Virtual Museums, Hybrid Museums, and Virtual Reality Technology literature review

This scientific review aimed to analyze and compare the Arabic and English literature addressing the topics of virtual museums, hybrid museums, and virtual reality technology, focusing only on studies published in Arabic and English. The review included 35 Arabic studies and 119 foreign studies, total 154 studies, covering the period from 2012 to March 2023.The results of the review revealed an increase in the number of journal articles, academic theses, and conference proceedings in foreign languages compared to Arabic studies. Additionally, the number of countries publishing studies in English exceeded those publishing in Arabic. Foreign studies focused more on technical aspects than Arabic studies, such as the development and design of museum exhibits, the integration of virtual reality technologies with augmented reality, artificial intelligence, or holograms to produce more realistic virtual museums, and the use of virtual reality headsets. There was also a noticeable interest in studies measuring user satisfaction with museum information and experimental studies. Experimental research on student and museum visitor engagement was more prevalent than case studies. Arabic studies, however, placed greater emphasis on scientific review topics within the context of education and pedagogy, with relatively few studies addressing the subject within the context of libraries.