Patna Museum. Telegraph picture

Patna, Jan. 31: The state art, culture and youth affairs department is about to introduce an audio tour facility at Patna Museum to help foreign visitors understand the various artefacts, archaeological objects, coins and the other items on display.

Sources said the audio guide will provide the visitors with a recorded commentary in various languages.

Parvez Akhtar, the officer-on-special-duty, museums, art, culture and youth affairs department, told The Telegraph: “We are going to float tenders for the purpose shortly. The audio guide will narrate the background, context and information on the displayed items in seven to eight languages. The guests can choose the language of their preference from the options.”

Akhtar said the visitors from countries like Japan, China and Korea often have difficulty in understanding the importance of the artefacts on display because of language constraints. “The information on the tags attached to the items are also brief and do not give much details. But the information fed in the audio device will be very detailed and prepared in such a way that it would be clear to both the layman and the historian. Everyone will be able to understand the essence of the items on display,” added Akhtar.

Sources said the devices will be designed to provide audio content to the visitors, with or without user interaction. The device may provide alternative content based on personal preferences and include accessories like headphones, digital pens and LED or LCD screens. “The visitors can operate the devices with touch and push button systems. They can enter the code assigned to a particular object in the audio guide and the content will be relayed,” said one of the museum officials.

Sources said the audio guide could also have a line of sight aware system, which can operate automatically. The system can sense the location of the item and the target and provide the content. This system may include artificial intelligence that will measure the visitor’s interest and provide information based on that. These systems can also provide the museum management with useful statistics and reports, including tour statistics, visitor statistics, opinions and other surveys.

Patna Museum was built in 1917 to house historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna. Built in the style of Mughal and Rajput architecture, it is a multi-purpose museum. The items on display include archaeological objects, coins, paintings, instruments, textiles, thangkas (Tibetan silk painting), bronze images, sculptures and terracotta images of Hindu deities and Buddhist monks. The museum also houses a rare collection of paintings from the British period, depicting the day-to-day lives of English officials. A collection associated with the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, also holds place of pride, said an official.

“The fossil of a 200-million-year-old tree is on display at the museum. Didarganj Yakshi, a 2000-year-old gold statue, is one of the most prized collections of this museum,” said a curator at the museum.