From "Observing" to "Experiencing”: Immersive Experience Communication in Museums—Taking the "The Awakening Brewers" at Qingdao Beer Museum as an Example
Abstract
With the development of the experience economy and changes in the cultural consumption needs of audiences, museums are slowly moving away from a fixed form of exhibition, based on exhibit, into an experience, which focuses on engagement. The article uses the immersive drama tour "The Awakening Brewer" at Qingdao Beer Museum as a research target and employs the theoretical analysis and case analysis methods to examine the particular operation mode of immersive experience within the museum context in the three dimensions of spatial narrative, gamification mechanism, and experiential learning. Studies have discovered that museum spaces get restructured into narrative nodes by uniting plot, game activities provide incentives to participation by the audience, and the audiences slowly discover and comprehend content in the exhibition through discovery and engagement. The combination of these three elements forms the general logic of the visiting experience idea of immersion and reconstruct the traditional ways of offering knowledge that were used by museums. Nonetheless, several challenges remain to be addressed in practice.
References
- Cui, L. (2025) Research on exhibition design of intangible cultural heritage museums based on spatial narrative theory (Master’s thesis, Luxun Academy of Fine Arts). https: //doi.org/10.27217/d.cnki.glxmc.2025.000
- Lin, L., Hong, L., & Shen, K. (2022) Cultural tourism experience design based on gamification theory. Packaging Engineering, 43(18), 104–111. https: //doi.org/10.19554/j.cnki.1001-3563.2022.18.014
- Zhang, Y. (2024) Research on exhibition design of natural museums based on experiential learning (Master’s thesis, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology). https: //doi.org/10.27393/d.cnki.gxazu.2024.001352
- Wang, Z., Shu, B., & Yang, B. (2023) Research on innovation paths of museums driven by immersive tourism experience: A case study of “Awakening Brewer” in Qingdao Beer Museum. Comparative Study of Cultural Innovation, 7(10), 131–138.
- Spatial narrative theory: Insights and research. Retrieved from https: //www.docin.com
- Wan, Y. (2014) Research on narrative design of museum space (Master’s thesis, Southwest Jiaotong University). Retrieved from http: //cnki.wenx.top/kcms2/article/abstract
- Gao, L., Meng, G., & Shen, Y. (2025) Research on museum brand empowerment strategies based on gamification theory: A case study of China Sea Salt Museum. Journal of Art and Design, (03), 24–28.
- Zhong, W. (2025) Application paths of gamification design in the dissemination of museum painting and calligraphy collections. Chinese Museum, (05), 77–85.
- Yuan, W. (2019) Practice and implications of experiential learning in museum education. Cultural Relics Authentication and Appreciation, (05), 94–97.
- Yao, R., & Zhou, Y. (2026) Exploring museums for cultural education: Educational practice of museum puzzle games based on experiential learning. Journal of Inner Mongolia Normal University (Educational Science Edition), 39(01), 32–42.