Jiaxin Liu
In recent years, art museums are continuously seeking new ways to enhance visitor experiences. Among these, virtual reality (VR) has been adopted in various exhibition contexts, yet how VR storytelling is experienced by visitors in relation to classical art remains underexplored. This qualitative study examines visitor experiences of VR storytelling using a case study of the Rembrandt VR (RVR) project through 14 semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that meaningful engagement emerged through multimodal orientation, negotiated agency, reflective participation, and experiential meaning-making rather than immersion alone. VR storytelling offered more embodied, spatial, and interactive experiences with classical art than typical museum interpretation. This qualitative case study suggests that, within the context of the Rembrandt VR experience, VR storytelling functioned as an interpretative setting through which visitors combined narrative guidance and personal interaction and exploration. The study contributes case-based insights to current discussions on immersive technology in museum and cultural heritage contexts.