museum, located on Museum Row, Los Angeles is a non-profit organisation, specialising in automobile history and related education programmes. Through allowing unlimited access to the museum, this helps them to preserve, interpret and build their ever growing collection of automobiles.

The Automotive Museum recently underwent an extreme $125-million renovation, having re-opened in December 2015. With their additional 300,000 square feet, they formed partnerships with a number a large brands such as Maserati, Ford, and Lucas Oil, to fill the museum with more eye-catching exhibits and displays.

“We all were on the lookout for ways to improve our visitors' experience”

Throughout this, the North American Museum were challenged to attract a wider demographic of avid museum goers. This encouraged the museum to seek out new and innovative ways to improve their visitor experience, in turn increasing attendance levels whilst expanding their audience.

Following the extensive restoration, the striking new exterior wraps the museum with ribbons of steel which evoke motion, speed and the lines of a bespoke automobile. With the added 15,000 square feet of display space and 35 new galleries, the museum is able to utilise state of the art technology.

"The museum was an ideal partner to work with to launchLinkRay™ since they already had our projectors and displays in place"

“We all were on the lookout for ways to improve our visitors' experience”, said Adam Langsbard, Chief Marketing Officer of the Petersen Automotive Museum “We turned to Panasonic, who was already our technology partner, to help us better engage with general audiences – especially millennials. Their new LinkRay technology was an exciting option because it was innovative and cost-effective. Plus, we could be the first museum to offer it in the U.S. – we jumped at that opportunity.”

LinkRay™ enables smartphones to read IDs in light sent from LED transmitters, using the smartphone camera, and connect to associated web content. Information sent to the user is web based, and can therefore be pictures, audio or video files. The displayed content can also be automatically provided in the smartphone owner's native language.

“The Petersen Automotive Museum is an iconic institution, with rare automobile exhibits set in a high tech environment,” said Panasonic's Professional Imaging & Visual Systems SVP John Baisley. “The museum was an ideal partner to work with to launch LinkRay™ since they already had our projectors and displays in place. They can now offer their visitors a unique, engaging museum experience, with options that go well beyond the exhibits on display.”

Panasonic is already a well-established technology partner for the Petersen Museum. With the installation of Panasonic's interactive displays, projectors and video walls already in place, they found it straight forward to integrate our increasingly evolving technologies.

John Baisley further explains, “Over the newly designed themed floors, which span 95,000 square feet of the exhibit space, the museum hosts their most prominent piece of Panasonic technology; the stitched projection units. The Petersen also holds an impressive full projection wall, spanning 168ft long, utilising 16 projectors. Our installed technology gives them the opportunity to create exceptional storytelling, targeting their desired audience.”

The beauty of automation is enhanced with the ability to interact with the exhibits through mobile content delivery at the speed of light. The museum attracts people of all ages with its love for new technology and hands on experience designed throughout the exhibits, allowing whole families to engage in the exhibitions, not focusing solely on one demographic. The installation of the LinkRay technology occurred over a pilot period to enable the museum to attract a wider array of visitors. It created an opportunity for them, which they could deploy easily and continue to scale upwards for the benefit of the museum goer.

"LinkRay technology was an exciting option because it was innovative and cost-effective...It opens up a whole new world of possibilities"

The LinkRay™ technology is embedded in the free Petersen Automotive Museum App, enabling access to a variety of activities from buying tickets to future exhibit special offers. This allows a large number of people to simultaneously learn more about an exhibit or environment using their mobile phones for interactivity, something not possible with static displays.

“If we could put a device in your hand, and say how about engage more, learn more, see things and perhaps interact a little bit, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities for us and becomes a very interesting prospect.” said Adam Langsbard, Chief Marketing Officer of the Petersen Automotive Museum.