Museum Dioramas: their relevance in the 21st century

At a time when virtual reality has become a common feature of the leisure and entertainment business, museums must ask themselves what kind of immersive experiences they want to offer. Dioramas as the forerunners of virtual reality are the traditional means for providing museum visitors with a worthwhile leisure and learning experience. But do visitors really appreciate dioramas as much as museum professionals believe they do? A significant amount of literature concerns itself with museum dioramas as artifacts or even works of art. This study shifts the focus and examines the characteristics and impact of museum dioramas from two different angles: The broader perspective on museum dioramas in general gets juxtaposed with a case study of the Deutsches Museum, which is based on relevant literature, interviews with museum professionals at the Deutsches Museum and a small scale visitor study. The author would like her project to be a starting point for more and comprehensive research into the relevance and impact of museum dioramas today and in the near future.