By: Venetia Liao

introduction

VR exhibitions have been on the rise for the past decade and are a frequent hot topic headline in the news. Many metrics can be measured and leveraged when evaluating a museum’s exhibition. However, when it comes to leveraging a VR exhibition in a physical museum, what metrics are currently being assessed and valued in the museum field? What are the factors that make or break a VR exhibition? These are the questions that this article aims to address and explore.

The Experience

One main aspect that makes or breaks a VR exhibition is the experience it provides to its audience. Several pain points can be measured and managed in order to create a successful VR exhibit:

Immersion

According to the Encyclopedia of Science Education: immersive exhibits are specialized exhibition genres of museums that create the illusion of time and place by representing key characteristics of a reference world and by integrating the visitor into this three-dimensional reconstructed world (Mortensen 2010).

A successful representation of the reference world depends on three criteria:

• whether the exhibition is staged as a coherent whole with all the displayed objects supporting the representation

• whether the visitor is integrated as a component of the exhibition

• whether the content and message of the exhibition become dramatized as a result of the visitor’s interaction with the exhibit (Springer  2019). 

According to The Aesthetics of Virtual Reality, immersion comprises the sense of being taken up completely with activity and forgetting the world beyond that activity (Tavinor 2022). Immersion is also a psychological state characterized by perceiving oneself to be enveloped by, included in, and interacting with an environment that provides a continuous stream of stimuli and experiences (Witmer and Singer 1998). For an immersive experience to be successful, it is generally linked causally to the degree of vividness or credibility of the represented reality (Therrien 2014). 

To successfully create a sense of “immersion” through VR exhibits was what many museum professionals suggested to be a crucial determination of VR exhibit success, according to the  Virtual Reality in Museums: Exploring the Experiences of Museum Professionals research conducted by researchers in Cyrpus, who held qualitative interviews with museum professionals from over the world. Professionals included those from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Tate, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Dali Museum, the Natural History Museum of Utah, the Australian National Maritime Museum, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, and the National Museum of Finland (Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert 2020). The museum professionals mentioned how the museum itself is already an immersive experience. Thus, there should be balance in structuring the VR exhibition to not become an obstacle in immersing the audience in the museum itself but to offer an additional layer of experience that is original, rare, unique, and enriching. The implementation of VR should be a balancing act instead of a means to steal away the limelight from the physical museum itself.

Social Experience & Social Connection

According to Art Museums and the Incorporation of Virtual Reality: Examining the Impact of VR on Spatial and Social Norms, art museums are shared social spaces predicated on a "public-private duality" (Debenedetti, 2003: 58). Whether one arrives at a museum accompanied or in solitude; all visitors have to negotiate an often delicate balance between two irreconcilable poles:

• conviviality – sharing, exchanging ideas

• introspection—which will ultimately establish a personal relationship with the artworks

Being accompanied by someone else is frequently part of the experience of art museums, and individuals tend to move through these spaces as a unit, sharing their thoughts and exchanging ideas to help comprehend and validate each other’s reactions. Thus, the introspective element of the art museum is just as important as the social experience. Parker and Saker's article suggests that VR exhibitions affect the spatial and social experience of art museums. The research also found that the use of VR in a setting amplified both the public and private aspects of the experimented art space. It certified the audience's need for social interaction when engaging in museum exhibits. Several research participants found it disappointing and isolating when  VR exhibits made it difficult to "see" what their partner was thinking, precisely because the digital space of VR was necessarily dislocated from the concrete setting of the museum. The VR experience could be unfavorable for some participants if the exhibit could not be experienced with the engagement of another person.

"It could have made it better to interact with someone seeing the same thing.” - Experiment Participant

Museum professionals in Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert’s research also provided warnings as to not create a sense of social isolation when implementing VR exhibits. Since most people visit a museum as part of a pair or a group; social interaction is an essential component of every museum visit which could become hindered by VR headsets, resulting in an unwanted “antisocial experience” (Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert 2020).

On the contrary, art museums can also create a conceptual space that can feel solitary (Perlin, 1998). For some participants, VR would precisely place them in a space that felt distinctly removed from other people – vocularly and audibly speaking – that made their experience feel qualitatively different (Parker and Saker 2020).

