Framing Digital Reality Technology Applications Among Museums During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Text Mining Research

Abstract

AbstractDigital reality technologies and their applications have become a truly global phenomenon, attracting enormous interest among museum researchers and professionals. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has drastically changed contemporary human behaviors by forcing people to “shelter in place.” To deter the spread of the COVID-19 virus from adjacent human contacts and indoor congregations has prompted over 90% museums around the world to close their doors to the public. As a result, the COVID-19 also expedites the adoption of a variety of technologies by offering their services virtually. The objectives of this study are to investigate the impacts of digital reality technologies on museums around the world at this critical historical juncture. We employed a global text mining research to examine the current integration of digital reality technologies among museums and to examine how the affordances of these technologies have impacted on the museum sector as described by these media. This text mining study provides empirical data and best practice examples how museums around the world have integrated digital reality technologies in response to the challenges and opportunities due to COVID-19. Results find that virtual reality is still the most commonly used digital reality technology by museums for online viewing and exhibitions. In spite of the hype about extended reality technology, augmented and mixed reality technologies fall behind the popularity of VR. Additionally, the use of these reality-creating technologies among museums in different countries often echoes their economy and technology status. Discussion and implications are provided.KeywordsAugmented realityDigital reality technologyExtended realitiesFraming analysisMixed realityText miningVirtual reality