Static placards and paper maps once defined the museum experience. Today, digital kiosks serve as revolutionary gateways to cultural institutions worldwide.
The transformation from traditional information displays to interactive digital interfaces has fundamentally changed both visitor experiences and museum operations.
What began as basic information terminals has evolved into sophisticated platforms that bring exhibits to life through multimedia storytelling, personalized experiences, and seamless wayfinding.
What are Museum Kiosks?
Museum kiosks are touchscreen tablets or all-in-one computers strategically placed throughout exhibition spaces.
These digital stations allow visitors to dive deeper into exhibit information, navigate museum layouts with ease, and interact with special content experiences that enhance their understanding of the displays.
The term "kiosk" actually comes from the Turkish word "köşk," originally referring to small garden pavilions.
Over time, the meaning evolved to describe small standalone structures providing information or services.
In modern museums, these digital kiosks serve as information pavilions for the digital age, convenient stopping points where visitors can gather knowledge and orientation.
What are the Benefits of Museum Kiosks?
Museum program managers and customer experience managers rely on kiosks to create scalable, editable content. Here are the top benefits of this technology:
Easy to Update and Maintain
Remember the old days of printed museum labels? When information changed, staff would need to redesign, print, and physically mount new signage, a time-consuming and expensive process. Digital kiosks eliminate this hassle.
Content updates take minutes rather than days and deploy instantly across all devices throughout your museum.
This flexibility allows curators to repurpose kiosks for different functions as exhibitions change, maximizing your technology investment.
Improved Content Accessibility
One of the most valuable aspects of museum kiosks is how they democratize access to information.
For visitors with hearing impairments, kiosks can provide text transcripts of audio and video content. Those with vision impairments benefit from audio descriptions of visual exhibits.
Perhaps most impressively, kiosks can offer content in multiple languages with a simple tap, welcoming international visitors without cluttering your physical space with multilingual signage.
Always-Available Information
Even the most dedicated docent needs breaks, but your digital kiosks never do. They provide consistent, accurate information about exhibitions, wayfinding assistance, and museum details 24/7.
This ensures visitors always have access to some form of support during their exploration, enhancing satisfaction and educational outcomes regardless of staffing levels.
Enhanced Visitor Engagement
Digital kiosks can dramatically boost visitor engagement by turning passive displays into interactive experiences. They help people connect more deeply with content, stay longer, and retain more information.
A great example is the American Battlefield Trust, which used kiosks to enhance over 150 battlefield sites.
With STQRY Kiosk, they created touchscreen experiences with maps, reenactments, and first-person stories.
Visitors spent more time at these exhibits and reported a better understanding of the history. Many even returned, drawn by the engaging digital features.
Attract More Visitors
According to the American Alliance of Museums, only half of museums (51 percent) have recovered to 100 percent or more of their pre-pandemic attendance levels.
This recovery challenge makes technological innovation more important than ever. That’s why technology is more important than ever.
Today’s visitors—especially younger ones—want digital experiences alongside traditional exhibits.
Museums that use interactive kiosks often see more buzz on social media and through word-of-mouth, helping bring in new visitors.
Key Features to Look for in Kiosk Software
When purchasing museum kiosk software, consider vetting solutions for these key features. They’ll ensure that you’re getting the most out of your kiosk platform and that it can meet your needs for years to come.
Multilanguage Capabilities
Your kiosk platform should allow multilanguage content experiences. Users should be able to select their language and have the rest of the content automatically available in their language of choice.
Prioritize languages commonly spoken by your visitors to maximize inclusivity.
Multimedia Integration
Today's museum visitors expect rich, varied content experiences. Your kiosk software should seamlessly support:
- High-resolution images with zoom capabilities
- Engaging videos with optional subtitles
- Clear, concise text in varying formats
- Audio narration with volume controls
- Augmented reality (AR) experiences that bring exhibits to life
Even if you're not implementing all these formats immediately, choosing a platform that supports these capabilities ensures you're prepared for future content innovations.
Customizable Content Themes
Consistency in design creates a professional, cohesive visitor experience. Look for kiosk platforms offering customizable content themes that align with your museum's branding.
This approach lets you develop a recognizable visual language across all digital touchpoints while saving time, new content can use existing design templates rather than requiring designs from scratch.
Interactive Features
Static information displays miss the point of digital kiosks. True engagement comes from interactivity, allowing visitors to engage with exhibits in personally meaningful ways.
Ensure your chosen platform works smoothly with touchscreen interfaces and offers intuitive navigation options for visitors of all ages and tech comfort levels.
