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Scopify app gives visitors insight into 15 pieces at Royal Ontario Museum<br><br>A new smartphone app will allow visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum to add skin to a tyrannosaurus Rex, watch a dodo walk around in its natural habitat, get a glimpse inside an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and more.<br><br>ScopifyROM, developed by Toronto based production studio Kensington Communications, gives ROM visitors unique insight into 15 pieces in the museum's permanent collection.<br><br>"When we talked to the ROM about it, they felt it was a way to take away the glass in front of the exhibit, giving visitors a chance to reach in and investigate the objects in a way," said David Oppenheim of Kensington Communications. "It's a way for people to look at the objects in a different way."<br><br>The Scopify app, which is available free of charge for iPhone and Android phones, covers a variety of artifacts throughout the ROM's many galleries, from dinosaurs to minerals to ancient cultures.<br><br>"We tried to give visitors a good cross section of the different areas of interest," Oppenheim said.<br><br>Once a visitor has scopified five items, it opens a series of educational games to enhance the learning experience even further.<br><br>The idea for the app came about when Kensington was filming the TV series Museum Secrets. Following filming at the ROM,samsung galaxy s3 leather case, Kensington's team spoke with museum staff about creating an app to highlight and enhance the ROM experience.<br><br>Kensington's developers worked closely with museum staff to select items that would lend themselves to Scopify's various features and to come up with the information provided.<br><br>In some cases, the Scopify features offer users a look at the work done by the ROM's curatorial staff.<br><br>"We helped them narrow and refine the scopes and some of them got changed and new ones were added," said ROM interpretive planner Courtney Murfin. "For some of the features, our curators said 'Hey, we do this. This is a great way to show what we do.'"<br><br>Murfin added that Scopify has already earned positive reviews from users. While the app was just released recently, she said she always sees people using it when looking at exhibits.<br><br>"What we love about it is that it's giving (visitors) an experience they can't have in the gallery but it doesn't detract attention from the exhibit," she said. "People will X ray the cat mummy, look at the neckbones on their phone and then look at the exhibit to see where those bones are in the exhibit."<br><br>While ScopifyROM is still in its early days, both Oppenheim and Murfin said they are hopeful it will be expanded to feature more artifacts in the ROM galleries.<br><br>Oppenheim said Kensington Communications is also looking at potentially expanding the project to other museums, cultural and other landmarks.<br><br>"We're looking at Scopify as a brand that could be used in a lot of cultural institutions, including ones that are outside," he said. "You could Scopify statues or even national parks."

Scopify app gives visitors insight into 15 pieces at Royal Ontario Museum<br><br>A new smartphone app will allow visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum to add skin to a tyrannosaurus Rex, watch a dodo walk around in its natural habitat, get a glimpse inside an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and more.<br><br>ScopifyROM, developed by Toronto based production studio Kensington Communications, gives ROM visitors unique insight into 15 pieces in the museum's permanent collection.<br><br>"When we talked to the ROM about it, they felt it was a way to take away the glass in front of the exhibit, giving visitors a chance to reach in and investigate the objects in a way," said David Oppenheim of Kensington Communications. "It's a way for people to look at the objects in a different way."<br><br>The Scopify app, which is available free of charge for iPhone and Android phones, covers a variety of artifacts throughout the ROM's many galleries, from dinosaurs to minerals to ancient cultures.<br><br>"We tried to give visitors a good cross section of the different areas of interest," Oppenheim said.<br><br>Once a visitor has scopified five items, it opens a series of educational games to enhance the learning experience even further.<br><br>The idea for the app came about when Kensington was filming the TV series Museum Secrets. Following filming at the ROM,samsung galaxy s3 leather case, Kensington's team spoke with museum staff about creating an app to highlight and enhance the ROM experience.<br><br>Kensington's developers worked closely with museum staff to select items that would lend themselves to Scopify's various features and to come up with the information provided.<br><br>In some cases, the Scopify features offer users a look at the work done by the ROM's curatorial staff.<br><br>"We helped them narrow and refine the scopes and some of them got changed and new ones were added," said ROM interpretive planner Courtney Murfin. "For some of the features, our curators said 'Hey, we do this. This is a great way to show what we do.'"<br><br>Murfin added that Scopify has already earned positive reviews from users. While the app was just released recently, she said she always sees people using it when looking at exhibits.<br><br>"What we love about it is that it's giving (visitors) an experience they can't have in the gallery but it doesn't detract attention from the exhibit," she said. "People will X ray the cat mummy, look at the neckbones on their phone and then look at the exhibit to see where those bones are in the exhibit."<br><br>While ScopifyROM is still in its early days, both Oppenheim and Murfin said they are hopeful it will be expanded to feature more artifacts in the ROM galleries.<br><br>Oppenheim said Kensington Communications is also looking at potentially expanding the project to other museums, cultural and other landmarks.<br><br>"We're looking at Scopify as a brand that could be used in a lot of cultural institutions, including ones that are outside," he said. "You could Scopify statues or even national parks."