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Take a walk through our museum! Immerse yourself in these high-resolution, 360 degree virtual tours showcasing past and present exhibitions.

The Changing Face of Science: Jingmai O'Connor

Meet Jingmai O’Connor, punk-rock paleontologist and the Field Museum’s Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles— aka the dinosaur curator. Come along on Jingmai's journey to learn how her interest in science began, see real fossils unearthed by Jingmai, and visit her fossil prep workspace. Discover the ways personal passions can overlap with science to create your own path toward becoming a scientist.

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360 Virtual Tours scanned and developed by the Youth Initiatives and Digital Media Studio Programs at the Field Museum.

National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tours

Access the tours.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past exhibits no longer on display.

Virtual Tour Tips

• To navigate between adjoining rooms in the tours, click on the blue arrow links on the floor or use the navigation map in the upper right of the presentation screen.
• Look for the camera icon which gives you a close-up view of a particular object or exhibit panel.
• Try zooming in as some of the images are stitched together from individual pictures in order to create very high resolution gigapixel images.

Please note: This tour and these presentations have been tested and should work on all common devices, browsers, and operating systems (using a desktop computer with Windows, Mac, Linux or a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPad, or Android). Functionality and appearance may vary as it will adjust automatically to accommodate the most visitors. While the virtual tour has no advertising, ad blocking software or browser settings that block JavaScript and/or XML may interfere with the functionality of the virtual tour. Please let us know what you think of the tour and how the experience can be improved. Send your feedback to the NMNH Web Team .

Site Credit: Imagery and coding by Loren Ybarrondo

Equipment Used: Professional Nikon digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera bodies and lenses. The photography is typically done using rectilinear lenses with minimized distortion and shooting equirectangular panoramas at 22K pixels on the long side.

Software Used: No authoring software is used. The tours are hand-coded in HTML5 and JavaScript using the krpano graphics library.

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VIRTUAL 360° TOURS

Visit the olympic museum exhibitions from the comfort of your own home..

If you want to prepare for your visit, reflect on your time at the museum or are simply unable to get here, enjoy our 360° tour technology!

The virtual tour adapts to your needs and interests. Wander the Olympic Museum rooms as if you were there and gain access to detailed content.

Please note that this option requires a good Internet connection and may use up a large amount of data on your mobile plan.

Free to Run

On the road to the paris 2024 marathon.

Riding the Olympic Wave

A new era for the olympic games.

Rêver en blanc

The epic story of the olympic winter games.

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25 Best & Famous Virtual Museum Tours

Virtual Reality, VR, Immersive Technology & Simulated Environment

Recently updated on June 18th, 2021 at 01:30 am

During our childhood days, whenever we want to visit the museum, we need to physically be there with our teachers or parents. However, with the latest virtual reality technology, we are now able to attend it virtually too. Now, let’s see what is the popular, the best and famous virtual museum tours that we and our kids can try from the comfort of our home and sofa.

What is Virtual Museum Tour?

It is another way to experience the museum without being physically at the location. For this purpose, usually the museums will use approach such as 360-degrees videos or walk-around tour. With this facility, you can have the tour in 360 degrees and some is available in VR format too. Most of the virtual tours are also interactive where they provide the voice over descriptions with slideshows as well.

The List of Famous Virtual Museum Tours…

We try our best to get the list of good museum virtual tours that you can try at home. Some of them claim that they have virtual reality gallery , but in order to try it you need to go there physically first. And from what we found, this is the list that you can try without coming to the museum itself. As much as possible, we will try to provide more variety to the list below…

1) Smithsonian American Art Museum

This very famous museum in America offer the virtual reality tour for us to experience the Renwick Gallery Exhibition . To add, there are nine great contemporary artists that involved in creating it using InstaVR platform. To enjoy the tour, you can try it yourself by downloading the “ Wonder 360 ” app to your mobile phone and use it with the Google Cardboard technology that should be affordable to nearly everybody.

URL : https://americanart.si.edu/wonder360

2) Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

This museum located in England also offer the looks inside it from remote. The virtual tour consists of four locations is the collaboration between the museum and Scan Tech Digital company. In addition, they are using Matterport platform to deliver it.

URL : https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/virtual-tour

3) Franklin Institute in Philadelphia

IMS provided service that offer the 360 degrees view of this popular museum in United States. Beside that, the tour includes the view of different event spaces and come up with the option to open photo galleries or videos of the space. You can watch the tour by using your browser.

