The Tokyo National Museum Project

In February 2008, Koozyt, Inc., a company spun out from Sony CSL, was selected by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan) to receive FY2009 funding for a project to commercialize location information infrastructure and information distribution systems using PlaceEngine technology. In January 2010, a real-world trial of the system developed through the NEDO grant got under way: the Tokyo National Museum (TNM) Project. The trial ran for three weeks at the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures in the Tokyo National Museum. Sony CSL was involved in the planning and content development of the trial. The trial was a success. Praise for the app used during the trial led to its being adopted as an official TNM guide app. This app was branded "The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures 30-Minute Guide" in 2010. 

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At the same time, "Tohaku-Navi" was developed as the official guide app for the Tokyo National Museum as a whole. There was a three-month trial roll-out at the museum, and then, in 2012, came full-scale deployment to the general public. Later, in September 2013, a Lite version (Japanese & English) for iOS was released, followed in April 2014 by v2.0 of the app, which unified the functions and content of the Android and iOS versions. In October 2014, a new feature was added to the "Honkan 2F: Highlights of Japanese Art" portion of the guide app: "Today's Selection," which spotlights one work in each of this section of the museum's 14 exhibit areas. Since many Japanese works of art are fragile, there is frequent rotation of those on display. The selected works are updated accordingly in Tohaku-Navi. The app also automatically presents relevant content based on the user's location. 

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Sony CSL is a technology provider and content creation partner for the Tohaku-Navi Joint Research Project*

* Tohaku-Navi Joint Research Project: a research project launched jointly in 2012 by TNM, ISID and Koozyt that aims to use location tracking and other forms of IT to enhance the experience of visitors to TNM's regular exhibits.

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