
Will virtual reality compete with museums or help them? - prismatic
http://johnhawks.net/weblog/topics/museums/virtual-reality-compete-museums-2016.html
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CM30
It'll do both.

On the one hand, there'll certainly be some people who like the convenience VR
brings. The possibility of visiting a virtual museum without leaving the home
or (in many places) having to pay any entrance fees or what not. Some uses of
VR (as the article referenced in the link says) will act as alternative ways
to learn about the past. Like by experiencing historical artifacts and
structures as they were thousands of years ago.

But at the same time, a lot of people go to museums because they want to see
the 'real thing'. They don't want to see a 3D picture or hologram of a vase
from a few thousand years ago, but the actual vase from said time. Or the
actual sarcophagus/mummy of a long dead Egyptian pharaoh.

And at the end of the day, to these people, VR is 'fake'. Like TV, movies,
literature or video games are. In fact, it's best not to compare VR and
museums with the internet and libraries, but with museums and recreations of
historical sites.

Because the latter exists. There are lots of places where you can say,
experience life in a small village from Biblical times. Yet these don't
replace museums, because they're closer to a theatrical performance than a
history lesson.

It won't replace museums, it'll act as another way for people to learn, and
(as people say) might be integrated into the museums and even original
historical sites as a way to experience things from a news perspective.

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mrfusion
I'm really excited about the prospect of learning new skills through VR.

someone is working on a sailing trainer in vr. Think about it. It can put you
on a realistic boat and you can actually learn how to sail. Imagine stepping
on a sailboat for the first time in your life and already knowing what to do
from vr.

I know it wouldn't teach you everything but learning the concepts from
actually doing it in vr seems so amazing to me.

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ethanbond
I'm sure that search and rescue teams are thrilled about this concept.

Only teasing, this does seem like a really cool usecase. If it takes off, I'm
sure there will be an uptick of idiot people doing idiot things, though.

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jamesmcintyre
I worked for a company that specialized in design/build of interactive science
exhibits globally and while I wasn't directly involved with creative being in
proximity to the day-to-day process gave the opportunity to think deeply about
where the museum experience's relevance is moving in society (especially in
the context of "digital native" generations). I think there is a huge
opportunity for a software platform to offer "relevance as a service" to
museums. Not at all to imply that "relevance can simply be purchased, plug-n-
play" but that a well-designed software platform could present the opportunity
for museums to build relevance into the lives of its eventual visitors by
connecting with them and providing meaningful experience's in various digital
realms far before their actual brick-and-mortar visit. In my mind the company
that builds this platform looks less like a communications company and more
like Disney/Pixar. It would build, as some of its primary assets, characters
(not unlike a Disney character) that have their own personalities. These
personalities would have child-friendly conversational AI. This company would
work with educators in the communities to craft supplementary education
experience's using these characters. These experiences would be accessible
free to the students via any mobile device or VR/AR. Eventually the company
will have created narratives and personalities that are contextualizing topics
which are usually somewhat abstract, like history or science. Then this
company would work with museums to integrate this ongoing narrative into the
museums exhibits. Perhaps the virtual characters would extend their presence
into the museum with ready-made, indivualized tours for each student based on
their shown interests. Ultimately the company will have built a platform which
could offer up freemium and premium services and content to both museums and
parents wanting to supplement their child's education (think Leapfrog).

I know there is resistance to the idea of "edutainment" sometimes but I think
the idea isn't "to stay relevant we must entertain" but instead "to stay
relevant we must verse ourselves in today's prevailing medium". With digital
natives, it is more true than ever, that the medium is the message. If the
museums message is so antiquated as to ask the visitor to bend to its form in
order to derive relevance it will loose out to more accommodative formats.

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aaronwidd
Haven't explored this subject before, but I'd guess there's likely some sort
of social, psychological and biological basis for why museums exist and are
popular in the first place. Likely the activity involved in "discovering"
objects and then inspecting them as if you found them for the first time,
simulates "seeking" behavior and solidifies the memory in the context of
finding the information on your own instead of being shown it.

If the reason for why museums assist in learning, and are driven by the
rewards of "discovering" something and experiential aspect of inspecting
something in a 3D environment, then there are certainly some fascinating
opportunities to create not only augmented museum experiences or virtual
museums, but take the behavior to new places. There are maybe new types of
museums that wouldn't be possible in the physical world. Pretty exciting

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sp332
I think they'll get along just fine. "Would you like to see an invisible
sculpture?" [http://elevr.com/would-you-like-to-see-an-invisible-
sculptur...](http://elevr.com/would-you-like-to-see-an-invisible-sculpture/)
How to Bootleg [http://elevr.com/all-about-the-context/](http://elevr.com/all-
about-the-context/) I'll warn you up front, the videos on the page are not...
exciting. But the ideas in the article, about how we can experience physical
spaces augmented by AR/VR, are really cool.

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gumby
What an absurd question? Popular magazines didn't kill museums. Documentaries
didn't kill museums. If anything they increase interest, and allow you to
"visit" the museum more.

People who want to see the actual artifacts will still go to museums, I
presume in the same volume. Some small number may even become excited to go
because they'd like to see something they learned about in VR (that they
hadn't already become excited by via a documentary).

If there's someone who can't be bothered going to a museum they are unlikely
to be affected either way by VR.

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MollyR
VR museums are my personal killer app.

~~~
cableshaft
In The Stanley Parable <Spoilers>I spent soooo much time wandering around the
virtual museum in one of the endings. It was so cool, and I wanted more things
like that. I'm totally down for VR museums. </Spoilers>

I realized awhile back that a lot of the best 'sculptures' nowadays are being
made in 3D programs, and not in real life, nowadays. I'd love if someone could
create a virtual museum software that includes exhibits of some of the great
3D models that have been included in various games, movies, etc.

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have_faith
An idea: Make a VR museum that is constantly growing as HD 3D scans of
artifacts are added regularly. Charge a small subscription to fund ongoing
updates and scanning etc.

~~~
return0
I like what these guys do:
[https://www.myminifactory.com/scantheworld/](https://www.myminifactory.com/scantheworld/)

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rhapsodic
> Will virtual reality compete with museums or help them?

I'm going to go with "neither."

