What Technology Do Museums Use? Examples and Planning Questions

Start with the task

A useful technology choice starts with a task. A visitor may need to find an object, hear an interpretation in their own language or explore a detail they cannot see in a display case. A collections team may need a reliable record of an object’s condition or a way to share images and metadata. The same museum can need very different tools for these jobs.

Museums also depend on collections-management systems, ticketing, networks, storage and everyday IT support. The eight technology families below focus on interpretation, documentation and access. The examples show particular uses; they do not establish that a technology will improve learning, retention or attendance in every museum.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality can place a visitor in a reconstructed setting or let them explore a place they cannot physically enter. In its 2015 programme, the British Museum ran a Virtual Reality Weekend in which visitors explored a Bronze Age roundhouse. The museum’s 2015/16 annual review documents this historical example; it is not a description of a current visitor service.

Ask how the experience relates to the objects on display, how people will be supported while wearing a headset and what equivalent interpretation is available without one. Include comfort, accessibility, cleaning and staff time in the test.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality adds digital interpretation to a view of a physical object or setting. For a dated example, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History launched Skin & Bones in 2015. It used selected skeletons in the Bone Hall to trigger animations and other interpretation on a mobile device, as described in the project team’s account.

The digital layer was designed to explain the specimen in front of the visitor. A museum considering a similar approach should test whether the device is easy to position, whether the content works without sound and what visitors can use if their phone is incompatible.

Kiosks and touchscreens

A kiosk can give visitors a way to search, compare or enlarge information beside a display. The American Museum of Natural History’s Susan and Peter J. Solomon Family Insectarium, for example, includes a multi-user interactive map for exploring insects and their roles in New York City’s ecosystems.

Test the task with visitors at different heights and with different access needs. Can people reach and operate the controls, read the text and use an alternative to sound or touch? Plan for simultaneous users and for a screen that is temporarily out of service.

Mobile guides

Mobile guides can help visitors find their way or choose audio interpretation. A historical example is the Louvre’s Nintendo 3DS audio guide, launched in April 2012. The launch announcement describes recorded commentary and an interactive map.

For content on visitors’ own phones, consider whether a mobile website is enough before requiring an app download. When planning QR-linked interpretation, test the link, the destination and the fallback together. Check connectivity, device support, language choice, audio controls and the cost to the visitor.

3D printing

3D printing can turn a digital model into a physical replica for interpretation or handling. In 2015, Smithsonian Exhibits described making skull replicas for the travelling Exploring Human Origins exhibition, using scans and a sequence of printing and finishing work.

Decide what the replica must communicate and what degree of accuracy is needed. Check rights, scale, material, durability and cleaning, and explain how a model differs from the original. A tactile replica needs testing with its intended users.

Scanning and documentation

3D scanning and photographic techniques can record an object’s shape or a site’s features for study and interpretation. Drones may help capture images in suitable settings, subject to access, safety and permission requirements. A digital record supplements care of the original; it does not preserve the physical object by itself.

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum describes a 2016 scan of the Apollo 11 command module that revealed details including a hand-drawn calendar. Before commissioning documentation, specify the required detail, file formats, metadata, storage and who will be able to reuse the result.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence covers different tools and tasks, so a project brief should name the actual work. In an April 2025 account of its digitisation programme, London’s Natural History Museum reported using AI to speed up transcription.

For a similar task, decide how outputs will be checked, how errors will be corrected and whether the supplier may retain or reuse the input.

Online collections

Online collections let people search records and images without travelling to the museum. The British Museum’s Collection online guide explains how to search and filter records, including by object type and museum number. Such access depends on useful descriptions and a usable interface as well as the presence of images.

Test whether someone unfamiliar with the catalogue can find the record they need. Make rights and reuse information clear, provide accessible descriptions and decide who will maintain corrections, broken links and changing terminology.

Questions before commissioning

Before commissioning a pilot, assign an owner for its content and maintenance. Test one complete visitor task, including the fallback when the technology fails. Budget for staff time, accessibility work, replacement devices and the eventual migration or retirement of the service.

Check connectivity and compatibility with assistive technology, establish content ownership and agree how data and files can be exported if a supplier relationship ends. Include security and recovery planning: what a museum learned from a cyberattack is a useful starting point for that discussion.