URL : http://3hundred60.com/Franklin_Institute_360web.html

4) Musée du Louvre, Paris

This famous Louvre museum in Paris, France, has the exhibit called “ Monalisa: Beyond the Glass “. As most of us already know, Monalisa is a great and most popular painting in the world by Leonardo da Vinci. This exhibit is the collaboration between this museum and also the HTC Vive Arts. In addition, you can download the app from the VIVEPORT website .

URL : https://arts.vive.com/us/articles/projects/art-photography/mona_lisa_beyond_the_glass/

Furthermore, Louvre is one of the most historic art museums and also the most visited museum in the world. Hence, it is very thankful that they also provide the Louvre virtual tour service for us to visit the museum during this COVID-19 pandemic season. In addition, it offers seven galleries that you can explore via online. One of them sounds interesting to us which is “ Founding Myths: From Hercules to Darth Vader “. It looks into how the artists, filmmakers and musicians around the world have drawn inspiration from myths to create their masterpieces.

URL : https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

5) Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

This great museum in Washington, D.C, is the most visited natural history museum in the world. It also offers the virtual tour of its museum by using our own web browser. They build it by using the WebVR technology. The good thing is that, you can switch it to the stereoscopic mode so you can enjoy the 360 degrees virtual tour using your Google Cardboard too. The interesting exhibits are like the skeleton of American mastadon, the cool T-Rex and other dinosaurs from the Jurassic age…

URL : https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour

6) Rijksmuseum with Museum VR Tour

This national museum of Netherlands also offer the virtual tour and it seems they take it very serious. With the tagline “ From Home: We bring the museum to you “, they also provide some gamification elements in it such as the challenge to find keys, discover hidden words and you can also win prize for it. That’s really awesome initiative.

URL : https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/from-home

7) National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

This famous museum in Korea offers the VR tour with title “ How to create a landscape “. It also comes with realistic 3D model of the gallery that you can play around like a doll house. Moreover, if you want to view in in VR mode, they highly recommend using Oculus Quest. But they also support Oculus Go and other headsets that include controllers.

URL : https://www.mmca.go.kr/eng/pr/movDetail.do?mbMovCd=01

8) The National Gallery, London

The National Gallery in London offers the virtual tours to let you explore their greatest collection of paintings through your VR headset, desktop or smartphone. Moreover, they have the panoramic view of the gallery in 360 degrees by collaborating with Google Street View. And they also have the “Sainsbury Wing VR Tour” where you can experience the collection of over 270 Early Renaissance paintings from year 1200 to 1500. In addition, the gallery and Oculus teamed up using Matterport’s 3D camera technology to produce this virtual tour.

URL : https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtual-tours

9) Picasso Museum of Barcelona

This museum offer the 360-degrees tour to its courtyard and you can observe the details of the patios of the museum. Unfortunately, the only downside is that you need to download and enable the Adobe Flash Player first which the product itself is no longer supported by Adobe after 31st December 2020. Hope the museum will upgrade the technology soon.

URL : http://courtyard.museupicassobcn.org/

10) The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)

This gallery in Melbourne, Australia also provide the virtual tour of their exhibition by using the Matterport’s technology. It is an interactive self-guided tours that you can enjoy from your home. Their recommendation is to use Oculus Quest to fully enjoy it.

URL : https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/

11) Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum has the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on exhibit and is located in western North America. It also offers the 360 virtual tour where you can explore the underground tomb and witness the Alchemy Garden.

URL : https://egyptianmuseum.org/360-museum-tour

12) Nikola Tesla Museum

Nikola Tesla, a great inventor, electrical engineer and mechanical engineer, also got his own museum.  It is the only museum that preserve the original and personal legacy of that legendary figure in science world. You can explore the 3D interactive view of Nikola Tesla’s lab on Long Island. Build using Web VR, you can also watch it in the stereoscopic VR mode.

URL : https://nikolateslamuseum.org/en/virtual/longisland/

13) National Museum United States Air Force

This virtual tour of US Air Force museum has many cool exhibits related with aviation and planes. And it also shows the planes that it used in the World War 2 as well. Because of that, it is a good place to visit for the military or army veterans.

