This thesis aims to go beyond the concept of so called ‘virtual museums’. In this work I will attempt to trace a new definition of the term ‘virtual museum’ providing the concept with renewed dignity, comparable to ICOM’S definitions of museums and other existing definitions of the concept. To do so the main part of this thesis is about creating a meta-model of taxonomy capable of including all the experimentations that have taken place in the field of ‘virtual museums’ in the last 20 years. In this direction I have investigated the concept of the museum as a medium as described by McLuhan and other thinkers, both within and outside the field of museology. The discovery of an unabridged work by McLuhan on technology in museums endorses, and opens a discussion on how technology is intended to be used for the communication of heritage. Another aim of this thesis is to investigate how museum professionals can deal with the new role of Information Technology in communicating heritage. In this thesis I intend to respond to the need of museum professionals both inside and outside ICOM for definitions and clearer understanding concerning the following questions ‘What is a virtual museum? Can it be comparable with a ‘real’ museum? What different kinds of virtual museums can be discerned in past experimentations? Can they be included in a taxonomy? How does this change the day to day work of museum professionals in accordance with the new technological potential for the communication of heritage?

New digital technological possibilities allow physical museum artefacts to be transferred into a virtual environment using 3D computer models with rich information content for educational purposes. However, although several museum websites have applied relevant educational theories to learning activities in these 3D environments, these alone are not enough to develop 3D museum environments without consideration of virtual visiting styles in the learning context. This research addresses the relationship between visiting styles and the design of 3D museum environments based on pedagogic approaches for learning efficacy. Relevant literature on the nature of web-based museum systems was reviewed. Three stages of primary research (a critical review, observations and interviews) were also conducted in this study. The critical review examined the use of 3D technologies in current museum websites in terms of informational aspects and the learning context. The observation studies identified the relationship between visitor behaviours and associated learning activities within 3D museum environments. The interviews further elicited experts’ views and were used to test the research hypotheses. A theoretical design reference model was developed. Initially based on the Reeves multimedia design model, the model consists of three phases: analysis, design and assessment. A prototype 3D exhibition was created based on the theoretical model and two pedagogic approaches. Evaluation of this showed that the design of the exhibits with rich multimedia formats had the potential for more effective visitor learning. The two pedagogic approaches encouraged the related visiting style(s), leading to a deeper engagement with the content and ultimately improving learning efficiency.

An emerging issue that has been made visible is the unequal opportunities for digitization among different sizes of museums. This extends also to when using virtual museums as a pedagogical tool or displaying a museum’s collection. Virtual museums as a tool are less likely to be used by smaller sized museums since they have less ability to adapt to digitization and can’t outsource production. The apparent democratic issue is then that local culture can’t compete in this environment. This thesis goal was to address the problem by developing a virtual museum creation tool with availability in mind. The design was made to enable museums to themselves create, update, and maintain their own virtual museums using game technology. The thesis evaluated the tool using a design science research method were a sample of exhibition producers from several museums participated in testing of the tool and later interviewed. The results from this study showed that the design used by the tool was successful withall the participants. The interviews gave information about what features a full version of the tool would need and described the interviewed museums own readiness to themselves produce virtual museums.

Civilization seems barely able to keep up with the new information technology. Therefore, I propose a place where the technologies of the future may be interacted with like the comfortable knowledge of the past. I propose a place where technology may be interacted on as in the realm of the past with the doors of the future ahead. The Museum of Science and Industry, where the grasp of our technological history is displayed, would be an ideal site for the creation of a Prototypical Computer Museum. With its close proximity to the University of South Florida, resources and participants would be abundant. The Prototypical Computer Museum will be a place where the education and explanation of new technology is continued. This would also provide an arena for the development and interaction of state-of-the-art computer technologies and will be considered the cultural centerpiece for the new millenium. Activities at this Multi-Media Center range from basic explanations of initial computer inventions to on-site research and development of future technologies. Permanent and traveling exhibitions would attract and expose people of all ages to the new waves of technological devices and inventions that engulf our daily activities. This simple ideal is blanketed with a variety of complicated sociological issues that will be addressed throughout the thesis research and its fruition. The fundamental paradox is the borderlessness of the technology, which is continually at odds with the structures housing and exhibiting such technologies. Another major concern is the development of virtual reality and its dwindling necessity for the development of the architecture that contains it. This is a technology that is accessible anywhere but located nowhere. As Otto Riewoldt states, "By reacting to the digital dematerialization of the world, architecture becomes increasingly individualized."1 In the words of American architectural critic Herbert Muschamp, "subjectivity takes command. Like surrealists these architects seem determined to blur the border between waking reality and the dream state."

Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζεται η διαδικασία ανάλυσης απαιτήσεων, σχεδιασμού και υλοποίησης ενός δικτυακού τρισδιάστατου μουσείου. Παρουσιάζονται τα αποτελέσματα συνεντεύξεων με πιθανούς χρήστες, και η διαδικασία ανάλυσης των απαιτήσεων που θα έχουν από μία τέτοια εφαρμογή, η διαδικασία σχεδιασμού των υποσυστημάτων της εφαρμογής και η υλοποίηση τους. Η εφαρμογή έχει ικανοποιητική απόδοση, ενώ με τον σχεδιασμό και την υλοποίηση του συστήματος δυναμικής μεταφόρτωσης αντικειμένων, δίνει την δυνατότητα στον χρήστη να ξεκινάει την περιήγηση του στον χώρο του μουσείου ενώ ταυτόχρονα να μεταφορτώνονται τα αντικείμενα στο παρασκήνιο. Έτσι ο χρόνος αναμονής για την εκκίνηση της εφαρμογής είναι μικρός και σε εφαρμογές όπου αναμένεται ο χρήστης να κινείται αργά μέσα στον χώρο ζητώντας πληροφορίες για τα εκθέματα η περιήγηση γίνεται ομαλά, χωρίς να αντιληφθεί την διαδικασία μεταφόρτωσης. Επίσης ο σχεδιασμός της βάσης δεδομένων είναι τέτοιος ώστε να είναι επεκτάσιμος και να μπορεί να ακολουθήσει τα πρότυπα (standards) που δίνονται από διεθνείς οργανισμούς για την περιγραφή μουσειακών εκθεμάτων, ενώ είναι εύκολη η χρήση της ίδιας βάσης για την εξόρυξη της πληροφορίας σε απλή πύλη (portal). / The process of collection and analysis of requirements and the design and development of the application is presented in this project. The performance of application that is developed is considered to be satisfactory. By embedding the dynamic downloading algorithm, there is no need for prefetching of the 3D objects and that leads to very small waiting time for the application to start running. Meanwhile the 3D objects are downloaded while the user walks through the scene. In scenes like virtual museums etc where the user doesn’t walk fast from one room to the other, but stays in front of an object to get more info, the walkthrough is continuous and the downloading process isn’t noticeable by the user. Also, the database has such a design that can easily include well known standards for museum exhibits. Apart from the client application, the data stored can be retrieved from portals and thus a site edition of the virtual museum is easy to be done.

Η διπλωματική αυτή εργασία εκπονήθηκε στο Εργαστήριο της Ερευνητικής Ομάδας Αλληλεπίδρασης Ανθρώπου – Υπολογιστή του Τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, υπό την επίβλεψη του καθ. Νικολάου Αβούρη. Στόχος της εργασίας είναι η μελέτη και η ανάπτυξη μιας εφαρμογής εικονικού μουσείου, όπου σχεδιάζεται από την αρχή ένα υπάρχον μουσείο, και συγκεκριμένα το «Μουσείο Σολωμού και Επιφανών Ζακυνθίων» που βρίσκεται στη Ζάκυνθο, καθώς και η αλληλεπίδραση του χρήστη με αυτό. Ο χρήστης της εφαρμογής μπορεί να περιηγείται μέσα στο μουσείο και να πληροφορείται σχετικά με τα εκθέματα που περιέχει μέσω της ειδικά ανεπτυγμένης διεπιφάνειας χρήστη. / This diplomatic project was elaborated at the Lab of the Human - Computer Interaction Research Team of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Technology School at the University Of Patras, under the supervision of professor Nikolaos Avouris. The purpose of this project is the development of a virtual museum application, in which, a real museum gets designed from the begining, and particularly the "Museum of Solomos and Important Zakynthos Citizens" which is located in Zakynthos, and the interaction with it. The user can tour the museum and get information about the exhibits it contains, using the specially developed user interface.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A pesquisa investigou os museus virtuais como uma ferramenta didÃtica nas prÃticas educativas digitais, e a sua contribuiÃÃo para a construÃÃo da memÃria e como fontes digitais para a aquisiÃÃo de conhecimentos. Para desenvolver esse objetivo utilizamos a pesquisa qualitativa e como estratÃgia de investigaÃÃo o estudo de caso porque possibilita analisar um fenÃmeno individual ao proporcionar uma visÃo de outros fenÃmenos semelhantes (YIN, 2005). Como a pesquisa aconteceu em ambientes virtuais, a etnografia virtual foi a base para a investigaÃÃo nos ambientes da Internet. Foram desenvolvidos os conceitos de Cibercultara; MemÃria Digital; PrÃticas Educativas Digitais e Museologia. De posse dessa clareza, fizemos o levantamento dos museus virtuais cadastrados no Instituto Brasileiro de Museus - IBRAM e sequencialmente, classificamos os museus virtuais brasileiros e analisamos de acordo com a possibilidade didÃtica de cada um deles. A coleta dos dados foi realizada por meio de diÃrio de bordo digital, o qual respondeu a seguinte questÃo: Como o fenÃmeno dos museus virtuais à considerado um aporte da memÃria digital social e podem ser uma ferramenta didÃtica nas prÃticas educativas digitais? Os recursos utilizados nesta pesquisa foram: a exploraÃÃo bibliogrÃfica, documento digital (imagem, vÃdeos, textos, links) e o diÃrio de bordo digital. Os resultados encontrados nos possibilitou uma reflexÃo e aprendizagem significativa para conhecermos e compreendermos o fenÃmeno educativo no Ãmbito das tecnologias digitais de comunicaÃÃo e informaÃÃo que estÃo alocados