A Bodies-On Museum: The Transformation of Museum Embodiment through Virtual Technology

All activities of the museum-exhibition, education, collection, research, and visitor services-involve the conceptualization of the body and technology related to the body. A museum's accumulated knowledge and its physical form involve not only various views of science and culture but also complementary binaries like inside/outside, collective/individual, and body/soul. The body represents an indispensable, constant, and important dimension in the museum. This paper examines future museum development trends that center on the body, presenting the fundamental role the body plays in museums. Starting from a consideration of how museums realize the presence of the body, this analysis continues through the historical and cultural practicality of physical objects, the social attributes of the body in the museum, and the transformation of present-day museums through virtual technology.