The spectacular ‘Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times’ opened at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) recently, with Smartify powering the multimedia guide across a full range of devices.

The exhibition, which looks at life under his rule at the peak of the Roman Empire, brings together a remarkable collection of marble portraits, frescoes and furnishings.

It’s one of three exhibitions to use Smartify’s digital guide this autumn, allowing visitors to explore at their own pace and access rich multimedia content that brings these historic objects to life.

A unified digital experience across apps and hardware

This simplified and streamlined approach to digital interpretation represents a significant step forward in visitor experience for places like MFAH.

Previously, the museum’s ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) option and dedicated handsets operated as completely separate systems, with hardware devices limited to audio-only content.

Now, whether visitors use their own mobile phones or museum-provided multimedia devices, they receive an identical experience.

That means consistent, high-quality content for visitors, and a centralised platform for analytics and content management for the museum.

Three exhibitions, one platform

As well as the Trajan exhibition, Smartify is powering the digital guide for ‘Gyula Kosice: Intergalactic’, which celebrates the pioneering Argentine artist’s work in kinetic sculptures, neon installations and acrylic constructions.

We’ll also be supporting the highly anticipated ‘Louvre Couture’ exhibition, which explores how fashion and fine art are uniquely intertwined. Our digital visitor guide will include an interactive map, helping visitors navigate to must-see objects with clickable hotspots and visual wayfinding.

This ‘one platform, multiple exhibitions’ approach shows how museums can simplify their digital infrastructure while enhancing the visitor experience across different collections, themes and special events.

The benefits of simplification

For museums considering their digital strategy, MFAH’s approach offers a compelling model. By unifying BYOD and dedicated hardware under a single platform, organisations can:

• Provide a consistent, high-quality experience for every visitor

• Manage content and updates across devices

• Access comprehensive analytics from a single dashboard

• Reduce technical complexity and support requirements

• Scale digital interpretation across multiple exhibitions

We’re proud to support The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in bringing these exceptional exhibitions to life, and we look forward to seeing visitors explore with Smartify as their guide.