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Exploring Integration of XR in Museums to Enhance Visitor Experience

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By: Joanna Kim

As the implementation of digital technologies permeates the creative industries, specific advantages emerge from the collaboration between technology and humans. Many museums have gravitated towards utilizing XR (VR, AR, or other extended reality modes) in numerous ways to enhance visitor experience. There has been positive feedback from visitor surveys. While there are successful ways to support visitor experience, it is possible that XR can have negative impacts. This article explores case studies of two museums who have integrated XR into their exhibitions: the Cleveland Museum of Art and Illinois Holocaust Museum, discusses the positive and negative facets of these technologies on visitor experience, and analyzes implications for the arts field. 

Cleveland Museum of Art

In 2013, the Cleveland Museum of Art opened Gallery One, which involved interactive multi-touch “lenses” that offered “digital investigation of the art” through games and other “hands-on activities and technology stations” (Alexander, 2017).

Figure 1: ArtLens Collections Wall

Source: Cleveland Museum of Art

While surveys found that attendance increased and visitors liked browsing based on their preferences, they felt that the screens were a barrier to gaining an understanding of the physical artworks. In response to the feedback, CMA introduced a second iteration of Gallery One in 2017, with the goal to “eliminate competition for visitors’ attention between the digital and physical [art]” and instead emphasize their integrated relationship (Alexander, 2017). Renamed ARTLENS Gallery, it now has five components: ArtLens App, ArtLens Studio, ArtLens Exhibition, ArtLens Beacon, and ArtLens Wall. CMA’s Chief Information Digital Officer, Jane Alexander, notes that continuing to iterate ensures the technology stays visitor-centric.

ArtLens studio implements combinations of “barrier-free” and “motion-detecting technology” as well as “touch screens” (Alexander, 2017).  Collaborative learning stations at ArtLens studio include:

  • Reveal and Zoom: 25-foot 4k video wall that allows visitors to make physical movement of their bodies that correlate to the zooming in and focusing of 3-D replicas of the art in the galleries.

  • Create Studio: allows visitors to create their own “artwork” through interactive, gesture-based experiences that implement depth-tracking cameras and real-time graphics. For example, one of the stations is a “pottery wheel” that molds a block of clay on the screen according to your hand gestures. Another station is a “collage maker,'“ allowing visitors to cut and coalesce part of images from the museum collection.

ArtLens Exhibition

ArtLens Exhibition is an experiential space with 16 projected games that utilize “motion activated interactive projections” that “mirror visitors’ expressions” to provide a fun way to learn about “composition, gesture, expression, purpose, and symbols.” The 20 artworks newly rotate every 18 months and each artwork corresponds to two games. The games include interactions with projections of 3-D replicas of the artwork, which allows you to zoom in and out in order to get a detailed visual. These 3-D replicas are also a component of the ArtLens App, which allows the ability to scan some of the 2-D and 3-D artworks to provide “additional curatorial and interpretive content." One of the four “gesture and emotion” interactives is “Strike a Pose,” which invites visitors to “mirror the pose of a character in an artwork” to learn the contextual emotions.

Visitor Experience Analysis

CMA conducted a study to evaluate how the ArtLens Gallery affects visitor experience. Visitors agreed that ArtLens “enhanced overall museum experience” (76%), “encouraged [them] to look closely at art and notice new things” (74%), “increased interest in the museum’s collection” (73%), and “increased their perception of CMA as a place that was welcoming to a wide range of visitors” (78%). Also, visitors who didn’t feel confident in their understanding and interpretation of art before visiting ArtLens Gallery rated a statistically significant increase in their confidence post-visit.

As we can see, there are many positive enrichments of XR on visitor experience, as many visitors left feeling like they gained better knowledge of the artwork, which can lead to the continued return of visitors. Also, when thinking about the bigger implications of art education, visitors can gain deeper connection and love of art in general. With the gamification aspects, it can also broaden museum audiences, reaching untapped demographics, such as younger generations or those who are not familiar with the museum space but are familiar with technology.

While there are positive impacts, Alexander revealed that at first, CMA faced hesitations from people saying that it may impact the credibility of the art. Also, the visitor agency aspect of ArtLens Gallery received positive feedback as it enabled visitors to “find new ways to access, understand, and respond to” the artwork; however, it can create an isolating feeling as visitors are exploring by themselves and at their own pace to match their interests, taking away from the feeling of “togetherness” that is so integral to the whole museum experience. Another concern is “detraction or replacement of the museum experience” because it is easy for visitors, particularly children, to “disconnect from the surrounding displays” and get lost in the gamification aspect. Aligned with the detraction, the technology may take away from looking at the art on view for art’s sake as sometimes, visitors may just want a quiet and retrospective experience. Also, the technology may be overwhelming for some visitors, especially given its novelty and those who may not be as familiar using it, such as older generations. 

Key Takeaways from ArtLens Gallery

CMA emphasizes experiential learning while embracing elements of gamification to give visitors a meaningful connection to the art. ArtLens Gallery creates welcoming spaces with barrier-free entry points for experiential learning, no matter the visitors’ background or knowledge about art. We can learn from CMA the importance of prioritizing iterations of digital initiatives with continuous visitor feedback in order to create an experience that is human-centered rather than technology-centered. XR can truly give unique participation as demonstrated here. ArtLens Gallery is an example of a seamless thread between artwork, visitors themselves, and the technology at play. 

