Virtual reality system as a tool for museums

In today’s world we are surrounded by a wonderful array of technologies. We have absorbed many increasingly, these different technologies are becoming integrated to provide new capabilities and services. And most frequently a computer is the heart of this integration. This is the case with Virtual Reality, a alleged technology which actually is a very sophisticated integration of a number of technologies. Virtual Reality (VR), sometimes called Virtual Environments (VE) has drawn much attention in the last few years. Recently, we have seen the exploitation of multimedia techniques and lately the introduction of virtual reality methods to create new forms of presentation for museums' exhibitions. Virtual Reality can offer a number of advantages to museums, offering a way to overcome some common problems like the lack of space or the need of visitors to interact with the exhibits. In this paper a overview of virtual reality is presented, basic terminology and classes of VR systems are listed, followed by applications of this technology in science, work, and entertainment areas. An insightful study of typical VR systems on museum is also done. Furthermore, The possible positive and negative influence of VR museum is speculated. The research conclusion suggests using data glove to increase reality feeling. This will be a more intuitive approach to interact within the virtual environment.BSc/BAComputer ScienceN.I