ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by revisiting that debate before focusing on the adoption of the digital technologies in so-called Western and Chinese cultural heritage institutions. One of the earliest forms of experimentation was in modern literature, where these technologies were deployed in hypertext novels to give people a more interactive reading experience. The chapter explores the relationship between a discourse of modernisation and developments in augmented reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. It shows that AR and VR technologies are in many respects qualitatively different from earlier technological enhancements in the cultural heritage sector, the principle of improving user experience is the same. As with digitisation more generally, the introduction of VR and AR into cultural heritage institutions is undoubtedly partly a means of attracting a more diverse audience into the institutions themselves as well as onto online platforms.
