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Finding engaging ways to show off history, and the artefacts it leaves behind, is a constant challenge, any museum curator will tell you.
So the British Museum has turned to one of its long-term partners, Samsung, for some help doing just that. This coming weekend, the museum will begin trialling virtual reality as a means of showing off items in its collections, with Gear VR headsets enabling visitors to see objects from the Bronze Age in (virtual) situ.
Put on one of the headsets and you’re transported to the inside of a Bronze Age roundhouse, where the aim is to find three 3D scanned items sat in their original setting. Use the Gear VR’s trackpad to tap on one, and a voiceover gives you more information about it.
Among the objects on display in the experience are two linked gold bracelets that were discovered in Gloucestershire. They’re currently even classed as treasure, so you could technically call yourself a treasure hunter.
As well as the headsets, Samsung will have tablets on hand in their Digital Discovery Centre for users to take a 2D version of the tour.
There’s also what the museum calls a fulldome – an area for five people with a giant interactive touchscreen.
Samsung’s UK president Andy Griffiths said that the Bronze Age has been chosen as the focal point of the project because it isn’t an easy time period to quickly visualise, and best shows how the Gear VR can bring any subject area to life.
“We’re excited to see visitors delving into Bronze Age history in an immersive fulldome and through our Gear VR headsets and tablets. This will be a completely new way to interact with the British Museum’s collection,” he added.
The museum hopes that having spent time in the virtual world, younger visitors will then be able to get more from their Bronze Age exhibits.
Though the whole experience is aimed at teaching Key Stage 2 students – so those aged between seven and 11 – if successful, the trial could see VRs working their way into museums more widely.
