Abstract: Aim: This study advances visitor research by examining how visitors interact with and derive meaning from Bahrain's Historic Site Interpretation Centers (HSICs). Methodology: Using a mixed-methods ethnographic approach, we collected data from four sites (Qal’at Al Bahrain, Shaikh Salman Fort, Bu Maher Fort, Al Khamis Mosque) through 113 surveys and 22 interviews. Key results: The findings confirm that architectural context and curatorial techniques have a significant influence on visitors’ meaning-making. While many valued the dual interpretation formats, issues such as decontextualization and misalignment with local identity sometimes disrupted the intended narratives. HSICs are identified as essential centers for information and cultural identity, fostering emotional connections among visitors. Conclusion and implications: This study confirms the connection between architectural design, display strategies, and user expectations, providing insights into how these factors shape visitors’ experiences. It provides implications for curatorial design and inclusive engagement strategies in similar settings. The VE-HSIC model introduced here serves as a framework to enhance visitor engagement, deepen understanding of visitor interactions, and explore how museum practices influence the creation of meaning.

Abstract: This study proposes an integrated framework that redefines digital natural heritage as a collaborative and interpretive ecosystem. At its foundation lies the E-DNH (Extended Digital Natural Heritage) ontology, semantically designed to interlink the biological, historical–cultural, and digital processual dimensions of heritage. The ontology ensures interoperability and contextual richness through alignment with international standards such as Darwin Core, CIDOC CRM, CRMdig, and PROV-O, forming the semantic basis for a knowledge graph–driven data model. The framework is operationalized through the HR3D (Hyper Reality 3D Digitalization) workflow, which combines AI-assisted structured-light scanning and photogrammetry to achieve high-fidelity reproduction under controlled environmental parameters. This process quantifies precision and reliability while preserving the paradata of digitization. The system further incorporates E-DNH Tools, a collaborative semantic annotation environment that allows diverse participants—researchers, curators, and the public—to explore, interpret, and enrich 3D heritage data in real time. These components converge within the Collaborative Extended Digital Natural Heritage Platform (C-EDNH), a cloud-based semantic infrastructure that integrates an NSId/DOI-based persistent identifier system for specimen traceability and global data exchange. By connecting ontology-driven datasets with persistent identifiers, the platform transforms static records into interoperable, verifiable, and living knowledge networks. Collectively, this research demonstrates that understanding and sharing natural heritage in digital space requires encompassing its biological, cultural, and technical contexts within an ontology-based knowledge graph architecture, while employing hyper-reality technologies to enable inclusive, multisensory, and collaborative engagement with heritage data. By integrating precision, meaning, and participation, the study establishes a foundation for a sustainable and human-centered Semantic Collaborative Environment for Natural Heritage.While developed for natural heritage contexts, the proposed framework’s data management architecture and semantic integration strategies offer transferable methodologies applicable to broader cultural heritage digitization challenges.

Abstract: Immersive virtual reality (VR) offers promising approaches for engaging with difficult heritage and human rights issues, potentially fostering deeper emotional connections than traditional educational formats. This paper evaluates the impact of ‘Nobody's Listening’ (NL), an immersive VR experience documenting the Yazidi genocide in Iraq (2014-17). Through assessment of 127 non-Yazidi participants from diverse Iraqi ethnic backgrounds, we examined VR's effectiveness for emotionally engaging with difficult heritage, raising awareness of sensitive human rights issues, and inspiring positive action. Our mixed-methods approach combined pre-experience surveys, observations, and post-experience interviews and questionnaires, employing historical empathy theory framework to assess cognitive and emotional engagement. Results demonstrate significant impact across multiple dimensions: 85% of participants reported increased awareness of the genocide, with 70.8% describing positive knowledge change about Yazidi culture. Emotional engagement was substantial—over 80% experienced intense reactions to the VR experience, with 86.7% reporting feeling moved by the Yazidi’s story. Notably, 56.6% of significant impressions included elements of historical empathy (historic contextualization, perspective-taking, and affective connection). Furthermore, 92.2% of respondents believed justice had not been served in the Yazidi genocide, with many expressing intentions to learn more and support advocacy efforts. This research contributes empirical evidence for how immersive technologies can effectively communicate traumatic cultural heritage while fostering reconciliation in post-conflict societies, with implications for museums, heritage sites, and human rights education.

