Thank you for creating this.
As a museum lover (I've visited ~ 170 around the world), I struggle with getting into virtual tours. I wonder if anyone else feels that virtual museum tours are so far from ideal that it isn't worthwhile investing the time to browse? I can't seem to get into them -- not because of trivial reasons like "oh it's not like the real thing", but more like no one's been able to produce the right UI for enjoying a museum. Even Google's Art and Culture indoor maps of museums is only good for 5 minutes of amusement and not worth bothering with again. I clicked on several links in the comments and was like, eh -- doesn't really hold my interest (though if I were physically at the museum I'd be spending hours).
I wonder if these are factors:
1) Lack of good photography. Most museums tend to be dark, so you need professional photographers who know how to work with low-light photography. Also most pictures/videos tend to be low res for some reason, which takes away from the enjoyment. I wonder if most museums are loath to make high-res photography available for free because it cannibalizes their admissions.
Google Arts and Culture has some high-res artwork, but the selection is extremely limited.
2) Unwieldy ways to move in space. Google indoor maps, which has a FPS (first person shooter) interface, isn't the most natural to navigate, because it doesn't match how people actually experience a museum. I wonder if instead of an FPS perspective, an adventure-game orthographic view might make more sense? It would let you walk around the museum and click on objects to interact with them. Also let's face it -- professional museum goers will tell you that they are extremely selective and don't interact with all exhibits, so a frictionless way to preview and skip exhibits is key.
3) Limited/non-comprehensive collection. Usually only the less interesting collections are online. (not always true, but generally true). This is likely due to the cost of putting entire collections online, and there not being a lot of payoff -- unless it was possible to create a UI good enough to support monetization.
4) Lack of a cohesive story. Because only select pieces are on display online, the experience is disjointed, vs browsing a physical section of the museum which groups like objects together. The best museum story I've ever come across was the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which told a chronological story.
Does anyone know of any museum virtual tours that don't suffer from these issues?