[2025 Update] Top 10 Virtual Museums! A detailed explanation of museums and art galleries that can be enjoyed with VR and audio guides

I want to know about recommended virtual museums!

A virtual museum where you can enjoy museums and art galleries using VR space and audio guides .

Virtual museums that can be enjoyed from a PC browser or experienced by wearing VR goggles are appearing one after another.

A virtual museum can appeal to people who live far away or abroad and find it difficult to visit museums or art galleries.

Valuable artworks and cultural assets that are difficult to exhibit for long periods of time can now be viewed anytime, anywhere through visual exhibits and audio guides in a virtual space, making it an excellent archival option .

In this article, we will explain the benefits and key points of virtual museums, as well as some recommended virtual museums.

Why not take advantage of the unique advantages of a virtual museum and promote your precious cultural assets and artworks to a wider audience?

Recommended AI reading services for virtual museums

If you want to create an audio guide for a virtual museum, we recommend "Ondoku" !

"Ondoku" is a text-to-speech service that uses the latest AI to generate professional-level, easy-to-listen voice .

Simply enter the text and the app will read it out quickly.

Multilingual support is extremely important for a virtual museum that is visited by people from all over the world.

Ondoku supports 48 languages, including Japanese and English, so you can easily create multilingual audio guides with native pronunciation.

Why not try using "Ondoku" as an audio guide for your virtual museum?

What is a Virtual Museum?

Virtual museums are increasingly being introduced in museums and art galleries around the world.

First, let me give a brief explanation of what a virtual museum is.

A new form of museum/art gallery: Virtual museum

A virtual museum is a museum or art gallery that uses 360-degree cameras, photogrammetry, virtual space (VR space), and the metaverse.

You can enjoy the exhibits anytime, anywhere using the 3D virtual space and audio guide for the exhibits .

Virtual museums are being introduced by a variety of museums both in Japan and overseas .

Virtual museums, which are not bound by location, are also perfect for promoting museums and art galleries to a large number of people, including inbound tourists.

It is also possible to recreate valuable works of art or cultural assets that have already been lost in a virtual space so that many people can view them.

Types of Virtual Museums

There are several types of virtual museums.

A virtual museum that recreates real museums and art galleries

This is a virtual museum that uses technologies such as 360-degree cameras, photogrammetry, and audio guides to recreate exhibits from actual museums and art galleries .

Since visitors can check the exhibit contents before coming to the museum, it is ideal for appealing to visitors from far away and for archiving the exhibit contents .

A virtual museum dedicated to virtual space

This is a virtual museum created specifically for the virtual space , rather than recreating the exhibition rooms of a real museum or art gallery.

Exhibitions can be freely arranged without being restricted by museum or art gallery exhibition rooms or the size of the artworks.

How to view the Virtual Museum

There are two main ways to view the Virtual Museum.

Watch on your PC browser

This is a method to display the 3D space of a virtual museum on a PC browser .

Since the content is viewed through a PC screen, the sense of realism is low, but it can be easily viewed with just a PC , making it ideal for encouraging more people to visit the virtual museum.

It is also possible to view the content on a smartphone .

Watch on VRSNS (Metaverse)

This is a method for publishing a virtual museum on VRSNS (metaverse) such as VRChat or Cluster.

Visitors to the museum wearing VR goggles can view the artworks in full size and experience exhibits that would be impossible in the real world .

*VRSNS (Metaverse) can also be accessed from a PC screen , so even those who do not have VR goggles can view the virtual museum.

Benefits of Virtual Museums

Virtual museums are full of benefits that real museums and art galleries do not have.

Appealing to many people

With a virtual museum, you can promote your museum or art gallery to people who live far away in Japan or even overseas .

By promoting your works and exhibits in a virtual museum, you can also increase the number of visitors, including inbound tourists.

The contents of the exhibition can be saved as is.

Artworks and cultural assets in museums and art galleries are kept in storage even after a special exhibition ends or the permanent exhibition is changed.

However, exhibition views, captions, and large-scale installation works cannot be left intact.

By creating a virtual museum using 360-degree cameras and photogrammetry, it is possible to archive the space as it is .

