10 Best Virtual Museums 2026: Explore with VR and Audio Guides

I want to know about recommended virtual museums!

Virtual museums allow you to enjoy museums and art galleries through VR spaces and audio guides.

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

With virtual museums, it is possible to appeal to the charms of museums and art galleries even to those who find it difficult to visit in person, such as those living far away or in foreign countries.

Precious works and cultural properties that are difficult to exhibit for long periods can be viewed anytime and anywhere through visual displays in virtual spaces and audio guides, making for excellent archivability.

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

Why not take advantage of the unique benefits of virtual museums and promote precious cultural properties and artworks widely in the metaverse (VRSNS) such as VRChat and Cluster?

Recommended AI Voiceover Service for Virtual Museum Audio Guides [Free]

If you are making an audio guide for a virtual museum, Ondoku is recommended!

Ondoku is a text-to-speech service that can generate professional-level, easy-to-hear audio using the latest AI.

With simple operation—just enter the text—you can quickly read out audio.

Multilingual support is very important for virtual museums visited by people from all over the world.

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

Why not try using Ondoku for your virtual museum's audio guide?

What is a Virtual Museum?

Virtual museums are being increasingly adopted by museums and art galleries around the world.

First, let's briefly explain virtual museums.

A New Form of Museums and Art Galleries: Virtual Museums

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

It is possible to view exhibits anytime and anywhere using virtual spaces reproduced in 3D and audio guides about the exhibitions.

Various museums both in Japan and abroad are moving forward with the introduction of virtual museums.

Virtual museums, which are not tied to a specific location, are perfect for promoting museums and art galleries to many people, including inbound tourists.

It is also possible to recreate precious works and already lost cultural properties in virtual spaces for many people to appreciate.

Types of Virtual Museums

There are several types of virtual museums.

Virtual Museums that Reproduce Real Museums and Art Galleries

These are virtual museums that reproduce actual museum and art gallery exhibitions using technologies such as 360-degree cameras, photogrammetry, and audio guides.

Since the exhibition content can be checked before visiting, they are suitable for appealing to distant visitors and archiving exhibition content.

Virtual Museums Exclusive to Virtual Spaces

These are virtual museums created exclusively for virtual spaces, without reproducing the exhibition rooms of real museums and art galleries.

Free exhibitions are possible, without being bound by the size of museum/art gallery exhibition rooms or artworks.

How to View a Virtual Museum? [PC, Smartphone, VR Goggles]

There are roughly two types of viewing methods for virtual museums.

View via PC Browser (Windows, Mac, Linux)

This is a method to display the virtual museum's 3D space in a PC browser.

The sense of presence is lower because it is viewed through a PC screen, but it is suitable for getting more people to visit virtual museums since it can be easily viewed as long as you have a PC.

It is also possible to support viewing on smartphones.

View via Smartphone App (iPhone, Android)

Providing a dedicated smartphone app is also a recommended method.

You can have visitors navigate through the virtual museum more conveniently than by displaying it in a mobile browser.

VRChat and Cluster, which are the VRSNS introduced next, also provide smartphone app versions (iPhone and Android versions).

View via VRSNS (Metaverse) (VRChat, Cluster)

This is a method to publish virtual museums on VRSNS (Metaverse) such as VRChat and Cluster.

By having visitors wear VR goggles, it is possible to view artworks in full scale and experience exhibitions that are impossible in the real world.

*VRSNS (Metaverse) can also be used from a PC screen, so those without VR goggles can also view virtual museums.

Benefits of Virtual Museums

Virtual museums are full of benefits not found in real museums and art galleries.

Appeal Exhibitions to Many People

With virtual museums, you can promote museums and art galleries to people living in distant parts of the country or abroad.

By promoting works and exhibits in virtual museums, it is also possible to increase the number of visitors, such as inbound tourists.

Preserve Exhibition Content Exactly as it is Forever

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

However, exhibition landscapes, captions, and large-scale installation works cannot be preserved as they are.

By creating a virtual museum with a 360-degree camera or photogrammetry, it is possible to archive the space exactly as it is.

Exhibit Precious Works and Cultural Properties at Any Time

If the deterioration of artworks or cultural properties is significant, it is necessary to shorten the exhibition period or dim the exhibition room lighting.

