Leveraging Virtual Reality in Developing Museum Display and Supporting the Preventive Conservation of Taxidermy Animals at Damietta Science Museum

Abstract

Organic taxidermy animals are among the most environmentally sensitive museum collections due to their organic composition and susceptibility to physical, chemical, and biological deterioration. Damietta Science Museum houses a unique collection of scientifically and educationally valuable taxidermy animals. However, these collections have been exposed to several challenges associated with the exhibition environment, including natural daylight, fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity, air pollution, and biological deterioration. Some display cases do not meet preventive conservation requirements. In addition, the lack of adequate interpretive materials limits visitors' understanding of the scientific significance of collections. This study aims to investigate the use of virtual reality technology to enhance museum display and support preventive conservation at Damietta Science Museum by developing an interactive virtual environment that presents rare organic animals as three-dimensional digital models. The proposed environment integrates interpretive and educational content to enrich visitor engagement and improve museum communication while reducing the need for direct interaction with the original animals. The results demonstrate that integrating virtual reality into Damietta Science Museum provides an effective approach for simultaneously enhancing museum display and supporting the preventive conservation of rare organic collections in line with contemporary approaches of digital transformation and sustainable museum practices. Furthermore, the proposed approach addresses several limitations of conventional exhibition methods by offering an immersive interactive environment that enables visitors to examine rare animals from multiple perspectives, access expanded interpretive information, and improve the digital documentation and accessibility of museum collections for educational and scientific research purposes.