MUSEUMS OF THE FUTURE: HOW VR, AR, AND INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ARE CHANGING THE PERCEPTION OF ART

Abstract

The rapid development of digital technologies is leading to profound changes in the perception of art within the museum world. The disappearance of the traditional division between exhibit and visitor, facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality as well as interactive technologies, compels a re-examination of the meaning of artistic works. New technologies create a museum space where sensory experiences become even more realistic, and the perception of art becomes more diverse. The aim of this study is to determine and demonstrate how VR, AR, and interactive technologies transform the perception of art in the museums of the future. The methodological framework of the study is based on a combination of comparative analysis, the phenomenological approach, and the structural-semiotic method. Comparative analysis is applied to juxtapose traditional and innovative exhibition formats, considering the technological transformation of museum spaces. The phenomenological approach enables the examination of the specifics of perceiving artistic artifacts in VR and AR environments, focusing on changes in cognitive and sensory mechanisms of interaction with virtualized art. The structural-semiotic method is used to analyze the reconfiguration of sign systems within the digital exhibition space, allowing for the tracking of modifications in the semiotic representation of artistic objects during their interactive mediation. The research trajectory aligns with the identification of transformational models of artistic narrative perception in the context of VR and AR integration. It has been found that virtual exhibitions reduce traditional spatial and temporal constraints, enabling multimodal interpretation of artistic artifacts through the symbiosis of audiovisual and tactile experiences. A fundamental conclusion of the study is the acknowledgment of the dynamic deconstruction of classical exhibition practices caused by the incorporation of interactive mechanisms and digital immersivity. It has been established that the phenomenology of aesthetic content perception undergoes modifications toward extended reality, where the dematerialization of the artistic object correlates with the reinterpretation of its semiotic substance. The virtual museum space transforms into a metadiscursive platform where the meaning of an artistic work becomes dynamic and reflexively open.