Visiting a museum is always a refreshing experience. One gets to experience history and art at its best with the paintings, sculptures, artifacts, etc., always on display.
Great as this experience is, research proves that museum has declined drastically since the 2000s. In 2017, for instance, 24% of the U.S population had visited a museum the previous year. This was still a decline from what was obtainable in the 2000s. For younger audiences, the figures are even lower. Many would rather be at home seeing Tiktok videos that go long distances to museums.
But there’s a ray of hope. As technology has advanced, museums now offer virtual experiences.
Now, you can sit on your sofa anywhere around the world and experience an immersive experience from the museum of your choice.
Here are some museums that you can visit virtually worldwide.
The British Museum, London
The Icon British Museum, London, offers an immersive virtual experience when you visit it virtually. From virtual tours of the Great Court to the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies, you can not get enough of the hyper-realistic experience. You can also find hundreds of artifacts on The Museum of the World interactive website, a collaboration between The British Museum and Google Cultural Institute.
The Louvre
Not only is the Louvre one of the world’s largest museums. It is one of Paris’s most iconic historical monuments. The museum offers free online tours of some of its most important and popular exhibits, such as its Egyptian Antiquities and works from Michelangelo. It also offers a 360-degree look at the museum. You can click around the rare artifacts for additional information on their histories.
Guggenheim, New York
The Guggenheim harnesses Google Street View to offer a top-notch virtual experience. This feature lets you tour the museum’s famous spiral staircase without leaving home. You can discover incredible works of art from the impressionist, post-impressionist, modern, and contemporary eras.
The National Gallery of Art
Founded in 1937, the National Gallery of Art is free and open to the general public. It also provides virtual tours of its gallery and exhibits. You can view its current exhibitions and listen to audio and video recordings of past lectures online.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
You can virtually walk through this popular Musee d’Orsay. It houses dozens of famous works from French artists who worked and lived between 1848 and 1914. You can also peek at artworks from Monet, Cézanne, and Gauguin, among others.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is one of the most visited museums worldwide. It offers a peek at its wonderful treasures with an online virtual tour of the entire grounds. Viewers are welcome into its rotunda and are greeted with a comprehensive room-by-room, a 360-degree walking tour of all its exceptional exhibits, including the Hall of Mammals, Insect Zoo, Dinosaurs, and Hall of Paleobiology.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met is home to over 2 million works of fine art. It is one of the museums that has embraced technology. The museum features an online collection and virtual tours of some of its most impressive pieces. This includes works from Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, and Giotto di Bondone. The Met also works with the Google Cultural Institute to make even more artwork (not featured in its online collection) available for viewing.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
This is one of Korea’s most popular museums. It can be accessed anywhere globally through Google Virtual tour. Google’s virtual tour takes you through six floors of contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.
The Dalí Theatre-Museum, Spain
Located in Catalonia, the Dalí Theatre Museum is completely dedicated to the artwork of Salvador Dalí. It features many rooms and exhibits surrounding every era of Dalí’s life and career, and the artist is buried here. The museum offers virtual tours of the grounds and a few exhibits.
Pergamon Museum, Berlin
The Pergamon museum has much to offer to give you an immersive virtual experience. It is home to many ancient artifacts, including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and, of course, the Pergamon Altar.
The Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums feature an extensive collection of important art and classical sculptures curated by the Popes over centuries. You can take a virtual tour of the museum grounds and iconic exhibits, including Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The Rijksmuseum offers you a chance to explore masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a Street View tour of this iconic museum, so you can feel like you’re wandering its halls.
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
At the Van Gogh Museum, you can see the works of this iconic painter up close (or almost up close) by virtually visiting this museum. The museum is home to the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 750 personal letters.
Conclusion
Technology continues to advance. As it does, inventions are being made to make life easier and bring the world together. More museums must adopt groundbreaking technology, particularly virtual reality, to stay relevant, increase their reach, and boost revenues.