Abstract: Purpose:To develop an experiential assessment framework for cultural and creative products in the Edong region based on experience-centered research paradigms.Methods:Experience walkthroughs, in-depth interviews, and text mining techniques were deployed to extract evaluation metrics;Evaluation indicators were integrated through comprehensive experience modeling, with subsequent refinement using expert assessments of relative importance, opinion concentration, and coordination coefficients； Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the framework's construct validity;Empirical investigations verified the model's scientific robustness and operational efficacy.Conclusions:Validation and practical implementation demonstrate that the proposed experiential assessment framework delivers pragmatic value for evaluating cultural products in Edong. The methodology offers a novel approach for developing regional cultural product evaluation systems elsewhere.

Abstract: The permanent historical-pharmaceutical collection at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Seville (Spain) offers a glimpse into what an apothecary's shop looked like at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Pharmacists prepared medicines by hand and stored raw materials in various containers, such as jars, oil cruets, burnias, and albarelos. Each year, the collection receives numerous donations, including a set of pharmacy jars from a private collection. Most of these are albarelos, one of which dates back to the 18th century, while others are more recent and originate from different ceramic facto-ries. This donation was transported from Murcia to Seville, during which the 18th-century jar was broken. Committed to its preservation, we contacted a master potter who re-stored the piece so it could be exhibited and appreciated by both students and visitors outside the pharmaceutical field who are passionate about cultural heritage.

Abstract: This project presents the development of a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system applied to the customization of a Non-Player Character (NPC), designed as the digital avatar of the President of the IDIS Foundation Città della Scienza (City of Sci-ence). The NPC acts as both a virtual guide and institutional ambassador within the science center, offering multilingual, interactive, and accessible communication to a broad international audience. Through the integration of generative models with a curated, validated knowledge base, the RAG system enables the NPC to provide accu-rate, context-sensitive, and up-to-date responses to user queries. Developed by the Teaching Learning Centre for Education and Inclusive Technologies ‘Elisa Frauenfeld-er’ at the University of Salerno, the system supports the museum’s educational mission by enhancing science communication and fostering inclusive digital engagement. The avatar features realistic facial animation, movement, and voice synthesis, creating a digital twin capable of simulating human-like interaction. This initiative exemplifies an innovative application of artificial intelligence for an inclusive and equitable qual-ity education and contributes to the development of engaging, accessible, and person-alized learning environments.

Abstract: This paper charts AI's transformative path toward advancing sustainability within art museums, introducing a human–AI compass as a conceptual framework for navigating its integration. It advocates for human-centric AI that optimizes operations, modernizes collection management, and deepens visitor engagement—anchored in meaningful human–technology synergy and thoughtful human oversight. Drawing on extensive literature review and real-world museum case studies, the paper explores AI’s multifaceted impact across three domains. Firstly, it examines how AI improves operations, from audience forecasting and resource optimization to refining marketing, supporting conservation, and reshaping curatorial practices. Secondly, it investigates AI's influence on digital collection management, highlighting its ability to improve organization, searchability, analysis, and interpretation through automated metadata and advanced pattern recognition. Thirdly, the study analyzes how AI elevates the visitor experience via chatbots, audio guides, and interactive applications, leveraging personalization, recommendation systems, and co-creation opportunities. Crucially, this exploration acknowledges AI's complex challenges—financial, technical, environmental, ethical, societal, and practical-operational—underscoring the indispensable role of human judgment in steering its implementation. The human-AI compass offers a balanced, strategic approach for aligning innovation with cultural sensitivity, inclusivity, and sustainability. The study provides valuable insights for researchers, practitioners and policymakers, enriching the broader discourse on AI's growing role in the art and cultural sector.

Abstract: To adequately educate citizens on issues such as heritage and heritage education, creativity must be fostered starting in secondary education. This paper analyzes activities like museum visits to determine their modalities and scope, examining the opportunities they provide for encouraging creativity among adolescent visitors. We begin with a narrative bibliographic review based on international database searches, selecting and analyzing the relevant articles. Key findings include various ways the relationship between creativity and museums manifests: as an end goal, as a means to promote specific learning in adolescents, the most common forms of creative expression, the contexts for such expression, and the different options for evaluating existing proposals. Discussion. We explore how to clarify and structure the role of creativity in museums aimed at adolescents. Among the conclusions, we emphasize the need for in-depth investigation of this phenomenon, which can enhance creativity training among secondary school students and other personal development variables through museums.

