Technology Museum Research Articles

Saving temporary exhibitions in virtual environments: The Digital Renaissance of Ulisse Aldrovandi – Acquisition and digitisation of cultural heritage objects

As per the objectives of Project CHANGES, particularly its thematic sub-project on the use of virtual technologies for museums and art collections, our goal was to obtain a digital twin of the temporary exhibition on Ulisse Aldrovandi called “The Other Renaissance”, and make it accessible to users online. After a preliminary study of the exhibition, focusing on acquisition constraints and related solutions, we proceeded with the digital twin creation by acquiring, processing, modelling, optimising, exporting, and metadating the exhibition. We made hybrid use of two acquisition techniques to create new digital cultural heritage objects and environments, and we used open technologies, formats, and protocols to make available the final digital product. Here, we describe the process of collecting and curating bibliographical exhibition (meta) data and the beginning of the digital twin creation to foster its findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability. The creation of the digital twin is currently ongoing.

ELECTRONIC CULTURE: ACHIEVEMENTS AND GROWTH VECTORS

The purpose of the article is to consider the legal and organizational aspects of digitization of the electronic culture and outline the main problems of its achievement. The research methodology is based on the general scientific and special research methods: analysis, synthesis, generalization, systematization of materials, induction, and deduction. The scientific novelty of the study is as follows: this study is one of the first complex works about electronic culture, aimed at forming a single complex of knowledge in the chosen field. The analysis of the Ukrainian legal documents in the system of electronic culture was carried out. The peculiarities of achieving the directions defined in the regulatory documents and the problematic aspects that prevent the non-fulfilment of certain planned goals are investigated. The author substantiates the approaches to defining virtual museums. The impeding factors of digitalization and the protection of cultural heritage were identified. Conclusions. To date, the main problems and achievements in the use of advanced technologies in the field of culture, or rather, the preservation of cultural heritage, including in museums, have not been sufficiently studied. Taking into account modern realities, museums remain the main guarantors of the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people. Museums continue to interact with visitors daily and respond to the needs of society. The latest technologies make it possible to view the works of famous artists in virtual museum environments, which ensure the accessibility of cultural heritage to the general public, especially limited mobility groups. Digital technologies make it possible to visually convey information to different audiences, allowing everyone to choose the content that best suits their interests. Digital technologies in museums help not only to store and record data about exhibits but also to communicate with visitors. Regular updating of the interactive content of the objects allows to establish a connection with the modern public for whom technology is important, transforming them from passive observers to active viewers. Key words: electronic culture, legal support for digitalization of culture, virtual museum, e-Heritage.

Early virtual science museums: when the technology is not mature

This paper discusses three case studies of early science museum-related websites in the 1990s and early 2000s, when web technology was still relatively new and evolving. The Virtual Museum of Computing (VMoC) was a completely virtual museum, originally produced in 1995 as part of the Virtual Library museums pages (VLmp), an international online museum directory within the WWW Virtual Library, adopted by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The Science Museum in London was one of the first museums in the United Kingdom to have its own web server. The museum hosted an early meeting on web service provision by and for museums, concurrently with an exhibition on the Information Superhighway at the museum in 1995. Exhiblets were launched online in 1998. Ingenious was a multi-site digital collections transformation project, launched as a website in 2003. Virtual Leonardo and Leonardo’s Ideal City were two experiments conducted by the digital team of the Science and Technology Museum of Milan, between 1999 and 2001. The experiment consisted of the creation of a shared online 3D world, namely a reconstruction of the real museum in the first case and a completely imaginary world in the second case. This paper describes the above three case studies from the early World Wide Web and then draws some conclusions, from first-hand experience of developments at the time. We cover both the advantages and the challenges encountered by the various projects and illustrate why they did not necessarily become established, despite promising early results.

