Case study · Expo City Dubai, UAE
The Expo 2020 story, in any language.
On the acrylic discs of the Museum of Expo 2020 —in Arabic and English— NaviLens codes are added. Any visitor just points their phone and hears the label read aloud in their language, with no need to aim and from several metres away.
Expo City
Permanent Expo 2020 Dubai museum (Al Wasl district)
5 chapters
The Journey · The Opportunity · The Connection · The Experience · The Legacy
42
Languages read aloud from each NaviLens code
+30 m
Detection range, with no aiming and on the move
The client
Museum of Expo 2020 Dubai
The Museum of Expo 2020 is the permanent museum that holds the material memory of the first World Expo held in the Middle East. It is part of Expo City Dubai, the urban legacy of the Al Wasl site, now repurposed as a mixed-use district.
The tour is structured in five chapters —The Journey, The Opportunity, The Connection, The Experience and The Legacy— mounted on organic walls clad with translucent acrylic discs that act as capsules containing objects, photos and testimonies.
Expo 2020 was certified as a sensory accessible event and, together with Direct Access, left behind a permanent accessibility infrastructure across Expo City: tactile maps, guide lines, audio description and sign language. The NaviLens layer completes that commitment inside the museum. The exhibition build was delivered by Spain's Empty for Expo City Real Estate Development.
§ The challenge
Making sure the organic museography excludes no one.
- 01
Organic museography that is hard to read
The Museum of Expo 2020 is wrapped in thousands of translucent acrylic discs over sand-coloured wavy walls. The aesthetic is dazzling, but the texts —in Arabic and English— end up scattered across discs at different heights, with reflections and transparencies that complicate reading for low-vision visitors.
- 02
Strict AR / EN bilingualism
The museum's signage is designed for local and international visitors in Arabic and English. Without a digital layer, foreign visitors —or users with dyslexia or blindness— depend entirely on the audio guide or staff to access the story.
- 03
Consistency with Expo's accessible DNA
Expo 2020 Dubai was certified as a sensory accessible event and left a legacy in Expo City of tactile maps, guide lines, sign language and routes for People of Determination. The museum needed to join that same standard without breaking its visual language.
§ The solution
A NaviLens code on every story capsule.
The acrylic discs in each room carry a NaviLens code next to the bilingual mark «امسح مع · Scan with NaviLens GO». The app recognises the codes from several metres away, on the move and without aiming.
NaviLens GO delivers the full label by voice —object on display, context and quote— in Arabic, English and up to 42 languages, covering both local audiences and the international visitors at Expo City.
The digital layer coexists with the braille lectern in each room and with the Direct Access tactile maps at the museum entrance: every layer works together within the same accessible standard.
§ The rollout
Discreet codes over the museum's visual language.
§ Timeline
From Expo 2020 to a permanently accessible museum.
- 2020 — 2022
Expo 2020 Dubai as the most accessible Expo in history
With Direct Access as Universal Design Access Consultants, the site is designed with guide lines, tactile maps, BSL/ArSL and services for People of Determination. International press certifies the event as sensory accessible.
- 2022 — 2024
Expo City Dubai opens as a permanent legacy
After closing, the site reopens as Expo City: a mixed-use district with repurposed pavilions, offices and cultural spaces that maintains —and expands— Expo 2020's accessibility guidelines.
- 23 May 2024
First Direct Access tactile map at the Museum of Expo 2020
Direct Access delivers and installs the site's first Tactile Map Board in front of the museum: 3D scale model of the building, braille, BSL and accessible audio description via QR. It is the museum's first formal accessibility milestone.
- 2024 — 2026
NaviLens GO on every capsule of the tour
On the acrylic discs of the «The Journey», «The Opportunity», «The Connection» rooms and the final «COP28 UAE» capsule, NaviLens codes are added. The NaviLens GO app detects them from several metres and reads each label aloud in Arabic and English —and up to 42 languages— without needing to aim.
§ What they said
What they said about the project.
“Expo City Dubai, a long-time client of Direct Access, has installed the first tactile map on its site at the Museum for Expo 2020… ensuring accessibility to people who are visually impaired and/or registered blind.”
“Expo City Dubai is committed to creating a fully inclusive environment for People of Determination, with accessible facilities, services and experiences across the site.”
“Expo 2020 Dubai received international accreditation as a sensory accessible event, supporting its commitment to become the most inclusive event of its kind ever.”
§ Results
Same museography, now also audible.
AR · EN · +40
Every museum label, audible in the visitor's language
Free
No cost for visitors: the NaviLens GO app is free on iOS and Android
Legacy
Museum aligned with the accessible standard inherited from Expo 2020
§ And your destination?
Your destination can also guide in 42 languages.
Tell us about your routes, offices, monuments or galleries. We’ll show you how NaviLens would make your offer accessible —with comparable cases.