Abstract: Museum cultural creative products (MCCPs) represent a contemporary and tangible extension of cultural heritage, transforming intangible values and historical narratives into accessible consumer experiences. As cultural heritage institutions increasingly adopt market-oriented strategies, MCCPs have not only become a crucial medium for engaging the public with heritage through creative innovation but also a key revenue source, ensuring the sustainability and growth of these institutions. However, research on how consumers evaluate MCCPs and how these evaluations impact satisfaction remains fragmented. This study examines the relationships among product perception, consumption experience, and consumer satisfaction, integrating key indicators such as Product Creativity, Design Aesthetics, Product Functionality, Service Experience, Product Quality, Product Price, Consumer Loyalty, Emotional Response, and Cultural Perception. Using 11,035 consumer-generated reviews from e-commerce platforms, this study employs LLM-assisted semantic sentiment analysis and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to enhance thematic analysis and refine consumer insights, providing a more precise understanding of consumer perceptions and their effects on satisfaction. Results reveal that product perception significantly influences both consumption experience and satisfaction, with experience acting as a mediator between the two. Most notably, creativity is identified as the core dimension driving consumer satisfaction, highlighting the role of innovation in MCCP's success. Furthermore, this study extends the Diffusion of Innovation Theory by demonstrating how product creativity affects adoption and satisfaction in cultural heritage marketing. By integrating LLM-assisted semantic analysis and structural modeling, this study advances both methodological rigor and theoretical applications, offering a novel perspective on consumer perceptions in the cultural and creative industries.

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the concept of global digital citizenship, particularly as it could apply to museums and cultural heritage sectors. In this perspective survey study, we explore current examples of how museums can adjust to the tenets of global digital citizenship that are necessary to navigate and participate in increasingly interconnected digital worlds and to collectively address global challenges. The paper provides a qualitative survey and discussion covering issues concerning open foundations, knowledge co-creation, digital equity and inclusion, and participatory innovation. In conclusion, there are untapped opportunities for museums (e.g., audience participation and digital tools, especially with recent developments in Artificial Intelligence), but also constraints that must be considered (e.g., lack of funding or digital inequality, not to mention ethical issues in the use of AI).

Abstract: This paper presents the ReInHerit Toolkit, a collection of open-source interactive applications developed as part of the H2020 ReInHerit project. Informed by extensive surveys and focus groups with cultural professionals across Europe, the toolkit addresses key needs in the heritage sector by leveraging computer vision and artificial intelligence to enrich museum experiences through engaging, personalized interactions that enhance visitor learning. Designed to bridge the technology gap between larger institutions and smaller organizations, the ReInHerit Toolkit also promotes a sustainable, peoplecentered approach to digital innovation, supported by shared resources, training, and collaborative development opportunities accessible through the project’s Digital Hub.

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This paper focuses on the topic of multisensory museums, conceived as extended or hybrid realities where real and digital coexist to offer cognitive and emotional engaging experiences to the public and increase the sense of authenticity. Multisensory communication can increase accessibility, as it conveys the content through multiple perceptual channels, and it can solicit more inclusive, participatory, and creative audience engagement through the stimulation of emotions. A methodological approach to digitisation, communication strategies, interaction, creative storytelling, immersive technologies and accessibility issues are discussed in depth, in relation to novel museological practices. Machine learning and generative AI are opening new scenarios in management practices and decision-making processes, in data analyses and in natural language processing, and in the creation of customized content addressed to the audiences. A short overview about how these algorithms evolve and work is presented, considering challenges, threats, expectations and ethical implications they pose. Another topic is the sense of authenticity. How is it changing in today users? How phygital realities, storytelling and user experience design in museums can influence it? The paper will discuss these issues, presenting also some case studies, which have cultural, social, philosophical, and ethical implications, at a time when museums are redesigning their role in a society undergoing profound transformation.

