Virtual museum as an environment for visual representation of urban planning concepts and lost architectural objects

Abstract

Intensive development of the Web has significant influence on social communication processes. New trends of information distribution demand new approach as being involved in on-line communication. Social institutions, including museums and exhibition centers, aim to develop their presence on the Web, searching for ways to engage bigger number of visitors by offering them new experience. A phenomenon of the virtual museum is studied in the paper as an online representation of a tangible museum collections and as an information resource that has no physical analogue. The target is to analyze the potential and relative advantages and disadvantages of virtual museums. The main subject of the research is effectiveness of online tools for representation of large architectural and urban objects, unimplemented projects and lost monuments. Virtual exhibition is often based on the products of virtual reconstruction. It is very important to formulate strict methods of this approach, to develop a methodology and establish a practice of visual distinction between true (and/or relatively true) parts of a virtual model and its authorial parts.