URL : http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/

14) The Dalí Theatre-Museum

This museum in Spain is dedicated to Salvador Dalí , who is the famous surrealist artist in the world. You can visit the museum virtually to appreciate his works, sculptures and masterpieces.

URL : https://www.salvador-dali.org/en/museums/dali-theatre-museum-in-figueres/visita-virtual/

15) The State Hermitage Museum

This museum located in St. Petersburg, Russia, has a vast amount of artwork on display. Furthermore, that includes the work by Rembrandt, Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Moreover, they take the Hermitage virtual tour very seriously where it covers nearly all part of the museum and it’s very, very comprehensive tour. You can imagine it by looking at the map below and it is just the First Floor! You gonna get shock to see the number of circles in the Second Floor 🙂

URL : https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/panorama/virtual_visit/panoramas-m-1/?lng=en

16) The Egyptian Museum

This museum in Cairo is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East. Furthermore, it has the largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities in the world. Moreover, in one of the Egyptian Museum virtual tours, it gives us opportunity to see the iconic mask of the Golden Pharaoh, Tutankhamun. In addition, the discovery of the Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 was one of the most spectacular moment in the history of archeology.

URL : https://egymonuments.gov.eg/news/a-virtual-tour-through-the-tutankhamun-collection-at-the-egyptian-museum/

17) The Natural Museum History, London

This very famous museum located in London is very popular with the display of a big blue whale skeleton named Hope. Furthermore, the skeleton is so big and estimated to be 82-foot long. The museum also showcases the valuable pieces collected by Charles Darwin as well.

Secondly, with many life and earth science specimens under it roof, no wonder that it is the most visited natural history museum in Europe. Lastly, from the site, it looks like the Natural Museum History virtual tour is leveraging a lot on the Google Arts and Culture platform.

URL : https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/virtual-museum.html

18) Science Museum, London

This museum in London has over 350,000 objects and archives from the collection of its group. The collection come from many areas such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. Due to its popularity, it is estimated there around five millions visitors each year coming to the museum. Finally, for its virtual tour, the Science Museum leverage on the Google Streetview to deliver it.

URL : https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/virtual-tour-science-museum

19) The Museum of Flight

This museum in Seattle dedicated itself with the history of aircraft. Its virtual tour enable us to see the inside of some of the iconic planes. In addition, you’ll be able to access the cockpits and interiors of the aircraft as well. For those planes that involve in war, you can also observe the gunner position as well.

Moreover, some brand of the aircrafts are like Antonov, Boeing, Concorde and Douglas. There is also the iconic presidential jet plane which is “Air Force One” that is using Boeing VC-137B as well. The museum uses Matterport 3D, 360 Photosphere and also WebGL to deliver the virtual tour to us.

URL : https://museumofflight.org/Explore-The-Museum/Virtual-Museum-Online

20) The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC)

Located in England, this museum is dedicated to the world of computer or computing technology. It is the home to the largest collection of working historic computers since the 1940s. It is since the era of Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus where the size of computer and mainframes during that time was so gigantic. Furthermore, it is estimated there are around 50,000 artefacts in their collection.

URL : https://www.tnmoc.org/3d-virtual-tour

21) Bank Negara Malaysia

For this banking museum in Malaysia, it dedicated itself on the financial and economic exhibits. It also offers the virtual trip to its museum where you’ll be able to view it in 360 degrees format.

URL : http://www.museum.bnm.gov.my/v2/virtualmuseum/

22) Museum Nasional Indonesia

This national museum located in Jakarta, Indonesia, houses around 160,000 artifacts and exhibits. You also will be able to experience the virtual tour of the museum in 360 degrees view by using the browser or VR headset as well.

URL : https://www.museumnasional.or.id/virtual-tour

23) NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration)

NASA , the popular and outstanding space agency in the world, also provides the virtual tours to its centers such as Ames Research Center, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Glenn Research Center and many more. Besides the research center, you can also ‘visit’ their other facilities, laboratories and operations control centers too.

URL: NASA at Home – Virtual Tours and Apps

24) Boston Children’s Museum

Founded in 1913, this museum is the second oldest and one of the largest children’s museum in the world. The exhibits of the museum focus on science, culture, environmental awareness, arts, health and fitness. It is estimated around 50,000 artifacts in the museum’s collection.

