VIRTUAL AND INVERSE REALITY AS AN EXPERIENCE Enrique José Pastor Tur Introduction In this paper I propose to analyze two completely different projects, but which have one element in common: virtual reality as a form of exhibition. At the same time, they are two totally different realities. On the one hand, Madrid Artes Digitales is a consolidated project with a great deal of support, which allows it to develop ambitious projects. On the other hand, Time and History is an entrepreneurial project with great opportunities, but without institutional backing that would allow it to technically improve its exhibitions. In order to carry out this analysis, works such as ICOM's "Key Concepts of Museology" have been fundamental in order to have a conceptual vision of what an exhibition is and what the concept of exhibition is and how it has been developed. At the same time, we cannot ignore manuals such as "Developing Exhibitions" by Massimo Negri and Dirk Houtgraaf. They offer an answer to the organizational needs of a modern exhibition. The analyses carried out by Espacio Visual Europa, an academy which offers both courses and master's degrees in modern museology and which does a great deal of work for the modernization of museums and their professionals, have also played an important role in the development of this work. Similarly, it is worth highlighting the great work carried out by the Laboratorio Permanente de Públicos de Museos an institution dependent on the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport, which studies museum audiences and whose research is a fundamental tool for the study of museum experiences. Next, we should highlight the work carried out in works such as “Manual de Museos” or “Historia del Museo en Nueve Conceptos”, offering a clear and simple evolution of the evolution of museums and exhibitions. 1- Exhibition experiences The exhibition is the basic element of a museum, being the explanation of absent elements by means of objects.1.However, new technologies have opened up a trend which is not the general trend today, but which since 1990 has given rise to a debate among experts, some seeing it as a good opportunity and others expressing their fear. 2 as there is a certain amount of resentment from some more 1 François Mairesse, André Desvallées, Bernard Deloche, Serge Chaumier, Martin Schärer, Reymond Montpetit, Yves Bergeron, Noémie Drouguet, Jean Davallon. (2010). Conceptos claves de museología. Armand Colin. P, 37. 2 Houtgraaf, D., & Negri, M. (2020). Developing Exhibitions: There is a method in this madness. Uitgeverij de Kunst, p, 12 conservative sectors who fear that in the future the public will prefer virtual images to a material exhibition3,in short, that traditional museums become mere warehouses.4 A reality that ICOM itself recognizes in its manual of concepts that in the future this type of exhibition could become a condition for the exhibition methods used in museums5. Likewise, in the Developing Exhibitions handbook, a manual that offers a methodology for developing exhibitions in modern museums, it states that in the work groups it is necessary for there to be a technology director whose job, together with the artistic director, is to generate multimedia content 6 hat can create a more satisfactory experience during the visit. This is a reality that the Laboratorio Permanente de Públicos de Museos has taken up in their work " La experiencia de la visita al museo: conociendo a nuestros visitantes ", in which they state that the simple visualization of objects on display is not enough for the visitor to acquire knowledge that they did not previously have. For this, complementary tools are needed that can create emotions and evocations so that the visitor can feel as if he or she has lived that reality.7. They continue, stating that immersive museum experiences through effects are rated by visitors as memorable and exciting, as these types of experiences help to experience disinhibition and happiness, ultimately increasing the visitor's curiosity, not only with augmented reality, but also with the exhibits.8 In this sense, Lonnie G in his contribution in What is a museum? Announces that cultural institutions must change in order to survive, avoiding “traditions" cause them to be maintained immutable in time, like fossils. A reality that museums must face as cultural institutions not only to overcome future crises such as that of COVID, but also through the great challenges that society has set itself with the Agenda2030 in terms of accessibility, sustainability and education9. The author goes on to state that museologists and museographers are constantly working to find new forms of creation and exhibition. Thus, he gives the example of how different museums are using new technological platforms to favor greater accessibility of content and to be able to carry out a bottom-up army so that exhibitions can reach areas or people where this is not physically possible. 3 Impacto de las Nuevas Tecnologías en Museos. (2021, noviembre 24). EVE Museos e Innovación. https://evemuseografia.com/2021/11/24/impacto-de-las-nuevas-tecnologias-en-museos/ 4 Hernández, J. B. (2007). Manual de museos. p, 22 5 François Mairesse, André Desvallées, Bernard Deloche, Serge Chaumier, Martin Schärer, Reymond Montpetit, Yves Bergeron, Noémie Drouguet, Jean Davallon. (2010). Conceptos claves de museología. Armand Colin. P, 39. 6 Houtgraaf, D., & Negri, M. (2020). Developing Exhibitions: There is a method in this madness. Uitgeverij de Kunst, pp,88-89. 