For about 18 months now, I’ve been wrestling with the concept of virtual exhibits, especially how to make them more of an online interactive experience and less of a web page of information. In austere times, virtual exhibits could be cheaper to maintain and reach more people. If you search the Web, you’ll find a nearly infinite number of topical web pages posted by museums or on http://www.nasa.gov, but no one would ever rank these sites as fun or as engaging as their physical counterpart in a museum or NASA visitor center.

At the Association of Science-Technology Centers annual conference last week, a panel of video game experts during the closing session pointed out that “‘virtual’ is the real world in our heads.” They provided attendees with some insights into how designers lure gamers into a world that suspends disbelief.

• Some of the strengths of gaming for learning are that “game time” augments traditional learning hours and offers non-threatening, iterative (repetitive) learning.
• Some of the weaknesses of gaming for learning, according to the panelists, lie in times when the gamer leaves the activity before the objective or when the “learner” explores an unintended avenue and potentially creates a long-standing misconception (negative learning).

For anyone thinking about creating a virtual exhibit, here are four elements of successful video game design that might apply to a successful on-line exhibit.

• Hard fun: visitors should have to work towards a goal, but it’s important to strike a balance between being challenging and frustrating
• Easy fun: the subject content should offer novelty and be comfortable to explore
• People fun: there should be a social aspect to the activity
• Serious fun: the experience should create meaning for the visitor

The common element, of course, is fun.