Simple add-ons such as exhibits with recorded explications available at the press of a button have been joined by science playgrounds, radio-broadcast walking tours, dinosaur robots, and the current flurry of multimedia computers. In some sense this technological enhancement makes these "electronic museums." .
Most recently, the term "electronic museum" has come to apply to what could also be called the "virtual museums". The functions of a virtual museum can include and even improve upon those of the traditional museum. For instance, they can preserve art pieces even better by showing electronic representations of them instead of exposing them to public contact and environmental hazards; they can teach more effectively by providing a depth of information by respected scholars unobtainable by most traditional museums and visitors; they don't need to guard the representation as vigilantly as they do the physical object; and access can be much more global instead of being constrained by the costs of time and distance. .
Virtual museums can also alleviate some of the current problems of traditional museums. Instead of constructing viewings for artifacts - films, animations, sound, and voice can be used (some museums and television documentaries already exploit these techniques). Virtual museum exhibits can be more inclusive and larger in scope, since they are not limited by enclosed exhibition space. Providing the representations of art objects on the computer screen, instead of inside an alarmed glass case behind a velvet rope and a scowling guard, serves to bring the audience more intimately in contact with the piece of art. Virtual museums can be started with less capital investment than traditional museums, allowing more artists to be served by them and cutting down on aristocratic exclusivity. Perhaps most important, the virtual museum can deliver art to those people who would not or could not visit the museum otherwise.