A Conceptual Framework to Support a New Collaborative Design Process for Immersive Technology Integration in Museum Exhibitions

Immersive technologies are often used in museum visits due to their numerous advantages, including the possibility of enhancing Cultural Heritage dissemination, improving accessibility, and learning activities. Despite the advantages, museum professionals may be reluctant to integrate immersive technologies during the museum visit due to their potential intrusiveness. In addition, a technology-driven approach is often used, which sometimes leads to scattered results and does not exploit the technological potential to meet the museum's objectives. Moreover, the design process for the creation of immersive exhibition visits is based on a trial-and-error approach rather than on specific guidelines regarding the use of immersive technologies in the museum context. The paper presents a study that investigates the immersive technology-related factors that influence the visitors’ experience in museum exhibitions and the immersive technology awareness, benefits, and hindering factors perceived by museum professionals. Specifically, the study focuses on the occurring design process for the integration of immersive technology in museum exhibitions involving multidisciplinary professionals. It presents mixed methods that include experimental case studies, online surveys, semi-structured interviews, and a participatory action research activity. The result consists of a conceptual framework for a new collaborative design process that aims to facilitate the design of immersive museum exhibitions and, consequently, to help museums achieve their objectives and improve visitors’ experience.