An analysis of the role of digital technology in the online exhibition of the art museum in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area during the COVID-19 pandemic

This research selects art museums in four cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) region for relevant research, namely Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao and Shenzhen, which are important representatives of the artistic, cultural, economic and technological development of the GBA. It examines the digital technology strategies used by six selected art museums within the four GBA cities to promote the co-development of collections, exhibitions and audience engagement. The objective of the study has been approached through the following research question: How are art museums using digital technology to improve the relationship among collections, exhibitions and audience engagement from the perspective of online exhibitions? In this article, online exhibitions are seen as an invaluable virtual platform for art museums to display art to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. The necessity for art museums to use digital technology to develop online exhibitions in the face of the plight of the COVID-19 pandemic is first introduced in this article. It then addresses how online exhibitions and online technologies in art museums have influenced the development of collections from offline to online, as well as how to further strengthen the relationship between collections, exhibitions and the audience. Some of the key challenges for art museums in developing online exhibitions using digital technology are also mentioned, and possible future developments of online exhibitions in art museums are discussed. At the same time, there is a need to consider the issues faced by art museums in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as they continue to use digital technology to develop collections, exhibitions and audiences in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period.

Labour Heritage Glossary. The Process of Re-contextualizing the Collection of the Museum of Engineering and Technology in Krakow, Poland

The article presents the results of the ‘Labour Heritage Thesaurus’ project which aimed at applying concepts in the area of anthropology and work history to the practice of cultural institutions. The project was realized in regard to the under-representation of labour in discussion on heritage in Poland. The analyzed initiative consisted in building a glossary for the Museum of Engineering and Technology, Krakow, in order to re-conceptualise its collections and introduce the hitherto omitted contexts. The authors present the objectives of the project, the methods of cooperation, as well as its result in the form of a set of keywords.

Applying Smart Glasses in Situated Exploration for Learning English in a National Science Museum

Research on the use of augmented reality technology in museums is mostly limited to scientific knowledge. The use of wearable device technology learning materials to benefit students in the process of English learning has been somewhat explored, along with differences in students' learning styles and their influence on students' learning motivation, but there remains much to be done in this field. This study explored the learning effect of smart glasses integration into the English language dinosaur exhibition at the Museum of Natural Science and investigated their impact on motivation. The experimental group used smart glasses learning strategy to facilitate their learning experience, while the control group used tablets learning strategy. The research results show that: (1) Learning effectiveness and motivation were significantly superior when using smart glasses learning strategy, as compared to using tablet learning strategy when learning through the English language situated exploration game. (2) The interaction between different learning strategies and learning styles had a significant impact on learning effectiveness. In the smart glasses learning strategy group and the tablet learning strategy group, the learning effectiveness of the kinesthetic students was significantly higher than those of the auditory students. The learning effectiveness of the visual students using the tablet learning strategy was higher than auditory students. (3) The interaction between different learning strategies and learning styles had no significant effect on learning motivation. In terms of learning motivation, visual students were more affected than auditory and kinesthetic students.

Research on the measurement and characteristics of museum visitors' emotions under digital technology environment.

What kind of emotional experience does the application of digital technology in museums create for museum visitors? Can it be measured accurately and in real-time? What are its characteristics? This paper utilizes EEG signals and the PAD emotional model as research methods to conduct real-time digital measurement of visitors' emotional experiences at Tianyi Pavilion Museum in Ningbo City, focusing on their physiological and psychological reactions.The results show that: (1) In a quasi-experimental environment, linear SVM, polynomial kernel SVM, and Gaussian kernel SVM can all accurately classify the emotional tendencies of museum visitors with success rate of over 72%. (2) In a quasi-experimental environment, it is feasible and reliable to measure the immediate digital emotional experiences of visitors using EEG signals and the PAD emotion model. Based on this, we can summarize the characteristics of emotional tendencies among different demographic groups of museum visitors.

Kilka uwag o kotach w (nie tylko) klasycznej literaturze japońskiej na kanwie książki Anny Zalewskiej O czarnym kocie cesarza i inne opowieści. Koty w dawnej literaturze japońskiej

This article discusses Anna Zalewska’s book O czarnym kocie cesarza i inne opowieści. Koty w dawnej literaturze japońskiej [On the Emperor’s Black Cat and Other Tales: Cats in Old Japanese Literature] published in 2022 by the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków. The book is probably the first publication outside of Japan that so extensively presents Japanese felinographic topics from the perspective of literary and cultural studies. This study is an anthologized monograph, which treats cats in Japan in a cross-sectional manner (historically, genologically, semantically) up to the beginning of the Meiji period. The article emphasizes that through the stories about cats included in the book, one can also learn much about the people and the times in which they lived. Many of the literary works selected show representations of the cat that we already know, but also those that we have not yet known. This certainly enriches the way we look at these animals that live so closely with humans. The critical overview of the sources undoubtedly confirms the author’s claim set out in the preface that cats appear to be relatively common in old Japanese literature.

