**3. Deepening the exhibition plans of museums with university practice**

From the very beginning, museums have promoted the idea of providing new facts to those who intend to broaden their knowledge horizons. Such an example are the collections from the 2nd millennium BC. from the city of Larsa for didactic purposes. It is education and the acquisition of new knowledge that play a key role in the creation of museums and their collections. This moment intensified at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, when the foundations of exhibition plans for the realization of expositions were laid.

At present, we can prove the existence of three exhibition plans:

**Syntagmatic plan.** The plan was created in about 1750, depending on European countries. When visiting the exhibition, the social status of the visitor was important in the given period, as well as his education. The change in the exhibition plan came only after 1950, when some of the artifacts were made available to the public freely. The syntagmatic plan represents a diverse complex of collection objects, which are directly set in the display case, in the pre-planned space. According to this plan, all collections should be displayed in display cases or plastic structures.

**Syntagmatic plan.** The plan was created in about 1750, depending on European countries. When visiting the exhibition, the social status of the visitor was important in the given period, as well as his education. The change in the exhibition plan came only after 1950, when some of the artifacts were made available to the public freely. The syntagmatic plan represents a diverse complex of collection objects, which are directly set in the display case, in the pre-planned space. According to this plan, all collections should be displayed in display cases or plastic structures.

**Associative plan**. The plan creates a multi-colored non-linear form of presentation in a directly reserved space [2]. We can also declare this state on the idea of I. Maroevič that "the gradual professional elaboration of a museum object leads to the reduction of ambiguity (museal indefiniteness) through more detailed knowledge, which is presented through communication levels" [3]. M. McLuhan also drew attention to the associative plan in the sense of communication in museums in 1967 when creating expositions [4]. The author stated that the exhibition collections should be exclusively without descriptions, so that the visitor participates in the interpretation of the facts. This thesis was refuted in the following years, but nevertheless in the last twenty years, its basic idea in the form of virtual exhibitions has come to life again [5]. In the associative plan, the education of visitors plays an important role in understanding the interpretation, social status plays a marginal role, as museums are accessible to everyone. This condition is currently visible even at the free entrances of some museums every first or last Sunday of the month.

**Visual-virtualization plan.** The plan began to be used in museums at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is related to the gradual establishment of the idea of "self-survival of values" obtained from the visit to the exhibition [6]. On this principle, a new digital exhibition language was created. In practice, the scheme is based on the purposeful intervention of the visitor in terms of his initial interest. The digital language is directed through several channels and gradually penetrates the consciousness, with an effort to maximize the expansion of the museum's virtual reality.

The basic contours of the visualization-virtualization plan are:

**Direct transformation of digitized collection objects into an exhibition hall.** For the visitor, this means moving the collection from the cognitive to the emotional level. Depending on the technical level, the collections are still available in digital form in an innovative form. This example is also for collections that have not yet been made available to the public. Thanks to virtual reality, visitors can explore collections from almost any angle. Collectibles performed in a virtual form do not form the exhibition unit itself. In most cases, digitized objects are presented with authentic collection artifacts. As a suitable example, we can mention a part of the collections scanned by a 3D optical scanner from the Slovak Mining Museum in Banská Štiavnica. From a foreign environment it is e.g. permanent exhibition from the National Museum of Rome (Thermae Diocletiani) or from the Archeological Museum of Naples (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli).

**Creation of expositions to historical events** that have not yet been processed and presented. In addition to historical contexts, scientific topics also resonate. Various visual reconstructions in the form of static models or film simulations are used to achieve the step. Animations can also be linked to interaction. These attributes provide access to current scientific knowledge, which also revitalizes older claims. An elaborate example of this type is the permanent online exhibition called "Keys to Rome" [7]. Several museums collaborated on the exhibition, e.g. Museum dei Fori Imperiali from Rome, Allart Pierson Museum from Amsterdam and more. The exhibition has been open to the public since September 2014.

**By creating various technological constructions depending on the design of segments of museum cyberculture.** In this step, there is an effort to elaborate the exhibition themes in more detail. As a result, attempts have been made to restore old exhibits. Archival documentation is used to achieve the output process. A good example was the 3D exhibition of the most important Italian Renaissance paintings located in the Louvre Museum. E.g. Using the Nintendo game console, the 3D Mona Lisa came to life, clipped lashes, nodded, waved, but also answered questions in seven languages. This exhibition was created using the Nintendo console, and visitors did not even have to wear special glasses to create a 3D image.

**Creation of virtual exhibitions and interactive collections** that are not located directly in the museum. In this context, some museums use the so-called multimedia XD digital objects as well as museum holograms (eg Dubai Museum and Al Fahidi Fort: فحتم يبد - نصح يديهفلا (to show historical stories. Since about 2013, we have also registered exhibitions using nanotechnologies (eg the Museum of Science in Boston) or directly robots (eg the Robot Museum in Madrid), in which current technological knowledge is applied.

## **4. Cyberspace - museum (cultural heritage) - university (virtual education)**

Life in society has changed a lot in the last 50 years. Undoubtedly, this is also a consequence of the technology that, with the advent of classic television sets, was

#### *Cyber - A Digital Cultural Heritage in a Museum and University Setting DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97296*

already creating a ramp to gradual virtualization. This was most evident in cinematography. Virtuality is one of the basic forms of cyberculture, which is "generated through fiction and illusiveness in confrontation with mimeticism, emphasis on identity in terms of ideal presentation and the existence of what is otherwise impossible, inaccessible, and brings a permanent deal with the degree of expression, disrupted to hyperreality and superficiality... " [8].

