News release details

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) won four awards last night, including two gold prizes, in one of the world's most prestigious competitions for innovation in digital media.

The Museum was recognized at the annual meeting of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) in Atlanta, Georgia for outstanding achievement in three categories: for its mobile app, for two interactive games in the Canadian Journeys and Actions Count galleries, and for its overall digital infrastructure (Enterprise Content Management System or ECMS).

The coveted MUSE awards are presented by the international AAM Media & Technology Committee, which selects winners among global institutions or independent producers that use digital media to enhance the museum experience and engage audiences. Other winners last night included world‐renowned institutions such as the Smithsonian and the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

"These awards place Canada's new national museum among the best in the world for use of cutting‐edge technology that inspires our visitors to think and talk about human rights in new ways," said CMHR interim president and CEO Gail Stephens. "This recognition from the world's largest museum organization will be a great asset in our efforts to attract international visitors to Winnipeg."

Gold award: Digital infrastructure

The CMHR is one of the most digitally advanced cultural institutions in North America, providing visitor experiences such as interactive kiosks, tables and games; immersive environments; gesture‐based exhibits; multi‐media presentations and mobile app tours. Its cutting‐edge infrastructure backbone (Enterprise Content Management System) is designed to manage all aspects of digital storytelling – including creation, cataloguing, exhibition, dissemination by Web and mobile app, and archival storage. Created in cooperation with Technology Services Group.

Gold award: Mobile app The first of its kind for any museum in the world, the Museum's mobile app provides a fully accessible self‐guided tour using audio, images, text and video. A unique interactive mood meter and panoramic views from the Israel Asper Tower of Hope are also included. It also captures information from 120 iBeacons located throughout the galleries. Created in cooperation with Acoustiguide. Free download from the App Store or Google Play.

Silver award: Lights of Inclusion game This activity invites visitors of all ages to interact on a circular floor area where coloured lights are projected onto each participant via motion‐tracking sensors. When players move together, their lights merge and change, which facilitates programming about the power of inclusion and cooperation to build strong groups. Created in cooperation with Tactable LLC.

Bronze award: Actions Count game This gesture‐based interactive game is projected onto a custom table of angled planes. Visitors play without touching the table surface, but by using their hands' shadows to navigate. The object of the game is to make decisions about an everyday human rights challenge before running out of time. The goal is to help young visitors reflect upon the many ways human rights issues present themselves in Canadian schools and communities. Created in cooperation with Upswell LLC.

Information about other awards and honours achieved by the CMHR can be found on the Museum's Web site.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights. Using multimedia technology and other innovative approaches, the CMHR creates inspiring encounters with human rights for all ages, in a visitor experience unlike any other.