And When VR Doesn’t Work

Last time, we discussed When VR Works. This time, let’s look at the other side: when it doesn’t.

Let me be blunt.

Sometimes it works very well, but most often, headset VR is not a good fit for museums. *

Here’s why:

1. Too Little Throughput
A single VR station (one headset) handles a few visitors per hour. If you have high visitorship, that’s an issue.

2. Too Much Maintenance
Headsets require constant cleaning, coaching, charging, and sometimes reservations. VR is staff-intensive.

3. Not Accessible Enough
Visitors with visual impairments, mobility issues, or motion sickness can’t do it. Even normal glasses sometimes don’t work well.

4. Not Social Enough
Museums are fundamentally social places. Even in complicated “group” experiences, VR creates individual private worlds.

5. Too Quickly Obsolete
VR is a fast-moving field. Tech become obsolete faster than museum budget cycles can keep up with.

Here’s the thing:

The novelty of headset VR isn’t enough anymore. VR can work, but only when it solves your problem well, meets your attendance needs, and you have the staff.

Warmly,
Jonathan

* Or anywhere else? See the recent news about Meta’s VR department layoffs. Now recall that Facebook renamed itself Meta because of VR.

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MtM Word of the Day:
Throughput. The rate at which visitors can be “put through” a space. Size, width of passages, and duration of media stations all influence throughput. Typically stated in units of people per hour or day, e.g., "100 people per day."