From Beer Museum to WUK: The Journey of Innovation
In 2014, we embarked on an exciting adventure in the heart of Bruges, right next to the iconic Belfry and overlooking the Market Square. This is where the Bruges Beer Experience was born, a museum dedicated to celebrating and educating visitors about everything beer-related.
From day one, we knew we wanted more than just a traditional audio guide for our visitors. We envisioned a technological platform that would serve as a personal guide—something interactive, multimedia-rich, and engaging. We weren’t satisfied with the idea of simply playing audio clips; we wanted to offer something that would truly enhance the visitor experience. We wanted a system where visitors could interact with exhibits effortlessly, perhaps by simply pointing at what intrigued them, triggering content in a seamless and innovative way.
As we searched the market for such a solution, we quickly realized that our vision didn’t yet exist. So, we decided to create it. We partnered with a young, motivated IT company, sharing our ambitious plans with them. They embraced our vision wholeheartedly, and what began as a simple app that recognized QR codes evolved over the years into a state-of-the-art native app. We continually invested in the software, refining the CMS, and adding features like quizzes, surveys, fun facts, and more. The result? An interactive guide that not only met our expectations but also delighted our visitors.
As word spread, colleagues from other museums began to reach out, asking if they could use our app in their venues. For a long time, we hesitated. Our app was one of the key reasons the Bruges Beer Experience was so well-received. It was tailored specifically to our needs, working only on iOS, and perfectly aligned with our branding. To adapt it for broader use—across different platforms and venues—would require starting from scratch. At the time, we weren’t ready to take that leap.
Then COVID-19 happened. The world changed, and like so many others in the sector, we temporarily closed our doors. During this time, we reconnected with a trusted IT partner who knew our software inside and out. Together, we saw an opportunity to turn our app into something bigger—something that could benefit museums and cultural venues everywhere.
And so, WUK was born. WUK is easy to find in the Google Play or App Store, and what it can do today would have been unimaginable just a year and a half ago. With a completely new, user-friendly CMS, its own image recognition module, AI integration, and more, WUK is no longer just a tool for one museum in Bruges. It’s a platform poised to revolutionize the visitor experience in museums around the world.
What started as a dream to enhance our own museum has grown into something much larger—a mission to transform how visitors engage with cultural and historical sites everywhere. Welcome to WUK, where technology meets culture, and every visit becomes an unforgettable journey.
