An internet museum may revolutionize the museum experience. Imagine putting your arms around a Rodin or shaking one of his marble hands? What if we could walk up and peer closely at Georgia O'Keeffe's brush strokes without setting off one of those shrill new alarms they have installed in the most technologically advanced museums? What if we could line up all the Picassos ever painted in one great collection? Match them up with works by Picasso contemporaries. Organize them by theme. Organize them by time. What if we could enjoy great works of art without fighting off crowds, strollers and guards? What if we could really get close to archeological treasures and artifacts?.
A virtual museum is a vehicle that can be used to make the museum visitor more at ease with the museum's physical space. Through the virtual museum, the public can get acquainted with the museum and its art, within a framework where they might feel more comfortable than in the actual museum building or exhibition. In other words, here individuals gain access to information on equal terms, in an environment where they are socially and culturally anonymous. They can simply not do anything "wrong," act "foolish" or most importantly, feel "awkward.".
The importance of contact, identification and personal encounters applies equally to the relationship between the artist and the visitor. Very few visitors get to meet the artist exhibiting at the museum, even though he or she can often supply essential and valuable information about the process behind the art work - why and how a piece has been created. .
The virtual museum is the ideal place for interviews, both in text and audio form, where web visitors at all times and almost all places can acquaint themselves with an artist and his or her artistic work. .