Virtual Fieldwork
Introduction
In this post, I will be discussing two virtual museum views. The museum views I chose are provided by The National Museum of Science and Technology: Leonardo da Vinci and The Natural History Museum.
Due to the pandemic, most museums nearby are either closed or have extremely limited hours of access. Virtual museum views allow for people to visit these currently inaccessible places and, ideally, experience the museum without physically being at the museum.
Virtual Exhibits
This section will focus on my impression of the Column Hall museum view of the Science and Technology Museum.
i. The Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the museum is vast, with da Vinci’s work lining both walls in a corridor. His flying machine can be found further down the hallway as a fixture in the air, hanging from the ceiling.
ii. Four observations of mine regarding the:
- Design: Each exhibit’s content layout is visually appealing. Each item on display includes a photo, a drawing with some text explaining it, and a created model based on the given sketch.
- User Interface: Within the museum view, I pretty much ignored the UI elements in the bottom right. The mouse was all I needed.
- Interaction: Navigating the space virtually was initially frustrating. A map could’ve helped me out because I wasn’t sure where I was going. Further, it was nice to zoom in on specific items for a more detailed look.
- Content: Each display was given enough attention by the curators. The models are intricate and match the sketches, which is really interesting to see.
iii. The museum’s virtual exhibit would benefit from a feature that allows viewers to easily read each exhibit’s description. Something along the lines of clicking on the type next to each display within the virtual exhibition that then creates a little pop-up excerpt would be nice.
iv. I appreciated how the curators gave each exhibit enough space. I was able to look at every piece on display on its own, then look at all the works as a whole.
Typography
This section will discuss the typography found within The Natural History Museum’s museum view.
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i. Most — if not all — of the type was sans-serif.
ii. This screenshot of the Blue Marlin description shows a clear hierarchy and column rule. The bolder and larger-sized information to the left of the paragraphs is an additional fact about blue marlins that isn’t a snippet from the sections (in other words, it’s a new piece of information).
iii + iv. If observers read only the bolder text within the description, they would leave more knowledgeable than they began. The smaller text is for the people who want to know more, whereas the larger text is a “fun fact” that the viewer can read independently.
Physical Space
This section will explain my thoughts on both museums’ Museum Views and how they utilize their respective spaces.
i. Overall, it was easier to navigate the space within the Natural History Museum mainly because of the vast open space. However, there were seemingly very few items on display compared to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit in the Science and Technology Museum.
ii. The Natural History Museum’s view made me think about how profound creatures are and how things have evolved or died off as time progresses; I felt a mixture of shock and awe at how large some of the animals were when they were alive. On the other hand, the Science and Technology Museum’s view made me admire and appreciate da Vinci’s work significantly since his ideas still shape some aspects of technology in our modern age.
iii. I believe that both museums aimed to evoke these specific feelings within observers (and were successful in doing so).
Learn Something
This section will talk about what I learned from the helicopter exhibit within the Leonardo da Vinci collection at Italy’s Science and Technology Museum.
i. I decided to look into this exhibit because it seemed unique compared to everything else on display. I also didn’t know what this concept of da Vinci’s was supposed to be until further analysis.
ii. I learned that Leonardo da Vinci drew his helicopter design 450 years before any helicopter was built. Additionally, his inspiration for the structure of his helicopter is speculated to be from maple tree seeds.
Overall Response
In this section, I will be discussing my final thoughts on the virtual museum visits.
i. I was really excited to get the opportunity to see exhibits in museums that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to visit (since they aren’t located anywhere near me). In particular, the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit was unique; I’ve never seen his works all lined up in one place.
ii. Utilizing a set amount of physical space to display items is intricate. The utmost importance is placed on the visitor’s positive experience while viewing the exhibits.
