As the New European Agenda for Culture highlights, an embrace of technological tools and innovative approaches is needed to revitalize and bring about a much-needed evolution to the cultural sector. Museums as a key pillar of the Cultural Sector which is of immense importance for the EU as a key representation and promoter of its cultural heritage as well as a pivotal contributor to the Union’s economy and growth, need to take steps towards the digitisation of their workings and to reshape the way they engage their visitors. These realities and needs have been apparent for many years but have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic with its wide-ranging effect on all aspects of life that have, among others, accentuated the need for digital transition of organizations, institutions and industries. Hence, museums and cultural foundations need to adopt innovative technologies to reshape the way their workings are conducted elevating the experience they offer to their audience and enhance their capacity to attract and engage younger generations. The adoption of augmented reality and virtual reality technology, is used among others, to introduce interactive storytelling for the presentation of the collections of the museums, presents a unique and engaging prospect for the new era. Therefore, museums need to make considerable efforts to introduce AR and VR tools and applications in their operations as well as train their existing and prospective staff to be able to utilize them. Thus, MuseumAR puts forward a structured plan involving a set of actions and the development of a concerted set of outputs to have a concrete contribution to supporting this process. To recognise the rise of digital technologies as one of the challenges currently facing contemporary museums means stepping back to reflect upon how to orchestrate the acquisition of new knowledge, competences and mindsets (White 2016; Gainon-Court and Vuillaume 2016; Filipe and Camacho 2018; Price and Dafydd). In this regard, the professional development of the main stakeholders (museum professionals, educators, young graduates and artists etc.) is an unresolved issue of supporting the digital transformation of museums (An Action Plan for Museum Workforce). To meet the abovementioned needs, MuseumARs objectives are to: •Introduce adult educators and museum professionals to the potential of AR as a storytelling tool and help them develop the capacity to train professionals and young graduates in utilizing it •Build synergies between education and culture facilitated by new technologies •Build capacity in museum employees and young graduates to collaborate with technology experts in a manner that will revamp the way these institutions operate and engage their visitors •Empower museums and cultural institutions to adopt innovative technological tools to engage their audience and present their collection To meet these objectives, the MuseumAR project will develop the following: IO1: Augmented Reality and Learning in Museums Curriculum and Training Material IO2: A Digital Booklet with Augment Reality Stories IO3: MOOC for promoting digital cultural heritage Specifically, MuseumAR will design and develop among others a storytelling AR experience that can be tested and emulated by museums across the EU as well as learning material that can be utilized by museums and adult learning institutions to train their staff as well as young professionals interested in pursuing a career in the sector. Said learning material will support them in developing the knowledge and skills to both create and AR storytelling applications in museums. AR combines real and virtual worlds, supplementing the real world with computer-generated virtual objects in real-time (RDA. Budiman, “Developing learning media based on AR (AR) to improve learning motivation). By introducing AR technology in their workings, museums can provide a richer and more engaging experience to their visitors, especially those of younger age. Introducing AR storytelling will allow them to connect with their guests and offer them a unique experience that transcends them through the stories and different perspectives illuminated by their artefacts. Thus, such a step will help museums to revolutionize the experience they offer and open up new prospects both for them as institutions and as a sector as a whole. A unique opportunity lies before them as the use of AR has become more accessible as it no longer requires specialised equipment and may easily be used on mobile devices (M. Akçayır and G. Akçayır, “Advantages and challenges associated with AR for education). The MuseumAR consortium includes 6 partner organisations from 4 countries (4 museums, cultural foundations and 2 adult education organisations). By cooperating in a transnational project, project partners will be able to develop innovative outputs that can contribute to job creation, sustainable development and social inclusion through arts.
The project wanted to create a starting point for the cultural and creative sectors which have been hit by the COVID-19 crisis to gain the basic knowledge, skills, and tools to reshape the way they work, elevating the experience they offer and enhance their capacity to attract and engage younger generations. Achieving this meant improving the capacity of cultural organisations to adopt innovative technologies, such as AR, as well as the capacity to train young professionals and graduates in utilizing it. Parallel to this, improving the capacity of adult educators to develop innovative learning material and content for cultural education which would require reaching out to museums and cultural foundations. This mutual capacity building would engender cross-sectoral cooperation, which would achieve a number of desired results including better alignment of adult education programmes with local, national and European programmes regarding cultural and creative organisations, increased general awareness throughout Europe concerning the challenges and opportunities in the cultural and creative sectors, enhanced social inclusion through the arts, improved cultural skills and enhanced recovery within the creative sectors from the crisis.
An embrace of technological tools and innovative approaches is needed to revitalize and bring about evolution to the cultural sector. But recognizing the need to make changes, and taking steps to acquire the necessary competencies to do so is an action that requires support. This project aims to support museums and cultural foundations in adopting innovative technologies to reshape the way they work. This will be achieved by building a curriculum to advance users skills, key competences, knowledge about AR, and provide them with the necessary tools to address the challenges that the cultural sector is facing. Specifically, the project addresses the need to bridge the knowledge gap in relation to augmented reality among museum professionals, as well as the need to bridge the gap between the world of museums and the world of education. Most importantly, the project will build capacity in museum employees and young graduates to collaborate with technology experts in a manner that will revamp the way these institutions operate and engage their visitors. Finally, the project will empower museums and cultural institutions to adopt innovative technological tools to engage their audience and present their collections in innovative ways.