Hey but they can, thanks to a another advancement in the digital revolution!
Wander up and down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and stop off at say, the old Playhouse Close, Mary Kings Close or Fleshmarket Close and hear their stories read to you! The walls literally can talk to you …well almost.
The stories are brought to you via Beacon Technology.
Before you venture off you need to download Edinburgh Up Close from the Apple App Store. Thereafter, you don’t need a phone signal or wifi!
Once off on foot, enable the bluetooth option on your mobile device and venture into the numerous closes up and down the Royal Mile. Without the need for wi-fi or a phone signal, the app will automatically connect to the beacon when you step into the close (the Beacon is cleverly hidden). The stories will automatically be downloaded to your new Edinburgh Up Close App and recant the history of Edinburgh, it’s many characters and life in the day. Even better still, you now have the stories on your phone post tour, allowing locals and tourists to listen again, or share with friends and family.
The technology was developed by entrepreneur Gavin Neate (Neatbox) and is the City of Edinburgh Council’s official guide to the Royal Mile.
Now the techie bit. Beacon technology allows Mobile Apps to understand their position in a micro-local scale, and deliver hyper-contextual content to users based on location. The App here is using this proximity aware Beacon technology.
Edinburgh Up Close is the first step for this technology and another opportunity to enhance the visitor experience in Edinburgh. A guided tour that Edinburgh tourists can take home and enjoy.
Note: Edinburgh Up Close is only available in the App Store…watch out for the Android version coming soon!