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4. Results
4.1. Digital technologies in museums
In recent years, digital transformation has become an important trend in the
museum sector, fundamentally changing the ways cultural heritage is managed, exhibited,
and experienced. Recent studies indicate that this transformation extends beyond the
mere adoption of new technologies and involves broader shifts in museum operational
models—from institutions primarily focused on artifact preservation to cultural
experience spaces centered on visitors. Notable trends in this transformation include the
transition from digitisation to digitalisation, the integration of advanced technologies
such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, adjustments in experience design to
mitigate potential negative impacts of technology, as well as the development of
multichannel experience strategies and digital communities.
First, previous studies clearly distinguish between two important stages in the
digital transformation of museums: digitisation and digitalisation. Digitisation mainly
refers to the conversion of physical documents, catalogues, and artifacts into digital
formats for the purposes of storage, preservation, and expanding public access. These
activities are often associated with concepts such as electronic preservation (e-
preservation) or digital collection management (e-curation). However, recent trends have
shifted strongly toward the stage of digitalisation, in which digital technologies are used
to enhance visitor experience and increase interaction with exhibition content (Yap et al.,
2024). This shift reflects a transformation in museum models from being merely a “place
of artifact preservation” to becoming an “experience-centred place,” where technology
plays a crucial role in stimulating visitors’ emotional and cognitive responses (Elgammal et
al., 2020).
Parallel to this shift is the increasingly widespread application of advanced
technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Artificial
Intelligence (AI). VR and AR technologies are widely used to create immersive experiences,
enabling visitors to explore historical or cultural aspects that are difficult to access
through traditional exhibition methods (Serravalle et al., 2019). For example, AR systems
allow users to observe different structural layers of murals or simulate heritage
restoration processes, thereby increasing interaction and enhancing learning outcomes.
In addition, AR contributes to the process of value co-creation among stakeholders,
including economic value, experiential value, social value, cognitive value, historical value,
and educational value.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is increasingly being integrated into museum
management systems to optimize exhibition space design and analyze visitor behavior.
Through technologies such as reinforcement learning, computer vision, and affective
computing, AI systems are able to track visitors’ movement trajectories and dwell time,
thereby adjusting spatial arrangements to minimize congestion and optimize visitor flow
(Lei, 2025). However, many experts emphasize that the implementation of AI in museums
should follow the principle of human-centric AI, in which technology functions as a tool to
support human expertise rather than fully replacing curatorial knowledge and
professional judgment (Derda & Predescu, 2025).
Although digital technologies offer numerous benefits for museum experiences, the
integration of digital devices may also create new challenges. One notable issue is the
“heads-down phenomenon,” in which visitors become overly focused on the screens of
mobile devices while paying less attention to the physical artifacts on display. To address

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