Presenting a socio‐scientific issue in a science and technology museum: Effects on interest, knowledge and argument repertoire

AbstractMany museums deal with socio‐scientific issues—meaning topics with multiple perspectives and ongoing research, such as climate change, vaccinations, or livestock farming. As important and trusted sources of science education, museums can play a critical role in raising awareness about such issues. They tend to highlight the various perspectives on the topic and thereby are able to provide a balanced and impartial information presentation. Visitors are therefore confronted both with views that correspond to their own beliefs and with views that contradict their beliefs and are supported in developing an informed opinion on the respective topic. In our study, we used an experimental exhibition on the topic “animal husbandry” to investigate the extent to which, first, an exhibition visit in general and, second, how different picture captions affect knowledge acquisition and interest. We chose a between‐subjects design with the factor conflict framing through picture captions. Whereas one group visited an exhibition in which the picture captions were formulated neutrally, another group read picture captions that emphasized the existing conflict. A control group, which did not visit the exhibition at all, allowed us to examine the general effect of the exhibition. As dependent variables, we chose interest and knowledge acquisition as common instruments of educational visitor research. However, we went one step further and used an innovative instrument: visitors' argument repertoire. We found that visiting the exhibition led to higher interest, knowledge acquisition, and a more balanced argument repertoire. Varying the captions had no significant effect. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Constructing ‘Responsive’ Publics: The Politics of Public Engagement under India’s ‘Decade of Innovation’ Framework

ABSTRACT Starting from the global innovation turn in science policies, especially discourses on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) through democratic involvement of the public in the scientific enterprise, this article studies science policies in India and their enactment through public engagement with innovation at non-formal sites of learning. Using a single case study research design focusing on the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, Kolkata, as well as the policy documents and science policy context within which this single case is situated, the article unpacks the underlying values, assumptions, and power dynamics that constitute the science–society relationship associated with the innovation turn. The study shows that the processes of public engagement at the Innovation Hub are actively constituting a distinct category of publics, whom we call ‘responsive’ publics. Contrary to the literature in science policies on responsiveness and rather than having a capacity to critically engage with social, ethical, and legal aspects of science and technology-led innovations, the ‘responsive’ publics in our case are primarily characterised by an institutional conditioning to react positively and uncritically to the agenda of S&T-led economic development.

Virtual space created by a digital platform in the post epidemic context: The case of Greek museums

This study aims to develop a conceptual model for the application of digital technology in museums, using a case study of a cultural site in Greece. Museums, as sites of cultural transmission and regeneration and the embodiment of local culture, influence not only the cultural vitality of communities and regions but also the power of this culture to spread globally. Against the backdrop of Greece’s announcement of the gradual restoration of public places, it is crucial to rebuild local cultural sites and strengthen cultural heritage protection. This article proposes a conceptual model suitable for digital museums, which integrates the spatiotemporal relationship between ruins and social groups in digital virtual space, and obtains two potential research concepts: “the extension of time and space” and “thin-wall communication”. These results can be used to optimize the reconstruction of cultural place.

The Superpower of Teaching [Pathways

A visit at the age of nine with his parents to the Shanxi Science and Technology Museum in his hometown of Taiyuan was all it took for Long Zhao to fall in love with engineering. Zhao recalled that he was so fascinated by the plasma globe that he started dreaming of owning a superpower ability to control electricity. He believes that this early experience planted the seeds of pursuing an engineering career in his head. Although Zhao was not a very good student during elementary school, his attitude changed in middle and high school. He mentioned that after entering middle school, he decided to stop his childish antics and start thinking about his future. Despite his lackluster performance as a student, Zhao expressed how fortunate he was for having parents who never forced him to do anything against his own will. “I believe that the approach my parents took to raise me had shaped my personality and had helped me to become independent.”

The adoption of virtual technology in museums: the case of a modern and contemporary museum in Indonesia

ABSTRACT Museums play an important role in shaping social discourses, not only offering economic benefits but also making significant contributions in the development of social and cultural enrichment. In the current dynamic environment, museums face the challenges of innovating and adopting technologies and combining art education with market trends, and this often conflicts with their social mission. This research focuses on the perceptions of a museum’s key stakeholders of the growing trend of virtual technology, using a qualitative case study on a modern and contemporary art museum in Indonesia. The findings reveal that, despite the positive responses of using digital technologies, the museum’s key stakeholders believed that physical-human interaction is still critical in achieving the museum mission as well as in responding to market trends.

