Museums have a huge responsibility to preserve the most valuable and beloved artifacts of human evolution, history, culture, and knowledge. It is an evident fact that museums provide these treasures for the benefit of present and future generations. Most museums nowadays come under the category of Traditional museums, which have primarily acquired, maintained, and kept many priceless artifacts for decades. Without their assistance, these would have been lost forever. In general, they have been seen as custodians of these treasures. Several decades ago, it was a treat for many to just walk around the hallways of these museums and admire the magnificent objects. But the scenario is swiftly changing in front of our eyes.  We are entering the Museum 2.0 era in which the focus is changing from viewing displays to improving the visitor experience.

The rapid expansion of digital technologies and their application in museums is the primary driver of the Museum 2.0 revolution. For billions of people throughout the world, technology has improved the playing field and democratized digital accessibility and experiences. The modest smartphone has become the device of choice for those who previously did not have such access. This world is made possible by an extensive variety of technology. One of the main technologies that is revolutionizing experiences at museums and making them interactive, immersive, and simply unforgettable is virtual reality. Museum 2.0 leverages digital interactive technology in museums to boost visitor engagement and even allow people to participate in the production process and share their experiences through the use of digital devices. This raises museum awareness and efficiently brings national treasures to viewers.

Virtual reality is one of the most exciting technologies to emerge in the last decade. It quickly gained popularity within the gaming community because it gave exciting and almost real-life experiences through virtual reality headsets. Virtual reality’s ability was immediately recognized for implementation in a variety of fields, including education, industry, and entertainment.VR is experienced by wearing a VR Headset, which completely covers up the user’s eyes, disconnects them from their surroundings, and brings them into a digitized virtual world once they open their eyes. This virtual space may be viewed from all points of view and allows the user to navigate as they would in real life. The user quickly accepts this as the new reality and forgets about the physical world around them. This incredible experience made available by VR technology is extremely valuable in developing previously unimaginable scenarios and experiences.

We can use Virtual Reality to bring many aspects of our treasured history and culture to life within a VR experience center at a traditional museum. It will allow visitors to appreciate and enjoy those treasures of the world without leaving their homes. Many of the limitations that keep people from appreciating them in the real world can be overcome using VR technology.

Immersive exhibits are the first example of VR revolutionizing the museum experience. The exhibits intend to immerse visitors in previous times to create an experience that people from those days would have appreciated. Many of you have probably watched the recent film Ponniyin Selvan, which recreated a series of events in the Chola dynasty as recounted in Kalki’s eponymous novel. Many people would have been curious about how nature, people, customs, and towns looked back then, as well as what sort of experience they would have had if they had gone through the Chola kingdom. In other terms, it’s a type of time travel.

We can travel back in time using virtual reality and immerse ourselves in a digitally generated environment that feels almost real. The landscape and its structures, along with avatars that resemble humans from that era, can be modelled to hyper-realistic levels. Such avatars could be interactive and interact with the visitor to provide a more realistic experience. The visitor may explore in depth in ways that are not practical in the real world. Consider climbing the Thanjavur Big Temple to obtain a bird’s eye perspective of the landscape and to learn more about the construction. We can explore anything from all sides in the virtual world, as well as see something in a virtual x-ray form. Virtual reality can improve the quality and depth of a visitor’s experience.

For visitors to enjoy the time travel experience described above, specially constructed cubicles can be set up at a VR Experience center at the museum. As much as we enjoy travelling into the past, some of us may be curious in how the future might look. This is once again accessible with the creation of futuristic virtual spaces that depict a creative idea of the future. It will be navigable and will provide the visitor with an entirely immersive experience. It might be really interesting for the kids to imagine how their communities would look in the future. These are the kinds of experiences that museums must provide to make the experiences of visitors more memorable.

Many of us would like to visit all of the famous museums worldwide. There are also many private museums that display current artifacts of interest. Just a tiny minority of the world’s population has access to these. Visiting these locations and museums may be expensive, reducing our enjoyment of what we see in pictures or on video. You may now walk through these museums’ corridors and collection rooms from the comfort of your room to virtual reality technology. Welcome, to the realm of virtual museums. A virtual museum might be an interactive experience of a real-world museum, like the Louvre or the Salar Jung Museum. A visitor might walk about as if they were physically present. Because the exhibits are digital, visitors can come up close to them and examine them in greater detail. This is beneficial for students as well as researchers who may explore in more depth and for a limitless period. This can be done at any hour of the day or night. People with disabilities, as well as those who cannot travel or cannot afford the expense, can enjoy the contents of a museum digitally. The virtual reality walkthrough is intended to provide visitors with a highly realistic experience. Plus, in the case of the virtual museum, our legs never fatigue.  The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of virtual museums and the creation of virtual reality experience for those who were unable to leave their homes.

Today, there is a noticeable change in the museum and corporate experience center scene. The players in this sector need augmented and virtual reality exhibits and experiences. They also express a desire to interact with visitors by providing more interactive Virtual Reality (VR) museum experiences. The technology is easily available and supported by a talent pool capable of delivering high-quality solutions to meet the requirements. Fusion VR is one of the few solution providers with an excellent track record of delivering engaging and interactive exhibits for museums to clients in the private and public sectors. We have over a decade of experience providing innovative and cost-effective solutions to museum projects. Our Museums and Corporate Experience Centre webpage contains further details about our capabilities and completed projects.

The future of virtual reality is bright, and it will continue revolutionizing museum experiences. The ultimate beneficiary is the average museum visitor, who will enjoy as well as enrich themselves with the wealth of information available in our museums.