Brave new world: Mobile phones, museums and learning - how and why to use Augmented Reality within museums

This article deals with mobile technologies as tools for learning within museums. Using the presentation of EGO-TRAP – an exhibition which uses mo- bile technologies as the technical platform for creating an Augmented Reality – as my point of departure, I will discuss the advantages of using mobiles as tools for learning in museums. EGO-TRAP may be seen as a first modest step into a new museum paradigm. On the basis of a brief outline of the change of paradigms within museums I propose a new paradigm based on interactivity, narration and virtuality embedded in an Augmented Reality with an educational aim. This kind of Augmented Reality, I argue, seems to satisfy the demands of hands-on experiences, narrative structure and individual experiences, which I point out as being crucial for a beneficial learning experience at museums.