Solar Powered Audio Mythophone Statues

These solid state sound stores are activated through simple push buttons and have been used to communicate information about Liverpool’s ‘secret gardens’, sharing their facts about where each one is placed, unknown secrets, fantastical facts, tall tales, myths and poems through the Mythophone statue’s themselves.

How Do They Work?

A visitor simply pushes one of the two buttons to hear an audio message. Each Mythophone sculpture has two solar panels mounts on the top which provides a trickle charge to the solid state, lower power electronics box which is fully waterproof and custom built for these installations. The audio content can be reprogrammed on site as well as allowing for volume control and playback statistics showing how many times the units have been used. Photos and source from; Liverpool Discovers.

The Stats

Within the first six weeks of installation, the total number of plays for all of the Mythophones was 14691. The individual stats…

• Liverpool John Moores University Art & Design Academy Garden – 1580
• St James Mount and Gardens – 4513
• St Luke’s Churchyard – 2256
• St Nicholas’ Churchyard – 2379
• Bluecoat Garden – 3936

On average, over those 6 weeks, the  5 Mythophones were played 350 times per day, or 70 times at each location. This could mean 70 individuals listening to one clip, or 35 people listening to both clips.