Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world, social gatherings have come to a standstill. Many places that catered to mass crowds have now been restricted to a limited number of people and one such place in museums.

So, in an effort to curtail the spread of COVID-19 and improve visitor’s experience, Sharjah Museums Authority has come up with an interesting way by launching its new Virtual Guide project in select museums across Sharjah.

In order to safeguard health and safety for the visitors and the staff, Sharjah Museums Authority has replaced the traditional audio guide devices at some of its museums with touch-free technology.

The new plan allows visitors easier and faster access to information about masterpieces at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization.

“At SMA, we are constantly looking for new ways to expand our digital offering and improve accessibility to our museums and collections, especially in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic,” shared Manal Ataya, Director-General of SMA.

Considered one of the most important landmarks in the emirate –the Sharjah Heritage Museum and Sharjah Fort (Al Hisn) will give opportunities to the visitors to learn about Sharjah’s rich history, heritage, and Emirati culture.

Visitors can use their smartphones and tablets at the museum to browse through the museums’ collections and listen to the history behind them without needing to install any new application. It will also allow scanning the QR Code of collections or specific objects for more information about them.

Available in English and Arabic, the audio guide will help users find nearby attractions while providing them with more knowledge about various museums’ collections.

Sharjah Archaeology Museum houses a vast collection of artifacts that were discovered in Sharjah, some of which are as old as 125,000 BC.