URL : https://bostonchildrensmuseum.org/museum-virtual-tour

25) International Spy Museum

For those that seeks the thrill of spy and espionage world, then this museum might be just suitable for you. Located in Washington DC, the International Spy Museum dedicated itself in the research, exhibitions and educational programming in the world of secret intelligence and espionage. It has the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed on public display.

URL : https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/virtual-tours/

26) Bonus: More Famous Museum VR Tour at Google Arts & Culture

According to Google, there are over 2,000 famous museums that you can explore online. You can visit it at https://artsandculture.google.com/partner . That’s really impressive!! We try one of them and able to tour the museum in 360 degrees and also able to zoom in and zoom out.

To make it more real, you can download the Google Arts & Culture app on Android or iOS and view it using the virtual reality viewer like Google Cardboard. When you are already inside the museum’s page, you need to go down to the “Virtual Tours” section and click on a tour to experience it in VR…

In case if there is any more interesting museum VR tour, we will update the list accordingly. And lastly, for your information, the wonderful image above is by just-pics from Pixabay .

About Author

I am a guy who is very excited on anything and everything related with virtual reality. My mission is to spread the love of VR to the world.

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Visiting Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion?

You must join the virtual exhibition queue when you arrive. If capacity has been reached for the day, the queue will close early.

Online Features

MetCollects

MetCollects celebrates works of art new to the collection by borrowing the fresh eyes of photographers and the enthusiastic voices of curators, conservators, and, at times, the living artists, collectors, and supporters.

The Met 360° Project

This award-winning series of six short videos invites viewers around the world to virtually visit The Met's art and architecture in a fresh, immersive way. Created using spherical 360° technology, it allows viewers to explore some of the Museum's iconic spaces as never before.

#MetKids is a digital feature made for, with, and by kids. Explore The Met with our interactive map and watch behind-the-scenes videos that feature kids just like you. With fun facts and creative projects for the galleries or at home, #MetKids has been inspired, tested, and approved by real kids ages 7–12. Be part of it!

Viewpoints: Body Language

How does the sculpted body communicate? Hear from Met experts, leading authorities, and rising stars, each with a diverse perspective on the language of gesture, facial expression, and pose.

The Artist Project

The Artist Project asks artists to reflect on what art is and what inspires them from across 5,000 years of art. Their unique and passionate ways of seeing and experiencing art reveal the power of a museum and encourage all visitors to look in a personal way.

82nd & Fifth

82nd & Fifth asks 100 curators to talk about 100 works of art that changed the way they see the world. One curator, one work of art, two minutes at a time. This series demonstrates that the voice of authority, up close, is inspirational.

Connections

Connections asks curators, conservators, librarians, educators, editors, designers, photographers, security personnel, and others to offer personal perspectives on the collection. The series introduces a seductive and illuminating means of access to The Met collection.

Charles and Jayne Wrightsman and The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Virtual reality tours

Step inside world-class museums.

• 360 Virtual Exhibit Tours
• Events & Programs

MPM is always open in our 360° Virtual Tours!

On these self-led tours, you’ll get the chance to explore our exhibits while also getting behind-the-scenes access to interesting collections items, fascinating videos, and links to the exciting research happening at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

A computer or tablet is recommended for the best viewing experience.

Navigation Instructions

Bugs Alive! and Puelicher Butterfly Wing

Discover the fascinating and important world of butterflies, bugs, arachnids, and more through this virtual tour of our Puelicher Butterfly Wing and Bugs Alive! exhibits. You'll learn about the largest and most diverse animal phylum, Arthropoda, from detailed exhibits and behind-the-scenes videos. You'll even get the chance to make your own observations through downloadable resources.

Download a PDF script of this tour .  

Crossroads of Civilization

Travel back in time through MPM’s Crossroads of Civilization exhibit. You’ll have the opportunity to learn all about mummies through CT scan videos and downloadable activities. In addition, you’ll learn how science is used to study the past, and what goes in to making a museum exhibit, in this interactive tour.

The Rainforest

Travel through the Costa Rican Rainforest ! You'll learn from MPM scientists, staff, and docents to discover natural processes of life on Earth and the significance of the tropical rainforests to the world and our everyday lives. 

Download a PDF script of this tour.

The Third Planet

In this exhibit, you’ll explore the formation and geology of Earth along with the evolution of life on the planet. You’ll hear from MPM scientists, get close-up looks at behind-the-scenes artifacts, and unlock the secrets of Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history.

