A touch-screen catalogue for your collection.

Museum Catalogue turns an Android tablet into a self-service exhibit guide. Visitors browse photos, video, and audio by category; staff add and describe items on the same tablet, with no separate content system. It works fully offline.

The kiosk at rest, showing a full-screen historical photograph with a small 'Tap to explore' prompt.

How it works

The whole visit runs on a few screens — and staff never leave the tablet to manage what is on them.

1

Attract mode invites visitors in

When idle, the kiosk shows a full-screen photo, slideshow, or looping video that staff choose. One touch begins.

Attract screen showing a historical photograph of an excursion steamer, with a 'Tap to explore' button.
2

Categories build themselves

The menu is generated from each item's subject metadata. Add a subject to an item and it appears as its own category — there is no separate taxonomy to maintain.

Collection menu listing seven categories, each with an item count, plus 'All Categories'.
3

Browse a category, then open an item

Each category opens as a thumbnail gallery. Video carries a play mark; audio, a musical note.

A thumbnail gallery for one category, showing five historical photographs with their titles.
4

See the full record

Tapping an item opens it full screen with its complete description — title, creator, date, source, rights — set out beneath.

Full-screen detail view of a historical photochrom with fielded metadata below: creator, date, description, source, and rights.
5

Film and audio play in the same view

Video and sound play inside the detail view with a simple transport bar. There is no separate player, and the record stays on screen beside the controls.

A film playing full screen inside the detail view, with a scrub bar and the film's record below.

Built for unattended, all-day use

Everything a public kiosk needs to run on its own, with no ongoing IT involvement.

Standard metadata

Title, creator, date, subject, description, source, and rights follow the Dublin Core schema used in museums and libraries.

Photos, video & audio

One catalogue for all three media types, with playback for film and sound built into the item view.

Works fully offline

Media and metadata are stored on the tablet itself. Browsing and management need no internet connection.

Staff manage it on the tablet

An access code unlocks a hidden tool for adding, editing, and removing items directly on the kiosk — no desktop step.

Admin-gated

Only staff with the access code can change the collection. Visitors always see the read-only screens.

Automatic idle return

After a set period of inactivity, the kiosk returns to attract mode, ready for the next visitor.

Guided first-time setup

Short on-screen prompts show new staff where to sign in and where to add media. No manual required.

Touch-first, tablet-sized

Designed for large touch displays in portrait or landscape, with edge-to-edge support on modern Android tablets.

About

Transcending Digital has built custom applications for many years, with production deployments across business, museums, visitor centres, and trade shows. Museum Catalogue comes out of that work: a kiosk a small team can set up, fill, and leave running.

Have a collection to put on display?

Tell us what you would like visitors to see, and we will help you get a kiosk set up around it.