Valuable artworks and cultural assets can be exhibited at any time

If a work of art or cultural property is significantly deteriorated , it may be necessary to shorten the exhibition period or dim the lighting in the exhibition room.

A virtual museum makes it possible to display valuable artworks and cultural assets in an easy-to-view format at all times .

Digitizing it at high resolution allows you to zoom in and appreciate every detail .

Exhibitions that are impossible in real life can be created

One of the unique features of virtual museums is that they allow for exhibitions that would be impossible in real museums or art galleries .

At the Natural Science Museum, you can experience space, the deep sea , and even enter the human body .

In the museum, you can step inside paintings and see lost art and architecture in full size .

We also recommend collaborating with real-life special exhibitions or permanent exhibitions to create unique exhibits for the virtual museum.

If you're creating a virtual museum, we recommend introducing audio guides.

If you are creating a virtual museum, we recommend using audio guides in addition to visual exhibits such as 360-degree cameras, photogrammetry, and 3D models.

If the exhibit captions were displayed directly in a virtual museum, it would be inconvenient for users to have to get close to read them.

However, if the text is displayed on a separate screen, you will have to alternate between looking at the work and the text.

By introducing an audio guide, visitors can concentrate on appreciating the artworks and cultural assets .

It is difficult to hold gallery talks in a virtual museum, so the audio guide is recommended in that respect as well.

Another key point is that, unlike real museums and art galleries, audio guide devices such as players and earphones are not required .

Easily create audio guides with AI reading service!

We recommend using the latest AI-based reading service to create audio guides.

The AI reading service can read the audio guide contents in an easy-to-listen voice like a professional narrator or voice actor.

Audio guides in foreign languages can also be produced , making them perfect for a virtual museum visited by people from all over the world.

Recommended AI reading service "Ondoku"

"Ondoku" is an AI reading service recommended for creating audio guides for virtual museums .

Using the latest AI, audio guides can be read out in an easy-to-listen, realistic voice .

It supports 48 languages including Japanese and English.

What's more, Ondoku is available for free !

You can have up to 5,000 characters read aloud for free , so you can easily create an audio guide for your virtual museum right now.

Why not try using "Ondoku" when creating a virtual museum?

10 Recommended Virtual Museums

I want to go to a virtual museum!

We'll introduce you to 10 recommended virtual museums, from virtual museums open to the public by museums and art galleries around the world to virtual museums that can be experienced in VRSNS (metaverse)!

1. National Museum of Nature and Science
2. Ohara Museum of Art
3. Smithsonian Institution
4. Vatican Museums
5. Prado Museum
6. Louvre Museum
7. The Palace Museum
8. VR Space Museum Cosmoria
9. Media Art Exhibition "1% Virtual"
10. China Meme Museum Japanese version

1. National Museum of Nature and Science

Among Japan's museums and art galleries, the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, Tokyo, has one that is particularly well-equipped with a virtual museum.

At the National Museum of Nature and Science's virtual museum "Experience it from home! Kahaku VR," you can enjoy exhibits in a 3D view taken with a 360-degree camera and a VR space created by photogrammetry.

This is an extremely high-quality exhibition that is recommended for those who want to know what a virtual museum is, those who want to experience a virtual museum for the first time, and museums and art galleries that want to introduce virtual museums in the future.

2. Ohara Museum of Art

The Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, also has a very comprehensive virtual museum.

Here too, you can view one of Japan's leading art collections in a VR space created using a 360-degree camera virtual tour and photogrammetry.

You can experience high-quality exhibitions that are unique to the Ohara Museum of Art, one of the oldest private art museums in Japan.

It also has a wide range of video and audio guide content , so it is recommended as a reference for disseminating information about museums and art galleries.

3. Smithsonian Museum

A recommended virtual museum of natural sciences is the Smithsonian Museum in the United States.

As it is one of the most famous museums in the world, the virtual museum is also of high quality.

In addition to enjoying a virtual tour recreated using high-resolution 360-degree camera images, you can also switch to a screen compatible with VR goggles .

It is also mobile-compatible and can be viewed from your smartphone.

4. Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums , located in Vatican City, the headquarters of the Christian Catholic Church, also offers a high-quality virtual museum.

