#TheLostPalace Experience

Have you been in Whitehall lately? Did you see the burnt wooden doorways or people walking through, touching them wearing headphones and waving blocks of wood around like they were a sword or torch? The Lost Palace by Historic Royal Palaces has been teased at MuseumNext conferences by Tim Powell, project manager, it sounded incredible. Now it's available until September 4th and I had to experience it. 

It was a surprisingly quiet Saturday in August as I and a couple undertook the adventure - awkward on several levels for me - however I can see huge fun would be had with groups of friends doing it. I have friends who would totally immerse themselves and perform King Lear or dance in the Banqueting House, just not me!

The headphones are regular looking but provide the latest in binaural sound to fully immerse you, the device is radically new. Designed as a wooden block there are no buttons, numbers or screen to be distracting. Direction comes from the energetic guide within the tour telling you what to do, where to go and context when needed. The block is the first time I have used an audio guide as an object - are there any other examples out there?

One minute I was being asked to touch the burnt structures around Whitehall with it, another instruction is to cut down the King's impressive garden sundial (below). You get out as much as you put in because if you don't weald the block as a sword you don't 'swipe' the sundial, or get the satisfaction of it's destruction - one for the republicans!

The guide's voice leads you, the GPS or whatever navigating tool is used is great: take one step by The Thames = water lapping by the boat, you are told you're on, no steps = no water lapping and there're all sorts of interactions around the roughly mile course. The use of the accelerometer in the device is innovative and refreshing to see, pointing it as a listening device to the Ministry of Defence building was very satisfying given the current age of who's spying on who, for example!

The content is well constructed and I left with new knowledge about the area and the three centuries mentioned in the guide. The contemporary voice keeps you moving while the professional vignettes at each stop are very high quality in their sounds, delivery and content, especially the ghostly laundry maid who claims responsibility for the destruction of the original Whitehall Palace which has led to this experiment.

An obvious downside to the device is the lack of choice in pace, you need to commit to the experience like you would a movie in an exhibition or a fairground ride. I was wrong to call it an audioguide, it's an experience to be committed to and out in what you want to get out. #TheLostPalace is only a short-term thing, hopefully it can be experienced by lots including museum professionals as I think there are some new ideas here. The quality of execution is very high and while it will have been an expensive project it has delivered a memorable, informative and entertaining experience to me. 

It has also been experienced by Jim Richardson from MuseumNext (read for more technology insight), Mar Dixon and reviewed on the BBC's Click Radio programme.