An Approach to Facilitate Visitors' Engagement with Contemporary Art in a Virtual Museum

In recent years, the exhibition of digitized Cultural Heritage in Virtual Museums has increased, while Cultural Heritage institutions are trying to align with current trends regarding their communication with the audience. In VMs created with 360 degrees panoramas; web 3D VMs and 3D virtual exhibitions created with authoring tools, the visitor-exhibit interactions are usually limited to display information about an exhibit. On the other hand, in Virtual Reality museums visitors get involved in more complex hands-on activities with educational potential. In this paper, we present a theoretical and practical approach that aims to support a deeper understanding of contemporary art for a wide audience. To this end, we suggest a virtual reality museum setting with different types of interactions and experiential activities that highlight the artwork's main message, and increase the experience's educational value. The suggested set of activities can be used to create experiences in any virtual museum setting. We present the pedagogical framework of the study and how it is applied in the case of the 2gether VR museum.

Automated summary

The number of exhibitions in virtual museums has been increasing in recent years, as cultural heritage institutions strive to communicate with their audiences. Compared to using panoramic photos and virtual exhibitions, virtual reality museums offer more complex and educational hands-on activities. This paper presents a theoretical and practical approach to understanding contemporary art through virtual reality museums, enhancing the educational value of the experience.