Furthermore, museums need to adapt themselves to the socio-cultural changes, by finding new ways to meet the emerging demands related to learning and enjoyment ( Black, 2005). Such evolution is especially pushed by social, political, and economic pressures ( Ross, 2004 Bearman and Geber, 2008 Black, 2012). Ballantyne and Uzzell (2011) explain the audience-centered approach as a strategy that museums adopt in response to the decline in public funding, as well as to compete with other leisure services in engaging consumers. In addition to the external pressure, there was a change in perspective based on new epistemology for conceiving museums and the contamination with different disciplines, especially psychology and the social sciences. Such profound change is conceptualized twofold, concerning both the shift from the old museology based on the positivism–behaviorist approach to the new museology based on a constructivist approach, and a change from a collection-centered to an audience-centered focus: while the traditional conception focused on the exposition and tended to direct visitors’ behavior throughout pre-determined paths, museum managers today are prone to explore visitors’ perspective in order to collaboratively build meaningful experiences ( Hooper-Greenhill, 2000 Simon, 2010).

In addition to learning outcomes, museums value emotions, fun, and meaning making ( Hooper-Greenhill, 2004). In light of the above, an increasing number of museums are seeking innovative solutions to better exhibit and communicate the tangible and intangible heritage they preserve, while engaging visitors in an educational yet leisure experience. Nowadays, the most promising technologies are those laying in the category of computer-mediated reality.

The visitor returns walkthrough part 1