Take a virtual tour filmed with a high-resolution 360-degree camera and enjoy the works of Renaissance artists that adorn the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Palace.

This provides an easy-to-understand look at how religious paintings are used in architecture, something that can't be learned from art books or online photos.

This is a virtual museum that is highly recommended for anyone interested in art history.

5. Prado Museum

The Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, also offers a virtual tour filmed with a 360-degree camera .

You can enjoy a full-blown appreciation of masterpieces that represent the history of Spanish art, including works by Velázquez and Goya.

You can get a feel for the size and texture of the works, something you can't get from photos in books or on the web.

This is one of the recommended virtual museums among European art museums.

6. Louvre Museum

One of the most famous art museums in the world, the Louvre in France, also has a comprehensive virtual museum.

Here too, you can enjoy a virtual tour taken with a 360-degree camera on your PC screen.

The museum is packed with features that allow you to enjoy France's many treasures of art, including the ability to enlarge the artworks and check out detailed explanations .

7. The Palace Museum

The National Palace Museum in Taipei has launched a virtual museum called "720° VR Journey Through the National Palace Museum," where visitors can experience both permanent and special exhibitions .

The virtual tour images taken with a 360-degree camera are in ultra-high resolution of 8k.

You can experience the precious art pieces that were created throughout China's long history in a real way.

Languages supported are English and Traditional Chinese.

This is a recommended virtual museum where you can learn the essence of Oriental art.

8. VR Space Museum Cosmoria

VR Space Museum Cosmoria is a virtual museum available on the VRSNS "VRChat."

The virtual space offers a huge amount of exhibits and explanations on the relationship between humanity and space, the history of space development, utilization of space, space observation, celestial bodies and outer space, and even astrophysics.

If you put on VR goggles and visit the museum, you can visit the orbit of a satellite , experience the gravity of the moon , and even enter the Super-Kamiokande space observatory in Japan.

It is also full of useful tips for museum and art gallery operators when creating a virtual museum.

This is the highest quality virtual museum available on VRSNS (metaverse).

9. Media Art Exhibition "1% Virtual"

The media art exhibition "1% Virtual" was held in 2018.

It is currently being exhibited as a virtual exhibition on the VRSNS "VRChat."

A distinctive feature of the media art exhibition "1% Virtual" is that it incorporates many expressions that can only be realized in a virtual space .

You can experience an exhibition that is unique to a virtual space that is "very close to reality, yet different from reality."

If museum or art gallery operators are creating a virtual museum, we would highly recommend putting on a pair of VR goggles and visiting it at least once.

This is a timeless masterpiece of a virtual exhibition that was released in the early days of VRSNS (Metaverse) .

10. China Meme Museum Japanese version

The Japanese version of the China Meme Museum is a virtual museum available on the VRSNS "VRChat."

There are many internet memes in Japan as well.

Of course, our neighboring country, China, also has many memes and cultures that are unique to the Internet.

This virtual museum showcases China's internet culture from the early days of the internet to the 2020s in extremely high quality.

Chinese audio guides and Japanese translated subtitles are also available by staff .

The spatial composition unique to a virtual museum is extremely useful when creating a virtual museum for a museum or art gallery.

This is a large-scale, highly recommended virtual museum that is unique to VRSNS (metaverse), where you can experience both Internet memes that are common to Japan and those that are unique to China.

■ AI voice synthesis software "Ondoku"

"Ondoku" is an online text-to-speech tool that can be used with no initial costs.

• Supports approximately 50 languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, and German
• Available from both PC and smartphone
• Suitable for business, education, entertainment, etc.
• No installation required, can be used immediately from your browser
• Supports reading from images

To use it, simply enter text or upload a file on the site. A natural-sounding audio file will be generated within seconds. You can use voice synthesis up to 5,000 characters for free, so please give it a try.

Text-to-speech software "Ondoku" can read out 5000 characters every month with AI voice for free. You can easily download MP3s and commercial use is also possible. If you sign up for free, you can convert up to 5,000 characters per month for free from text to speech. Try Ondoku now.

HP: ondoku3.com
Email: ondoku3.com@gmail.com