However, we can not understand virtualization purely as a way of visual presentation, [9] as it is a fundamental phenomenon of network, so-called cybercommunication. From a sociological point of view, virtuality is an epistolary genre, [10] that is, writing on the screen, not on paper. This type of writing is mostly used for communication, especially on social networks and e-mail.

The development of science and technology in the field of communication and information means has opened up new, previously non-existent spaces. These spaces are connected by relatively large geographical distances, it is possible to move in them and create virtual communities. The current consumer population is adapting space and time, even discovering and explaining the importance of connecting borders. In this spirit, J. Pašiak sketched the basic scheme of spatial trends, forms and types of society, which in the course of historical development reacted to the then technological boom [11].

Similar views arose from the technological and economic predictions of many authors (eg. D. Bell and H. Kahn), [12, 13] who emphasized the evolutionary model of post-industrial society. A. Toffler also predicted in 1968 that the main "feature of cyberculture" would be "work from home", performed using a computer connected to a telecommunications network [14]. These predictions led from industrial and urbanized space to cyberspace and virtual networks. This transformation of processes represents a global trend and is characteristic of the civilizational component of globalization [15].

In the context of globalization, cyberculture has strengthened certain boundaries and barriers between the various strata of society, such as:


This trend is also applied in museums and galleries through museum digitization and elements of virtual reality, especially with regard to virtual reconstructions and high technology [16]. The purpose of museums is not only exhibition activity, but also the formation of public opinion of the past. Contemporary museums are exposed to a compromise between authenticity, the display of original museum collections and virtual pomp in the struggle for their existence. This situation is primarily influenced by the website and the degree of presentation of digitized collections to the public via the Internet, which has its supporters and opponents. A significant shift in information and a cross-section of traffic was also ensured by Google's computer application. Google Corporation has launched a project called "Google Art Project" to unite selected world museums with art and graphics in a virtual environment using the Internet [17]. The revolutionary idea was to create a list of the best virtual museums in the world according to certain criteria. The criteria were e.g. virtual museum with the best exhibition activity, the best application of virtual products, animation-virtual stories (scenes), interest of visitors, etc. The list of museums is expanding every year and even new applications are being created in the project with the basic intention of attracting visitors to the museum premises. Currently, the leading position in Google search traffic per weekly click

belongs to the French Louvre. The museum currently has the most detailed elaborate graphic design and interactive interface. In addition to the interior, the virtual tour also offers some of the floors of the museum's exterior.

In other leading places in the ranking were placed museums, such as Smithsonian Institute: Museum, NASA Museum or Virtual Museum of Canada, etc. A rather specific virtual museum is the NASA Museum in Washington. The museum has an animation-interactive page. The robot in the role of a guide accompanies the virtual visitor through the history of the American national space program. The virtual museum is complemented by original, authentic materials from the archives, photographs and various audio / audio samples.

The museum with the largest number of existing virtual exhibitions so far is the Virtual Museum of Canada. The virtual museum operates on the basis of a grouping of physical museums from the territory of Canada. So far, 752 virtual exhibitions have been constructed. The most interesting presentations within the exhibitions are considered to be cartoons in 2D and 3D and profile cities. Individual cities are processed in a virtual form. It is possible to follow their historical-architectural development, or contemporary local sounds from factories, neighborhoods, cars, etc. It should be noted that the latter museums are located exclusively on the Internet.

The basic forms of museum cyberculture include digitization, internet communication, cyberspace, virtual reality and online presentation. Defining the concept of museum cyberculture is complicated for several reasons, such as non-uniform terminological bases, absence of elaboration of methodological procedures in analysis of impact of digitization and virtualization of museum artifacts, different execution of virtual reconstructions on the basis of technical complexity and lack of financial and marketing promotion [18].

From the museum practice, the most used elements of cyberculture are the digitization of museum artifacts and the internet presentation of the museum, the so-called virtual tours [19].

Although digitization is a relatively long-term matter in terms of time and technology, it is gradually becoming established in the pedagogical environment. We can observe the greatest manifestation in the creation of digital and multimedia laboratories directly at universities or in the museum sphere. In addition, the digital - visualization trend also affected the educational process. Nevertheless, various forms of application of the components of cyberculture prevail among individual departments (as well as universities) for the benefit of research and interpretation of knowledge. This fact is also noticeable in the Slovak Republic, where it is necessary to improve the usability of digitization and work with virtualization in the university environment. Compared to other, comparable countries (eg Poland, the Czech Republic or Hungary), this situation is considerably underestimated in our region, which is also reflected in the acquisition of European projects or the success of graduates with digital experience in obtaining employment.

In several humanities and social sciences, the adaptation and dissemination of technological innovations (eg the use of tablets, smartphones, Tesla's transformer, etc.) is currently the most prone in the field of visualization elements. The basic task of virtualization is the presentation and verification of theoretical knowledge in real form. It is visual practice that documents other research alternatives from other scientific disciplines.

Currently, the following scientific phenomena are the most preferred:

• creation of reconstruction models of existing collection objects in order to present them online as a promotional item, as well as for available study (eg the Digital Museum project, which is under the patronage of the SNP Museum in Banská Bystrica).

*Cyber - A Digital Cultural Heritage in a Museum and University Setting DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97296*

**Figure 1.** *Example: Life and works of Galileo - a virtual 3D survey [21].*

