Panoramic Virtual Museum: Representation or Simulation

Abstract

Today, as the development of global networking technology has created a computer-based communication world, many museums in the world has set up a display of their collection and information by means of online media using different technologies of delivery; they even use three-dimensional imitation environment. Using computer technology virtual museum can simulate a room using panoramic virtual which is a panorama that enables visitors to go circling around the room completely (360 degree); they can look up and look down as well. This also creates a sensation as if they are actually present in the real museum. Based on the researches using examples of a number of panoramic museum such as the virtual museums of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, British National Gallery, High Museum of Art and Valentino Virtual Museum, we can concluded that virtual museum with equipped with panoramic virtual can be a representation, a repeated representation and simulation. However, those three processes are actually creating a new reality or also named as hyper-reality despite the fact that it cannot serve to the same extent as the actual museum.