no ciberespaÃo. Dessa forma, podemos entender como essas tecnologias nos auxiliam na perspectiva da propagaÃÃo da memÃria, seja ela coletiva ou social, e a migraÃÃo das informaÃÃes â lembranÃas- para as nuvens. A relevÃncia do estudo da memÃria foi apresentada no decorrer da pesquisa, que foi encontrado um museu que guarda a memÃria social atravÃs de falas de pessoas comuns que podem registrar a sua histÃria no museu. Assim percebemos que de uma forma direta as PrÃticas Educativas Digitais se fazem presentes neste ambiente museual. Os museus virtuais ainda estÃo criando a sua identidade dentro do contexto pelo o qual ele à definido. à por meio de tentarmos compreender o papel do museu virtual para a educaÃÃo que concentramos esforÃos para a realizaÃÃo dessa pesquisa cientÃfica que ajude aos pesquisadores o conhecimento cientÃfico a todos que necessitam. / The research investigated the virtual museum as a teaching tool in digital educational practices and their contribution to the construction of memory and how digital sources for acquiring knowledge. To develop this goal we use the qualitative research strategy and how the case study research because it allows analyzing an individual phenomenon by providing an overview of similar phenomena (Yin, 2005). As the research took place in virtual environments, virtual ethnography was the basis for investigation in Internet environments. The concepts of Cibercultara were developed; Digital memory; Digital and Museology Educational Practices. Armed with this clarity, we did a survey of registered virtual museums in Brazilian Institute of Museums - IBRAM and sequentially classify Brazilians virtual museums and analyzed according to the didactic potential of each. Data collection was performed by daily digital board, which answered the question: How does the phenomenon of virtual museums is considered a social contribution of digital memory and can be a teaching tool in digital educational practices? The resources used in this research were: a bibliographic exploration, digital document (image, video, text, links) and the daily digital board. The results allowed us to reflect and meaningful learning to know and understand the phenomenon of education within the digital communication and information technologies that are allocated in cyberspace. Thus, we can understand how these technologies help us in view of the spread of memory, be it collective or social and migration of information - memories - to the clouds. The relevance of the study of memory was presented during the research, it was found that a museum guard social memory through the speech of ordinary people who can record their history in the museum. Thus we realize that in a direct way the Digital Educational Practices are present in this museual environment. Virtual museums are still creating their identity within the context by which it is defined. It is by trying to understand the role of the virtual museum for the education focus efforts toward this scientific research that helps researchers to scientific knowledge to all who need.

nÃo hà / O presente trabalho procura discutir a validade do Museu Virtual de Jacobina (BA), a partir da sua concepÃÃo e implementaÃÃo como meio de ensino, aprendizagem e divulgaÃÃo cientÃfica, considerando-se a escassez de materiais didÃticos dinÃmicos, criativos e atuais no campo da Geografia e as mÃltiplas possibilidades fornecidas pela tecnologia dos computadores, em especial pela internet. Buscou-se no estudo de caso atravÃs de um curso de extensÃo; aos professores licenciados em Geografia e que atuam em classes de ensino fundamental e mÃdio, da rede pÃblica; possibilitar experiÃncias didÃticas e Identificar possibilidades pedagÃgicas de uso do museu virtual como material didÃtico. Os resultados obtidos nos remetem Ãs questÃes de que o ensino da Geografia pode ser repensado, avaliado, modificado a partir da realidade local, pela percepÃÃo do espaÃo, para o desenvolvimento de postura Ãtica e cidadania e neste sentido, o Museu Virtual tornou-se material didÃtico vÃlido e importante / The present work looks for to argue the validity of the Virtual Museum of Jacobina (BA), from its conception and implementation as means of education, learning and scientific spreading, considering it scarcity of dynamic, creative and current materials didactic in the field of Geography and the multiple possibilities supplied for the technology of the computers, in special for the Internet. One searched in the study of case through an extension course; to the professors permitted in Geography and that they act in classrooms of basic and average education, of the public net; to make possible didactic experiences and To identify pedagogical possibilities of use of the virtual museum as material didactic. The results gotten in send them to the questions of that the education of Geography can be rethink, be evaluated, be modified from the local reality, for the perception of the space, for the development of ethical position and citizenship and in this direction, the Virtual Museum became material valid and important didactic.

