Touching the Untouchable: Playing the Virtual Glass Harmonica

Cultural heritage museums around the world are embracing new approaches to redefine their mission and roles by combining preserved knowledge with immersive technologies. This paper focuses on a virtual reality (VR) installation project within The Danish Music Museum, which showcases a glass harmonica. The project aims to provide visitors with an immersive and interactive experience, resurrecting a forgotten instrument and presenting its history, sound and interaction. Through a qualitative evaluation at the museum, it was found that the installation establishes a connection between the virtual instrument and the physical glass harmonica on display, offering an engaging and enjoyable experience. However, challenges such as disturbances caused by bystanders affecting the functionality of hand tracking were observed. Overall, the project proposes a VR experience, bringing a historical instrument back to life, offering visitors at The Danish Music Museum an immersive encounter with cultural heritage.