“When you had it (the VR art space) all by yourself and you were the only person there, that was cool. It was like having your private museum moment. You’re still part of the art space but you’re having your own experience.” - Experiment Participant

"It was private because I felt like I had the space for myself. I was free to go to any of the pieces of work there…I feel like I have more freedom without people because you can go anywhere you want without people being in the middle of it.” - Experiment Participant

Thus, VR exhibits could benefit museums by providing their visitors with an additional layer of experience that could be both public and private, according to the design and flow of the exhibition. According to the social interactiveness of the VR exhibit, the exhibit could potentially attract and engage audiences of varying tastes and preferences. For some, the VR exhibit could provide a sense of freedom as the participant may be able to eliminate the gazes and activity of other visitors. For others, the removal of people provided a mastery of space and autonomy that would allow the singleton to set a very personal itinerary and preserve the intimacy of their encounter with the artworks, free to go at their own pace and stay as long as they wish (Debenedetti 2003: 58). The sense of privacy VR provided notably allowed certain participants to be more absorbed in the experience and therefore less conscious of their reflexive role in maintaining tacitly agreed norms (Parker and Saker 2020).

To prevent a serious creation of isolation when undergoing VR exhibits, museum professionals also suggested that other sensory stimuli could be incorporated to make the VR experience more effective (Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert 2020 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/11/4031). For instance, other senses aside from sight and sound, such as touch or smell, could be included as ways for people engaging in the VR exhibit to share their experiences and communicate (Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert 2020). How to offer truly social experiences is an issue that technology and museum professionals are still trying to master, and can be the crucial element that makes or breaks a VR experience.

“Realism” & Accessibility

According to the feedback given by museum professionals in Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert’s research; VR exhibits would bring the most value when they could create immersive experiences that could showcase and emphasize the environment and background in which the artwork was created, or the period and culture in which the artist had been living in.

“You can use Rembrandt as an inspiration, but once you start to add onto his paintings and create these 3D worlds, you are never going to be as good as the artist himself, and the technology isn't there yet and the graphics are not there yet either.” - Museum Professional

It may take time for the aesthetics and the graphics quality of VR creations to catch up with the quality of the human-created artwork itself—which can be what makes human-made artwork unique and valuable. However, according to museum professionals participating in Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert’s research; they have seen beneficial value created when using VR to realize the age and time of art, but not the artwork itself, as “nothing can beat the artwork.” Instead of diving into the artwork itself, it may be better to create the world and context around the artwork. VR could be more effective if it was used to re-create the world around the artwork since the original and its aura can never be replaced by VR. For instance, instead of recreating a Rembrandt artwork in VR, it may be more awe-generating and of value to recreate the period and environment in which Rembrandt had lived, through VR technology.

Because VR can create illusions and experiences that visitors would not have been able to undergo before using the technology, VR exhibits can also increase accessibility. In The Research on Application of Virtual Reality Technology in Museums, researchers found that through the application of VR, visitors could gain access to the details of ancient buildings that would otherwise be prevented from accessing, due to the goal of conserving cultural heritage (Wang, Sun, and Zhou 2020).

According to The Aesthetics of Virtual Reality, having seen the practicality of VR and its connection to the actual world, VR users might be much less tempted to see VR as merely “conceptual” or “illusory,” or as an attempt to “exclude” the real world. VR is grounded in and connected to the facts of the actual world, even if it sometimes allows for flights of fantasy from the world (Tavinor 2022).

Emotional Resonance & Education

Another essential aspect in determining the success of a VR exhibit is whether or not the exhibit can create emotional resonance. Following the previous point of ensuring realism through creating a VR exhibit, creating an exhibit that could immersive its visitors in the period and environment in which a specific artist or artwork had existed; a unique sense of emotional resonance could be developed and captured, which may not have taken place if the VR exhibit hadn’t generated the immersive environment. For instance, museum professionals in Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert’s research shared visitors’ feedback in expressing how they hadn’t regarded the artists as human beings who had lived and breathed before engaging in an immersive VR exhibition that would allow them to be immersed in a living environment. The immersion would bring the artists to life with a sense that they had in fact existed, which would then give the audience a sense of a greater emotional resonance with the artworks (Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert 2020).

As with the case of "The Palace of the Son of Heaven" created by the Palace Museum, VR technology could enhance the audience’s understanding of the ancient buildings and stimulate people's interest in the preservation of ancient buildings (Wang, Sun, and Zhou 2020). In the case of Using VR Virtual Reality Technology to Better Display Cultural Connotation, researchers found that the application of VR technology in museums could bring the history and culture of historical relics and the national spirit they contain to the audience. Via VR exhibits, the cultural connotations contained in historical relics could be expressed better, bringing a brand-new visual feeling to the audience and obtaining better cultural edification (Kargas and Loumos 2023). The collaboration of the museum and VR would enhance engagement to be more internal and emotional, moving away from the mere text and interpretation of written history.

Ethics & Interpretation

According to museum professionals in Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert’s research; any VR experience that re-creates a holistic reality or a time in history should abide by specific standards of scientific accuracy and ethics criteria (Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert 2020).

