5 ms·

Show HN: A map of the world's virtual museums

107 points by mektrik 7y ago

mektrik 7y ago
Hey folks, I’m the creator of virtualmuseums.io I built it after seeing a bunch of articles listing virtual museums around the world. I felt like part of the point of touring these virtual museums was to capture just a tiny bit of the fun of travelling, but that this is lost when you just scroll through articles. I thought that it’d be more fun to put all the museums on a map, and let you track your progress as you visit them, as this helps to recreate a tiny part of what’s fun about travelling. Would love to hear your thoughts/suggestions :)
- severine 7y ago
  The submission form only lets me add one item until review, so here are some from Spain: - Museo del Prado de Madrid:https://www.museodelprado.es/ https://www.museodelprado.es/ Virtual tour: https://visitavirtual.info/museo-del-prado-de-madrid/ https://visitavirtual.info/museo-del-prado-de-madrid/ - Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza de Madrid: http://www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/home http://www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/home Virtual tour: https://visitavirtual.info/museo-thyssen-bornemisza/ https://visitavirtual.info/museo-thyssen-bornemisza/ - Museo Arqueológico Nacional de Madrid: http://www.man.es/man/home.html http://www.man.es/man/home.html Virtual tour: https://visitavirtual.info/museo-arqueologico-nacional/ https://visitavirtual.info/museo-arqueologico-nacional/ - Museo Dalí de Figueres: http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/teatre-museu-dali/ http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/teatre-museu-dali/ Virtual tour: http://www.salvador-dali.org/media/visita-virtual-dali/figueres1/figueres1.html http://www.salvador-dali.org/media/visita-virtual-dali/figue... - Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao: https://www.museobilbao.com/ https://www.museobilbao.com/ Virtual tour: https://www.museobilbao.com/visita-virtual/anonimo_catalan.html https://www.museobilbao.com/visita-virtual/anonimo_catalan.h... - Museo del Traje (CIPE) de Madrid: http://museodeltraje.mcu.es/ http://museodeltraje.mcu.es/ Virtual tour: http://www.mcu.es/visitavirtualmuseos/museo-del-traje http://www.mcu.es/visitavirtualmuseos/museo-del-traje - Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía: http://www.museoreinasofia.es/ http://www.museoreinasofia.es/ Virtual collection: http://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion http://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion - Museo Picaso de Málaga: http://www.museopicassomalaga.org/ http://www.museopicassomalaga.org/ Virtual tour: http://www.malagavirtual.com/mpicassom/visitans.htm http://www.malagavirtual.com/mpicassom/visitans.htm Great job! Sources: https://sincopyright.com/museos-virtuales/ https://sincopyright.com/museos-virtuales/
  - mektrik 7y ago
    This is incredible, thank you! Also thanks for flagging the issue on the submission form, I've just fixed it :)
- samizdis 7y ago
  British Museum online collections: https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_onlin... BM prints and drawings virtual gallery: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/prints-and-drawings-virtual-gallery https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/prints-an...
  - mektrik 7y ago
    Thanks!
- pvg 7y ago
  A little off the beaten path: https://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/entrance.html https://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/entrance.html This is an archived copy of a Library of Congress online exhibit from around '93 or so. There's a shoutout marca@ncsa in there, etc. I think there's a very decent chance this was the first 'virtual museum/exhibit' type thing on the web.
- gregsadetsky 7y ago
  Congrats! Just submitted a number of Canadian museums.
  - mektrik 7y ago
    Thank you!
nicthesailor 7y ago
Just playing with it now, and I love the idea. Have you thought about adding the zoos and aquariums that are live-streaming their animals?
- mektrik 7y ago
  Thanks! Yeah I've definitely been tempted with adding more ideas like these. The one question I've struggled with, and would be super keen for your thoughts on, is whether it'd look okay to have them on the virtualmuseums.io domain, or whether you think it's worth starting again and trying to capture all the best 'virtual attractions' on a single map?
  - nicthesailor 7y ago
    That's a really good question: where to stop. Would it be possible to filter them by type? Put them all on the site, tag them, and let people choose to display particular tags or categories.
    - mektrik 7y ago
      100% possible! There's still the question of whether you'd put them on the existing site, or make a new (more general) site to host all the links on. Definitely keen for thoughts as I'm torn between the two
      - B1FF_PSUVM 7y ago
        There are Unix programs where a single executable answers to different names, and behaves accordingly (e.g. busybox works as ls or cat or ..., I think). You could have a single site, with different names, where the filter is preset by the URL used.
      - ghaff 7y ago
        Personally, I think I'd keep them on the same site and have checkboxes on the left hand side that could be checked or unchecked for particular categories. (Sort of like how a lot of mapping software works.)
donarb 7y ago
Note also that Google has an Arts and Culture site that has links to virtual museums around the world. They have lots of interesting content. https://artsandculture.google.com https://artsandculture.google.com
- crehn 7y ago
  I wish the whole experience wasn’t so laggy (on 2020 iPad Pro).
tmilard 7y ago
Honestly, calling all those (pretty good) visits "virtual visits" is a bit like calling a beer a strong drink. Now I think this is more of a strong drink : https://free-visit.net/index.php/fr/demos https://free-visit.net/index.php/fr/demos
wenc 7y ago
Thank you for creating this. As a museum lover (I've visited ~ 170 around the world), I struggle with getting into virtual tours. I wonder if anyone else feels that virtual museum tours are so far from ideal that it isn't worthwhile investing the time to browse? I can't seem to get into them -- not because of trivial reasons like "oh it's not like the real thing", but more like no one's been able to produce the right UI for enjoying a museum. Even Google's Art and Culture indoor maps of museums is only good for 5 minutes of amusement and not worth bothering with again. I clicked on several links in the comments and was like, eh -- doesn't really hold my interest (though if I were physically at the museum I'd be spending hours). I wonder if these are factors: 1) Lack of good photography. Most museums tend to be dark, so you need professional photographers who know how to work with low-light photography. Also most pictures/videos tend to be low res for some reason, which takes away from the enjoyment. I wonder if most museums are loath to make high-res photography available for free because it cannibalizes their admissions. Google Arts and Culture has some high-res artwork, but the selection is extremely limited. 2) Unwieldy ways to move in space. Google indoor maps, which has a FPS (first person shooter) interface, isn't the most natural to navigate, because it doesn't match how people actually experience a museum. I wonder if instead of an FPS perspective, an adventure-game orthographic view might make more sense? It would let you walk around the museum and click on objects to interact with them. Also let's face it -- professional museum goers will tell you that they are extremely selective and don't interact with all exhibits, so a frictionless way to preview and skip exhibits is key. 3) Limited/non-comprehensive collection. Usually only the less interesting collections are online. (not always true, but generally true). This is likely due to the cost of putting entire collections online, and there not being a lot of payoff -- unless it was possible to create a UI good enough to support monetization. 4) Lack of a cohesive story. Because only select pieces are on display online, the experience is disjointed, vs browsing a physical section of the museum which groups like objects together. The best museum story I've ever come across was the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which told a chronological story. Does anyone know of any museum virtual tours that don't suffer from these issues?
- tmilard 7y ago
  1) Not sure. I would say photos are usually quite ok. 2) Yes I agree: Those 360° photos are ok but the transition from one to the next is poor, even for google indoor-map as surprising as it sounds. The only good 360° photo technology is by far matterport. https://matterport.com https://matterport.com 3) I would think it is ofen marketing. To market their museum. Photos, 100 years ago did not kill the "presence" in museums. Same for virtual visits... Nothing to worry about. 4) Yes, I also think an audio comment would add a lot. I wonder why no 360° visit does this... Thierry https://free-visit.net https://free-visit.net