Art dans l’espace public, art public, art à ciel ouvert, art in situ, Land art ou encore musée sans murs, autant de termes polysémiques qui désignent un champ artistique souvent au coeur des polémiques mais finalement peu documenté. Cette thèse en esthétique s’inscrivant dans le mouvement des humanités numériques est consacrée à la problématique de l’inventaire, de la cartographie et de la visualisation des oeuvres d’art dans l’espace public. Le projet de recherche est constitué de deux volets : une plateforme numérique - le site Wiki et l’application mobile Atlasmuseum - et la thèse. L’examen de plusieurs initiatives, nationales et internationales, de cartographie d’oeuvres d’art public, de projets pionniers d’inventaires numériques et de collections institutionnelles sur le Web s’est opéré à partir d’une question centrale : comment concevoir une instance muséale pour des oeuvres situées précisément en dehors du périmètre du musée ? Et de manière corollaire : comment modéliser un « musée réticulaire » dans le contexte de l’ouverture, de l’interopérabilité des données culturelles et du Web sémantique ? Partant du constat de l’hétérogénéité et de l’incommensurabilité constitutive du corpus d’oeuvres ainsi qu’à travers la lecture rapprochée et distanciée d’une sélection d’oeuvres d’art public contemporain (issues notamment du « 1% artistique » et de la commande publique entre 1951 et 2016), la thèse est construite autour de la conception d’une instance muséale reliant à travers leurs notices plusieurs centaines d’oeuvres, d’artistes et des lieux. La plateforme Atlasmuseum est un dispositif à la fois curatorial, muséologique et muséographique qui regroupe selon un mode contributif curators, conservateurs, amateurs d’art, artistes, informaticiens, historiens de l’art, documentalistes, enseignants et étudiants ; elle repose sur le logiciel Mediawiki enrichi de l’extension SemanticMediawiki. A l’intersection de la cartographie, de la muséologie critique et de l’anthropologie de l’art, la thèse est structurée en quatre parties. La première est consacrée à la carte comme médiation entre les oeuvres et les lieux. La carte y est examinée selon différents points de vue afin d’esquisser les grandes lignes d’un outil d’inventaire potentiel pour les oeuvres d’art public. La deuxième partie de la thèse consiste à prolonger les premières hypothèses en opérant un double changement d’échelle, de la carte à l’atlas et symétriquement de l’inventaire au musée. Suit la partie « centrale » de la thèse, qui constitue une version « papier » de la plateforme Atlasmuseum dans ses deux formats (Web et mobile) et dans ses quatre dimensions (exploration, contribution, recherche et sémantisation). Dans la quatrième partie est proposée une lecture « à distance » des données récoltées et des hypothèses explorées dans les parties précédentes, notamment à travers la constitution d’un corpus d’oeuvres restreint. L’hypothèse explorée dans cette partie est celle de la visualisation ontologique des notices d’oeuvres à travers une modélisation et une spatialisation spécifique des données et des métadonnées (selon le modèle CIDOC CRM ). Il s’agit ainsi au fil de la thèse d’opérer plusieurs glissements de terrain successifs et rétroactifs, de la théorie à la pratique, du curating artistique vers la curation de données, de la carte vers l’inventaire, de l’atlas vers le musée, du diagramme vers le réseau. / Public art, site specific, in situ art, Land art or museum without walls, various polysemic terms are used to designate the field of art in public space, much commentated but finally little documented. This thesis in Aesthetics and Digital humanities aims to account to the modeling process of a “reticular museum” for public art. The research project consists of two parts: a digital platform - the Atlasmuseum wiki site and mobile application - The application and the thesis itself. A review of several, national and international initiatives of public art maps, pioneering projects of digital inventories and online institutional collections has been conducted from a central question: how to design a museum structure for artworks located precisely outside the museum traditional perimeter? And consequently: how to model a contributory inventory tool in the context of cultural linked open data and the Semantic Web? Taking account of the immeasurable and heterogeneous corpus of public artworks, and through close and distant readings of a selection of contemporary public artworks (“1% for art in architecture” and public art commissions in France between 1951 and 2016), the thesis is built around the concept of a “reticular museum” connecting through their records hundreds of art pieces, artists and sites. Dedicated to public art inventory, through specifically designed notices, maps, atlases and visualizations, the Atlasmuseum platform aims to reunite on a contributory basis, curators, artists, computer scientists, art historians, librarians, art lovers, teachers and students. Atlasmuseum is based on the MediaWiki software enriched with the Semantic MediaWiki extension. It is a curatorial as well as a museological and museographical project. At the intersection of critical cartography, critical