Exploring 15 Ways Augmented Reality Transforms Museum Experiences
In a revolutionary shift, museums around the world are incorporating Augmented Reality (AR) and related technologies to enrich visitor experiences, moving beyond traditional displays.
The National Museum of Singapore's latest exhibition, "Story of the Forest," utilises AR technology to create an immersive virtual environment, allowing visitors to explore the forest in a unique and engaging way. This innovation is just one example of how AR is being used to transform the museum experience.
Louvre Abu Dhabi's Quantum Dome offers a 360-degree virtual reality (VR) environment, blending art and history into an immersive time-travel experience. The National Museum of Natural History's "Q?rius" exhibit uses interactive touchscreen interfaces, while the Google Arts & Culture platform provides digital exhibits featuring virtual tours and 360-degree views. The Neon Museum's "Brilliant Jackpot" presents a large-scale AR audiovisual experience, reanimating vintage Las Vegas neon signs.
These examples demonstrate a growing trend of museums employing AR and immersive technology to engage visitors with cultural heritage. AR allows visitors to interact with exhibits in a more immersive and engaging way, including exploring exhibits in 3D and accessing additional information. It also enables museums to show visitors what artifacts would have looked like in their original state.
The Smithsonian Institution's "Skin and Bones" exhibition uses AR technology to allow visitors to explore the anatomy of animals in a virtual environment. The National Gallery in London has created an AR experience that allows visitors to explore the collections beyond the museum's walls. AR museums offer virtual tours and walkthroughs, interactive exhibits, educational games, and scavenger hunts.
AR technology can make museum learning more accessible to people with disabilities. It can provide audio descriptions for visitors with visual impairments and visual annotations for visitors with hearing impairments. Museums can also hire AR content creators to design and develop AR experiences for their exhibits, ensuring that everyone, regardless of ability, can enjoy the museum experience.
In conclusion, AR technology is transforming the way people interact with museums and heritage sites, offering a unique and engaging way to learn about history and culture. By dynamically adapting displays to user interaction and perspective, AR enhances visitor engagement and comfort. As more museums adopt AR and immersive technology, the museum experience is set to become even more interactive and immersive.
References:
[1] Louvre Abu Dhabi. (2021). Quantum Dome. https://www.louvreabudhabi.ae/en/exhibitions/quantum-dome
[2] Google Arts & Culture. (n.d.). Explore museums and exhibitions. https://artsandculture.google.com/
[3] The Neon Museum. (2021). Brilliant Jackpot: A Large-Scale AR Audiovisual Experience. https://www.neonmuseum.org/events/brilliant-jackpot/
[4] American Alliance of Museums. (2019). Extended Reality in Museums: A Landscape Analysis. https://www.aam-us.org/media/1009/extended-reality-in-museums-a-landscape-analysis.pdf
[5] International Council of Museums. (2019). Museums and Extended Reality: A Global Landscape Analysis. https://icom.museum/media/4626/museums-and-extended-reality-a-global-landscape-analysis.pdf
Science is increasingly being integrated with lifestyle as museums harness technology to offer immersive and interactive experiences, such as the use of Augmented Reality (AR) to explore the anatomy of animals in the Smithsonian Institution's "Skin and Bones" exhibition.
Technology-enhanced museum visits are not limited to AR, as demonstrated by the National Museum of Natural History's interactive touchscreen interfaces and the Google Arts & Culture platform's digital exhibits, aiming to provide a comprehensive transformation of the traditional museum experience.