A Tribute to Survival

This exhibit's overarching message is that Native Americans are still here, and have survived and thrived against many attempts to eradicate and assimilate them into the dominant society. Through this virtual tour, you'll have access to behind-the-scenes collections related to this exhibit, engaging videos, and even push the rattlesnake button! Generous support provided by Potawatomi Hotel & Casino.

Download a PDF script of this tour.  

Wisconsin Woodlands

Explore the woods of Wisconsin through the comfort of your own home! Discover the history of our State’s natural areas, how MPM’s collections are used by researchers around the world, and the unique adaptations of some of our most popular animals.

In This Section

Google virtual tour

In 2016, Google created this 360° tour of Rooms 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and Central Hall.

Immerse yourself in Renaissance masterpieces from Northern Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, including works by Titian , Veronese , and Holbein .

Crystal Bridges Virtual Reality

Immerse yourself in the stories of American art and architecture at Crystal Bridges with unique virtual reality experiences. Crystal Bridges is developing a series of experiences so you can interact with the museum like never before.

Explore CBVR

Crystal Bridges 360 Tour

What does a day look like at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art? Take this 360 virtual tour of the museum and see for yourself! Starting at the museum’s entrance, wind through the galleries and grounds, soar over the rooftops, and discover what awaits you in every space.

State of the Art 2020

Did you miss State of the Art 2020 or want to relive it again?  State of the Art 2020 VR is a virtual exploration of the exhibition in which users explore the artworks as they appeared in the Crystal Bridges and Momentary galleries. No matter where you are in the world, you can still experience State of the Art 2020 .

Step inside the neighborhood of Kerry James Marshall’s  Our Town  and experience the artwork like never before. This narrated CBVR video peels back the layers of the painting to highlight new details and symbolism of this iconic artwork.

Glass and Bottle

In this narrated CBVR video, dive into the layers of Glass and Bottle by Suzy Frelinghuysen and explore the complexities of depth, perception, space, and more in this artistic style known as Geometric Abstraction.

Kindred Spirits

Journey into the Hudson River Valley landscape of Asher B. Durand’s  Kindred Spirits , get to know its subjects, and see new layers of the painting up close like never before in this narrated CBVR video.

Architecture

Frank lloyd wright house.

Take a virtual walk through the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Bachman-Wilson House like never before, including a visit to the second floor which is normally closed off to visitors.

Fly’s Eye Dome

Experience designer, inventor, and theorist R. Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome , a 50-foot structure envisioned as a prototype for efficient, economical housing, and recently reconstructed on the museum’s grounds.

Digital Innovation and Virtual Experiences supported in part by: J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. and PRISMA.

Museums in 3D

Museum interactive 3d virtual tour.

Here we have a perfect example of an interactive and immersive 3D virtual tour built specifically for the museum heritage sector. Combining useful hotspots of information and a background music to truly immerse users into that space…just as if they were walking physically on site.

Make full use of technology to bring customers online to you.

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Welcome back to another blog from us at Momentum 360! We hope you’re all keeping safe, staying healthy, and practicing social distancing. This Coronavirus pandemic has been anything but easy, but we all need to continue to do our part to #FlattenTheCurve and pull ourselves out of this so that normal life can resume sometime in the future.

Countless businesses and professionals have been doing their part to help ease this period of uncertainty. We’re sending love to medical professionals, first responders, and to anyone else battling this disease on the front lines. We also are sending a shout-out to teachers and parents who are doing their best to keep kids educated and entertained from the safety of their own homes.

As we all are aware, in March of 2020, states all across America decided to shut down non-essential businesses and urged their residents to stay home unless absolutely necessary to slow down the spread of the devastating Coronavirus. Businesses of all kinds were forced to shut their doors and ask their employees to, if possible, work from home. Unfortunately, working remotely isn’t possible for many. One of the many industries affected by these stay-at-home orders is museums. Full of history, artwork, science, and cultural artifacts, museums are a place of education and enjoyment for people of all ages, nationalities, and identities to see important relics of past and present.

This week, we’re taking a look at museums who have implemented virtual tour technology so that everyone has the opportunity to explore art, history, and other cool exhibits from home. While the museums’ doors may be closed to the public, they are making sure their exhibits are still accessible to anyone that wants them.

We took a look at some of these museums from all over the country to find out how a virtual tour of their space is used and what they have to offer online.

