The knowledge management construction of museums from new cultural Innovation perspective [Arts & culture in KM part 21]
This article is part 21 of a series exploring arts and culture in knowledge management.
1. Introduction
1.1 Research background
In recent years, major art institutions around the world, such as the British Museum and the Louvre, have explored the use of advanced technologies to enhance the dissemination and market value of cultural intellectual property (IP)1. Art institutions in Singapore are also exploring the new technologies, hoping to empower cultural industry and promote digital management and global sharing of knowledge. Whereby historical and cultural exhibitions, National Museum of Singapore (NMS) has enhanced the visual experience of historical knowledge through artificial intelligence (AI) smart guided tours and augmented reality (AR) interactions. The ArtScience Museum has also launched non-fungible token (NFT) art collections, with blockchain technology, to achieve decentralised storage and trading of artworks.
The objective of this article is to analyse how digital technology promotes the creation, storage, sharing and application of cultural knowledge. How cultural institutions use technologies, such as AI, big data, and virtual reality (VR) and AR, to optimise the knowledge management system is worth exploring.
2. Status of museum construction in Singapore
2.1 Overview of the concept of new cultural innovation
Compared with traditional entertainment, “new cultural innovation” mainly focuses on three aspects. Firstly, new cultural innovation brings new experiences through the integration of technology and culture, such as cloud exhibition and cultural tourism. Secondly, visitors can switch their identities at any time, and hence dynamically participate in cultural production. Thirdly, new cultural innovation can promote the development of culture and industry at the same time. For example, art museums cooperated with some online games to develop cultural roles, which promoted the integration of traditional culture into digital cultural products.
2.2 The current status of museum construction in Singapore
As the most representative cultural institutions in Singapore, the NMS and the ArtScience Museum are actively exploring directions in cultural industry.
NMS focuses on historical and cultural exhibitions. In recent years, it has enhanced the experience through virtual museums, AI guided tours, and so on. The most representative of these is the “Story of the Forest.” The project uses AR and projection technology to present the natural landscape of Singapore in the 19th century. In addition, the AI guided robot in the museum can provide personalized explanations based on the interests of the audience. The audience can freely choose the route with historical time or characters as clues, providing ways to understand historical events from multiple angles. Meanwhile, the NMS also uses digital twin technology to create an online and offline integrated exhibition. Visitors can access high-definition 3D exhibits through websites, improving the accessibility of exhibition.
In contrast, the ArtScience Museum focuses more on immersive experiences. The museum has collaborated with the international renowned art team TeamLab to launch the permanent exhibition “Future World: Where Art Meets Science,” including multiple interactive digital art installations. Visitors can interact with works through movements or voice commands, exploring the museum from various perspectives. Besides, the museum has held an exhibition called “Notes from the Ether,” showcasing digital art works that combine NFTs and generative AI2.
3. Knowledge management construction of museums
3.1 Knowledge creation
In the process of knowledge generation, explicit knowledge is knowledge that can be clearly expressed and transferred, such as documents; while tacit knowledge is knowledge that relies on personal experience and intuition.
In the current era, museums focus on how to use technological innovation to promote transformation of explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. For example, the “Story of the Forest” of NMS uses AR to make the audience a vital part of the exhibits. The visitors can not only grasp explicit knowledge, such as type and age of the cultural relics, but also internalize this knowledge into personal understanding as tacit knowledge in this process. So that knowledge creation is no longer limited to one-way information transformation but becomes a dynamic and personalized process.
3.2 Knowledge storage
Knowledge storage refers to the preservation, organisation, and storage of knowledge and information to ensure its long-term availability. The main forms of data storage are structured storage (such as database), semi-structured storage (such as spreadsheets), and unstructured storage (such as images and audio). Technology plays a significant role in knowledge storage. AI and machine learning can be used to automatically organise and analyse audience behaviour data and optimise exhibition content. Furthermore, cloud storage enables museums break through physical limitations and make remote collaboration achievable.