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This study explores the transformative potential of the metaverse in redefining cultural heritage engagement, with a specific focus on the digital metamorphosis of the digital evolution of the Museum of L'Avenois in Fourmies. By leveraging advanced 3D scanning technologies and immersive virtual environments, select artifacts have been meticulously digitized, creating an unprecedented interactive platform that bridges accessibility gaps and invites global audiences to engage with cultural heritage. Variability in user experience, reflecting the diverse interactions, emotions, and cognitive responses of participants, serves as a critical analytical axis in this research. While diversity can yield invaluable insights into user preferences, excessive discrepancies risk fragmenting the coherence of engagement. This study demonstrates how strategic design interventions can mitigate such variability, fostering uniform yet personalized experiences. Through the integration of real-time social dynamics, enabled by customizable avatars and communication tools, the metaverse is established as a pioneering medium for collaborative cultural exploration. Employing a robust mixed-methods approach, this research synthesizes quantitative metrics with qualitative insights from in-depth interviews to critically evaluate the metaverse’s capacity to deliver authentic, emotionally resonant, and pedagogically impactful engagements. While challenges persist in replicating the emotive depth of physical exhibits and sustaining user attention, findings underscore the metaverse’s unparalleled efficacy in democratizing access to cultural artifacts and enabling transboundary social interactions. Furthermore, the seamless incorporation of previously inaccessible artifacts into these virtual domains significantly enhances both user engagement and educational outcomes. This work advances the discourse on digital heritage by presenting actionable insights into the design of virtual environments that uphold cultural authenticity, foster socially immersive interactions, and align with the broader paradigm of digital transformation.

Abstract: Climate change increases the importance of maintaining environmental conditions suitable for preventive conservation within museums. The microclimates at the Natural History Museum of Vienna, a large national collection housed within a classical building, were studied using >200 data loggers placed out from mid-2021 to provide thermo-hygrometric measurements at 15-minute intervals. Daily mean temperatures showed exhibition halls typically the warmest rooms; well heated in winter and with open windows on summer days. They may become even hotter than the outside temperature. In winter, most areas of the museum are very dry, as heating lowers the relative humidity, typically to 25–35% for the coldest season. Opening hours impose daily and weekly cycles on internal climate. There was little difference between sunny and shaded parts of the building or adjacent offices, corridors and depots. Similarly, the micro-climate at the floor resembled that of the room air at ~2 m elevation. Mechanically controlled climates in cold storage areas maintain 10 °C and relative humidity ~50%, but this has become increasingly difficult in hot summers. While there is little apparent damage to the collection, at times the museum can have an extreme indoor climate: very hot in the summer and dry in the winter.

Abstract: The Ethnographic Museum in Dubrovnik holds an extensive textile collection that includes a range of dress and costume from Croatia and neighbouring countries. Until recently, the costumes were displayed on mannequins created by the academic artist Zvonimir Lončarić (1927–2004). His sculptures are expressive forms constructed from terracotta, fibreglass, wood, metal, acrylic paint and other materials selected for their visual appeal. Due to their importance, the museum considered the mannequins as protected artworks in the permanent exhibition, however, they had a harmful effect on the costumes displayed. In 2018, after completing a series of conservation-restoration projects within the collection, it was decided to replace the existing mounts with new, museum–quality mannequins. Two project–based learning workshops were organised, led by a team of textile conservators from the University of Dubrovnik and the Croatian Conservation Institute, in cooperation with the curator of the Ethnographic Museum. This case study highlights the challenges of exhibiting ethnographic costumes by discussing past presentation methods and how new solutions have been implemented conforming with the modern conservation-restoration profession. The new solutions consider ethics, decision–making processes, and the understanding of contemporary materials and methodology.

Abstract: Music cultural heritage, as an important component of cultural heritage, possesses significant cultural value and inheritance significance. With the development of society and the passage of time, these precious traditional music cultural heritages inevitably face the dilemma of gradual depletion or even disappearance. In the digital age, effectively protecting and inheriting these music cultural heritages has become an urgent problem to be addressed. Therefore, this paper proposes an application method based on digital twin technology, exploring how to protect and inherit music cultural heritages through digital twin technology. By leveraging digital twin technology, a virtual museum dedicated to showcasing the richness and historical connotations of music cultures is created, preserving and simulating the soundscapes of historical music eras. Through the integration of audio archives, 3D modeling, and interactive displays, users can immerse themselves in the experience of historical music in the digital space. This paper evaluates the feasibility and cultural preservation value of this digital music history museum through the creation of music digital twin technology instances and user survey feedback, and discusses the prospects of digital twins in the field of music cultural heritage.

