How Are Museums Putting the AR into Arts and Culture

Museums are becoming increasingly popular places to visit and spend quality time with friends and family. Traditional museums’ static displays will soon be obsolete, as they are being changed into digital museums with highly interactive and immersive experiences and exhibitions. Today’s museums are heavily influenced by high technology, with Augmented Reality (AR) being one of the most significant.

Augmented reality is not a new technology. We have been using it without recognizing it. The mobile phone and its enormous array of communication technologies have resulted in an enormous number of applications that are both functional and enjoyable. Many people who have played Pokemon Go may not be aware that it is enabled by augmented reality or that Google Maps provides navigational signals when seeing a real-world street setting. Augmented reality is essentially the application of digital content to many of the gadgets we use today, including smartphones, tablets, and very advanced AR wearable devices. The content supplied is relevant, contextual, location-specific, and really valuable.

Art and culture are very important to us as humans. We want to preserve and promote traditional art forms while also promoting the birth and development of new ones. Museums are an excellent method to display what we have and promote the more innovative ones that are being developed. They are changing the way museums promote arts and culture by providing a more participatory, immersive visitor experience that is rich in educational and entertaining value. Museum 2.0 firms, such as Fusion VR, assist museums in developing new ways to build, operate, and maintain augmented reality exhibitions and experiences. 

With nearly everyone owning a smartphone these days, the most practical approach to introduce AR is through these omnipresent gadgets. Augmented reality applications (apps) efficiently provide content and assistance in the hands of museum visitors. Every museum includes a tremendous treasury of cultural and artistic artifacts that most people pass by without realizing their value or significance. Museums have developed apps that allow visitors to scan paintings or artifacts with their smartphones. The program then provides a menu of options for exploring the artifact. The information may be textual, audio, or video, depending on the visitor’s choices.  The application might also include a 3D model of the artifact that can be rotated in any direction, giving the visitor a full view of the object. The audiovisual content may also include movies of specialists who provide interesting information about the artifact. The Smithsonian Museum is a pioneer in this field, having created an app that overlays virtual skin onto its prehistoric animal skeleton exhibitions, allowing visitors to experience how these species appeared when they lived on Earth.

Museums are also helping their visitors have a more immersive experience by equipping them with AR smart glasses like HoloLens and something hands-free. The user wears HoloLens in the Cleveland Museum of Art and examines digital reconstructions of artworks found in the museum, as well as learning about the artist’s creativity and work processes. This augmented reality in museums experience is ideal for both casual art enthusiasts and academic and professional visitors who want to use the concepts to their own projects. The National Museum of Finland also employs the HoloLens to show tourists how climate change affects the ecology through immersive 3D holograms. This show, titled The Sixth Extinction, demonstrates how augmented reality may be used to have a significant impact not only on art and culture but also to highlight some of the crucial concerns confronting humanity.

The National Museum of Singapore and the National Gallery of the United Kingdom are adopting AR projections to improve the viewing experience and replicate authentic locations for artwork from their heyday. Typically, AR projections use powerful projectors to overlay digital content created over surrounding physical structures, objects, and places. These projections turn museum galleries, halls, and rooms into vibrant immersive environments. Instead of simply displaying the artwork, the augmented reality projections provide context and significance. Projections also permit the integration of dynamic information into static displays. This type of experience and engagement that museums offer for art and culture is remembered by visitors for a long time and is most likely to be shared with family and friends.

Another intriguing way that museums are using AR for arts and culture is through AR guides. It has become increasingly difficult to find qualified museum tour guides. Furthermore, obtaining the necessary skills takes a significant amount of time. Finally, they are expensive and could not be available when we need them. Museums such as the National Gallery of Australia and the American Museum of Natural History have used augmented reality gadgets and wearables to orient visitors. These AR guide apps provide visitors with information about an artifact, painting, exhibit, or experience using their devices. Visitors would receive advice in text, audio voice-over, visual, or a combination of the three.  An experienced voice offering all necessary information is similar to having a physical guide alongside the visitor. The app provides additional information and is interactive. The application would display an interactive 3D model of the artifact, allowing the visitor to enjoy it in greater detail.

These augmented reality guides are much more intriguing in the hands of younger visitors. They have a sponge-like ability to absorb whatever information that is supplied or shared. AR-based educational applications are frequently created to catch the attention and creativity of young children. The learning experience can be tailored to their specific needs and integrated into their current school curriculum. The museum tour and augmented reality activities will complement their academic work at school. These apps would feature dynamic and entertaining games, quizzes, and puzzles. The victors would also earn badges and other forms of recognition that could be beneficial to their academic aspirations. The Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom offers the NHM Alive application, which was created in partnership with David Attenborough. This application provides an interactive learning experience on animals from the prehistoric period. This type of learning experience maximizes the involvement and retention of young children.

The coolest part about augmented reality is how adaptable it is to different devices. The proliferation of smartphones has made widespread use of augmented reality more accessible. Museum 2.0 encompasses museums that combine augmented reality and virtual reality technologies to transform traditional museums into modern interactive museums. While museums do not normally employ augmented reality technologists, technical staff will undoubtedly benefit from an understanding of how this technology might aid their efforts. This is where experienced and educated subject matter specialists like Fusion VR come in. Our museum experience spans two decades, and we frequently help customers uncover new technologies, applications, and visitor experiences.

We can recommend the optimum combination of technology, hardware, and software to create the most engaging interactive visitor experiences for augmented reality experience centers. We strongly encourage it since it saves time, effort, money, and a lot of rework if one hires inexperienced service providers, especially because the usage of AR in museums is increasing exponentially. Our staff is accessible on short notice to discuss concepts and solutions that are both high-quality and cost-effective. We propose that you visit our Museum 2.0 website to understand more about our methodology, our extremely successful projects, and the augmented reality museum experience in general. 

Finally, museums are investing significant time and effort in deploying augmented reality in museums to promote and expand the country’s arts and cultural environment. This increases visitor interest and engagement while also providing unforgettable experiences.

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