Sonic enhancement of virtual exhibits

Al-Taie, I; Di Franco, PDG; Tymkiw, M; Williams, DAH; Daly, I

Abstract

Museums have widely embraced virtual exhibits. However, relatively little attention is paid to how sound may create a more engaging experience for audiences. To begin addressing this lacuna, we conducted an online experiment to explore how sound influences the interest level, emotional response, and engagement of individuals who view objects within a virtual exhibit. As part of this experiment, we designed a set of different soundscapes, which we presented to participants who viewed museum objects virtually. We then asked participants to report their felt affect and level of engagement with the exhibits. Our results show that soundscapes customized to exhibited objects significantly enhance audience engagement. We also found that more engaged audience members were more likely to want to learn additional information about the object(s) they viewed and to continue viewing these objects for longer periods of time. Taken together, our findings suggest that virtual museum exhibits can improve visitor engagement through forms of customized soundscape design.

Citation

Al-Taie, I., Di Franco, P., Tymkiw, M., Williams, D., & Daly, I. (2022). Sonic enhancement of virtual exhibits. PLoS ONE, 17(8), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269370

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 19, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 24, 2022
• Publication Date: Aug 24, 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 9, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 9, 2022
• Journal: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 8
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269370
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269370
• Additional Information: Funders : e University of Essex’s Enterprise Project Fund; Projects : Research England’s HEIF allocation