How it works
Visitors use their own phone and headphones. You don't hand anything out.
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Tap the card at the entrance.
Visitors hold their phone to the card by the door, and your tour opens in the browser. Nothing to download, nothing to sign up for.
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Point the phone at any work.
Any work, in any order. Popcode recognizes the artwork itself, so there's no code on the wall beside it.
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Listen, then choose what's next.
A 30 to 60 second stop plays in their headphones. Then your buttons appear: inquire about this work, become a member, plan a visit.
Try it yourself
Hear a stop from At Work
Download three works from the show and print them, or just open the PDF on this screen.
On your phone, go to popcode.app/wrenalder, tap Start and point your phone at a painting. Headphones on.
Open the PDF on a computer or print it. Then tap below and point your phone at a painting. Headphones on.
Why visitors like it
It's like having the artist or curator at their side,
with no audio guide to rent at the front desk.
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Eyes on the art, not the phone.
It's audio. Once a stop starts, the phone can drop to their side while they look.
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No crowding at the wall label.
Everyone hears the story from wherever they're standing, so nobody queues to read six lines of small print.
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Their own headphones.
Earbuds they already carry. Nothing to rent, and nothing for you to buy, charge, clean, or lose.
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Any order, no route.
Start with whatever catches their eye, skip what doesn't, and go back to a favorite.
What your space gets
- Buttons after every stop.
Up to three, chosen by you: inquire about this work, become a member, give, plan a visit. They appear when the stop ends, while the work is still in front of them.
- A dashboard.
Which works people stopped at, how far they listened, and which buttons they tapped. Finally, numbers for the show, not just the opening.
- Your branding.
The tour opens on your name, your show title and your image. Visitors feel they're with you, not on a tech platform.
- Ready for opening night.
We build each tour with you and turn it around quickly, so it opens with the show, whether that's a monthly program, an art fair booth or open studios.
- Transcripts for accessibility.
Every stop can carry its text, shown under the player, for visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who forgot their headphones.
- Prints that play at home. Optional
Gift-shop prints and postcards of the works that play the same stop when visitors get home.
Coming next: hearts to save a favorite work, a “My visit” list to replay stops after leaving, and loading the whole tour at the entrance for rooms with no signal.
At Work
By work Scans · how far people listened
The Fountain, Villa TorloniaJohn Singer Sargent214
The StudioWinslow Homer188
Yellow Dancers (In the Wings)Edgar Degas161
Woman ReadingÉdouard Manet132
A PainterErnest Meissonier97
Button taps
- Inquire about this work 31
- Join our collectors' list 38
- Plan your next visit 27
Sample data for illustration. Popcode collects no personal information from visitors. Counts are anonymous.
Made for the way galleries work.
Audio-guide platforms are mostly built for permanent collections, with months of onboarding. We turn tours around in time for your next opening.
- Ready for your opening.
Not a 13-week onboarding. We build the tour with you, test it on real phones, and have it ready when the doors open.
- No app. No QR code beside the work.
The audio tour opens in the visitor's own phone browser, so there's nothing extra to hang on your walls.
- It recognizes the artwork itself.
Visitors simply point their phone at a work to hear its story. There are no stop numbers to type in, and no codes to print and post beside the art.
- No handsets.
Visitors bring their own headphones. Nothing to buy, charge, clean, or lose.
- Any order.
With no fixed route or stop numbers, visitors can wander the way they like.
- Interest you can act on.
Buttons that turn a stop into an inquiry, a membership or a gift, and the numbers to show it.
Artists and Their Subjects
Through December 14, the Main Gallery
Painters at the easel, musicians at their music, dancers waiting in the wings. Twelve works from 1855 to 1907, by Sargent, Homer, Degas, Manet, Meissonier and others, of people too absorbed in their work to notice us watching.
The entrance card
One card by the door. Nothing beside the work.
A small placard at the entrance carries your show's title and three ways into the tour. It's the only code in the room.
- Tap.
An NFC tag inside the card opens the tour. iPhone XS and later and most Android phones read it with no app.
- Or the small QR code.
For phones without NFC, or visitors who'd rather use the camera.
- Or the short address.
Printed under the code, like popcode.app/yourshow, or your own web address.
Locked tags. Every NFC tag is write-protected after it's set up, so nobody can point it somewhere else.
Wren & Alder and At Work are a fictional gallery and show we made to demonstrate Popcode. The paintings are real public-domain works.
Pricing
Per exhibition, or as an annual licence. You bring the works; we build the tour with you and have it ready for the opening.
Pilot pricing: for the first galleries and museums that sign up this season, in exchange for sharing your results and feedback.
Single show
Pilot price
$1,500 Regular price $2,500 per exhibition
For a gallery show, an art fair booth, or open studios.
- Up to 30 works, each with its own audio stop
- A transcript for every stop
- Your buttons after every stop: inquire, join, give, visit
- Your name, show title and image on the tour
- Your entrance card, with a locked NFC tag, a QR code and a short address
- A dashboard for the run of the show
Gallery year
Pilot price
$3,900 Regular price $6,500 per year
For galleries with 6 to 10 shows a year.
- Everything in Single show, for every show that year
- Each new show built and tested in time for its opening
- A dashboard for each show, so you can compare them
Museum year
Pilot price
$7,500 Regular price $12,000 per year
For small and mid-size museums.
- Everything in Gallery year
- Rotating exhibitions and your permanent collection
- Membership, donate and plan-a-visit buttons
- A report for your board after each exhibition
No audio yet? Scripts and a natural AI voice from $400 per 10 stops, or a recording session quoted separately.
Optional: gift-shop prints and postcards that play the audio at home, from the Popcode shop.
Questions
Any recent iPhone or Android phone with a camera, in its own browser. There's no app to install. To open the tour with a tap, iPhone XS and later and most Android phones read the NFC card; anyone else can use the QR code or type the short address.
They can read along. Every stop can carry its transcript, shown right under the player, so the story is there in text too. That also serves visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Popcode recognizes flat work: paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, and textiles. For sculpture and other objects, a browse list where visitors choose a stop by its title is coming. It will also let anyone who can't use the camera pick a stop. Tell us what's in your show and we'll talk it through on the call.
Today each stop loads when it plays, so visitors need a phone signal or your guest Wi-Fi. We'll check any dead spots with you before the show opens. Loading the whole tour at the entrance tap, while there's still signal, is coming.
Whoever knows the work best: you, your curator, or the artist. Record straight into Popcode on a phone, or upload an MP3 or other audio file. If nobody wants to be the voice, we can make a natural-sounding AI voice from your script.
No. The tour opens in the phone's web browser. There's nothing to download, no account to create, and no password to remember.
No personal data. We count scans, how much of each stop was heard, and button taps, all anonymously. If a visitor taps “Inquire about this work”, they land on your own page or email, so the conversation is yours.
Quickly enough for a program that changes every month. Once we have photos of the works and the audio, we build the tour, test it on real phones, and have it ready before the opening. If you'd like help with scripts or a recorded voice, or need the entrance card printed, we'll plan the schedule back from your opening date.