Enhancing museum experiences: Using immersive environments to evaluate soundscape preferencesa).

This article investigates indoor soundscape preferences in museum environments, focusing on how soundscapes congruent with exhibition contexts affect visitor experience. Using an immersive audiovisual setup at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 23 participants evaluated four soundscape scenarios—no added sound, original onsite recordings, conventional sound maskers, and congruent thematic soundscapes—across virtual museum rooms from five institutions including the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Results showed a significant preference (58%) for congruent soundscapes, which were found to reduce distractions, enhance focus and engagement with artwork, and create a more immersive experience compared to conventional maskers or no added sound. The study highlights the potential for carefully designed, contextually aligned soundscapes to improve visitor comfort and multisensory engagement in museums, while noting the need for further in situ research and consideration of diverse visitor needs.