Handbook for Sound Engineers

Message Repeaters and Evacuation Systems 1523

The system can be used with the unit’s built-in speaker

or with plug-in earphones.

GroupGuide by Espro is a portable system for group

tours where the visitor wears a personal receiver with

headphones, and the guide wears a transmitter with

microphone.

AKG, Sennheiser, and Williams Sound also have

tour systems using wireless microphones and wireless

receivers. All of these systems as the GroupGuide are

useful for guided tours.

40.4.8.4 Sophisticated Systems

One sophisticated system is GuidePORT™ by

Sennheiser. To operate GuidePORT, the museum is set

up into zones or cells, Fig. 40-7. These zones may be

separate rooms or floors or a section of a large room.

Audio files associated with the exhibit in a cell and their

corresponding identifier unit are created and/or stored

on a standard PC. The files are uploaded by Guide-

PORT software to multichannel RF (radio frequency)

wireless cell transmitters located in each individual cell.

Each cell transmitter stores the audio for its particular

zone. The audio (prerecorded and/or live stream) for

that particular cell is downloaded into the visitors’

receivers when they enter the cell.

GuidePORT’s charger system can store and charge

ten wireless receivers. Chargers can be linked to accom-

modate 5,000+ receivers. Receivers can operate for up

to 8 h between charges. The charger system is linked to

the control unit (PC) to allow programming the

receivers for language and/or level.

To enable management of a frequently changing

exhibit environment, Sennheiser has engineered a

list-based audio configuration software so the museum

management can control the audio tours by simply

updating the master audio list as exhibit items and

corresponding identifiers are moved.

Discreet wireless antennas are strategically placed

throughout the exhibit to allow receivers and cell trans-

mitters to interoperate. The system is designed to

operate on license-free dedicated radio frequencies in

the 2.4 GHz ISM band that are ideal for digital audio

and resistant to outside radio interference.

Battery-operated or externally powered wireless

identifier units are hidden near or behind each exhibit.

The wireless architecture behind the GuidePORT

system allows for quick and easy setup of the museum

because, as an exhibit is moved, the associated identifier

is moved along with it making it easy to rearrange an

exhibit space.

The visitors are given a lightweight receiver that fits

in the palm of their hand or can be hung around their

neck, and a headset. The receiver is programmed by a

staff member to the language and level the visitor

desires. The system is hands free so the visitor is not

required to press buttons to match exhibit placards. The

visitors proceed into the exhibit at their own pace and as

they move from exhibit to exhibit, the system automati-

cally dissolves the audio from the previous message to

the new one. Visitors can adjust the volume and pause

or repeat information they would like to hear again, Fig.

40-8. The headphones fit all age groups and can include

a sponsor logo.

When the visitor enters a zone, audio files for all of

the exhibits within that zone are downloaded into the

visitor’s receiver. The identifiers automatically trigger

the receiver when a visitor is within a specified range of

the displayed item to play the corresponding audio file.

The trigger range, along with other parameters of the

identifier, can be programmed via an infrared enabled

Palm™ compatible PDA.

GuidePORT can integrate live audio into the presen-

tation. The visitor can listen to live demonstrations,

concerts, movies, and video presentations with synchro-

nized sound just by walking into the area. The visitor

can leave the area and walk to a new area and the audio

program will automatically change.

All stationary components of GuidePORT are

located in a central location. Cell transmitters interface

with their base station PC via USB ports. A larger

facility can network multiple base station PCs,

including through an existing network. Antennas are

connected using standard shielded Cat5 cable. Audio

files may be created anywhere in any standard formt,

which are then converted to .WAV files before they are

Figure 40-7. GuidePORT system layout for a typical
museum. Courtesy Sennheiser Electronics.

Antenna

Identifier

Main console

Receiver storage unit

ReceiverIdentifier