Victoria - GSM audio guide

A GSM audio guide service is available in the Province of Lucca. The service, which is sponsored by the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, allows tourists visiting the territory to access free audio information on the local cultural heritage and on tourist facilities.

Why a GSM audio guide service?
Despite a considerable number of visits to the portal "Lucca and its land", with some 100.000 users from January to June 2004, a difference was registered between internet users and the number of tourists visiting the Province every year, the latter amounting to some 3.200.000 stays in 2003 (source: Tourism Service of the Province of Lucca).
The GSM audio guide service is aimed at enhancing the services offered by the portal "Lucca and its lands" and at providing prompt assistance to anybody in the territory, thanks to a widely available technology, like widespread mobile phones (383 million users in Europe and a market penetration fluctuating between 84% and 90% in some countries – source: GSM Association), and through simple and accessible instruments.

GSM audio guide and accessibility
The project is based on AGATA (GSM Audio guide for Arts, Tourism and Environment), a technology developed by Liberologico (www.liberologico.com/agata), and provides a service which is highly advanced, also from a social perspective: the Province of Lucca will therefore promote integration and equal opportunities for users generally not given the due attention by the edutainment sector. In that respect, thanks to the valuable cooperation of the Florence division of the Italian Association for the Blind, special attention was attached to the communication of audio contents, in order to encourage visually impaired people to use the service. Indeed, the service was conceived to bring down digital barriers: it provides a first response to the Stanca Legislation (approved on 17 December 2003), on the regulations to facilitate the access of disabled people to computing technologies.

How to use it
Turning the audio guide on is quick and easy. Simply dial the toll-free number 800 39 0583 and follow the vocal instructions. You can directly access to the presentations of the towns and cultural attractions, by dialing the relating three-numbered codes, as indicated within the website "Lucca and its land" or on the map of the territory (956 KB). The menus can be selected either by dialing the phone’s keys (DTMF function) or through natural voice, pronouncing aloud your choice (ASR function). A vocal guide, both in Italian and English, like an on-site guide, will provide information about the selected cultural attraction (church, event, fortification, museum, archaeological site, villa) and about the nearby tourist facilities, like hotels and restaurants, etc., directly on the tourist’s mobile.


Navigational tutorial:

The user dial: 800 39 0583.

AGATA:
Benvenuto a Lucca e le sue terre. Welcome to Lucca and its lands.
Scegli la lingua. Select a language: italiano, dial 1; English, dial 2.

The user dials: 1.

AGATA:
To select a town, dial 1.
If you know the code of the cultural attraction, dial 2.

The user dials: 1.

AGATA:
Pronounce the name of the town you are interested in, or dial the related three-numbered code.

The user pronounces: Barga.

AGATA:
Welcome to Barga.
To hear the presentation of Barga, dial 1;
about cultural attractions, dial 2;
about events, dial 3;
about food and drink, dial 4;
about accommodation, dial 5;
to change town or insert a new code, dial 6;

The user dials: 2.

AGATA:
For information about archaeological sites, dial 1;
about museums, dial 2;
about fortifications, dial 3;
about churches, dial 4;
about villas, dial 5;
to change town or insert a new code, dial 6.

The user pronounces: fortifications.

AGATA:
Now, select the fortification you are interested in:
about the Tower of Sommocolonia, dial 1;
about Walls of Barga, dial 2.

The user dials: 1.

AGATA: (durata 100 sec.)
The Tower of Sommocolonia.
Medieval tower, (13th-14th century).
The tower of Sommocolonia is at the top of a hill, around which a village develops. The fortified structure consists of a tower, placed within an elongated irregularly shaped area, surrounded by low walls, that represent only a small part of the original enceinte...

to hear more about historical outline, dial 1;
about useful information, dial 2;
about cultural attractions, dial 3;
about events, dial 4;
about food and drink, dial 5;
about accommodation, dial 6;
to change town or insert a new code, dial 7;
to listen again to the presentation, dial 0;

The user pronounces: eventi.

AGATA: (durata 62 sec.)
Opera Barga.
Festival of music and theatre, from July 16th to August 16th 2004, in Barga.
The Barga opera festival, is a very important international cultural event, which takes place in the medieval town of italian Barga, livening up the summer of the entire italian Serchio valley...


For information about cultural attractions, dial 2;
about events, dial 3;
about food and drink, dial 4;
about accommodation, dial 5;
To change town or insert a code, dial 6;
to listen again to the presentation, dial 0.

...

LIST OF THE AVAILABLE AUDIO GUIDE CODES: