Soon a hologram of Sir David Attenborough could guide visitors through a virtual Natural History Museum where they can handle fossils.

At the Science Museum, Astronaut Tim Peake could take visitors through a thrilling, high-speed journey to Earth in the Soyuz TMA-19M using immersive virtual reality.

Culture and technology working together

These incredible digital demonstrations were on display today at the National Gallery, where Secretary of State Matt Hancock announced ambitious digital plans as part of the Culture is Digital report.

He set out how culture and technology can work together to increase participation and boost the digital capability of cultural organisations.

National Lottery investment

As part of the programme, HLF and Arts Council England are investing a total of £2million to build digital capacity within heritage and the arts.

The National Gallery is creating an Innovation Lab where cultural organisations can use advanced digital technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, to enhance visitor experience. It is also setting up a digital project incubator to help museums integrate digital.

The Royal Opera House is creating an Audience Lab, to work with diverse talent to create content using emerging technologies and develop cross-sector collaborations.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Our cultural output has always been our unique calling card to the rest of the world, but when combined with the latest digital developments, there is no limit to our creativity. We want the UK to be the best place in the world to trial pioneering technology, while also maintaining our world leading status as a centre of artistic and cultural excellence.”

Find out more

You can read the Culture is Digital report in full on the DCMS website.

Or follow #CultureisDigital on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.