Gogo App makes the WA Museum Boola Bardip’s stories come alive

From stone tools dated back 50,000 years to an insight into the journey of our famous blue whale Otto, you can now discover the stories behind the WA Museum Boola Bardip’s extensive collection.

Launching yesterday, the Gogo app lets users delve deeper into the origins of around 250 items that you can see as you traverse the hallways of the recently re-opened museum.

Named after the Gogo fish fossils from the Kimberley, the digital guide allows visitors to see the eight exhibition galleries in a different way, exploring the stories behind the collections in much more detail.

Through oral histories, letters, photographs, videos and expert interviews, and some augmented reality, the app enhances the experience for visitors.

“In contemporary museums it is really important to bring digital along with the physical objects,” site manager Helen Simondson said.

“It becomes a great interpretative tool because it provide layers to things that you miss when you have small little labels in a physical space.”

The stories come to life with the help of actors like Kelton Pell and Meyne Wyatt, while a piece famed WA author Tim Winton wrote about his first encounter with a whale plays as you enter Hackett Hall, now home to Otto the blue whale skeleton.

“What is beautiful about this is that there are different ways you can experience the content,” she said.

“It brings to life the objects and really lifts the experience.”

The Gogo app is available for free download to your own Apple or Android device, or a device can be hired at the museum.