Comments on: People Don’t Want Virtual Museum Tours; Do This Instead

By: Natalia Strizhkova

Natalia Strizhkova — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 07:11:13 +0000

I think Michael Alexis has shared some very interesting results exploring the relevance of museum virtual tours.
Actually the interest in virtual museum tours started to surge about 5 years ago, then peaked and now it seems they are on decline. I think there are several reasons for this. On the one hand, now people have plenty of electronic devices, our ordinary daily life is full of electronic devices, media, internet. This is a big struggle for people’s attention and museums take part in it. But as the data have shown, museums are getting loose, because people are looking for unique and exclusive products in museums, not one of the billion technological entertainments. They need to see the original value and to experience some kind of mystical practice to contact with some enigma. And in this intent, as Jorrit Britschgi said, “there is nothing that can replace in-person encounters with art». But on the other hand, people get used to the technologies and devices, it’s part of our life. And museums cannot ban from using them. I think, it may be a good way, if museums employ them as an auxiliary tool to understand exhibitions, or heritage, or masterpieces and other. The technologies and virtual tours could show what artifact couldn’t open to human eyes. Using virtual or digital technology, museums can tell their current or potential audience much more information and give them provide convenient navigation on through the exposition or all museum programs and offers. To make good and useful products and to achieve deeper and more effective impact on people, museums have to focus their attention on professional stuff, relevant technologies, appropriate methodology and audience’s request. Some museums have been doing it already.

By: Hasini

Hasini — Thu, 07 May 2020 05:34:59 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth Greeno. Lovely comment, Elizabeth

By: Sandra Norval

Sandra Norval — Tue, 05 May 2020 18:04:10 +0000

In reply to Michael Alexis. Thanks Michael, I have so many ideas from this train if thought, definitely going to explore them, thanks for the inspiration!

By: Giuliano Gaia

Giuliano Gaia — Mon, 04 May 2020 06:58:25 +0000

Hi, Giuliano Gaia from Milan. I love your approach of analyzing google trends, it focuses on the audience rather than on the offer and that’s very good. Regarding virtual tours, we have been organizing them since the beginning of March, we were among the first in Italy, and what makes the difference in my opinion is the human guide. Virtual environments are empty and boring – put in it a live human guide and everything changes. Our virtual guides to the Poldi Pezzoli museum
always have a waiting list. We wrote something about it here: http://www.invisiblestudio.it/new/blog/coronavirus-tips-to-organize-a-virtual-visit-to-a-museum-using-google-streetview/.

Keep up the good work,

Giuliano

By: Mlungisi

Mlungisi — Mon, 04 May 2020 06:10:29 +0000

Great article Michael Thanks, I suppose every platform has its own (personal) audience. It would be ideal comprehend why there is a lost of interest other than wanting to encounter the real space and to get to the bottom of it. If I can say in general that in South Africa Virtual museums are for the emerging generation (informal data that I collected through comments), in museums we strive to cater for all and i suppose Virtual museums will find its place, even if it’s a little corner and settle.

By: A parent

A parent — Mon, 04 May 2020 02:47:42 +0000

Thoughts from a parent: The tsunami of links for the kids came from every possible corner… their teachers, my mom, my cousin, my dentist (!)… So, I finally gave in and tried a virtual museum tour.
What. A. Disaster.
My middle-schoolers just flat out refused in the first place. I finally convinced my 6-year-old to take a tour of an art museum I’d visited once a long time ago. It took 20 minutes to get it set up, then I had to stand over her shoulder to make sure things on the tour were appropriate. This was all for 5 minutes of her gleefully “walking through walls,” then shrugging her shoulders and walking away.
It pains me to say it took more effort than it was worth, but: it took more effort than it was worth. I can’t bring myself to try it again.

By: Michael Alexis

Michael Alexis — Sun, 03 May 2020 15:37:15 +0000

In reply to A. Davide Madonna. Really kind, thank you ❤️

By: Michael Alexis

Michael Alexis — Sun, 03 May 2020 15:36:55 +0000

In reply to Guido Simonetti. Thanks Guido! Quick note that Google Trends has a useful feature where you can filter by region. For this article I thought it made more sense to look at the trends "worldwide", and it sounds like looking at Italy specific data would be most helpful for you. As a quick experiment I also tried using the phrase "visite ai musei virtuali" via Google Translate, and it looks like the data is similar but not the same; so I think worth testing both in English and Italian. Wish you the best as you continue work on your new systems!

By: Michael Alexis

Michael Alexis — Sun, 03 May 2020 15:32:51 +0000

In reply to Sandra Norval. Hi Sandra! Thank you for the thoughtful comment and questions. Google Trends only shows search volume; they definitely have significant data on viewed web pages too via their Google Analytics platform. However. our only access to that data is for our own web properties. For example: we can see how many people visit each page on Museum Hack, and can further filter that data by time span, regions, demographics and other aspects. I LOVE your ideas around combining technology with education and programming.

By: A. Davide Madonna

A. Davide Madonna — Sun, 03 May 2020 11:30:14 +0000

Really good job! It’s the first time in my life that i found an article on cultural marketing that speaks of… cultural marketing with a in deep analysis and good ideas.
Well done!