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

Due to rising antisemitism and a lack of Holocaust history education, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center was inspired to create a way to share and preserve Holocaust survivor stories. IHMEC, USC Shoah Foundation, and other film production and design studios partnered together to travel to Auschwitz-Birkenau to create a video of a Holocaust survivor, Fritzie Fritzshall, sharing her experience physically at the location. The film crew also filmed footage of other concentration camps in Austria, which were later projected onto a green screen in the background of a recording of another survivor sharing his story, leading to the creation of two VR film (Marques, et al.). 

The exhibition, The Journey Back, entails “VR films that utilize immersive cinematography, animation, photogrammetry, and 360-degree sound” so visitors can immerse themselves in the survivor's hometowns and camps while simultaneously hearing the personal connection of those places from the survivors (Marques, et al.). 

Figure 5: The Journey Back VR headset room.

Source: Illinois Holocaust Museum

Another exhibition at the IHMEC is Survivor Stories Experience, held in a Holographic theater. Seven Holocaust survivors, including Fritzie Fritzshall, Aaron Elster, and Pinchas Gutter, were filmed using custom voice interactive technology and answered around 2000 different commonly asked survivor questions. Researchers then took the answers and added them to a database system, matching them with a variety of questions visitors could ask. The different ways that one question could be asked were also manually fed into the database so that whenever a visitor asks a question to the hologram, the questions go through and look for the closest answer to the question. The end result is an experience with a hologram that visitors could have a life-like conversation with. 

Fritzshall explains that she hopes that the holograms will serve as a teaching tool and when young people visit, they will pass their experience on to the next generations (Soulard, et al.). Elster hopes that this exhibition will make humans realize that there are still injustices today, even after what happened, and hopes that it will empower them to make a difference. In addition to sharing the voices of Holocaust survivors, IHMEC’S CEO Susan L. Abrams hopes that after visiting, people will want to “take a stand for humanity” and never forget the lessons of the Holocaust and apply it to today’s events.  

Visitor Experience Analysis

Based upon surveys, these exhibitions left visitors feeling empowered because they “deeply identif[ied] with testimonies of the Holocaust victims” due to their own experiences with hatred (Soulard, et al.). They felt like it was a “safe space to engage in introspection” and that their “voice, opinions, and life experiences matter[ed].” Also, visitors, particularly those of the Jewish faith, connected the “collective memory of the Holocaust to the present and focus[ed] on hope through group cohesion, shared identity, and common destiny” and “engaged in religious heritage and family history” during the visit (Trosin, 2021). One final impact on visitors is that the exhibitions “motivated them to address injustice in their lives or communities”- in fact, one visitor was inspired to “participate in an anti-racism project” post-visit (Forrest, 2022). A visitor even remarked that the holograms “make people realize that they can make a difference and can do something in the world.”

Figure 6: Visitors at IHMEC watching Fritzie Fritzshall’s hologram.

Source: American Alliance of Museums, Museum Magazine

However, some visitors “felt overwhelmed by negative emotions after viewing” the exhibitions. In fact, one visitor remarked that “he was glad to get out of [the museum]” and that “it’s depressing” (Soulard, et al.). Especially important when creating an immersive experience at memorial museums that may invoke traumatic responses, like the Holocaust, Michael Haley Goldman shares that while people can have strong, sometimes negative responses, the idea of playing a role as an “engaged witness,” which means to engage as a witness of the trauma of others’ experiences rather than take it in yourself emotionally, is important (“Meet Virtual Holocaust Survivors”). Another concern is if it’s a “Disney-fication” of the Holocaust if it ever fails to “focus on the power of the survivors’ stories rather than the technology” (Wolff, 2023). One final concern is the ethical matter of continuing to show holograms of deceased survivors and also making a profit from them. It is even more interesting when considering if it is appropriate as long as they receive consent from the survivors themselves, but even then, it still raises ethical questions.

Key Takeaways from IHMEC

IHMEC’s holograms and VR films have made notable impacts on visitors as it enhances not just the education of the Holocaust, but also storytelling and compassion as visitors can actually engage with the history, whether it’s through a headset or through a “conversation” with a survivor. XR’s ability to create a “presence in space” that lets you “step into another storyteller's space” and reality on that person’s terms and perspective is unlike any other experience and means to learn (Anderson, 2018). XR, when used intentionally and “presented in a way that also respects visitors as critical thinkers,” can make profound and intangible impacts on visitor experience. IHMEC’s XR use will carry the legacy and commemoration of the Holocaust and its survivors, making an impact for future generations. IHMEC is a perfect example of “engaging people in meaningful experiences, interactions, and dialogue with art and each other” (Kang et al., 2020)

Conclusions

These case studies prove that XR can positively enhance visitor experience. It is a vital tool to incorporate into the arts field to keep up with the rapidly evolving technological world. These are also lessons to be aware of VR’s potential ramifications. Although they are different implementations of XR, both display the necessary relationship and interdependence of humans and technology. Technology informs humans just as much as humans inform technology. The endless future possibilities to enhance visitor experience that comes from the strength of the relationship between humans and technology is easily exhibited in these two examples as well. With a human-centered approach to technology, the arts field can create even more meaningful experiences that further the development of the appreciation, connection, and understanding of art for humans.