National Museum of the US Air Force Expands Virtual Experience

Being temporarily closed as a public health precaution in relation to COVID-19 has not stopped the National Museum of the United States Air Force from sharing the Air Force story with online visitors from around the world.

In addition to continuing its heritage stewardship duties,the museum has also expanded its digital museum experience through the virtualtour. The virtual tour allows visitors to take a 360-degree, self-guided tourof the entire museum by navigating from gallery to gallery either by using a drop-downmap or by following navigational arrows connecting the individual nodes. Iconsindicate hotspots where the visitor can get additional information such asvideos, audio and links to online resources.

Now visitors who are taking the virtual tour can also accessonline educational activities such as lesson plans, word searches, coloringsheets and other items that can be done at home, along with new videosincluding first-hand accounts from veterans who served on missions from severaldifferent eras. The virtual tour also has virtual reality capabilities (usingGoogle Headsets) and social applications such as the snapshot tool (cameraicon), which allows users to screen grab the location they’re at and post toFacebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites.

All of these online tools and applications are free andavailable to the public.

According to National Museum of the U.S. Air Force DigitalCurator Bryan Carnes, the virtual tour is not only a great way to learn moreabout the Air Force and all that the museum has to offer, but also serves as agateway to many of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)applications that are available on the museum's website as well.

“Our virtual tour has always been a great tool for planninga future visit to the museum, but it also offers so much more that those of allages can access from the comfort of their homes,” said Carnes. “From 360-degreegallery tours, educational content, virtual reality and STEM applications, andsocial media connections, you can access it all 24 hours a day from themuseum’s virtual tour.”

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located atWright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s largestmilitary aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum featuresmore than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amidmore than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year more than 800,000visitors from around the world come to the museum.