2026-09-04
In August 2026, Changzhi Museum introduced a self-service audio guide rental kiosk to give visitors a more flexible way to explore its exhibits. Instead of relying solely on scheduled guided tours or staff-assisted device checkout, visitors can now rent a guide device on their own, at their own pace, whenever they arrive.
Museums that depend on staff-managed rental counters often face bottlenecks during peak visiting hours, and not every visitor wants to wait for a tour group or a staff member to become available. Changzhi Museum wanted a solution that let visitors take control of their own visit from the moment they walked in, without adding pressure to front-of-house staff.
Visitors approach the rental kiosk and scan a QR code to begin the rental process. The transaction is completed independently, with no staff assistance required to take a device out of the cabinet.
Once a device is in hand, visitors are free to move through the museum at their own pace, listening to exhibit narration whenever and wherever they choose, without needing to keep up with a group or a live guide.
At the end of the visit, the device is returned to the same kiosk, closing out the rental automatically and freeing the unit for the next visitor.
Visitors no longer need to rely on a live guide to access exhibit narration. Anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the collection can rent a device on their own terms and explore the museum independently.
Because the rental process is self-service, Changzhi Museum can offer guide devices to every visitor who wants one, turning what was previously a staffing-limited service into a rental revenue stream that scales with visitor traffic.
With the rental process handled entirely by the kiosk, front-of-house staff are freed from manually issuing and collecting devices, allowing them to focus on other visitor services.
The self-service rental model at Changzhi Museum reflects a broader shift among cultural venues toward giving visitors more control over how they experience a collection, while giving museums a simple way to turn guide device access into an additional source of revenue.
