Out of the 8000 square metres of floor space. Their publicity material claims the system has been used by more than half a million visitors, which puts that niche marketing bit into perspective, doesn’t it?
You’re obviously going to have people making multiple visits, particularly if you’re a local who can do it for free, but when you’re talking niche marketing you’re not necessarily talking small numbers.
And given the number of attendants and assistants on hand, you wouldn’t want to be talking small numbers.
For Hughesy, however, The O was, at the start, a major encumbrance, ad I wish I’d done a bit of preparatory reading prior to arrival. If I had done so, maybe the penny might have dropped. I reckon you’re better off eschewing The O first time around, heading down to the bottom, making your way back up while you get an overall impression of what’s there.
Once you’ve been through and had a look you’re going to have an idea of what you’re likely to linger over, so give yourself a break, have a coffee or lunch or whatever, and head back down (or do the whole bit in reverse. On the return journey, I'd be inclined to start at the top, and head towards the deepest dungeon, avoiding whatever doesn’t interest and hitting LOVE for anything you find intriguing.
You could hit HATE for anything you particularly disliked, but I suspect that's the sort of material you wouldn't want to be reminded of, so why bother?
On that basis, you can do a second circuit, save the tour and then sit back a day or two later and re-immerse yourself. Of course, the device also allows management to gain some insight “into visitor activity and satisfaction via ... analytics tools”.
It is, however, easy to be overwhelmed by the whole package and you could easily end up focussing more on the gadget and what’s in there rather than the artworks that surround you. I was getting close to sensory overload after about twenty minutes, and just let the device hang around my neck while I wandered and tried to take everything in.
Eventually it all became too much, and I needed a break, and when we reached the entry level a glance showed the cafe was full, so if we were going to take a breather it was either the wine bar or the cellar door. Guess which one we chose?