Virtual Exhibit Solutions

Envisioning the Past with Realtime 3D 🎮 Museum displays can feel like portals to distant times and places. This same sensation inspired me to create this virtual museum display made possible using an XR display developed by Illumetry. About the objects on display 🗿 The first object is a reconstruction of a Mayan building based on surviving structures with the purpose of imagining the original location of a collection of lintels today located at The British Museum. A tiny villager inhabits the model as a direct nod to Night at the Museum movie! The second is a virtual replica of the Burney Relief, an ancient Babylonian plaque also located at the British Museum. A special "stylus" can serve as a torchlight to inspect surface details, or reveal a coloured reconstruction based on a study published by the same museum, Collon (2005). * Special thanks to Dr. Eleonora Bacchi, with whom I collaborate on VR/AR projects. 🙌 About the technology 🛠 Both demos rely on Illumetry IO, a holographic display that combines motion parallax, 6DoF positional trackers, and active shutter stereo glasses. These technologies are widely used in fields like Virtual Production and VR/AR, yet Illumetry has elegantly combined them into a well-conceived setup. I previously tried turning a flat screen into a virtual museum display using my own motion parallax setup. While successful, it required a complicated setup and could only be appreciated through a tracked camera.  Illumetry simplifies both software (Illumetry SDK for Unity) and hardware, using a well-tested positional tracker (Antilatency tracker with submillimetre accuracy), small enough to fit into lightweight stereo glasses and styluses. More information can be found in this clearly written article explaining the technology: https://lnkd.in/gh73sjMx. Thank you Pavel for inviting me to try Illumetry IO! 🙏 -- References 🔬 Collon, Dominique. The Queen of the Night (Objects in Focus). London: British Museum Press, 2005. #3d #realtime3d #realtimerendering #unity3d #madewithunity #virtualproduction #xr

In many museums, what you get to see is just the tip of the iceberg - at any given time the majority of their exhibits might be languishing in storage. This can be for many reasons, from the conservation needs of delicate items to simple space issues meaning that only a minority of items can be exhibited at any time. Although most museums do their best to circulate items in and out of exhibitions and storage, it still seems a waste than any given visit will only expose visitors to the tip of the iceberg. So being able to scan and share ALL of these exhibits through virtual and aginented reality seems a great solution. Here VictoryXR demonstrate their system for doing just that - either remotely (in virtual reality) or on-site (in augmented reality) patrons can call up and even interact with accurately scanned 3D models of valuable exhibits that they may not otherwise have been able to see at the time (or, with particularly delicate items, ever) The next steps might be to contextualise these items by placing them in realistic recreations of the places they were found, came from or were historically used. (see SITE Network's work on this in the comments below) VictoryXR's approach is being adopted by museums all over the world - just one example being University of Glasgow's Museums in the Metaverse programme, and there are many more... How do you think this approach could be developed to aid in accessibility to our cultural heritage?

Museums in the Metaverse: The Revolutionary Roadmap 98% of Cultural Institutions Miss Why are some museums seeing record attendance while others struggle? The answer: tradition meets technology. I recently watched a child engage with ancient history through AR – this is the future for institutions brave enough to embrace it. 🎯 How Classic Museums Can Embrace VR, AR & AI: Step-by-Step 1️⃣ Strategy First, Tech Second • Define storytelling goals • Identify target audiences The Metropolitan Museum of Art saw 31% more young visitors after implementing their digital strategy. 2️⃣ Build Team-Wide Digital Mindset • Create curator-technologist partnerships • Train all staff in digital literacy 3️⃣ Launch Strategic Pilots • AR overlays revealing hidden details • AI-personalized audio guides • VR reconstructions of inaccessible sites Musée du Louvre's VR "Mona Lisa" drove 65% return visits. 4️⃣ Deploy AI Solutions • Machine learning for collections • Multilingual AI assistants • Visitor flow analytics 5️⃣ Create Seamless Physical-Digital Experiences • Recognition-based companion apps • Persistent digital exploration layers • Location-based personalization 6️⃣ Measure and Scale • Track meaningful KPIs • Implement visitor feedback loops • Expand what works, abandon what doesn't #eminspost #eminmuseum #museumlover #MuseumInnovation #DigitalMuseums #ARstorytelling #FutureOfMuseums

Virtual exhibitions: what makes a great one? Since I've been helping cultural institutions explore virtual spaces, I've spent a lot of time looking for best practices in virtual exhibitions. One recent favorite is a VRChat Inc. world called "What Is Virtual Art - Volume 1. (by Virtual Museum of Virtual Art. Artists: Zeng Chen, Polaris, LI Tianzhi, ReVerse Butcher. Curator: Jessien) It's built like a minimalist #museum and presents works by four artists, all exploring how humans have always tried to create the illusion of depth - from ancient paintings to modern-day #VR. Why it works so well: ➡️ Clean, elegant space. I'm usually not a fan of building literal-looking galleries in #VR, but here the architecture itself guides you through the narrative. ➡️ The narrative is strong. The storyline is delivered through short text fragments + artworks. I'm generally skeptical about text in virtual spaces, but in this case: – The text is broken into small, readable phrases you encounter as you move – It complements (not repeats!) what's shown in the artworks – The artworks are interactive – The logic of the narrative flows seamlessly ➡️ Analog illusion techniques, recreated inside #VR. Smart use of real-world tricks, such as forced perspective and shadow play, utilizing real geometry. No extra effects, no animation. The shadow theater, for example, works exactly like it would in real life. This project is so thoughtful, beautiful, and well-structured that I can't find a single problem with it. If you've seen other great examples of virtual exhibitions, drop them below - I'd love to check them out! #VirtualBestPractice

Why It’s Time to Retire the 360° Tour! (Backed by Museum Research) A new study from July 2025, conducted at the Wieng Yong House Museum, compared three virtual formats in museums: 1️⃣ 360° image tours (static click-through tours, e.g. Matterport) 2️⃣ Fully immersive VR experiences (VR) 3️⃣ Mixed Reality (MR) The results were striking: VR & MR scored significantly higher than 360° tours for both #presence and #visitorengagement. Why might this happen? 360° tours are essentially photographs you can spin around. They capture spaces — but don’t let you move freely or interact. Immersive formats like VR (or similarly, interactive 3D worlds on the web) give agency: walk around freely, view artifacts from any angle, trigger extra media or stories, and explore at your own pace. In other words: 📷 360° tours = documentation 🕹 Immersive exhibitions = experience At Atopia Space, we’ve seen this difference in action. When remote visitors can truly explore — whether in a browser or in VR — they stay longer, come back more often, and share the experience. 💡 If your goal is to give audiences worldwide the feeling of visiting you, it’s time to step beyond 360°. With Atopia Space, curators can design fully interactive, immersive exhibitions in-house using simple drag-and-drop tools — then publish them instantly to both web browsers and Meta Quest VR headsets. The result: museum-grade quality with rich, art-focused interaction features — without the long timelines or high costs of traditional custom 3D projects. 📅 Ping me for a demo — I’m happy to show you both formats side-by-side! Source (open access): Immersive realities in museums: evaluating the impact of VR, VR360, and MR on visitor presence, engagement and motivation, Virtual Reality, 22 Jul 2025.