Your own Audio Guide

When was the last time, you got something explained to you?

Ok, I get it. These times, nobody physically goes to a museum. But have you ever taken one of the audioguides available in museums and listened to extended explanations about the background of the exhibited paintings, sculptures, photos or other items?

If you did, you will have learned a lot more than those who haven't. And if you haven't: Consider doing it next time. There are hidden gems that you might not find on your own the next time. And while it might take longer, to explore the details, your experience will be a lot more complete and rich.

The same holds true for Liferay: Recently I've demoed the latest version of Liferay DXP to a new team within a customer, where several people were never exposed to Liferay at all. They've asked if they could have access to a demo system.

While I love to provide that access, I always hesitate to do so: It's a bit as if I'd provide a car to someone who doesn't have a drivers license, and never driven a car: They'll hardly be able to appreciate the details or neat features - instead they'll look for what they'll already know and base their judgement (in the worst case) on whether they found exactly what they wanted where they expected it.

But in many aspects Liferay DXP is different than other products - they're all coming from a different angle - if not to say history. With a complex system like Liferay DXP it's hard to provide meaningful demo access to. That's why I've sat down and invested a couple of hours into a proof-of-concept:

The Liferay Audioguide

Would you like to be guided around your site? With instructions, remote controlling the UI, highlighting exactly what that magic voice is talking about?

Look no further: Go ahead and try it. So far, there's one sample recording for a simple WidgetPage, but as you can expect, nothing is hardcoded, the script is configured and dynamically loaded.

Check the short video demo: All of the Audio that you hear there comes from the prerecorded sample audio track. The only mouse operation happens when you see the mouse moving and clicking something on the page - the rest is scripted, matching the recording's progress.

I'm thinking of folding this into ControlPanel Documentation as well.

Find the plugin on github. Contrary to your typical museums, you're allowed to touch, explore and modify everything. Let me know what you think, and share improvement- and script ideas.