with
handheld
wands.
All
that
being
said,
not
many
museums
provide
headsets
or
encourage
patrons
to
bring
their
own,
and
have
not
developed
VR
experiences
to
complement
exhibits.
This
is
because
of
the
long
standing
conception
that
a
controlled
environment
is
needed
for
a
VR
experience.
Because
the
virtual
world
is
decoupled
from
the
real,
there
is
a
danger
that
visitors
will
bump
into
exhibits
and
each
other.
Headsets
have
also
largely
remained
tethered
to
powerful
computers
for
processing,
further
preventing
their
use
in
a
communal
space.
However,
technological
advances
can
now
conceivably
allow
visitors
to
freely
roam
around
the
museum.
This
could
allow
curators
the
power
to
build
and
place
alternate
realities
wherever
they
see
fit.
The
first
such
advance
is
the
consistent
increase
in
processing
and
rendering
power
and
accompanying
decrease
in
component
form-factor.
The
recently
released
Oculus
Quest
is
a
prominent
example
of
necessary
components
packed
straight
into
the
headset,
eliminating
the
need
for
a
tether.
The
second
is
innovation
in
software
that
interrupts
or
warps
a
user’s
view
to
avoid
obstacles.
The
3D-sensing
startup
Occipital,
for
instance,
incorporates
a
special
sensor
with
a
generic
VR
headset.11 Similar
to
the
LiDAR
sensors
on
self-driving
cars,
it
projects
a
laser
pattern
onto
the
surrounding
environment,
and
presents
real-world
obstacles
as
impassable
walls
in
the
virtual
world,
akin
to
that
in
Figure
2.6.
Other
techniques
cause
users
to
unknowingly
compensate
for
scene
motion
by
repositioning
and/or
reorienting
themselves,
even
on
the
brink
of
collision.
And
lastly,
in
The
Void,
a
VR
video
game
installation
discussed
further
below,
a
bank
of
overhead
cameras
and
sensors
communicate
with
users’
headsets
to
sync
a
virtual
world
with
a
physical
one
built
of
plain
bricks
and
foam.12 With
the
two
worlds
in
sync,
it
is
possible
to
easily
navigate
a
shared
space,
as
shown
in
Figure
2.7.
These
innovations
open
up
new
realms
for
the
Peabody.
Like
smartphone
AR
technology,
the
animated
renderings
of
fossils
may
be
communicated
to
the
public,
but
on
a
monumental
scale.
A
visitor
may
be
taking
a
stroll
through
the
quiet,
newly-renovated
space
that
houses
Zallinger’s
Age
of
Reptiles
mural,
but
after
donning
a
headset,
see
the
room
come
alive
with
interacting
dinosaurs
modelled
after
the
latest
research.
Immersive
spaces
Kiosks
(AR)
Consumer
technology,
for
all
its
potential,
presents
some
challenges
in
a
museum
space.
For
a
natural
history
museum
like
the
Peabody,
the
fossils
and
specimens
on
display
must
remain
front-and-center.
There
is
a
danger
in
adopting
technology,
particularly
smartphones,
that
distracts
rather
than
complements
exhibits.
Furthermore,
adoption
rates
for
AR/VR
apps
tend
to
be
low.
Visitors
see
little
incentive
in
downloading
an
app
for
a
single
visit
except
for
novelty
and
when
content
is
seldom
refreshed,
the
apps
are
swiftly
deleted.
According
to
the
2017
Making
Spaces
Orb
team’s
discussions
with
the
director
of
the
Smithsonian
Arts
and
Industries
Building,
only
3%
of
its
visitors
downloaded
the
museum’s
app
a
year
from
its
release.
Museums
are
transforming
to
meet
these
challenges.
Developing
mobile
apps,
for
example,
is
being
seen
not
as
a
one-time
investment
but
a
continuous
endeavor
in
which
new
digital
content
is
added
and
curated—the
same
treatment
given
to
physical
space.
Other
museums
are
doing
away
with
the
BYOD
(bring
your
own
device)
trend
altogether,
and
building
hardware
and
spaces
that
encourage
people
to
put
away
their
phones.
At
the
Smithsonian
Museum
of
Natural
History,
visitors
peer
into
a
screen
with
their
reflection,
until
the
scene
comes
alive
with
a
Tyrannosaurus
rex
and
a
baby
Triceratops13 (Figure
2.8).
While
some
can
hold
up
their
phones
to
the
kiosk
and
experience
the
AR
scene
on
their
own
screens,
most
simply
cluster
around
the
reflection
and
participate
in
the
shared
viewing
experience.
Applied
to
the
Peabody,
such
interactive
kiosks
can
have
great
potential.
Visitors
can
learn
more
about
an
exhibit,
speak
to
a
virtual
avatar,
play
mini-games
or
uncover
Easter
eggs.
The
kiosks
can
allow
visitors
to
use
their
phones
(with
the
museum
app
installed)
if
they
wish.
But
for
those
without
compatible
smartphones,
and
to
incentivize
people
to
stow
away
their
handhelds,
kiosks
can
pair
with
an
inexpensive
physical
object
to
allow
access
to
the
same
content.
To
give
a
concrete
example,
the
company
Deskfruit
manufactures
a
futuristic,
wooden
totem
with
a
printed
QR-like
code
that,
when
scanned,
conjures
digital
items
(volcanoes,
basketball
hoops,
flowers)
onto
a
screen14 (Figure
2.9).
Conceivably,
such
totems
may
be
used
to
interact
with
Peabody
kiosks,
with
any
digital
output
rendered
to
a
mounted
screen,
eliminating
the
need
for
a
handheld.
Purpose-built
rooms
(AR/VR)
Despite
the
excitement
in
AR/VR,
most
museums
have
elected
not
to
invest
in
dedicated
spaces
for
immersion.
Such
rooms
can
be
prohibitively
expensive;
at
their
most
refined
they
can
utilize
a
mix
of
contiguous
wall
displays,
headsets
and
equipment
that
vary
temperature,
sound
and
light
to
play
with
all
the
senses.
Though
not
a
museum,
the
previously
mentioned
VR
installation—The
Void—pushes
the
envelope
of
such
experiences.
Patrons
are
outfitted
with
a
modified
Oculus
headset
and
body
suit
that
gives
haptic
feedback.
The
physical
space
is
plain—constructed
of
foam
bricks,
overhead
sprinklers,
LED
lights,
and
electric
heaters.
The
space
is
made
to
coincide
with
the
virtual
simulation,
so
that
when
a
headset
is
worn,
the
player
can
feel
dungeon
walls,
a
rainstorm,
the
overhead
sun
and
forest
fires.
A
visual
is
shown
in
Figure
2.10.
We
can
imagine
a
museum
taking
advantage
of
such
a
space
to
reconstruct
lost
historical
narratives
or
present
but
distant
narratives
for
its
patrons.
Users
could
step
into
a
rendering
of
the
Amazon
rainforest
to
appreciate
the
species
diversity,
or
ancient
artifacts
could
be
situated
in
context,
elevating
their
importance
and
increasing
engagement.
The
Art
Gallery
of
New
South
Wales,
for
instance,
cognizant
of
the
threats
that
looting,
climate
change
and
natural
disaster
pose
to
heritage
and
cultural
sites,
has
reconstructed
a
Tang
dynasty
cave
as
a
1:1
scale
AR/VR
simulation.15 Patrons
step
into
a
dark,
open
space,
and
either
hold
up
iPads
to
the
wire-framed
wall
as
if
a
magnifying
glass,
or
wear
a
headset
for