Supplying headphones jacks is trickier than ever -- depending on what sources you believe, 20%-40% of people use bluetooth as their primary headphones, and even amongst the remainder, the wired headphones are split across 1/8" jack, lightning, and USB-C due to the flagship phone manufacturers moving on from the headphone jack. There's both logistical issues with trying to support that many options (no single option is likely to satisfy over 50% of users), as well as data security concerns (people probably shouldn't be sticking data cables into a public lightning/USB port!).
Tod makes some excellent points about synchronicity -- any sort of streaming solution would have issues with staying in sync with visual content. Most people would be bothered by as little as 30 ms of audio latency, which doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room. If the media you're trying to deliver is static video content, it may be best to just deliver the entire movie (rather than just audio) over streaming / app / web delivery. Anything interactive will be trickier. Directional speakers are probably the *simplest* solution, though they do require some thoughtfulness about space layout to be useful. I've had success using multiple directional speakers in a space; it could be a straightforward solution depending on your space layout and constraints. nathan On Wed, Aug 12, 2020 at 12:19 PM hoplist <[email protected]> wrote: > I have historically recommended that any exhibit with headphones also > include a standard mini jack for personal headphones. This is not a > response to Covid but rather to the general visitor discomfort with sharing > headphones. I also suggest that inexpensive ear bud type headphones be made > available for purchase since visitors don’t habitually travel with > headphones in their pockets. The cost of adding a mini-jack to an exhibit > with headphones is usually inconsequential, even retroactively. The > functionality is often already there, just not implemented. > > Unfortunately, mini jacks don’t work for bluetooth headphones, so it’s > tempting to consider adding a bluetooth connection. But making a bluetooth > connection direct to headphones is complex as you’ve observed. Pairing is > difficult to do without a visual user interface. I don’t believe this is > practical at this time. It may never be since making it easy would have to > be a feature in the headphones, not the exhibit design, and why would > manufacturers care? > > However, using Bluetooth to connect to visitor phones to provide a > personal interface is promising. I know of at least three companies capable > of implementing this now, via wi-fi or bluetooth, and I’m sure many others > could. At the moment, these would still be “custom” solutions, but > companies are working on “commoditizing” this approach. > > Streaming audio is fine for asynchronous audio, but not for synchronous > delivery. And it’s effectively the same as a mobile app or web delivery. > > “Focused” speakers are not, in and of themselves, a solution. Acoustic > control requires wholistic design. Focused speakers can be a part of this > but without environmental controls they don’t solve the problem. With > wholistic acoustic design, you often don’t need hyper focused speakers. I > generally prefer “narrow-beam” rather than “focused” in a wholistic design. > > Cheers, > tod > > Tod Hopkins > Hillmann & Carr Inc. > > > > > > On Aug 12, 2020, at 10:23 AM, George Scharoun <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi all, > > > > I'm curious to know how you have or plan to adapt to new hygiene > standards in terms of headphones, specifically the type attached to a video > or interactive in the galleries. > > Do you have short term fixes or long term strategies you'd like to share > or think through? > > > > Some ideas (all with pros and cons I think): > > -Streaming audio at QR-code link > > -Focused speakers > > -Open headphone jack, plug in your own > > -Create new content silent by design when speakers aren't appropriate > > -Move content to mobile app or web > > > > Looking forward to hearing from others, > > George > > > > - > > > > George Scharoun > > He/him/his > > Manager of Exhibition and Gallery Media > > Museum of Fine Arts, Boston > > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | 617-276-5217 (mobile) > > www.mfa.org > > The MFA is currently closed and staff are working remotely > > > > _______________________________________________ > > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum > Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > > > To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] > > > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > > http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
