The morning light of the Chaoyang Museum shone on the display cases of Liao and Jin Dynasty bronze swords. German photographer Mark was lingering at the entrance, clutching his camera – he wanted to rent a tour guide to listen to the story of the casting of the bronze swords, but saw a long queue of more than ten people at the manual rental window. Japanese tourist Sato frowned at the “Khitan script” on the display board, worried that even if he rented the equipment, he wouldn’t be able to understand the fully Chinese operation interface. This museum, which houses over 2,000 cultural relics and folk exhibits from the Liao and Jin Dynasties, welcomes more than 600,000 visitors each year, with 15% being overseas visitors. However, the problems of “difficulty in renting a machine, fear of unhygienic conditions, and lack of understanding of how to use it” have left many people with regrets. It was not until the Yingmi self-service rental cabinet tour guide system was installed that the several silver-gray cabinets at the entrance of the exhibition hall quietly rewrote the tour guide experience for visitors.
I. The “Tour Guide Rental Dilemma” of Chaoyang Museum: It’s Not Just about “being able to rent”, but also about “enjoying the rental”
Liu, the director in charge of the guided tour service at Chaoyang Museum, has been in charge of the rental window for five years. When talking about the past troubles, he can’t help but flip through the operation log: “The rental demands of museums are very special. Visitors need to be fast, clean and understandable. The previous methods simply couldn’t handle them all.” These predicaments are not merely about “whether there is equipment or not”, but each one hits the pain points of overseas tourists and administrators:
1. Manual rental is “unaffordable” : The queue can’t keep up with the visiting pace
From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. every day is the peak time for renting aircraft. There is often a queue of over 20 people in front of the manual window, and tourists have to wait for an average of 15 to 20 minutes. Last National Day, Mark came with a tour group. When he managed to rent a machine, the explanations of the “Liao and Jin Folk Customs Exhibition” he had reserved had already started. He could only run towards the exhibition hall with the unoccurated guide machine. By the time he figured out the operation, half of the exhibition period had already passed. He later wrote in the guestbook, “I spent 20 minutes queuing but only saw 5 minutes of the exhibits.” Looking at that line of words, I felt extremely guilty. Director Liu said.
The more troublesome issue is the “deposit refund” – previously, the integrity of the equipment had to be checked manually, and tourists had to queue up again when returning it. A South Korean tourist was in a rush to get his deposit back and waited for 10 minutes, almost missing his trip. Before leaving, he helplessly said, “I won’t rent it again next time.”
2. Hygiene and safety concerns: Shared equipment becomes a hidden worry
Overseas tourists are particularly concerned about the hygiene of the equipment. Previously, when the equipment was rented manually, the administrator could only wipe the surface of the equipment with alcohol wipes, which was impossible to disinfect thoroughly. Often, after tourists received the equipment, they would take out their own disinfectant wipes to wipe it repeatedly. There was an elderly French lady who, when renting a machine, hesitated for a long time while looking at the equipment and asked, “Do you have a disinfection certificate?” We couldn’t produce it, so she finally gave up. The whole process relied on her mobile phone to translate the display boards, which was extremely inconvenient. Director Liu recalled that hygiene complaints once accounted for 30% of tourists’ complaints, becoming a “thorn in the side” of the rental service.
3. Language operation “stuck” : Overseas tourists “can’t understand”
Previously, the operation interface of the tour guide machine was only in Chinese. When renting, the administrator had to spend five minutes teaching overseas tourists “how to turn it on and off and how to switch languages”. However, as soon as tourists entered the exhibition hall, they still forgot. A German student rented the equipment and mistakenly switched the “voice mode” to the “silent mode”. He listened to the cultural relics for 20 minutes without any sound and finally had to hold the equipment to find the administrator. The visit was delayed.
What’s more troublesome is the insufficient multilingual coverage, with only support for Chinese and English. Last year, when receiving Arab tourist groups, as there was no Arabic explanation, the tourists could only follow the English group to “get a general idea” and didn’t even understand what the Khitan characters on the bronze sword meant.
Ii. Yingmi Self-service Rental Cabinet: A Full-process Renewal from “Picking up the machine” to “Using the machine”
The self-service rental cabinet tour guide system customized by Yingmi for the Chaoyang Museum is not merely a simple “machine for window”, but a scenario-based reconstruction of the entire process from “rental, use, return to disinfection” – every design detail precisely responds to the previous predicament:
1.30-second rental and return: Scan the code to pick it up, no need to wait for manual service
The core of the Yingmi self-service rental cabinet is to hand over all the “manual processes” to the system. Visitors stand in front of the cabinet and can rent the equipment in just three steps: First, scan the bilingual (Chinese and English) QR code on the cabinet. Second, follow the prompts to pay the deposit via wechat or Alipay (international credit cards are supported). Third, the cabinet door will pop open automatically and the tour guide can be taken out. The entire process can be completed in as fast as 28 seconds. When returning, it’s more worry-free. Just place the tour guide in the designated slot, and the system will automatically check if the device is in good condition (whether there are any bumps or if the battery is sufficient). The return will be completed within 3 seconds, and the deposit will be immediately refunded to the account. There’s no need to queue up for manual verification anymore.