107 points by mektrik 7y ago

Hey folks, I’m the creator of virtualmuseums.io I built it after seeing a bunch of articles listing virtual museums around the world. I felt like part of the point of touring these virtual museums was to capture just a tiny bit of the fun of travelling, but that this is lost when you just scroll through articles. I thought that it’d be more fun to put all the museums on a map, and let you track your progress as you visit them, as this helps to recreate a tiny part of what’s fun about travelling. Would love to hear your thoughts/suggestions :)

severine 7y ago
The submission form only lets me add one item until review, so here are some from Spain: - Museo del Prado de Madrid:https://www.museodelprado.es/ https://www.museodelprado.es/ Virtual tour: https://visitavirtual.info/museo-del-prado-de-madrid/ https://visitavirtual.info/museo-del-prado-de-madrid/ - Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza de Madrid: http://www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/home http://www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/home Virtual tour: https://visitavirtual.info/museo-thyssen-bornemisza/ https://visitavirtual.info/museo-thyssen-bornemisza/ - Museo Arqueológico Nacional de Madrid: http://www.man.es/man/home.html http://www.man.es/man/home.html Virtual tour: https://visitavirtual.info/museo-arqueologico-nacional/ https://visitavirtual.info/museo-arqueologico-nacional/ - Museo Dalí de Figueres: http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/teatre-museu-dali/ http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/teatre-museu-dali/ Virtual tour: http://www.salvador-dali.org/media/visita-virtual-dali/figueres1/figueres1.html http://www.salvador-dali.org/media/visita-virtual-dali/figue... - Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao: https://www.museobilbao.com/ https://www.museobilbao.com/ Virtual tour: https://www.museobilbao.com/visita-virtual/anonimo_catalan.html https://www.museobilbao.com/visita-virtual/anonimo_catalan.h... - Museo del Traje (CIPE) de Madrid: http://museodeltraje.mcu.es/ http://museodeltraje.mcu.es/ Virtual tour: http://www.mcu.es/visitavirtualmuseos/museo-del-traje http://www.mcu.es/visitavirtualmuseos/museo-del-traje - Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía: http://www.museoreinasofia.es/ http://www.museoreinasofia.es/ Virtual collection: http://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion http://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion - Museo Picaso de Málaga: http://www.museopicassomalaga.org/ http://www.museopicassomalaga.org/ Virtual tour: http://www.malagavirtual.com/mpicassom/visitans.htm http://www.malagavirtual.com/mpicassom/visitans.htm Great job! Sources: https://sincopyright.com/museos-virtuales/ https://sincopyright.com/museos-virtuales/
- mektrik 7y ago
  This is incredible, thank you! Also thanks for flagging the issue on the submission form, I've just fixed it :)
samizdis 7y ago
British Museum online collections: https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_onlin... BM prints and drawings virtual gallery: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/prints-and-drawings-virtual-gallery https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/prints-an...
- mektrik 7y ago
  Thanks!
pvg 7y ago
A little off the beaten path: https://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/entrance.html https://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/entrance.html This is an archived copy of a Library of Congress online exhibit from around '93 or so. There's a shoutout marca@ncsa in there, etc. I think there's a very decent chance this was the first 'virtual museum/exhibit' type thing on the web.
gregsadetsky 7y ago
Congrats! Just submitted a number of Canadian museums.
- mektrik 7y ago
  Thank you!

