# Virtual Reality in Museums: Exploring the Experiences of Museum Professionals
## 5 Perceived Advantages and Challenges of Using VR Technologies
### Perceived Challenges and Limitations
This category of limitations also includes medical limitations, such as dizziness caused by the VR, which in turn limits the time of usage (mentioned by 3 interviewees). Limitations were also identified regarding specific technical issues, which may also affect the quality of experience or the sense of immersion (indicated by 4 interviewees). For example, interviewee 6 argues:  
_\"I find a lack of industry standard a challenge when receiving content or feeding into the creation of new VR content. The greatest limitation I find is the video resolution available at this stage. Battery life and overheating for portable devices and cable tethering for larger systems also limit the experience\"._  
The overall aesthetics and the graphics quality of the VR experience were also raised by three interviewees. Apart from high resolution 3D photography, many participants noted that the graphics used, especially for creating immersive worlds in paintings are still \"pretty unconvincing\" (Interviewee 4) which may also affect the immersion and engagement level. Indeed, it has also been acknowledged in relevant literature that the level of realism of graphics can affect the level of virtual presence felt by the user [33]. This proved a major drawback especially for art museums that place a great emphasis on aesthetics. Interviewee 15 explains:  
_\"You can use [PERSON], for example, as an inspiration. But once you start to add onto his paintings and create these 3D worlds, you are never going to be as good as the artist himself. And the technology isn't there yet and the graphics are not there yet. So, this was one of the first problems that I came across\"._  
Exhibition flow issues were also raised as a challenge by three participants, who reported that they needed extra staff resources to manage the queues formed. Although some solved this through a booking system with time slots, the most difficult problem to the exhibition flow was created when the VR malfunctioned and \"took down\" the entire experience. Especially if the VR is a central component of the exhibition and interpretation, this can ruin the visitor experience. Despite the many advantages offered by VR, in two cases museum professionals noted that visitors can be distracted by VR technologies, resulting in the technology overshadowing museum objects and pre-designed narratives. As interviewee 3 explains:  
_\"The technology itself made more of an impact than the story the VR was supposed to connect to. Many visitors walked away with their first experience using VR, while positive, did not connect with the content to the degree we had hoped\"._  
Finally, two interviewees also noted that not all visitors are excited with the use of emerging technologies in museums. While most visitors--usually younger ones--are eager to try them out,some visitors are more skeptical about their use in museum spaces. This presents a challenge for museum professionals who are called to find a balance between the needs of their different visitors. Figure 2 summarizes the challenges/limitations of VR technologies as perceived and reported by the participants of this study.