Just like in last week’s blog about the real estate industry using virtual tour technology, which can be found here , we found that virtual tours may be used uniquely by each museum to showcase either its entire collection or just a few exhibits.

Museums For All Ages

The Penn Museum:

The Penn Museum, also known as The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, is one of Philadelphia’s most popular museums and is a staple of The University of Pennsylvania.

The Penn Museum has so many galleries and exhibitions throughout the museum, but they also have several of these on display virtually. The Rome Gallery goes into great detail about the founding of Rome and the evolution of the Roman Empire over the years. Another beautiful online exhibition that the Penn Museum features is the Sphinx Gallery . This gallery features objects from all over the world ranging from Asia to the Middle East to Egypt and beyond. One of the museum’s most well-known artifacts, the Sphinx of Ramses II, is featured in this gallery. This online gallery also features a Neanderthal Head, masks, ribbed figures and statues, and much much more.

Penn Museum’s PR Director, Jill DiSanto, provided insight on everything the museum has to offer online. DiSanto states, “At this time, the Penn Museum offers informal “ one-minute video” introductions to what’s inside our galleries, designed to welcome new friends. However, our primary focus has been continuing our mission of transforming understanding of the human experience and our role as a teaching and research institution. As such, we have brought the Penn Museum’s educational resources to parents who have quickly found themselves thrust into the position of a teacher. Through Penn Museum at Home , families can find resources divided by culture, online lectures on a variety of topics (coincidentally, in our Great Lecture Series, this year, we’re showcasing Great Catastrophes throughout time — including the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918-1919), virtual interactive learning programs, At-Home Anthropology projects for kids, and Digital Daily Digs — a 3-minute pop-up talk that encourages everyone to “dig a little deeper” into one artifact in the collections.

Traditional cultural recipes and culturally inspired arts & crafts are available at the Penn Museum’s Pinterest boards.”

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force:

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was definitely more of a challenge to get in contact with some of these museums. However, more and more museums are hopping on the virtual tour trend, and we still want to highlight them!

Now more than ever businesses are prioritizing their online presence, and in an industry that demands physical tours and walk-throughs, museums are quick to follow that trend. The National Museums of the U.S. Air Force , the world’s largest military aviation museum, located near Dayton, Ohio, was quick to follow suit following the pandemic outbreak.

Their virtual tour allows audiences to take a completely self-guided, 360-degree tour throughout the entire museum. Visitors can “physically” walk gallery to gallery or follow a drop-down map that indicates key hotspots throughout the premise. Some featured exhibits are various aircraft cockpits, displays servicemen uniforms from World War I, and images of planes from throughout history.

Source: www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Virtual-Tour/

In addition to their virtual tours, The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is also offering digital lesson plans, word searches, and coloring sheets to further promote this interactive effort. The best part? Everything is entirely free for public use.

This virtual tour initiative is two-fold: create momentum surrounding the educational offerings at the museum and offer a means of entertainment while we all sift through these uncertain times. You can check out their virtual tour, along with other bonus features, here .

For Children

Because of the Coronavirus, the vast majority of the American public and private schools are closed indefinitely, pending government approval to reopen. Classes are still being held through online methods like video conferencing on Zoom or electronic assignments. Despite best efforts to maintain the same standard of education, parents are now finding themselves to be their children’s teachers at home. Many children’s museums across the country are trying to help with this by offering virtual tours of their exhibits as an educational tool for parents, teachers, and students.

Boston Children’s Museum :

One such children’s museum is the Boston Children’s Museum in Massachusetts. This museum offers virtual tours of the exhibits, playrooms, and artifacts located in the museum. The virtual tour of the museum was a tool utilized by the BCM before the pandemic but has become an invaluable tool to them in the meantime.

According to a museum spokesperson, “Boston Children’s Museum’s virtual tour helps families plan their visit from the comfort of their homes. This free feature is especially important for first-time visitors. During this unprecedented time of quarantine, families have been checking out the tour as a way to enjoy a virtual field trip. Those with young children who are missing the Museum like seeing it on their screen.

The Museum’s virtual tour has been shared around the world as a great resource for families.”

One exhibit with a virtual tour includes the Japanese House , a 360-degree virtual tour of an authentic and well-preserved traditional urban house from Kyoto, Japan. The house was originally built in the late 1800s and was once home to a silk merchant family in Kyoto’s Nishijin neighborhood, long famous for its silk weaving.

