AR and VR technology’s educational usage in exhibition communication

Abstract

This study presents those national and international (best) practices based on augmented and virtual reality technologies which mainly aim at conveying knowledge or extend experience in museums. The comparative study is based on on site observations of 31 Augmented and Virtual Reality exhibition communication applications developed mostly by museums in 11 countries, 17 cultural institutions, which took place between 2019-2020. Criteria for choosing an institute was variety both in the institutes’ size and areas of science. For this reason among the institutions observed there are applications concerning cultural heritage, science, history, art and technical history in museums with international reputation as well as small galleries with few employees.  In the study, six areas were identified where contemporary multimedia applications can be a particularly effective aid to museum education. I believe that my experience in researching AR / VR technologies can be useful in designing applications based on similar technologies, both for museum educators and teachers and science communication professionals.