Development of an exhibit-feature based virtual museum space generation framework

Abstract

Virtual museums that overcome the physical constraints of traditional museums and provide broader access play an important role in the digital spread of cultural heritage. Previous studies mainly focused on digital twin-type virtual museums based on the real world, and mainly focused on the environment in which the exhibits were fitted in a fixed space, but this is limited in the virtual environment experience. The search for a space that can change variably depending on the exhibits has not been relatively conducted. In this study, we propose an object-based virtual exhibition space generation methodology. First of all, the elements to be considered in the composition of the virtual museum were derived based on previous studies. The relationship between the elements affecting the exhibition space was visualized by classifying it into three categories: space, object, and actor. In addition, a framework for creating a virtual exhibition space was proposed based on the considerations derived from expert interviews. Based on the framework proposed in this study, a prototype for the generative virtual exhibition space floor plan was developed through the DE algorithm. This has been proven to be valid and applicable through several application scenarios and expert evaluations. This study presents new possibilities to promote the virtual museum experience.