7 Santos, E. P. (2013). La experiencia de la visita al museo: conociendo a nuestros visitantes, pp, 18-19. 8 Ibid, pp, 19-27 9 UNESCO. (2020). Indicadores cultura | 2030. UNESCO Publishing, p. 30 2-Two exhibitions, two different ways of working with virtual reality I am going to analyze two exhibitions that have the same theme: Egypt, but whose entities are totally different. On the one hand, we have the exhibition on Tutankhamen at Madrid Artes Digitales and the other is a virtual exhibition from Time and History called The VR Museum of the Fine Art. On the one hand, the Madrid Artes Digitales is located inside the old slaughterhouse, giving rise to an example of the recovery of industrial spaces for cultural purposes. In this sense, the MAD was created in 2022 after the Madrid City Council offered the concession of the space to the following entities: Layers of Reality, pioneers in digital arts centers in Europe; Som Produce, which has as its main objectives the training in dramatic art and the promotion of all kinds of cultural activity10; and Stardust, one of the largest producers of shows in Europe. A combination of institutions that have given rise to a center of reference in cultural creation, developing an extensive program of exhibitions, theatre, festivals, conferences, live music, etc. Next, the Virtual Time and History Museum is a purely virtual museum, which only holds exhibitions in 3D. Its objectives include being historical, educational or having a cultural reference. On the other hand, it states that most virtual museums are about 360º videos, panoramic images or games, but they do not have sections for VR documentaries so the virtual experience cannot be as full. It is noteworthy that an initiative like this has no public sponsorship. Only private companies dedicated to virtual reality such as Nord XD, which defines itself as an independent developer of extended reality and has in its portfolio several simulation projects for educational or research purposes. The MAD could be seen as the Spanish version of the Culturespace centers, a type of institution that aims to provide a Stendhalian11 reception of art and which has become very popular in post-Covid society. These centers offer a type of experience that is accessible to all audiences, regardless of their level of knowledge of the subject, which is a great incentive for people who are far removed from Egyptology or history courses to have a first contact that will stimulate their interest in this subject. Although it is true that it depends on each inverse exhibition, in this case it is a passive experience in which the visitor only follows the route proposed by the institution, without any kind of feedback between the visitor and the exhibition. Unlike what happens in other inverse centers, the MAD does offer an exhibition of physical elements as a complement to the inverse reality. In this sense, there is a debate about whether the inverse reality has to be complementary to the archaeological exhibition 10 Fundación SOM Produce. (s/f). Fundacionsomproduce.org. Recuperado el 28 de junio de 2023, de https://fundacionsomproduce.org/ 11 Las «Exposiciones Inmersivas». (2023, junio 2). EVE Museos e Innovación. https://evemuseografia.com/2023/06/02/el-negocio-de-las-exposiciones-inmersivas/ or vice versa. It is true that the mysticism of the object, especially when it comes to archaeological remains from Ancient Egypt, can never be overcome by virtual images. On the other hand, it could have been interesting for the institution to introduce proposals such as "The Life Code Project". An inverse reality project that allows visitors to interact more with the materials on display, so that both adults and children can have a full sensory and learning experience, as demonstrated by the data obtained by the Darwin Museum.12 Similarly, the Tutankhamen exhibition offers the opportunity to attend several lectures on Egypt. It is interesting that among the experts there is a youtuber, which shows the great informative value offered by the new communication channels. Although, in my opinion, the price is somewhat excessive, it is more complex than it seems. Thus, in recent years, the concept of creative industries has been developing, which at first had a negative and nostalgic view of cultural dissemination13 as it was considered that it had to be carried out by public institutions, following the tradition initiated by the enlightened state in the 18th century; therefore, it was understood that it should not be paid for. However, the creative industries are increasingly present in post-industrial knowledge-based economies because of their value in economic growth and job creation. 14 On the other hand, we could qualify it as the contemporary version of the enlightened museum, a type of museum that was consolidated throughout the 19th century and whose aim was the democratization of culture and the systematization of knowledge15, but which over the years has shown its limitations, its performance being affected by economic crises and political actions that largely marked the amount of funds to be made available. However, new technologies offer new opportunities that no enlightened or expert of the past could have imagined. This museum is a clear example of how virtual reality used in a non-commercial way can serve as a bottom-up element so that art, culture and, in short, major exhibitions leave the great urban epicenters. The Virtual Time and History Museum, which can be accessed by downloading an application on Steam and whose exhibitions are free of charge. An initiative that, with the right funding, could revolutionize the concept of virtual exhibitions, as exhibitions of this type are usually imagined in 360º with little margin for vision and which in the long run are more cumbersome than gratifying. 