TN plans virtual museums to showcase culture, heritage

CHENNAI: In a bid to put technology to better use, the Tamil Nadu government has submitted a detailed proposal to the Union Ministry of Culture for the implementation of virtual museums at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

Accordingly, virtual museums are expected to help the State showcase its culture and heritage items worldwide.

A senior official from the Information Technology Department told DT Next that a detailed Content Management System (CMS) would be prepared for each museum.

“The CMS will have a collection of digitally recorded images, sound files, text documents, and other data of historical, scientific, or cultural interest that are accessed on the internet,” he said adding “a visitor can take a virtual tour using any device like a smartphone or laptop”.

Stating that after creating CMS, a comprehensive interactive guide will also be developed for the museums, the official said the guide would be the central hub for the visitors, who virtually go for a trip.

The official said before entering into the virtual tour, the visitor could also access the museum’s historical significance, and other structural details. “It will be very user-friendly and the explanation scripts will be in both Tamil and English,” he said adding “the virtual tour will also be useful in times of travel curbs”.

He said virtual museums would also help State earn money by incorporating events, exhibitions, donations and selling tickets online and funds and through advertisements.

Claiming that about 50% of adult users on the internet rely on virtual tours, he said even youngsters go for a virtual tour before picking tour destination.

He said once cleared by the Ministry of culture, the experts are expected to complete the works within six months.