Quick Hit: What Should I Ask about Google Art?

This Friday, March 4, I'll be moderating a panel discussion about experiencing art in virtual environments at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (4pm, 1 hour, free). Our guests are two of the people behind the Google Art Project - Anna de Paula Hanika and Kai Kewei.

Anna has been forthright in the press about her enthusiasm for Google Art to open up museum and art experiences for a wide and diverse audience. I'm looking forward to a conversation that focuses on how and why Google Art and other museum-related technology initiatives can do just that. Needless to say, I'm one of the people who believes the 2008 IMLS research that shows that online encounters with museums increase visitation. Friday will present an opportunity for a deeper discussion about how virtual experiences impact users both in terms of art engagement and interest in museums.

I have a few questions I'm planning to ask about the virtual and the real, situated 3D versus more user-driven browsing, and surprising use cases for Google Art. But I'm not an expert, and I suspect many of you reading this know a lot more about Google Art than I do. What would you like me to ask? What do you want to know, and what discussions do you think are most important at this point?

The panel will not be recorded or streamed, but I'll happily report back in the comments here once it's over.