Archaeometa: leveraging blockchain for secure and scalable virtual museums in the metaverse

Abstract

The rapid evolution of the digital landscape has catalyzed the integration of blockchain technology within the domain of cultural heritage, particularly in virtual museums within the Metaverse. This study introduces ArchaeoMeta, a novel framework designed to leverage blockchain technology to enhance security, authenticity, and visitor interaction in a virtual museum environment. Utilizing smart contracts deployed on the Ethereum Sepolia testnet, the framework manages visitor interactions and secures digital artifacts, addressing challenges associated with scalability and user experience under varying loads. The performance evaluation involved simulating user interactions, scaling up to ten thousand concurrent users, to assess the impact on transaction latency, gas usage, and blockchain size. Findings reveal significant scalability challenges, as transaction latency and blockchain size increased with the number of users, highlighting areas for optimization in managing high user traffic within the blockchain infrastructure. This study contributes to the understanding of blockchain applications in cultural heritage, suggesting that while ArchaeoMeta offers a robust platform for virtual museums, enhancements in scalability through layer-2 solutions or alternative blockchain platforms are essential for its practical implementation. The framework sets a precedent for future research in the convergence of blockchain technology and cultural heritage preservation, promising a transformative impact on how digital cultural experiences are curated and consumed.

Keywords Augmented reality (AR), Blockchain in museums, Cultural heritage, Digital accessibility, Digital transformation, Extended reality (XR), Immersive technologies, Neurodiversity, Virtual museums, Virtual reality (VR)change with comma