The Government Museum in Egmore, which has been temporarily closed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, is gearing up for a post-pandemic world, and is putting in place various measures such as multiple hand-washing facilities, redesigned toilets and an online ticketing system. Also in the works is a Virtual Reality (VR) museum experience that people can enjoy from the comforts of their homes.
A trial of an app is currently in progress that will enable people to virtually visit the museum and use VR sets to get a real feel of the museum and its artefacts from their homes. “This can take the museum to the people with a lot of background information about the artefacts at the museum. People can zoom into the objects and details of each artefact will be made available in English and Tamil. This should be ready in about one to one and half months,” a senior official told The Hindu.
A team of youngsters, who were selected through a tender process, has also shot drone visuals of the museum and will provide a walk-through experience of the museum.
The museum is also getting ready to ensure that when the government allows them to start regular functioning again, safety of visitors will be its top priority. “Civil works are currently on at the museum premises. We are setting up a number of hand washing facilities and toilets are also being refurbished keeping in mind the practicalities and precautions to be taken against COVID-19,” the official said.
The sale of tickets will mostly be cashless, with QR codes being provided to make digital payments. “The number of visitors will have to be restricted as physical distancing must be maintained. Visitors will have staggered entries to galleries and we are likely to provide specific time slots to visitors that will be mentioned on the tickets,” the official added.
Groups of visitors are likely to be asked to pre-book their visits. “We are working on the modalities of the group visits. For example, we had various schools visiting the museum each day. Now they might have to book their slots. Tourists visiting in groups will also have to pre-book their visits,” the official said.