Accessibility Features
Your museum kiosk should also include accessibility features. For instance, if there’s written text, a user should be able to click an audio button to hear it read aloud. Make sure your platform offers voiceover and image descriptions.
These inclusive design elements ensure all visitors can benefit from your digital content.
Centralized Management System
Managing content across multiple kiosks shouldn't require visiting each physical location. Choose a cloud-enabled solution that allows your team to update and deploy content from a single management portal.
When you update exhibition information or correct an error, those changes should automatically appear on all relevant kiosks throughout your museum.
Content Analytics
The digital nature of kiosks offers a valuable opportunity to understand visitor behavior. Your platform should collect data on:
- Which content pages attract the most engagement
- Which pages visitors tend to skip or abandon
- How completely visitors explore available information
- Which physical kiosk locations see the heaviest traffic
These insights help refine not just your digital strategy but can inform broader decisions about exhibition design and visitor flow throughout your museum.
Top Use Cases for Museum Kiosks
There are several different types of museum kiosks, and many of them can perform double duty (or triple duty). Whether through widgets or choose-your-own-adventure flows, kiosks often manage multiple use cases at once.
Digital Labels and Exhibit Information
The most straightforward application replaces traditional paper labels with digital screens providing richer information about artifacts or artworks.
Digital labels can share origin stories, historical context, or scientific explanations in engaging, multimedia formats that physical labels simply cannot match.
Interactive Content Displays
Beyond basic information, kiosks excel at creating interactive experiences. Visitors might explore historical timelines, manipulate 3D models of artifacts, compare before-and-after conservation images, or follow thematic connections between different exhibits.
These engaging elements transform passive viewing into active learning.
Visitor Feedback
You can also use a kiosk to collect feedback from your visitors. You might create a short multiple-choice survey or ask for open-ended feedback on a certain exhibit or the museum as a whole.
This is a great way to get visitor input while it’s fresh in their minds (instead of sending a survey by email after their visit).
Wayfinding
Even frequent museum visitors sometimes get lost in larger institutions. Strategic placement of wayfinding kiosks helps visitors locate specific exhibits, amenities like restrooms and cafes, or emergency exits.
Interactive maps can provide personalized directions based on visitor interests and accessibility needs.
Ticket and Experience Sales
Self-service kiosks streamline ticket purchases for general admission or special exhibitions. They can also promote and sell membership programs or collect contact information from interested visitors.
During busy periods, these kiosks reduce lines at staffed counters while allowing 24/7 sales opportunities.
Event Promotions and Marketing
Museums constantly host special events, from lecture series to family activities. Kiosks offer prime promotional real estate for upcoming programs, allowing visitors to learn about events, join email lists, or even purchase tickets on the spot.
This targeted marketing reaches visitors already demonstrating interest in your museum's content.
Trends in Museum Kiosks for 2025 and Beyond
As technology evolves, museum kiosks continue advancing in exciting ways. Here are the emerging trends reshaping visitor experiences:
AI-Powered Personalization
Artificial intelligence is transforming how kiosks interact with museum guests. Modern systems can recognize returning visitors, learn from interaction patterns, and suggest content based on demonstrated interests.
This personalization creates tailored experiences that resonate more deeply with each individual, increasing engagement and educational impact.
Gesture-Based and Touchless Interfaces
Post-pandemic awareness of hygiene has accelerated development of touchless kiosk technologies. Advanced systems now recognize hand gestures, voice commands, or even eye movements to navigate content without physical contact.
Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Hardware
Museums increasingly prioritize environmental responsibility, and kiosk technology is following suit. New hardware designs minimize power consumption through efficient processors and smart power management.
Some museums are even implementing solar-supplemented power systems for their digital displays, aligning technology choices with sustainability goals.
Cross-Platform Integration with Mobile Devices
The line between kiosk content and visitors' personal devices continues blurring.
Advanced systems now allow visitors to "save" kiosk information to their smartphones for later reference, continue digital experiences as they move through exhibitions, or even contribute their own content to collaborative displays.
This seamless integration extends the museum experience beyond physical walls and visiting hours.
Transform Your Museum Experience with STQRY Kiosks
Engage your visitors with immersive digital storytelling using STQRY's intuitive kiosk platform. Create dynamic digital labels and interactive exhibits that bring your collections to life.
STQRY Kiosk empowers museums to craft compelling narratives and information displays without technical complexity. From simple object descriptions to rich multimedia experiences, our platform helps you create memorable visitor interactions that educate and inspire.
Our intuitive interface allows museum staff to seamlessly build, deploy, and update engaging digital content without any coding experience.
Ready to revolutionize your visitor experience?