A museum carried into virtual medium: ISTEK Belde Schools Science Center

Introduction: ISTEK Belde Schools Science center consists of an astronomy museum, a planetarium and an observatory. The center is an extention of ISTEK Foundation dedicated to serving over 12million residents of Istanbul. Since it’s conception in 2015 over 100 000 visitors have been enjoyed the astronomy museum, wathced planetarium shows and observed the celestial objects through telescopes. In the first 5 years the center provided support for the local schools  and free public lectures. In the beginning of 2020 the strict quarantine regulations put the science centers activities on hold. This period saw a major change in the methods for engaging the public. The museum is photographed 360 degree lenses and carried into virtual medium. Online visits, lectures and planetarium shows took the place of classic museum activities when no physical visits were possible.

Method: In the past 20 years virtual tours became more and more sophisticated and popular by providing value visual information from the comfort of home. The technology used to photograph and stitch the images together enabled wide range of providers whether they are curators, educators or realtors to present their materiel online. By the covid outbreak ISTEK Science Center closed it’s doors for up to then an unknown amount of time. The displays and models are photographed and the entire museum inventory is carried into an online portal. The virtual visits were scheduled in the usual fashion; school groups connected a main computer operated by the curator and by using GoogleMeet the curator gave the tour in the virtual medium. This way much more people were able to hear the information and watch the planetarium shows.

Three main software are used in online presentations: StarryNight, Layered Earth, SanalVR software. StarryNight and Layered Earth are licenced presentation tools purchased in 2014; SanalVR is the virtual tour environment.

Figure 1- Images of virtual presentation and lecture.

Figure 2- Images of virtual museum tool SanalVR.

Reception: During the covid outbreak the intense pressure to satify the curriculum requirements put a hold on extracirrucular activities. The trafic was less than regular seasons yet some groups were able to enjoy online activities.

Figure 3- Number of visitors by years. 

Project Sustainiblity: The online museum provides an opportunity to reach out of city school groups. Beginning from 2022-2023 academic year the museum will reserve ¼ of time for school groups from all around the country. The online tools and experience acquired will be used in the coming years as long as the interest is alive.