A volunteer-run attraction and community landmark on the Isle of Lewis is harnessing new technology to help safeguard the cultural legacy of its historically important exhibits and enhance visitor experience.
The Ravenspoint Centre Museum, which is home to the renowned Angus Macleod Archive, has partnered with CENSIS – Scotland’s innovation centre for sensing, imaging, and IoT technologies – and connectivity consultancy FarrPoint to expand its Internet o Things (IoT) system to include a LoRaWAN network, which monitors the humidity and temperature levels, as well as visitor numbers, at its exhibit areas. The network adds to previous infrastructure covering the museum’s storage facility.
Monitoring and controlling humidity levels – which can cause damage or deterioration – is critical to the protection of historic items. Access to real-time data from the new system will also enable the museum to track visitor numbers and identify if there has been any damage to the building, ensuring the environmental conditions are within the required thresholds to protect its artefacts.
READ MORE: Glasgow's museum collection centre to get £1.9m cash boost for energy efficiency
The system will automate data collection, a task previously performed manually by volunteers. Having a clear record of this information is a requirement for the museum to retain its accreditation from Museums Galleries Scotland, which provides access to funding, advice, and training.
The initiative formed part of CENSIS’s IoT Evolve programme, which was funded by the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to support organisations in the region with the development and application of IoT technologies.
Opened 15 years ago, Ravenspoint Museum and the Angus Macleod Archive provide a unique perspective of Scottish history, chronicling one man’s experience of life in the Gaelic-speaking village of Calbost through documents, videos, and voice recordings. While some of the collection has been digitised, a substantial amount is only available in hard copy, and researchers interested in island life, crofting, and Hebridean history rely on physically inspecting the archive’s items for their work.
Donnie Morrison, chairman of the Pairc Historical Society, which runs the museum, said: “The Ravenspoint Centre Museum and the Angus Macleod Archive are testament to our community’s commitment to preserving its heritage. With the technology we have installed, we can better protect the artifacts and ensure they are kept in the best shape possible for generations to learn from and enjoy.
“The Angus Macleod Archive provides a unique perspective on Scottish history and consistently attracts a lot of visitors and researchers. But, from this summer we are expecting a surge of tourists due to the new deep water port in Stornoway which is attracting more cruise ships. The people-counting technology will be a valuable asset to have during this time, supporting our continued accreditation and giving us a more accurate gauge of the museum’s popularity.”
Building on the success of the technology in the museum, the Ravenspoint Centre is also considering deploying the same visitor tracking sensors in the onsite café. This could give an indication of the resources available and inform decisions about rotas and opening times.
READ MORE: Public views sought on Calanais Standing Stones entry fee proposal
Ally Longmuir, business development manager at CENSIS, added: “This project shows that no matter where you are based, you can take advantage of the benefits that IoT technologies can offer. With access to live and historic data, the Pairc Historical Society will be in a better position to protect the Isle of Lewis’s, and Scotland’s, heritage; make better informed decisions about how to manage the museum and archive; as well as better cater to visitors’ needs. It was a pleasure to collaborate with the Pairc Historical Society and FarrPoint, and play a small role in safeguarding the legacy of Scotland’s rich history.”
Dr Andrew Muir, chief executive of FarrPoint, added: “With so many IoT initiatives running in big cities, it is very rewarding to help a remote Scottish museum lead the way in IoT adoption for a change. With further funding from CENSIS, this trial is now a proven IoT project, demonstrating it’s not just Ravenspoint museum that could be benefiting from this technology. I’m sure there are many other museums still performing these humidity and temperature checks manually so they should really get in touch with the project team. There are so many important outcomes from this project to be shared!”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here