In many cases, the amount of information needed to create a VR exhibit may be extremely large and not always available to the creators. Thus, museum curators, technologists, scientists, and different stakeholders will have to make interpretive choices, which, if not made carefully and based on specific criteria, may result in a VR exhibit that is only meant to recreate instead of enlighten, educate, or even immerse the visitor. Whether ethics and interpretation can be handled with care and sensitivity thus becomes a make-or-break factor for a VR exhibition.

Organizational Strategies & Goals

Aside from experience which focuses on audience engagement and user feedback; the other main aspect that can make or break a VR exhibition is the strategy and goals of the internal organization, which can affect the VR exhibits it curates. On the other hand, the organizations will also be ultimately impacted by the VR exhibits themselves. Successful VR exhibits are the ones that incorporate the following metrics, procedures, or systems:

Cross-department Communication & Digital Strategies

“Museums should have positive attitudes when creating and maintaining a digital strategy.” - Museum Professional

“It appears that the existence of a digital strategy, even a more general one, is one of the factors facilitating VR’s permanent inclusion in the museum.” - Museum Professional

According to Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert's research of museum professionals undergoing VR exhibits; Museums that undergo thorough cross-department communication before the design and implementation of VR exhibits are more likely to create VR exhibits that are long-lasting, sustainable, and satisfying in terms of the audience’s needs and departmental needs. The museums that could maintain permanent, sustainable VR exhibitions appeared to be the ones that had digital strategies in place.

Staff Training & Device Management

“Mass use of VR headsets can be challenging to control, and hygiene issues should be taken into consideration.” - Museum Professional

To guarantee satisfactory and enjoyable experiences for the audience exploring the VR exhibitions; it becomes vital that staff members are well-trained on how to instruct and guide the visitors in using the devices suitably and enjoyably. It is also vital that staff members understand how to maintain the hygiene and well-being of the electronic devices, as device odor and battery declination could drastically degrade the experience and perception of VR exhibits. Staff should also be sensitive as to how VR devices can come into issue when Bluetooth and Wi-Fi aren’t coordinated properly. “When we tried to use more than 50 headsets in the gallery there was a lot of interference and issues with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi—they took a lot of time to set up”, states an interviewee from Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert's research.

Sustainable Budgets & Partnerships

The cost of implementing VR exhibits and the cost of sustaining VR exhibits can be a big issue for museums, which was an aspect that was heavily emphasized by interviewees in Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert’s research. A feasible way to overcome this challenge would be for museums to undergo collaborations with companies that could sponsor VR headsets and technology assistance. In many cases that Shehade and Stylianou-Lambert had interviewed, VR exhibitions were developed after the museums were contacted by tech companies that wanted to seek collaboration.

For instance, Vive Arts of HTC, the Taiwanese electronics company, created a historical reconstruction of Modigliani's room for the Tate Modern in 2017 and made another project for the Paris Grand Palais' Pompeii exhibition that would allow museum visitors to travel back in time to witness the city's original architectural splendor (Faber 2020).

HTC also collaborated with the Louvre in arranging an “intimate Mona Lisa tour which tourists could undergo without the need to peer over other tourists’ heads” (Faber 2020). According to the Louvre itself, the VR experience: Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass, would provide an opportunity for visitors to interact with the painting in a virtual space, which would allow them the rare chance to step behind the glass of the Mona Lisa as to access the intriguing portrait up close in an entirely new, transformative way (Louvre 2020).

In another case study, the Smithsonian American Art Museum partnered with HTC Vive Arts, Intel, and creative studio Framestore to launch VR exhibits that would allow its viewers to “step in” paintings to explore the paintings' environments and periods.

Marketing, Branding, & Mission-driven Goals

Last but certainly not least, VR exhibits can be measured by the extent to which they can have positive impacts regarding the marketing and branding of the museum, and increasing the appeal of museums to a wider, diverse group of audience. However, as museums operate differently from for-profit organizations; at the end of the day, whether or not the VR exhibitions stay true and enforce the mission and vision of the museums becomes a crucial factor in determining the VR exhibit’s success.

“The integration of technology should be designed within the overall museum mission in mind.” - Museum Professional

“Technologies are just a set of tools to be put in service of a greater goal. Technology in museums must be in service of providing the best, most engaging experience with the actual content. Any good technology project must be visitor-centered, accessible to people of all abilities, and in service of that higher goal: To educate, inspire, or motivate people to take action. Technology for technology's sake is not a worthy aspiration for museums. Museums should not be distracted by what is new and shiny, but think about people, about our mission, and what we can do to serve audiences in the best possible way.” - Museum Professional

Implementing VR experiences in museums requires a significant commitment of resources. Measuring the success of those experiences and evaluating what can be improved the next time will support museums as they embrace VR and other immersive technologies in the future.