Up close and social at Kunsthalle München

Challenge: Engage and impress a new generation of art lovers

In a world where late-night openings and Instagram experiences are creating a buzz among a new generation of cultural visitors, interpreting and understanding art is no longer just a one-way discussion. Like many museums, one of Munich’s leading art museums, the Kunsthalle München, wanted to know how could they tap into this “buzz,” empowering their visitors while also creating their own dialogue with them. Enter Antenna, with heyKH, a powerful new platform designed specifically for this need.

Unlike multimedia guides, heyKH is a participatory experience that relies mainly on user-generated content. It gives visitors a voice, letting them interact directly with each other, while also allowing the museum to enter into this dialogue, based on users’ particular profiles and interests.

Solution: The latest in social technology

As cultural content creators and storymakers, we knew that heyKH needed to be more than just an informative experience—it needed to be immersive and engaging. Thanks to image recognition and location-based technology, that is now possible.

The complete heyKH experience offers visitors the ability to:

• Trigger AV commentary simply by pointing a smartphone at an art object
• Share their own interpretations and discuss artworks with other museumgoers using the app
• Send direct messages to other visitors
• Ask questions about the site that can be answered by museum staff
• Post photos and videos to a live feed on large screens across the museum (moderator approved)

And in turn, the museum is able to:

• Identify each visitor’s country of origin and other demographic info
• Receive voluntarily submitted data on each visitor, including their selected photos, videos, and interests (art, sports, food and drink, etc.)
• Send tailored messages to and get curators and guides to engage with specific visitors or groups based on the above.

Outcome: A genuine cultural connection

In this way, the heyKH app marks the creation of a living, breathing cultural connection. Sharing opinions and ideas with various similar museumgoers while also engaging in conversation with the museum itself offers the visitor a unique, ever-evolving experience—one that is both highly social and rewarding.

heyKH is empowering visitor experiences at Kunsthalle München all the time. For example, it’s used at special events like the nighttime social gathering Afterwork, which takes place the third Wednesday of the month. Here, over drinks and accompanied by a DJ, visitors can use the heyKH platform to identify and communicate with each other in a much more relaxed, informal way, discussing a wide array of topics beyond simply the exhibitions. They can even vote and make recommendations on items such as their favorite cocktail (in the app’s Drink&Talk community).

In an age where attention spans last only as long as you can swipe and conversations can seem more like quick-fire game-show rounds, heyKH is a way for museums to make sure they can continue to tell their stories without being left behind the curve. More than that, it allows them to become a part of the “buzz” and offer a social experience that a whole new generation of visitors can relate to.

Want to know more about the technology behind heyKH and how you can implement it at your institution?