Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Museums: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda

Heritage can be experienced in many ways. One way is to experience heritage through heritage trails and site visits. Another way is to visit a museum. Artefacts are usually presented in museums. However, they often lack context and real environments. Words cannot describe the whole picture. As a result, visitors cannot connect those artefacts with the places where they were discovered. With AR technology, visitors can better understand the relationship between museum objects and their original context. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic review of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in museums and related contexts. We used a bibliometric method as a supplementary analysis. PRISMA procedure was used. The search keywords were “virtual reality” or “VR” or “augmented reality” or “AR” or “mixed reality” or “MR” or “extended reality” or “XR” or “immersive reality” or “metaverse” and “museum*”. We searched the Web of Science and Scopus databases in May 2026. In total, 208 publications were identified from Scopus and Web of Science with the time bound of 2000 to 2026. Most articles were published after 2020 and focus on VR and AR technologies. Most publications appear in journals in the fields of cultural heritage, tourism, and technology. The current research themes in VR/AR in museum contexts are extended reality (XR) technologies for cultural and heritage preservation; immersive experience, presence, and visitor engagement; authenticity; education, knowledge acquisition, and learning effectiveness; emotional engagement and well-being; acceptance and adoption of the technology; as well as accessible tourism for people with disabilities. Future research directions include new theoretical models, privacy, gamification, educational learning, and use of artificial intelligence in museums.