With virtual museums, precious works and cultural properties can be exhibited at all times in an easy-to-see state.

By digitizing in high resolution, it is possible to view them by magnifying down to the details.

Exhibitions Impossible in Reality are Feasible

The ability to hold exhibitions that are impossible in real museums and art galleries is a unique feature of virtual museums.

In natural history museums, you can experience space or the deep sea, or even enter inside the human body.

In art galleries, you can enter into paintings or view lost artworks and architectural works in their original scale.

It is also recommended to collaborate with real special or permanent exhibitions to conduct virtual museum-exclusive displays.

Audio Guide Introduction is Recommended if Making a Virtual Museum (Museum/Art Gallery)

When creating a virtual museum, it is recommended to utilize audio guides in addition to visual displays such as 360-degree cameras, photogrammetry, and 3D models.

Displaying exhibition captions as they are in a virtual museum is inconvenient because you have to get close to read them.

On the other hand, if text is displayed on a separate screen, you have to look back and forth between the artwork and the text.

By introducing audio guides, it is possible to focus on appreciating the works and cultural properties.

Since it is difficult to hold gallery talks in a virtual museum, audio guides are recommended for that reason as well.

Unlike real museums and art galleries, another point is that audio guide equipment such as players and earphones is not required.

How to make a museum audio guide for free! Recommendation for AI voice guidance that can be done even in small museums and permanent exhibitions

Do you want to easily introduce a museum audio guide? With the AI text-to-speech "Ondoku", high-quality audio can be created for free! Supporting Japanese and foreign languages, it is ideal even for small or private museums. Click here for details!

Easily Create Audio Guides with AI Voiceover Services!

A voiceover service using the latest AI is recommended for creating audio guides.

AI voiceover services can read out audio guide content in an easy-to-hear voice like that of a professional narrator or voice actor.

Since audio guides in foreign languages can also be produced, they are perfect for virtual museums visited by people from all over the world.

Easily Create Audio Guides with the Recommended AI Voiceover Service "Ondoku"

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

Using the latest AI, it can read out audio guides in an easy-to-hear and realistic voice.

It supports multiple languages including Japanese and English, covering over 48 languages.

[Ondoku] Voice Types and Sample Audio for Supported Languages

Here, we will introduce Ondoku's supported languages and sample audio.

Moreover, Ondoku is available for free!

Since you can read out up to 5,000 characters for free, you can easily create audio guides for your virtual museum right away.

Of course, commercial use is also OK!

It is safe to use in public museums/art galleries and corporate-run museums.

Please also see this article for details on commercial use.

What you can do with Ondoku. About commercial use (business use) and prohibited items.

Commercial use (business use) is possible with Ondoku. Regardless of whether you are an individual or a corporation, use for the purpose of directly or indirectly obtaining financial or other benefits constitutes commercial use. However, please note that prohibited acts are established in Ondoku. This time, we will explain what you can and cannot do with Ondoku...

Why not use Ondoku when creating your virtual museum?

10 Recommended Virtual Museums and Art Galleries

I want to go to a virtual museum!

From virtual museums published by museums and art galleries around the world to virtual museums that can be experienced in VRSNS (Metaverse), here are 10 recommended virtual museums!

1. National Museum of Nature and Science
2. Ohara Museum of Art
3. Smithsonian Museum
4. Vatican Museums
5. Prado Museum
6. Louvre Museum
7. National Palace Museum
8. VR Space Museum COSMORIA
9. Media Art Exhibition "1% POV"
10. Chinese Meme Museum Japanese Edition

1. National Museum of Nature and Science | Virtual museums are particularly extensive among Japanese museums

Among Japanese museums and art galleries, the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ueno, Tokyo, has a particularly extensive virtual museum.

In the National Museum of Nature and Science's virtual museum "Experience it at Home! Kahaku VR," you can enjoy exhibitions in a 3D view captured by a 360-degree camera and a VR space created through photogrammetry.

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

2. Ohara Museum of Art | Viewing Western Painting Masterpieces in a Virtual Museum

The Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, also has an extremely extensive virtual museum.