Corrosion Risk to Metal-Based Artefacts in a Scientific and Technical Museum: An Assessment of Environmental and Exhibition Conditions.

Materials such as wood, textiles, or plastics that are part of the exhibition system in museums are known to emit pollutants such as organic acids. Scientific and technical objects that include these materials in their composition can themselves be a potential source of emissions, which, together with inappropriate humidity and temperature conditions, can lead to corrosion of the metallic parts. In this work, we have studied the corrosivity of different locations in two venues of the Spanish National Museum of Science and Technology (MUNCYT). Coupons of the most representative metals from the collection were placed in different showcases and rooms for 9 months. The corrosion of the coupons has been evaluated in terms of the rate of mass gain, colour changes and characterisation of the corrosion products. The results were correlated to the relative humidity and concentration of gaseous pollutants to determine which metals are most susceptible to corrosion. The results show that metal artefacts exposed in showcases have a higher risk of corrosion than those exposed directly in the room, and that some pollutants are emitted by the artefacts. The corrosivity of the museum environment is low for copper, brass, and aluminium in most locations; however, some placements present a higher aggressivity for steel and lead, due to the high humidity and the presence of organic acids.

Designing virtual reality based 3D modeling and interaction technologies for museums

In China, museums are of great historical significance, which can greatly improve the country's cultural standards. With the advent of new media and economic times, people's behavior and way of thinking have changed, so they are less and less interested in traditional museum displays. How to create a museum moving image that meets the aesthetic and experiential requirements of the general audience has become critical. The purpose of this paper was to study the design of moving image displays using virtual reality (VR) in museums. This paper proposed a VR-based 3D modeling technology and human-computer interaction algorithm. Both of these technologies were an important part of VR technology. It can manage museums digitally and display objects clearly in two-dimensional and three-dimensional spaces. According to the experimental results of this paper, among the 80 participants, 40% were very satisfied with the exhibition hall experience of Chengde Mountain Resort Museum, and 35% were only moderately satisfied. It can be seen that most people find it very attractive to integrate VR technology into the showroom experience. Therefore, it is very important to integrate VR technology into the dynamic image display of the museum.

Creating Informal Learning in Ocean Museums in China: A Case of Shenzhen Shekou Aquarium

Enhancing informal learning through technology in museums is a relatively underdeveloped concept in China. This paper aims to investigate the potential of incorporating technology into ocean museums to facilitate informal learning from the perspective of an educator. The background of the museum and the existing challenges are discussed in detail, followed by the selection of suitable technologies and their rationale. The major theories guiding this approach are immersive learning, learning by doing, and productivity orientation.

МУЗЕЙНАЯ АРХИТЕКТУРА В ЭПОХУ МУЛЬТИМЕДИА. НОВЫЕ ПОДХОДЫ В ТИПОЛОГИИ

This study actualizes the need for a fundamentally new museum space for the conditions of modern society thanks to multimedia technologies. In connection with the emergence of digital opportunities that allow not only to popularize museums, but also to create new enlightening and educational spaces, it has become necessary to transform the museum environment as a whole. The issue of the introduction of multimedia technologies in museums, and, subsequently, the formation of a new space-planning structure, is currently relevant, as it reflects the changing requirements put forward by modern society, which in turn is confirmed by a significant number of new implemented objects equipped with digital technologies. On the example of the world experience in designing and building modern museums, the distinctive features that meet modern requirements are highlighted: the multifunctionality of the object with an emphasis on the entertainment function, the use of interactive multimedia technologies, the introduction of open indoor and outdoor spaces for recreation and communication, as well as taking into account the requirements of people with limited mobility and the introduction energy efficient devices. Approaches are generalized and types of premises are specified by groups. The principles of designing modern museums to enhance the significance are formulated: the principle of society, the principle of significance, the principle of composition, the principle of efficiency. Also, an experimental project of the museum in Samara was developed, which confirmed the relevance and prospects for the introduction of multimedia technologies in museums.