nicthesailor 7y ago

Just playing with it now, and I love the idea. Have you thought about adding the zoos and aquariums that are live-streaming their animals?

mektrik 7y ago
Thanks! Yeah I've definitely been tempted with adding more ideas like these. The one question I've struggled with, and would be super keen for your thoughts on, is whether it'd look okay to have them on the virtualmuseums.io domain, or whether you think it's worth starting again and trying to capture all the best 'virtual attractions' on a single map?
- nicthesailor 7y ago
  That's a really good question: where to stop. Would it be possible to filter them by type? Put them all on the site, tag them, and let people choose to display particular tags or categories.
  - mektrik 7y ago
    100% possible! There's still the question of whether you'd put them on the existing site, or make a new (more general) site to host all the links on. Definitely keen for thoughts as I'm torn between the two
    - B1FF_PSUVM 7y ago
      There are Unix programs where a single executable answers to different names, and behaves accordingly (e.g. busybox works as ls or cat or ..., I think). You could have a single site, with different names, where the filter is preset by the URL used.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      Personally, I think I'd keep them on the same site and have checkboxes on the left hand side that could be checked or unchecked for particular categories. (Sort of like how a lot of mapping software works.)

donarb 7y ago

Note also that Google has an Arts and Culture site that has links to virtual museums around the world. They have lots of interesting content. https://artsandculture.google.com https://artsandculture.google.com

crehn 7y ago
I wish the whole experience wasn’t so laggy (on 2020 iPad Pro).

tmilard 7y ago

Honestly, calling all those (pretty good) visits "virtual visits" is a bit like calling a beer a strong drink. Now I think this is more of a strong drink : https://free-visit.net/index.php/fr/demos https://free-visit.net/index.php/fr/demos

wenc 7y ago

Thank you for creating this. As a museum lover (I've visited ~ 170 around the world), I struggle with getting into virtual tours. I wonder if anyone else feels that virtual museum tours are so far from ideal that it isn't worthwhile investing the time to browse? I can't seem to get into them -- not because of trivial reasons like "oh it's not like the real thing", but more like no one's been able to produce the right UI for enjoying a museum. Even Google's Art and Culture indoor maps of museums is only good for 5 minutes of amusement and not worth bothering with again. I clicked on several links in the comments and was like, eh -- doesn't really hold my interest (though if I were physically at the museum I'd be spending hours). I wonder if these are factors: 1) Lack of good photography. Most museums tend to be dark, so you need professional photographers who know how to work with low-light photography. Also most pictures/videos tend to be low res for some reason, which takes away from the enjoyment. I wonder if most museums are loath to make high-res photography available for free because it cannibalizes their admissions. Google Arts and Culture has some high-res artwork, but the selection is extremely limited. 2) Unwieldy ways to move in space. Google indoor maps, which has a FPS (first person shooter) interface, isn't the most natural to navigate, because it doesn't match how people actually experience a museum. I wonder if instead of an FPS perspective, an adventure-game orthographic view might make more sense? It would let you walk around the museum and click on objects to interact with them. Also let's face it -- professional museum goers will tell you that they are extremely selective and don't interact with all exhibits, so a frictionless way to preview and skip exhibits is key. 3) Limited/non-comprehensive collection. Usually only the less interesting collections are online. (not always true, but generally true). This is likely due to the cost of putting entire collections online, and there not being a lot of payoff -- unless it was possible to create a UI good enough to support monetization. 4) Lack of a cohesive story. Because only select pieces are on display online, the experience is disjointed, vs browsing a physical section of the museum which groups like objects together. The best museum story I've ever come across was the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which told a chronological story. Does anyone know of any museum virtual tours that don't suffer from these issues?

tmilard 7y ago
1) Not sure. I would say photos are usually quite ok. 2) Yes I agree: Those 360° photos are ok but the transition from one to the next is poor, even for google indoor-map as surprising as it sounds. The only good 360° photo technology is by far matterport. https://matterport.com https://matterport.com 3) I would think it is ofen marketing. To market their museum. Photos, 100 years ago did not kill the "presence" in museums. Same for virtual visits... Nothing to worry about. 4) Yes, I also think an audio comment would add a lot. I wonder why no 360° visit does this... Thierry https://free-visit.net https://free-visit.net