12 LIFE CODE. Escape room quest in the Darwin Museum – European museum academy. (s/f). Europeanmuseumacademy.Eu. Recuperado el 28 de junio de 2023, de https://europeanmuseumacademy.eu/life-codeescape-room-quest-in-the-darwin-museum/ 13 Aspíllaga, A. M. L. (s/f). INDUSTRIAS CULTURALES, CREATIVAS Y DE CONTENIDOS, p, 46. 14 Ibid, p, 49 15 Jiménez-Blanco, M. D. (2014). Una historia del museo en nueve conceptos, p, 23. The VR Museum of Fine Art, an exhibition that aims to project works of art of some renown. In this sense, it has a very attractive route for the public, as well as having many interactions, allowing the visitor to read brochures or follow a map as if they were in a physical museum. On the other hand, it allows the visitor to approach the works at a level never imagined in a museum, although the virtual projection will never match the physical one. However, there are certain elements that can be detrimental when it comes to finding possible sources of funding. One of them may be the lack of scientific solvency of the exhibitions, as we hardly find any information about the people who have participated in the execution of the exhibition project, not only at the technological level, but also at the level of exhibition projection. We must not forget that, although with the best intentions of cultural democratization, an exhibition cannot be based solely on exhibiting the most famous works without any kind of scientific or conceptual criteria. 3- Conclusion Times are changing, museum experiences change with them and we have entered a historical context in which both can complement each other perfectly, as the mere visit to a traditional museum cannot fully satisfy the experience of contemporary visitors. However, the complementation of the physical object with augmented reality can provide the visitor with a fully-fledged reality that serves the museum in its educational and informative work. In this perspective, many museums are beginning to introduce virtual exhibitions or interactive elements for educational purposes, such as the British Museum, which has introduced virtual workshops for schoolchildren aged 7-11, although only for British schools.16 However, we will soon find that the inequality between public and private museums, large and small, will increase considerably. Private museums with greater freedom of action and a purely mercantilist mentality are more favorable to investment with the aim of increasing the number of visitors, often without taking into account the educational value of an exhibition or the opportunities that the museum as an institution offers for social improvements in its environment. On the other hand, large public museums, which are usually located in large cities, will be more likely to promote innovations in their exhibitions, such as the exhibition “Sorolla a través de la luz” organized by Patrimonio Nacional, the Sorolla Museum, the Sorolla Foundation and Light Art Exhibitions and exhibited in the Royal Palace. Smaller museums or those in smaller cities will not have these facilities, being more dependent on political will to receive funds, without the necessary 16 Richardville, C., & Gardner, E. (2015). Virtual visits. Health Data Management, 23(4), 64. https://www.britishmuseum.org/learn/schools/samsung-digital-discovery-centre/virtual-visits professionals to adapt to modern museology and locked in an internal bureaucracy that prevents them from having much room for innovation. Similarly, we also find problems in the curricula of public universities. Few master's degrees are currently adapted to modern museology, so that the capacity to train new professionals is still quite limited, as it is mainly the master's degrees in private institutions that offer the most modern approaches or that can really promote a change in the new forms of work and in the training of professionals who can respond to the needs of a constantly changing labour market. As for the museums analyzed, Madrid Artes Digitales is an interesting proposal that responds to the new visitor profiles that have emerged after the pandemic, which are more focused on intense experiences. However, the MAD, unlike other similar institutions, exhibits archaeological elements. So, although the inverse exhibition is the main element and what is really promoted, the visitor also has the opportunity to visit recreations and real pieces, so that the experience can be considered full. For its part, the virtual museum Time and History has attempted to create a kind of virtual British Museum. However, although this is a project with a lot of potential in terms of bottom up and outreach, it lacks a scientific basis to support this exhibition, as they do not offer any information about who has been involved in this project. Finally, it should be noted that museums have a great opportunity with new technologies. Especially with reality to improve not only the experience of the visit, but also to become an educational institution of reference. To do this, museologists and museographers have to free themselves from their fears and clichés and commit to change and to the training of new professionals.