A Digital Upgrade at the Tower of Museum By Debra Kamin

January 29, 2015 12:31 pm

When the Tower of David Museum opened in ’s in 1989, with video models, dioramas and even a rainbow­hued hologram among its offerings, its technology was considered cutting­edge.

Here, inside an ancient citadel whose foundation predates Herod and the Hasmoneans, museum officials sought to make relevant 4,000 years of history through a handful of colorful exhibits scattered through the fortification’s ramparts and inner chambers.

But times change.

In order to reach a new generation of visitors addicted to their tablets, museum officials knew their old stones would need an upgrade.

So starting Feb. 1, the Tower of David Museum will introduce a digital initiative that uses the most modern of instruments – iPads, smartphones and handheld devices – to get patrons excited about the history at their fingertips.

The Tower of David sits adjacent to the Old City’s Gate, atop ruins that predate the First Temple. On its grounds are a moat dug by the Crusaders, bathing pools carved out by Herodian slaves and an Ottoman­era prison, the Kishle, built over centuries of stone layers and considered by some archaeologists to be the site of Jesus Christ’s trial.

Now, when visitors climb to the top of the citadel’s Tower to take in a panorama including the Dome of the Rock, the Church of Mary Magdalene and the Judean Mountains, they can position a tablet (available for 15 shekels, about $3.85) over the view and the AugmentiGuide, an audiovisual guide built from I.D.F. mapping technology, will identify and explain landmarks within the frame.

“You see thousands of years of history from the tower, and then you have the 21st­century technology on top of it, with augmented visual effects,” said Dr. Garry Zalmanson, the former chief scientist of the Israel Defense Forces’ mapping corps, who developed the technology through his photogrammetry company LMY R&D Group.

The technology, which the Tower of David is rolling out through an exclusive deal with Samsung Israel, marks the first use of this sort of I.D.F.­ sourced mapping in Israeli tourism, Dr. Zalmanson said.

For 10 shekels, kids can download an interactive detective game, “Whose Tower Is It?” on their smartphones that will send them exploring the Citadel grounds to solve the mystery of who actually built the Tower of David. Their parents can also opt to rent an iPad (25 shekels) and play a family adventure game, “Swipe the Citadel,” in which they must help an archaeologist find his lost daughter within the museum’s hidden passageways. The game features interactive, location­based technology that is the first of its kind in Israel, its developers said.

QR codes linked to a smartphone treasure hunt, free Wi­Fi throughout the museum campus, 3­D outdoor screens that recreate the ancient grounds as they were thousands of years ago, and a spruced­up website are also part of the initiative.

“After 25 years, we want to again make the archaeology center stage. What is this place? What happened here over the years?” said the museum’s director, Eilat Lieber. “The technology can really help us tell the magnificent stories that are here.” © 2015 The New York Times Company