During this year’s Qingming Festival holiday, Mark came to the museum for the second time. Following the instructions, he scanned the code to rent a device and got it in less than half a minute. “Last time I queued for 20 minutes, but this time it’s even faster than buying a bottle of water!” ” He held up the tour guide and said to Director Liu with a smile. Sato no longer had to worry about the difficulty of operation – there were operation animations in both English and Japanese on the screen of the rental cabinet. She followed the animations and clicked twice, and successfully rented the equipment. “It’s much simpler than I imagined. I don’t have to ask others anymore.”
2. Ultraviolet automatic disinfection: Every device is “clean”
In response to hygiene concerns, Yingmi has installed ultraviolet disinfection modules in each rental cabinet. As soon as the tour guide machine is placed in the return groove, the cabinet will automatically close and the ultraviolet light will turn on. The full disinfection will be completed within 3 minutes. After the disinfection is completed, a prompt of “Disinfected” will be displayed on the screen. Director Liu checks the disinfection log every day. “Now the disinfection record of each device can be traced. There’s no need to worry about tourists asking ‘Has it been disinfected?’ anymore.”
When French elderly lady Marie visited this spring, she saw the disinfection indicator light on the rental cabinet and rented the equipment with peace of mind. “Before, when I visited other museums, I was always worried that the equipment might not be clean. This time, seeing the disinfection process, I felt particularly at ease.” ” She drew a smiling face in the guestbook and wrote “clean and easy” beside it.
3. Lightweight tour guide: Multi-mode + multi-language, suitable for all tourists
The tour guide device in the rental cabinet weighs only 80 grams, even lighter than a mobile phone. Tourists can carry it in their pockets to visit the exhibition without any difficulty. More importantly, it solves the problem of “not understanding and not understanding” :
Multilingual coverage : Supports six languages including English, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Arabic. After turning on the device, overseas tourists can select the corresponding language to listen to precise explanations – Mark listens to the “lost-wax casting method” of bronze swords in English, Sato understands the “life scenes of Khitan folk customs” in Japanese, and Arab tourists can understand the “Silk Road Stories behind the cultural Relics”.
Three-mode Guided Tour: Three modes – voice, video, and text – can be switched – the elderly are accustomed to listening to stories through voice, young people like to click the screen to watch 3D videos of cultural relics (such as the disassembly process of bronze swords), and tourists with children can read the text version of “Cultural Relics Trivia” (such as “How to write Khitan Script”).
Minimalist Operation: The interface only has three buttons: “Language”, “Mode”, and “Volume”, and is marked with bilingual ICONS in Chinese and English. Even if it’s your first time using it, you won’t make any mistakes. Director Liu said, “Nowadays, when overseas tourists rent a device, they hardly need to ask the administrator. They can get started by looking at the ICONS themselves.”
Iii. “Invisible Details” That Fit the Museum Scene: Not Only Practical, but Also “Durable”
The Yingmi self-service rental cabinet has been able to gain a firm foothold in the Chaoyang Museum not only because it is convenient to rent, but also because of the “museum-adapted design” hidden in the details – these details are also the core demands that overseas museums may be concerned about:
1. “Full capacity” during peak hours: Multiple devices + quick replenishment
Each set of rental cabinets at Chaoyang Museum has 24 compartments and can store 24 tour guide machines simultaneously. There are a total of 3 sets placed in the museum, which can meet the rental demand during peak hours. Director Liu said, “During the previous National Day peak, the manual window was piled up with up to 30 sets of equipment available for rent at one time. Now, the rental cabinets can automatically fill the vacancies. Tourists don’t have to wait, and we don’t have to move the equipment either.” What’s more considerate is that the rental cabinet has a “low battery reminder”. When the battery level of a certain device drops below 20%, the background will automatically prompt the administrator to replace it, ensuring that all the devices that visitors receive are fully charged.
2. Stay calm in emergency response: There are contingency plans for equipment issues
Considering the possible unexpected situations that tourists may encounter, Yingmi has made a dual emergency design: Firstly, each tour guide machine is equipped with an “Emergency Assistance” button. Pressing it will connect to the customer service in both Chinese and English. For instance, if tourists cannot find the return cabinet, the customer service can provide real-time guidance on the location. Secondly, there is an “emergency rental cabinet” every 50 meters inside the museum. If the equipment runs out of power during operation, visitors can find the nearest emergency cabinet to replace it without having to run back to the entrance.