Interactive Design and Implementation of a Digital Museum under the Background of AR and Blockchain Technology

A museum is the destination of the crystallization of history and culture, and a museum is the center for the development of heritage culture. The display and exhibition of historical relics can promote the harmonious development of society. However, there are many defects in traditional museums. The collection in the museum is scattered. The exhibition needs a specific time and place to open, and the exhibition mode is boring and lacks entertainment, which seriously limits the museum’s dissemination of history and culture. In order to improve the public’s number of visits, museums need to keep pace with the times. Using augmented reality technology can digitize the information in the museum and integrate it with the user’s real environment, which solves the limitation of time and space for most users to visit the museum, and greatly increases the entertainment of users to visit the museum. In addition, the application of blockchain technology in digital museums can effectively ensure the security of museum cultural relics data and quickly restore the lost cultural relics information. The digital museum can help tourists realize cross-region viewing. Through multimedia software and hardware, it can greatly stimulate tourists’ interest and attract tourists of different ages to visit. This article uses digital technology to present physical museums in a digital form on the network, but it is difficult for digital museums to conduct targeted analysis on tourists of different ages. This article will analyze the attraction ability of digital museums to tourists of different ages, thereby attracting tourists of different ages to visit. This paper compared traditional museums with digital museums based on augmented reality technology and blockchain technology. The experimental results showed that from the perspective of young people, the average interactivity of traditional museums and digital museums was 47.20% and 78.20%, respectively; from the perspective of the elderly, the average interactivity of traditional museums and digital museums was 59.04% and 70.36%, respectively. Therefore, the digital museum built by using augmented reality technology and blockchain technology can effectively improve the interaction with users. The digital museum can improve the interaction with tourists of different ages, attract a large number of tourists for virtual visits, and improve the cultural transmission and economic development of the digital museum.

Research on Joint Application of Digital Media Interaction Technology and Points-Based Reward System in Digital Game-based Learning Take Shanghai Eagle Childrens Museum as an Example

Digital Game-oriented Learning (DGBL) is a learning method that integrates educational content with games, which has been an innovative approach to motivate children to learn. As an informal educational institution, childrens museums are the perfect application places of DGBL. DGBL contains four main features, namely objectives, participation, rules and feedbacks. Digital media interaction technology provides interesting and interactive game environment for DGBL. Points-based reward system is the feedback mechanism of DGBL, including making game rules, measuring learning outcomes and rewards. The joint application is conducive to realize the learning objectives of DGBL. Research in digital media interaction technology in museums is a relatively young field, but growing rapidly. However, there is little research on its application in children's museums, moreover, there is a lack of research on the application of DGBL and points-based reward system in children's museum. This paper firstly studies the interaction types, application practices and educational function of digital media interaction technology. Secondly, it analyzes the role of points-based reward system in stimulating children's internal learning motivation, and builds the joint application mode of digital media interaction technology and points-based reward system. Finally, it takes Shanghai Eagle Children's Museum as an example to practice the joint application mode of digital media interaction technology and points-based reward system by organizing children's experience tests and in-depth interviews. It is hoped that the theoretical and practical research of this paper can be used for reference to other children's museums, especially the children's museums to be built in future.

Protective Coatings for Metals in Scientific—Technical Heritage: The Collection of the Spanish National Museum of Science and Technology (MUNCYT)

This paper presents results on the protective properties of different coatings over metals representative of those found in scientific–technical heritage collections. An examination of several objects in the collection of the Spanish National Museum of Science and Technology have allowed the identification of brass and steel as the most representative metals, and the existence of coatings (mainly shellac and acrylic resins) applied for aesthetic and/or conservation purposes. Based on these findings, brass and steel coupons coated with Paraloid B-44, B-48, B-67, B-72, Incralac, Cosmolloid H80, B-72 + H80 double layer and shellac have been studied to carry out a first screening in order to select the most promising candidates and determine the most appropriate methodology and key factors for the study. Coatings have been aged up to 336 h using cycles of UV light and water condensation. The change in the aspect of the coupons has been assessed via visual examination, optical microscopy and colorimetric measurements, with B-44 and Incralac showing the least change. EIS has been used for a quantitative evaluation of the protective properties and FTIR to measure chemical changes experienced by some coatings, such as B-48 and B-67. These evaluations allowed us to follow, understand and compare the behaviour of the different coatings and substrates after artificial ageing.