Abstract: The study presents the evaluation of integrating Extended Reality applications in situ to foster visitors' experience at the Tomato Industrial Museum "D. Nomikos". This paper firstly provides an outline of the methodological, technological, and museological approaches undertaken to integrate XR in a quest to enhance visitors’ meaningful engagement with the industrial heritage-related exhibition. Storytelling and narration are key elements of the museums’ museological design [1] through audio tours and interactive AR-based visualization of the machinery’s role as well as internal function. This paper presents and discusses the evaluation findings. We adopted the User Experience Questionnaire method as the main vehicle for gathering quantitative data and analyzing the results with the use of corresponding metrics and benchmarks embedded in this evaluation tool. Moreover, we conducted semi-structured interviews and combined the qualitative data accrued in the form of accounts, suggestions, and remarks to reach more rich and dependable conclusions. This paper aims to offer both an instance of practice to the research community and a broader discussion of the challenges and prospects connected to the quest of employing emerging technologies and assessing their impact on visitors’ museum experience.

Abstract: School-museum relations have gained considerable attention in the academic literature in recent decades. However, there still needs to be more research on their role in enhancing science education. This work reports the outcomes of the recovery, study, and valorization of the 18th-century geo-mineralogical collection belonging to the Collegio Nazareno, now housed at the Istituto San Giuseppe Calasanzio in Rome. The project consisted of four phases: 1) the securing of more than 1720 specimens; 2) their cataloging using the Italian national catalographic standards for the mineralogical and petrological heritage; 3) the establishment of new exhibit and storage areas; 4) the development of a self-instructive exhibition itinerary. The project, which was participated by the students enrolled in the fourth and fifth high school classes, revealed fascinating and unique specimens such as the ones collected by prominent Italian naturalists –e.g., Scipione Breislak (1750–1826) and Carlo Giuseppe Gismondi (1762–1824) – or those comprising the mineralogical collection donated by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (1741–1740) to the Mineralogical Cabinet of the Collegio Nazareno in 1785. This work thus offers significant insights into the importance of natural history school museums as useful (and oft-forgotten) learning tools in science education.

Abstract: The documentation and management of the cultural heritage of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the heritage digital age are emerging discourses in cultural heritage management. The enthusiastic uptake of a generative artificial intelligence application (ChatGPT) by the general public and academics alike has provided an opportunity to explore i) whether, and to what extent, generative AI can conceptualize an emergent, not well-described field of cultural heritage (the heritage of COVID-19, ii), whether it can design an exhibition on the topic and iii) whether it can identify sites associated with the pandemic that may be(come) significant heritage. Drawing on an extended ‘conversation’ with ChatGPT, this paper shows that generative AI is capable of not only developing a concept for an exhibition of the heritage of COVID-19 but also that it can provide a defensible array of exhibition topics as well as a relevant selection of exhibition objects. ChatGPT is also capable of making suggestions on the selection of cultural heritage sites associated with the pandemic, but these lack specificity. The discrepancy between ChatGPT’s responses to the exhibition concept and its responses regarding potential heritage sites suggests differential selection and access to data that were used to train the model, with a seemingly heavy reliance on Wikipedia. The ‘conversation’ has shown that ChatGPT can serve as a brainstorming tool, but that a curator’s considered interpretation of the responses is still essential.

Abstract: This paper looks at key elements of global culture that are driving a new paradigm shift in museums causing them to question their raison d'être, their design and physical space, recognizing the need to accommodate visitor interaction and participation, and to reprioritize institutional outcomes and goals reexamining their priorities. As heritage sharing in online spaces reaches across national, political, and social boundaries on platforms and networks, this has been driven by museum engagement with Internet life during the pandemic. Museum relationships and interactions with communities both local and global, continue to challenge core values and precepts, leading to radical changes in how museums define their roles and responsibilities. In this new cultural landscape, museums are responding to human digital identity in a tidal wave of human interactions on the Internet, from social media to online sharing of images and videos. This is revealing shared perspectives on cultural conflict as being tied to freedom of expression of one’s heritage embedded in digital identity.