# Virtual Reality in Museums: Exploring the Experiences of Museum Professionals
## 6 Future Directions: What Does the Future Hold for VR in Museums? ### Suggestions for Incorporating VR Applications in Museums  
The previous sections outlined the current uses of VR applications in museums, which departments are responsible for new technologies and digital strategies, and highlighted the perceived advantages and challenges of VR technologies. All the aforementioned needs and perceptions should be taken into account and guide the design of VR in museums. The perceptions and experiences of the participating professionals, some of which are also confirmed by the available literature, lead us to particular suggestions (see Figure 3) that could be considered when designing and incorporating VR applications in museums. First, any integration of technology should be designed within the overall museum mission and strategies and not as an isolated individual offering, fulfilling the criteria set out in business plans and \"the guiding principles of institutions\" (Interviewee 2). The importance of integrating the adoption of interactive technologies into an overall strategy and a consistent museological approach has also been stressed by many scholars, who emphasize that if the adopted technology is not integrated within an overall strategy, it will not be able to contribute to the museums' mission [34; 35; 36]. The technology used should be seamless, well blended and integrated with the overall experience of the museum and not be used just for the sake of using something innovative. As interviewee 11 puts it:  
_\"It has to be organic. We can't force technology on a museum. It must interact with it, just like the construction and flow of an exhibition directed by a curator. It must interact with the narrative you want to tell as well as the experience the visitor wants to have\"._  
Figure 3: Summary of proposed suggestions for designing and developing VR experiences in museums. Furthermore, since a variety of different types of emerging technologies is available, a museum should adapt every technology based on a particular need and on how it can be better used, considering the advantages and limitations of each technology. It is worth quoting interviewee 8 at length here:  
_\"Technologies are just a set of tools to be put in service of a greater goal. A hammer is only as good as what you want to build with it. Similarly, technology in museums must be in service of providing the best, most engaging experience with the actual content. Any good technology project must be visitor-centered, accessible to people of all abilities, and in service of that higher goal: To educate, to inspire, or to motivate people to take action. Technology for technology's sake is not a worthy aspiration for museums. We should not be distracted by what is new and shiny, but really think about people, about our mission, and what we can do to serve audiences in the best possible way\"._  
VR is not always the solution to everything and there are cases where, due to its limitations, it may prove a wrong choice for a museum. Here the question is not about which technology is more effective, but which technology fulfils specific needs and achieves specific aims in the best way possible. It is also imperative to understand what VR has to offer in a museum setting. The ultimate aim of any VR project should be to increase the visitors' level of engagement with the original objects on display and not distract them from their actual purpose of their visit. The relationship with the physical objects is of great importance to museum professionals since if this connection remains intact, VR can also become more effective. Indeed, this distraction from the physical object has been also acknowledged in relevant literature [37; 38; 39]. As interviewee 1 argues: \"We find that [... ] these technologies, they are most effective when positioned strategically to the art objects, allowing the visitors to carry over knowledge gained from technology to their direct relationship with the physical object\".