Source: japanesehouse.bostonchildrensmuseum.org

In addition to having virtual tours of their exhibits, the Boston Children’s Museum also has resources available to parents like an archive of video lessons and activities for children to watch and follow along with.

Pretend City’s Children’s Museum:

Irvine, California is home to a non-profit children’s museum call “Pretend City.” Pretend City’s Children’s Museum features 17 interactive exhibits designed as a small, interactive city. Pretend City aims to “build better brains” through purposeful play, hands-on learning experiences, role-playing, and educational programming.

Pretend City’s website offers a Matterport 360 virtual tour of the facility. This tour includes a walkthrough of each exhibit and playroom in the museum, including the grocery store, post office, art room, amphitheater and a dozen others for children to play and think creatively.

Pretend City is a museum that relies on its interactive exhibits to teach children the value of their own creativity. This is something difficult to recreate via a virtual tour. However, the inclusion of the virtual tour allows parents to take their children on a virtual field trip to the museum. Children can still learn about all the different aspects of life in their imaginary city and inspire a similar kind of creativity in their own backyards. It also allows parents to plan a visit from home.

The Strong National Museum of Play:

The Strong National Museum of Play , located in Rochester, New York, is a highly interactive, collections-based museum devoted to the history and exploration of play. It is one of the largest history museums in the United States and one of the leading museums serving families. The Strong houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of historical materials related to play. The Strong’s multifaceted array of research, exhibits, and other interpretive and educational activities serve a diverse audience of adults, families, children, students, teachers, scholars, collectors, and others around the globe.

The Strong also utilizes a virtual tour of their facility. While the museum specializes in the art of playing, particularly in how it helps children develop, there are other aspects that are noted in the virtual tour. An example of this is the timeline of games and puzzles from the 1840s and onward. It also heavily features the creation and subsequent popularity of Monopoly.

This virtual tour is especially helpful while would-be visitors are stuck at home in quarantine because games like the ones featured in this museum are being played in households all across the country during this time. The virtual tour of the gaming exhibits in this museum provides a valuable and relevant lesson to keep their children educated and engaged in their activities.

International Museum Going Virtual

Though we chose to look at American museums, for the most part, it isn’t just museums in the United States that have taken advantage of virtual tours during this unprecedented time of staying at home and keeping our distance from one another. One of the most famous museums in the world has also implemented 3D tour technology to become accessible to people all over the world. In a huge win for the virtual tour industry, The Louvre Museum .

Yes, that’s right. Located in Paris, the Louvre is the largest and one of the most well-known museums in the world. Home to the Mona Lisa and other notable works of art, we were shocked to find that they’re offering virtual tours of certain exhibits free of charge .

Whether it’s Egyptian antiques or decorative arts, you can find yourself lost in history for hours. Bonus: it’s all in the comfort of your own home!

Source: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

Similarly, the Louvre is also offering other means of entertainment like educational videos about the Mona Lisa or downloadable coloring sheets to keep your kids (and even maybe yourself) occupied.

You can check out the Louvre’s free virtual tours here .

We are all living in uncertain times. Everything is closed, people are scared, and we all are learning how to make the best out of a very unfortunate situation. Thanks to virtual tour technology, education and entertainment are as accessible as a Google search. Museums are not only offering their exhibits to the public for free, but these virtual field trips also help parents make decisions about where to take their kids when the museums are allowed to reopen. This makes the virtual tours beneficial to the museums as well as to parents, teachers, and students.

Here at Momentum 360, we want to make growing your business easier than ever. Investing in a virtual tour is without a doubt an imperative step in making that happen. Our society is prioritizing digital content now more than ever, and we likely will not see a decline in this mindset in the future years.

If you are interested in learning more about Momentum 360 Virtual Tours or would like to have one made for your business, feel free to email us or schedule a call with Sean or Mac. For more information, visit our website! Mac Frederick and Sean Boyle, owners of Momentum, have over twenty years of experience in the digital marketing field and have a passion for helping businesses reach their fullest potential.

We post our Momentum Monday and Small Business Saturday blog every week, so feel free to subscribe and make sure you are up to date on the latest trends in the industry. If you have any questions or concerns, leave them in the comments below! From everyone at Momentum 360, thanks for the love, stay healthy, and until next time, build Momentum!

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