"Virtual" has no strict definition, and all of your
possible digital exhibits would apply. The word virtual, in
computer lingo, seems to work as follows: a "virtual X"
is, to the computer, functionally the same as "X" though it
works in a different medium. So, virtual memory usually
refers to disk memory that acts identically and
interchangeably with RAM, if that helps at all.
When I first read about Jaron Lanier and other Virtual
Reality gurus, they were talking about computer driven
experiences that acted like real experiences. So, from the
point of view of an audience, a virtual exhibit would be an
exhibit in which a visit "felt" like a visit to a real
exhibit. That could mean that you had to don goggles and
gloves and as you turned your head, you saw different parts
of rooms, and as you walked, you went into different rooms,
etc. Or, it could simply mean the more modest digital
exhibit formats that you propose.
You are now either less confused, or much more confused by
our virtual conversation.
Eric Siegel
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