In May this year, Mr. Kim, a South Korean tourist, had his tour guide machine run out of power halfway through the exhibition hall. He pressed the help button, and the visitor guided him in English to find the nearest emergency cabinet. The equipment was replaced in just five minutes. I originally thought I would give up listening to the explanation, but it was solved so quickly. It’s so considerate. Mr. Jin said.
3. The administrator backend is “easy to control” : Data is transparent and easy to manage
Yingmi has provided a dedicated management backend for the museum. Director Liu can view real-time data from his office: which rental cabinet’s equipment is about to be rented out, which languages are used the most, and whether the equipment is faulty. Previously, we had to manually count the number of rented devices. Now, the back-end can automatically generate reports. For instance, if we see that English and Japanese are used the most, we will update the explanations in these two languages specifically. Director Liu said that once the back-end showed that a certain device failed to be returned three times in a row. The administrator promptly checked and found that there was dust in the groove. After cleaning, it returned to normal, thus avoiding complaints from tourists.
IV. The Stories of Cultural Relics “Spread Far and Wide” : Visible Changes after Application
The Yingmi self-service rental cabinet tour guide system has been in use at the Chaoyang Museum for eight months. The changes are not Yingmi’s “self-praise”, but are solid evidence from the visitor message book and the museum’s operation data:
1. Tourists’ experience has been “upgraded” : there are no more queues and fewer complaints
Now, the average time it takes for tourists to rent a plane has been reduced from 15 minutes to 30 seconds, and the queues at the manual Windows have completely disappeared. The number of hygiene complaints has dropped from 6 to 8 per month to zero, and the guestbook is filled with positive comments like “clean” and “fast”. Complaints from overseas tourists about “difficult operation” have also disappeared. Sato wrote in the guestbook, “The operation is simple, the Japanese explanations are very clear, and I finally understand the meaning of the Khitan language.”
What’s even more surprising is that tourists spend more time in front of the cultural relics – previously, overseas tourists spent an average of 3 minutes looking at each cultural relic, but now they can stay for 5 to 8 minutes. Many people listen to the explanations repeatedly. For instance, Mark stood in front of the display case for 10 minutes to learn the casting details of the bronze sword and even took a video of the explanation and posted it on social media.
2. Museum operations have “reduced burdens” : labor costs have dropped and efficiency has increased
Director Liu did the math: Previously, two staff members were needed to oversee the rental window, but now one administrator can handle three sets of rental cabinets, reducing labor costs by 50%. Equipment disinfection no longer requires manual wiping, saving administrators two hours each day to do other work. “Before, when I was busy, I didn’t even have time to drink water. Now, I can spare my hands to chat with tourists about the stories of cultural relics. This is what a museum should be like.” “
3. Cultural transmission is “more effective” : Overseas tourists really “understand”
What surprised Director Liu the most was that a British enthusiast of cultural relics, after learning about the bronze swords of the Liao and Jin Dynasties through the English explanations on the tour guide, specifically contacted the museum, hoping to conduct a “Comparative Study of Liao and Jin Dynasty Cultural Relics in China and the UK”. There is also the Japan Folklore Association. After seeing the tour guide video posted by tourists, they want to hold an exhibition on “Folklore Exchange between the Liao and Jin Dynasties and the Heian Period in Japan” in the museum. “Previously, overseas tourists merely ‘viewed cultural relics’, but now they can’ understand the stories’. This is the value that a tour guide system should have.” “
Conclusion: Let every time you retrieve the machine be the beginning of “understanding cultural relics”
In the evening at the Chaoyang Museum, Mark walked up to the return cabinet with the audio guide in his hand. Just as he put the equipment in, the ultraviolet lamp lit up. Looking at the prompt “Disinfected & Refunded” on the screen, he smiled and took a photo of the rental cabinet – with the caption “Easy to get, easy to understand, worth it”.
The Yingmi self-service rental cabinet at the Chaoyang Museum has not only “solved the problem of renting machines”, but also built a “bridge between cultural relics and overseas tourists”. It enables the casting stories of the bronze swords of the Liao and Jin Dynasties, the meanings of the Khitan script, and the origins behind the folk exhibits to be clearly conveyed to the hearts of tourists through the tour guide machines they casually pick up.
In the future, Yingmi will continue to optimize this system: for instance, by adding an AR navigation function, allowing visitors to “see” the usage scenarios of cultural relics in ancient times; Add more minor languages such as Portuguese and Russian to enable tourists from more regions to understand the stories of the Chaoyang Museum. After all, a good tour guide should not have the threshold of “not being able to rent or not understanding”, and what Yingmi wants to do is to remove this threshold, so that the stories of the cultural relics in every museum can reach the hearts of more overseas tourists through that small device on the counter.