“The Good Old” WORKING MODEL vs IT/VR/AI/etc.

Abstract

The rapid development of information technologies, characteristic of the 21st century, and the broad range of possibilities and methods of application that this progress brings have certainly influenced contemporary museology, particularly museum presentation. Various digital tools and technological innovations are now widely used in communication between museums and their audiences, and the number of scholarly papers dealing with this topic is growing daily. There is no doubt that the use of information technologies in museum presentation offers certain benefits: it improves the way museums communicate with visitors and even, one might say, redefines the methodology of presentation, exhibition design, and the very purpose of the museum object. 
Nevertheless, in the case of a technical museum such as the Nikola Tesla Museum, whose presentation is fundamentally based on working models, one may ask whether too much emphasis and attention have perhaps been given to the use of information technologies in museum display. Drawing on decades of experience with both approaches within the Museum’s highly developed exhibition activities, it is possible to open a discussion (if not reach a conclusion) about the advantages and/or disadvantages of various digital technologies when compared with, so to speak, classic working models and exhibits.