Abstract
We examine the experience of Thresholds , a virtual reality (VR) recreation of the world's first photographic exhibition, which has toured to multiple museums. Following the method of performance-led research in the wild, we provide an account of the artist's design rationale and the experiences of visitors as the work toured. We reveal how the overlaying and juxtaposing of virtual and physical spaces established a VR architecture that underpinned the extended user experience. Overlaying was used to layer a virtual model onto a corresponding physical set to deliver physical sensations of touch and movement alongside visual and audio stimuli. Juxtaposition was used to embed the VR installation within the surrounding gallery space at each host museum, dealing with the challenges of entering, exiting, spectating, and invigilating the experience. We propose that museum designers can use these techniques to deliver VR installations that are compelling but also scalable and tourable.
Highlights
Virtual reality (VR) is a promising technology for museums, bringing the opportunity to immerse visitors in compelling and interactive interpretations of the past
The recent emergence of commodity headsets suggests that it may soon be practical and affordable for many museums to harness this potential. This raises the question of how museum professionals might set about integrating VR into their museums in a way that delivers compelling experiences while being scalable in terms of visitor throughput and flexible to adapt to different settings
Its most immediately striking feature was the use of passive haptics [1][19] to overlay the virtual recreation on a corresponding physical set, aligning the two to deliver physical sensations of touch and movement alongside visual and auditory stimuli
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) is a promising technology for museums, bringing the opportunity to immerse visitors in compelling and interactive interpretations of the past. The recent emergence of commodity headsets suggests that it may soon be practical and affordable for many museums to harness this potential This raises the question of how museum professionals might set about integrating VR into their museums in a way that delivers compelling experiences while being scalable in terms of visitor throughput and flexible to adapt to different settings. Thresholds was a touring immersive artwork, created by a renowned professional artist, that recreated the world’s first photographic exhibition as a room-sized installation that could be experienced by up to six participants at a time. We show how the artist both overlaid and juxtaposed virtual and physical spaces to create an appropriate ‘architecture for interaction’ that met the challenges of delivering a compelling experience at scale with the flexibility to be installed in many museums
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