Interactive Didactic Exhibition Concept for VIRTUE (Bachelor Thesis, Ongoing)
Author
Description
VIRTUE (VIRTUal Exhibition hall) allows curators to produce virtual exhibitions which include both 2D and 3D cultural-heritage objects that visitors can explore using Virtual Reality (VR), and for Museumsnacht Basel it will be showing an archival collection from the Basler Fasnacht.
For this thesis, the Fasnacht collection that has been selected will first have to be prepared for use in the virtual museum; the relevant objects and metadata will be extracted, processed and made available via the vitrivr retrieval infrastructure. The exhibition will then be created using the latest version of the VIRTUE virtual museum. This preparation provides the technical basis for the Museumsnacht installation as well as for the other interactive experiences which are being developed in the thesis.
Although the VR exhibition provides an immersive method of exploring cultural heritage, a public event like Museumsnacht does present difficulties beyond the headset. Only a small number of visitors can use the VR at the same time; visitors may have to wait to enter the virtual exhibition, and many may have limited prior knowledge of the technology, the archive, or how the virtual experience works. The physical area surrounding the VR installation thus becomes an important element of the entire visitor experience.
The bachelor's thesis looks at how a didactic and interactive exhibition concept is able to link the physical Museumsnacht environment with the VIRTUE experience. Its aim is to prepare the virtual exhibition and to design a consistent visitor journey which begins before the VR experience and gives accessible information. As the visitors are waiting, the exhibition explains the technology involved and also provides additional interactive access to certain Fasnacht objects without it being necessary to have a dedicated mobile application.
A key technical element will be a browser-based Augmented Reality (WebAR) prototype, which will allow visitors to scan a QR code and then view or interact with certain digitized Fasnacht objects directly on their smartphones. The exhibition concept might also include an interactive explanation of the VR hardware and an optional demonstration of a particular 3D object on a voxel-based display.
Start / End Dates
2026/10/05 - 2027/01/04