The ArtScience Museum uses advanced database and AI to intelligently classify and manage exhibition data and interaction information. “Future World: Where Art Meets Science” exhibition used digital archiving technology to record visitor interactions and optimised exhibition content through AI. In addition, multimedia archiving technology ensures the sustainable development of museums for further research. Technologies ensure the museum can effectively store and utilise a large amount of data, providing reliable data support for future research.
3.3 Knowledge sharing
Knowledge sharing refers to the transformation of knowledge between individuals, groups or organizations. Through formal or informal means, knowledge sharing3 can promote the dissemination, utilization and innovation of knowledge. From the perspective of museums, knowledge sharing involves the delivery of exhibition content, audience interaction and personalized learning methods. The art museums need to take varieties of factors into consideration, such as audience diversity, technology integration, information accuracy and sustainability.
With the help of AI tour guide, the NMS allows visitors to explore exhibition according to age or interests. For example, the NMS provides multiple versions of guidance, so that children can hear storytelling while adults can get profound analysis. The ArtScience Museum also make use of the internet of things to achieve immersive interaction. These innovative means improve the efficiency of knowledge sharing and better meet the personalized needs of tourists.
3.4 Knowledge application
Knowledge application mainly concentrates on individuals or organisations transforming knowledge into practical actions to improve decision-making quality. It is necessary to optimise personalised experience, sustainable participation of the audience, and feasibility of using interactive data for future research.
The NMS is testing a facial recognition and data analysis system developed by Trakomatic Technology. Through tracking visitors and collecting behavioural data, the technology can assist museums better understand visitor interests and needs, thereby optimising exhibition. The ArtScience Museum also customizes tour route based on audience preferences, and keep sustainable engagement through gamification mechanisms, such as virtual medals. This data-driven knowledge application makes exhibit not only a knowledge carrier, but also an attractive cultural experience.
4. Future
Driven by the new cultural innovation, the NMS and the ArtScience Museum have enhanced the dissemination of cultural exibition with the help of technology. In the future, there is no doubt that the metaverse, AI, and big data will reshape the global cultural industry. AI-driven intelligent knowledge management will optimise exhibition planning, cultural relics archiving and personalized recommendations, hence improving the efficiency of cultural asset utilization.
However, data privacy, NFTs copyright protection, and the balance between commercialisation and non-profit are still key issues. It is essential for museums to seek balance among technology, ethics, marketisation, and public value to ensure sustainable development of cultural heritage.
In general, as our lecturer Rajesh Dhillon wisely observes, the integration of knowledge management with technologies like AI, AR/VR, and big data is transforming cultural engagement by converting explicit knowledge into tacit experiences. Exhibits such as “Story of the Forest” and “Future World” in Singapore demonstrate how immersive storytelling can personalize learning and deepen visitor connection.
Rajesh Dhillon points to the National Archives Oral History Program as a powerful knowledge management initiative, capturing first-hand narratives that preserve both facts and experiential wisdom. He suggests that integrating VR allows audiences to interact with holographic narrators, enhancing empathy and accessibility through AI-powered transcription and multilingual subtitles.
He also advocates for applying oral history methods in organizations, where video or VR-based storytelling by senior staff can safeguard institutional memory. When supported by AI tools like sentiment analysis and metadata tagging, records can become structured KM assets.
However, Rajesh Dhillon emphasizes the need to balance innovation with ethical responsibility. While NFTs and AI-driven curation enhance access, institutions must ensure content authenticity, data privacy, and the integrity of cultural narratives. In his view, VR enhanced oral history represents a meaningful evolution in both cultural and organizational knowledge repository.
Article source: Adapted from The Knowledge Management Construction of Museums from New Cultural Innovation Perspective, prepared as part of the requirements for completion of course KM6304 Knowledge Management Strategies and Policies in the Nanyang Technological University Singapore Master of Science in Knowledge Management (KM).
Header image source: Ichigo121212 on Pixabay.
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