Here too, it is possible to appreciate one of Japan's leading art collections through a 360-degree camera virtual tour and a VR space using photogrammetry.

You can experience high-quality exhibitions unique to the Ohara Museum of Art, which boasts one of the longest histories among private art museums in Japan.

Since the video and audio guide content is also extensive, it is recommended as a reference for information dissemination by museums and art galleries.

3. Smithsonian Museum | One of the World's Leading Virtual Museums

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

Being one of the most famous museums in the world, its virtual museum is also high-quality.

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

Another feature is that it is mobile-compatible and can be viewed from a smartphone.

4. Vatican Museums | Viewing Some of Art History's Greatest Works via Virtual Museum

The Vatican Museums, located in Vatican City—the center of the Catholic Church—also publish a very high-quality virtual museum.

Through a virtual tour captured with a high-quality 360-degree camera, you can appreciate the works of Renaissance artists that adorn the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Palace.

You can clearly learn how religious paintings are used in architecture, which is something difficult to understand from art books or photos on the web.

This is a virtual museum we definitely recommend visiting once if you are interested in art history.

5. Prado Museum | A Virtual Museum Spain is Proud Of

The Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, also publishes virtual tours captured with a 360-degree camera.

You can appreciate masterpieces that Spain is proud of, including those by Velázquez and Goya, with a full sense of presence.

You can get a real sense of the size and texture of the works, which you cannot tell from books or photos on the web.

It is a recommended virtual museum among European art galleries.

6. Louvre Museum | A Virtual Museum Where You Can View French Masterpieces

The Louvre Museum in France, one of the most famous art museums in the world, also has an extensive virtual museum.

Here too, you can enjoy virtual tours captured with a 360-degree camera on a PC screen.

It is full of features to enjoy the numerous artworks France is proud of, such as magnifying the works to view them and checking detailed explanations.

7. National Palace Museum | Viewing Chinese Art in a Virtual Museum

The National Palace Museum in Taipei publishes a virtual museum called "720°VR Walk into the National Palace Museum" where you can experience permanent and special exhibitions.

The virtual tour images captured by the 360-degree camera are in 8K ultra-high resolution.

You can realistically experience precious artworks created throughout China's long history.

The languages supported are English and Traditional Chinese.

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

8. VR Space Museum COSMORIA | A World-Class Virtual Museum Utilizing VRChat

VR Space Museum COSMORIA is a virtual museum published on the VRSNS "VRChat."

It exhibits and explains topics from the relationship between humanity and space, the history of space development, the utilization of space, space observation, explanations of celestial bodies and outer space, to astrophysics, all in a large volume unique to virtual spaces.

If you visit while wearing VR goggles, you can visit the orbits of satellites, actually experience the gravity of the moon, or even enter inside Japan's space observation facility Super-Kamiokande.

It is full of points that will be helpful for those who operate museums or art galleries when they create their own virtual museums.

It is one of the highest-quality virtual museums published on VRSNS (Metaverse).

9. Media Art Exhibition "1% POV" | A Virtual Museum Utilizing VR Characteristics

Media Art Exhibition "1% POV" is a media art exhibition held in 2018.

It is still published as a virtual exhibition on the VRSNS "VRChat."

A characteristic of the Media Art Exhibition "1% POV" is that it incorporates many expressions into the display that can only be realized in a virtual space.

You can experience a display unique to a virtual space that is "extremely close to reality, yet different from reality."

If you operate a museum or art gallery and are creating a virtual museum, we definitely recommend visiting this once while wearing VR goggles.

It is an eternal masterpiece of virtual exhibitions published during the early days of VRSNS (Metaverse).

10. Chinese Meme Museum Japanese Edition | A Virtual Museum of Chinese Internet Culture

The Chinese Meme Museum Japanese Edition is also a virtual museum published on the VRSNS "VRChat."

Internet memes also exist in large numbers in Japan.

Of course, in the neighboring country of China, there are also many internet-specific memes and cultures.

In this virtual museum, internet culture from China's early internet days to the 2020s is introduced with very high quality.

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

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

It is a large-scale, recommended virtual museum unique to VRSNS (Metaverse) where you can experience internet memes common to Japan and internet memes unique to China.