The Application of Image-Based Virtual Reality Technologies in Digital Exhibitions of Museums

With the advent of information age, digital exhibition has become an inexorable trend for museum technical applications. In addition to physical exhibits, museums have also integrated copious resources of their collections with new technologies in order to create new values. Although the development of digital exhibitions in museums with virtual reality is in its initial developmental stage, the necessity and inevitability of which is quite certain in general since its effectiveness on educational promotion has been found positive. Based on real practices, this paper investigates the development principles of digital exhibitions in museums with focus on image-based virtual reality technologies. In spite of continual innovation and development in media technology, the best medium is yet to be found because each technology still has its merits and drawbacks. Focusing on image-based virtual reality technology, the author probes into various difficulties that may be encountered in the future development of digital exhibition in museums, and generalizes author’s conclusion in three dimensions that could be deliberated and referenced for further study. These three dimensions include content displays, mutual communication between human and computers, and visitors' capability of operating user interface properly.