It doesn\’t make sense to spend a disproportionate amount of an exhibition budget trying to compete with virtual reality by using virtual reality. Why would we come to a museum for a virtual reality experience when we can experience it from the comfort of our home computer?

This doesn\’t mean that we can afford to ignore Web 2.0, for this will surely lose our audience to the lure of social media and interactivity. Instead we can take the capabilities of Web 2.0; personalized contribution, social interaction, use-centered design, user-generated content, information sharing, and apply these to our exhibitions at a fraction of the costs.

At the moment we present exhibitions as a fait accompli in which the museum experts (curators, designers etc.) present a beautifully finished argument to a look-but-don\’t-participate audience. Why not see the opening of an exhibition as the start of a conversation between the museum experts and the audience? Why not make an exhibition that grows and changes as a result of this conversation? Why not make the whole multidimensional experience change, rather than just tacking on a section for visitor comment at the end? Perhaps this would engage a Web 2.0 audience without losing sight of the core role of museums, or blowing the budget.

Juliet Cooke
Intouch Design