I adore visiting museums. Generally, I think museums are wonderful, except perhaps only the dullest and most uninteresting information stands. And it's not about the museum itself, but about the people working there, or more precisely - about the ones who made decisions about exhibiting information.
Do you remember when I visited America - I was incredibly impressed by the museums there. Because all of them were set up in a way that allowed any person to have fun there - and doesn't matter if you're a nerd physicist or a clueless schoolgirl. All museums were designed in such a way that if you want - you could spend all day there studying every single stand, or alternatively - just walk through in 20 minutes taking selfies.
Moreover, in those museums I went to - there were also all sorts of interactive things - quizzes on tablets, 3D models where you could see anatomy of prehistoric animals from all sides, and of course simulators of everything imaginable. For example, I saw a flight simulator - this wasn't on the main hall, in a corner on the third floor there was literally a small box, where you climb in and you're in a starship.
This, of course, is the highest pilotage of museum work - when you can't pull a child away from an interesting stand in any way. Not only I, but absolutely all adults who visited the museum where I saw this noticed this. People simply stop and look at these stands or listen. Even if they didn't especially intend to. That's the highest pilotage.
Most interestingly, museums are actually extremely cheap - you can put a screen next to any exhibit showing some video or photos related to it. That's already more interesting. And generally, if someone could add interactivity and explain and show in practice what this or that thing is - that's simply wonderful. Make it so that a person could stand and for an hour watch how this thing was made or what it was made from.
Somewhere museums are already trying to add at least some interactivity, and this is the right direction. For example, I was in some museum in Vienna and there I saw how they made a 3D model of a small box. You could rotate it in space, zoom in and out, it was just wonderful. I would like more of this.
What does AR have to do with it?
I recently saw this post by a good friend of mine who, by the way, really understands digitalization and generally makes beautiful and fashionable sites and blogs.
In general, now museums are starting to smear augmented reality everywhere. And I don't really like it because this is typical "technology for technology's sake". I saw this stand in Munich - where you need to download an application, point the phone at this picture and you'll be shown some video. I didn't download it, because honestly - it's very inconvenient. To watch a video, you need to hold the phone in your hands without moving.
Moreover, if you read what's in the fine print - it's written which exhibit number you need to be near to watch the corresponding video. That is, they don't even use the video to add interactivity, they specifically made such a mechanism so that watching videos would be extremely inconvenient.
What's good for?
AR is wonderful if you're driving on a highway and suddenly something on the windshield screen shows you a route or an arrow saying that in 200 meters there'll be a sharp turn. That is, if for perceiving reality (in this case the road), you have to additionally look at the navigator, which will distract you.
Consequently, museums can add augmented reality if a person can't see what's in a closed box or under a tablecloth. And in all other cases AR is simply a fashion statement.
In the same American museums I was in, they made some stands very simple, but cleverly. For example, a glass half-ball with a small aquarium inside. And looking at the ball - there's a magnifying glass effect and you see all sorts of wonderful things. And another wonderful thing - a mirror. Because you can physically change the angle of the mirror or distance to it without any apps or devices.
In principle, I don't understand why they decided AR would work out in museums, when it's so easy to simply stick some screens next to exhibits with 3D models (as they do in Vienna) or make some slides (as they do in Brno in a brewery). This would be much more useful and more convenient. The most important thing is to not do this, because it's just terrible.