Introduction and context
Although each exhibition has one curator who is responsible for designing and coordinating the entire process, the cultural experience offered to visitors is probably never the result of the thinking performed by one man only. On the contrary, there is an entire team who contributes to delivering to the audience a unitary product which is built around the core that is the cultural heritage. For this purpose, the museum professionals act in a very responsible manner, respecting the historical truth(s), avoiding biases, exaggerations, manipulations, outlining educational content, empowering users and encouraging them to never stop learning and add up to their lifelong development. At the same time, they ensure that the needed information can be found in a smooth way and to a level adapted to the user’s interests. This type of text-based accompanying of the museum experience depends to a large extent on technology, as a means of gradual provision of the relevant data according to the visitor’s knowledge need.
The cooperation of the team of professionals leads to the active answering to a variety of expectations, and this points out the pluri-vocal message of the museum, which addresses experts, as well as children, or seniors, or immigrants, or persons with special needs.
Practical examples
Digital technology is very useful in providing layered information, and this can involve either the user’s conscious selection of the choice “Read more” or, the presence of sensors which detect the time spent by the visitors in front of a certain exhibit, data that is algorithmically correlated to assess their interest in the topic and provide automatically the access to more details.
The online version of the exhibition obviously follows specific marketing goals but it can also serve as substitute of the on-site experience whenever access to the museum space is not possible.
The recent Covid-19 pandemics taught us all that there may be times where public places, including museums, need to impose restrictions such as the compliance with physical distance requirements, shorter visiting times, limited human interaction, etc. In spite of such medical impositions, the will of learning has remained and has even become more manifest. Therefore, the Internet became the most widely available means of reaching remote audiences, geographically and culturally as well. Most museums used the time spent in isolation from the public to update their online presence, to make it as vivid and even immersive as possible. This is how many museums acquired digital “twins”, allowing 360-degree visits throughout the exhibition rooms, 3D digital replicas of the original items and many other features making the online experience even more engaging than before. It was on the same occasion that it became clear that just using the official website of the museum might not be enough to reach the audience. So, museum professionals also became very present on various social media platforms with this outreach mindset.
Key takeaways and closing
Therefore, the more developed is the online presence of a cultural organization, the better chances it has to be impactful and deliver experiences that are enjoyable and appreciated by its audience.