museology and anthropology of art, the thesis is structured in four parts. The first is devoted to the map as mediation between artworks and their sites. The map is examined from different points of view in order to sketch the outlines of a potential inventory tool for public art. The second part of the thesis aims to extend the initial assumptions by working a double shift of scale, from the map to the atlas and symmetrically from the inventory to the museum. Follows the “central” part of the thesis, which is a “printed” version of the Atlasmuseum platform in both formats (Web and mobile) and its four dimensions (exploration, contribution, research and semantization). In the fourth part, a close and distant reading of a specific collection of artworks (art pieces created for the tramway networks in France) is conducted through data visualizations. The hypothesis is that an ontological data visualization (using the CIDOC CRM model) can offer a new form of perception and apprehension of these artworks within their environment and context. Thus the thesis operates successive and retroactive landslides, from theory to practice, from artistic curating to data curation, from the map to the inventory, from the atlas to the museum and from the diagram to the network.

Les applications de patrimoine numérique ont été largement développées grâce aux techniques de réalité virtuelle, également appelées Virtual Museum (VM). Les appareils et les contenus numériques augmentent considérablement, ce qui permet le système d’interaction de faire immerger les utilisateurs dans la VM. Afin de développer une application interactive, une interaction est toujours définie avant la création d'une application sur la plate-forme sélectionnée. Cela dépend du contenu et des appareils, ce qui est limité s’il y a le changement d'appareil. A l’heure actuelle, les technologies de la réalité virtuelle évoluent rapidement. Une plate-forme de développement d’application doit supporter l’évolution des périphériques et optimiser les systèmes d’interaction à utiliser dans les ordinateurs virtuels. Cependant, l'organisation des périphériques et la structure du contenu sur une plate-forme ne font toujours pas l'objet d'une gestion efficace pour soutenir une interaction alternative en général.Nous avons proposé une nouvelle méthode pour développer une application de VM qui fournit un modèle de narration numérique pour créer un contenu interactif et un système d’interaction adaptatif dans lequel une application est exportable dans n’importe quel appareil. Nous fournissons aux développeurs des outils d’édition flexibles pour gérer la structure du contenu. L'utilisation des interactions sera interprétée dans une abstraction de haut niveau et exécutée sur un périphérique matériel de bas niveau où les interactions ont été adaptées. La narration spécifie le comportement d'interaction qui peut conduire à une interaction dans une scène virtuelle, même un périphérique peut être commuté. Notre système d'interaction adaptatif supporte l'identification des capacités des appareils et des attentes en matière de narration qui pourraient être sélectionnées pour un système d'apprentissage efficace et pour améliorer le niveau d'immersion. Cette mise en œuvre est utile à déployer non seulement pour le développement d'applications de patrimoine numérique, mais également pour l'ingénierie industrielle où un contenu interactif et un travail collaboratif sont nécessaires. / Digital heritage applications have been widely developed through Virtual Reality (VR) technologies as known as Virtual Museum (VM). Devices and digital contents are significantly increasing which support interaction system to immerse users into VM. In order to develop interactive application, interaction is always defined before creating application up to selected platform. It depends on a given content and devices which is limited when considering switching devices. Nowadays VR technologies is rapid changing, a platform to develop application should support devices changing and also to optimize interaction system to be used in VM. However, both devices organization and contents structure on a platform is still lacking efficient management to support alternative interaction in general.We proposed a novel method for developing a VM application providing digital storytelling template to create interactive content and adaptive interaction system where an application is exportable into any device. We provide flexible editing tools for developer to manage the content structure. The interaction usage will be interpreted into a high-level abstraction and run on a low-level hardware device where interactions have been adapted. Storytelling will specify interaction behavior which can drive interaction in a virtual scene even device may be switched. Our adaptive interaction system supports to identify devices capabilities and storytelling expectation which could be selected for efficiency learning system and improve level of immersion. This implementation is useful to deploy not only for the development of digital heritage applications, but also for industrial engineering where interactive content and collaborative working are required.